Minister apologises over Flintshire cuts protest letter

Hannah Blythyn signed a letter saying Flintshire council's cuts were disappointing

A minister has apologised to Carwyn Jones for complaining about the way their own government had cut funding to her local council.

Hannah Blythyn, the environment minister, co-signed a letter to a member of the cabinet about the squeeze on Flintshire council.

The first minister's spokesman said she "has apologised for the error of judgement and asked that her name be removed from the letter".

"That's an end to the matter," he said.

The spokesman said Ms Blythyn had also "been reminded of her commitment to collective responsibility" but Conservatives said she should consider her position.

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Mr Jones told BBC Wales: "I don't think it was an attack. It wasn't wise. It wasn't sensible. She apologised.

"She's a young minister. She'll learn from it and now it's time to move forward."

He said the Conservatives should not be calling for her resignation, given "the shambolic way the UK cabinet operates where it's open season for ministers to attack one another in public".

He was speaking during a visit to Llechryd, Ceredigion, to see the damage done by flooding over the weekend.

The letter called on Alun Davies to give councils a share of any extra money

Facing a funding cut by the Welsh Government of almost 1%, Flintshire will be one of the worst hit councils next year.

The letter to Local Government Secretary Alun Davies was written by Labour AM Jack Sargeant, with support from Ms Blythyn and MPs David Hanson and Mark Tami.

The letter attacks UK government austerity, but adds: "Despite difficult times, I was of course disappointed to see that the draft settlement resulted in a 0.9% cut in funding for Flintshire County Council, compared with a national average of 0.5%."

It also calls for a review of the way councils are funded, including a review of council tax.

Tory local government spokesman Mark Isherwood said: "The boldness of this letter cannot be understated.

"It's exceptional to see a member of the Labour Welsh Government publicly attack a decision of the very government that they are a part of, without first resigning from that government.

"The minister needs to consider her position."

All councils in Wales will face cuts in real terms when inflation is taken into account.

Analysis by Daniel Davies, BBC Wales political correspondent

This isn't the first time that the bonds of collective responsibility have been strained within the Welsh Government.

Leighton Andrews resigned as education minister in 2013 after campaigning to save a school in his constituency - a school that was threatened by his own department's diktats.

It was a flagrant breach of the convention requiring ministers to bite their tongues in such situations.

While it isn't nearly so serious, Hannah Blythyn's "error of judgement" has clearly riled Carwyn Jones.

But with the race to succeed him underway, ministers are giving personal opinions on all sorts of matters.

Some contravene government policy by demanding a second Brexit referendum. Vaughan Gething publicly regrets that they froze health funding some years ago.

And his rival, Eluned Morgan, says Labour hasn't improved the economy as it should have done.