15th May 2009
By Paul Dicken
Local authorities in Wales should avoid ‘arbitrary cuts’ in the face of decreasing public expenditure, Finance Minister Andrew Davies said on May 6.
Addressing the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives Cymru annual conference, Davies said that the coming challenges should be met with an ‘innovation and efficiency agenda, not a cuts agenda’.
‘The worst response would be for public services to stumble into a series of arbitrary cuts and process of attrition, which results in poorer services and loses sight of outcome for citizens — with outcomes for the vulnerable particularly at risk,’ he said.
Davies said he did not want to forecast the precise longer-term implications of the Budget for Wales. ‘However, we do know that following the period of plenty which we have had, the going will be challenging over the next few years.’
Following Davies’ speech, three Welsh councils said they would not be participating in an efficiency plan to share services across the ten authorities in southeast Wales.
A Cardiff Council report said there were ‘serious shortcomings’ in the South East Wales Regional Partnership proposal to share human resources and payroll services.
A spokeswoman for Newport Council said it did not feel the shared HR services plan would achieve considerable financial gain. Caerphilly council also decided not to continue with the scheme.
