A COUNCILLOR from Bridgend has called for local government reform following the budget setting process for the 2025-26 financial year.
Speaking at a meeting held by Bridgend County Borough Council on Wednesday, February 26, the Llynfi Independent leader Ross Penhale-Thomas said changes needed to be made in order to improve the outlook for local authorities as they grapple with cost pressures and increased demands for services.
The discussions came as part of the council’s final budget setting process for 2025-26, where debates were held over how the council would balance the books for the coming year.
Cllr Penhale-Thomas of Maesteg West told members in attendance that feedback given to him by residents suggested they had become angry and fed up in recent years, adding local councils were becoming bystanders or “puppets” to decisions made for them elsewhere.
He said local authorities were now in need of longer-term budget settlements to make financial planning easier, as opposed to the current year-by-year method which he felt was “fraught with chaos and uncertainty”.
He also called for a fundamental review of the Barnett Formula so Wales could get its fair share of UK funding based on needs, as well as a review of local government itself to prevent “postcode lotteries” in service delivery.
While addressing the chamber, he said: “There’s no sound or logical reason for a population of 3.2 million people to have 22 local authorities, 1,200 councillors and a postcode lottery of service provision. It’s high time that local government reform was on the agenda.”
The discussions came as part of Bridgend county council’s final budget setting process for the 2025-26 financial year – which saw a revenue budget worth a total of £383m approved by members after an increase in Welsh Government funding of 3.9%.
It also came with a council tax increase of 4.5% for residents, along with a range of other saving measures, which officers said were needed to tackle “unprecedented” financial pressures they currently faced.
