At last year’s Autumn Budget, the UK Chancellor, Philip Hammond, asserted with confidence that “austerity is finally coming to an end”. His claim is unlikely to resonate within the halls of local government in Wales. Despite nearly a decade of sustained budget cuts, the outlook for local government finance suggests that tough choices and trade-offs are here to stay. Read more
As local authorities across Wales prepare to publish their budgets for 2019-20, expect to see a significant rise in Council Tax, with councils increasingly relying on locally-sourced revenue to partially offset cuts to their funding and to meet increasing demand pressures. Read more
Last year saw the fastest growth in public spending for Wales since 2009-10. However, total spending is still well below 2009-10 levels, particularly on areas outside of health and social protection. In this post, Guto Ifan and Cian Sion from Wales Fiscal Analysis analyse the latest release of data on total public spending for Wales. Read more
An earlier version of this article was published at the UK Constitutional Law Association In autumn 2017 Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales, announced a Commission on Justice in Wales, chaired by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd previously Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. The Commission is reviewing ‘the operation of the Justice system in Read more
