Austerity and local government in Wales: an analysis of income and spending priorities, 2009-10 to 2016-17

This briefing paper is the first in a short series by Wales Public Services 2025 on the changing face of local government finance in Wales. The context is the UK-wide programme being undertaken by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, A time of revolution?. The paper looks at the impact of the UK Government’s fiscal consolidation policies, and the Welsh Government’s response, on the revenues and expenditure (excluding capital) of the twenty-two unitary authorities in Wales from 2009-10 to 2016-17 and the funding of ‘protected’ and ‘unprotected’ services. The analysis is based on the outturn figures submitted annually by local authorities and it applies analysis at the NUTS 2 level (which divides Wales into two economic regions, West Wales & the Valleys and East Wales) so as to illustrate the variation in changes to revenues and service spending. Changes over time are expressed in real terms (2017-18 prices).