Welsh council leaders have called for emergency talks after ministers revealed below-inflation funding rises. On average, councils in Wales will get a 2.9% cash increase next year, with three authorities receiving just 1.5%. Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) leader John Davies said "answers to the unanswered questions begged by this budget" were needed. Conservatives warned council taxes would have to rise to keep pace with the UK inflation rate, currently 5.2%. The assembly government maintained that projections indicated inflation would fall sharply next year, but admitted these were "challenging times". Mr Davies predicted "this will be the first of many difficult budget settlements for the assembly government over future years against the backdrop of severe economic recession". "I call on the assembly government to commence emergency discussions and work with local government to find both short term and longer term answers to the unanswered questions begged by this budget," he said. The association is conducting a survey of all councils in Wales to see the impact the funding levels will have on services to present to ministers before the budget is finalised before the end of the year. Mr Davies called for money ministers had withheld from local authorities - to encourage more efficient ways of working - to be returned to them to help keep council taxes increases as low as possible. "Council leaders throughout Wales do not wish to place added worry and burden on people and therefore call upon Welsh assembly ministers to extend a hand of help by assisting councils to reduce the burden of council tax in this forthcoming year," he said. "We will do all in our power to keep council tax levels at or below inflation but it will be impossible to achieve without the financial intervention of the assembly government," Mr Davies added. Anglesey council leader Phil Fowlie, which received one of the lowest settlements, warned that core services could suffer. He said: "Once again this year, Anglesey has been left in the lurch by the assembly and we now face a real fight to safeguard our front-line services." 'List without winners' Welsh Conservative local government spokesperson Nick Ramsay said ministers were not listening to local councils and the way authorities were being treated was "unacceptable". "Once again the assembly government is failing to invest in local services," he said. "And once again it will be local people who are forced to make up the difference through higher council taxes, Mr Ramsey added. Liberal Democrat Jenny Randerson said the proposed settlement for each council read "like a list without winners". "Just 24 hours ago the rate of inflation reached a 16 year high, with the CPI (Consumer Prices Index) hitting 5.2%," she said. "None of our local authorities will get within 1% of that. "The facts are very simple - the total pot available for local government is just too small," she added, calling on ministers to "go back to the books and think again".
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