THE Vale of Glamorgan Council is set to see a 0.4 per cent drop in its funding from Welsh Government.

In an announcement today (Tuesday, October 10) Mark Drakeford the cabinet secretary for finance and local government revealed the Vale's funding would drop from £152,666,000 in 2017/2018 to £151,996,000 in 2018/2019.

Neighbouring Cardiff will be the only authority to see a rise (0.2 per cent) while Bridgend will see a 0.6 per cent fall in funding.

Mr Drakeford said: "This is a realistic settlement that continues to protect local government from significant cuts against a backdrop of reducing budgets from the UK Government.

"This means local authorities will have £4.2 billion to spend on delivering key services next year.

"This includes £1.8 million floor funding to ensure that no authority has to manage with a reduction of more than 1 per cent to its Revenue Support Grant next year.

"While Welsh local government continues to be protected from the impact of austerity explained elsewhere, I recognise that this settlement is still a real terms cut in core funding, when authorities face real pressures from such things as an ageing population, pay and other inflationary pressures.

"Therefore, it is vital that we continue to work together to deliver efficiencies.

"To put us in the best place to prepare for more challenging times ahead, it is vital that we press ahead with our plans for local government reform, to provide the mechanisms to deliver systematic and mandatory regional working.

"This, along with the greater freedoms such as through making available to authorities the general power of competence, are essential for ensuring that local authorities continue to be financially sustainable and deliver effective and resilient services."

This announcement starts the formal six-week consultation on the provisional local government settlement.

This will end on November 21.