LOCAL MPs have written to Westminster demanding that Flintshire Council gets its fair share of funding to cover the cost of teacher pay and pensions.

David Hanson, MP for Delyn, and Mark Tami, MP for Alyn and Deeside sent the letter to the chancellor of the exchequer in the hope of getting a meeting to discuss the funding Flintshire needs.

Flintshire Council has informed residents that it is facing a budget gap of £3.102m. Without further intervention from UK government to increase the Welsh Government’s budgets, the only remaining options they have left to balance the budget are council tax increases or drawing on reserves and balances. But senior officers do not believe that anymore can be done without putting statutory services at risk.

Pressure has increased on its budgets following the teacher pay and conditions decision taken by the secretary of state for education in England. Currently, teacher pay and conditions is a reserved matter for Westminster meaning that the English Secretary of State can set pay increases and pension policy.

The decision to increase teacher pay is welcomed by Delyn and Alyn and Deeside MPs as public-sector workers have been deprived of a decent day’s pay for too long.

However, the decision was taken by UK government that it would only be partly funded.

The chancellor made it known that £4.7billion will be made nationally available to cover public sector increased pension costs. However, there was no information on whether this would result in a consequential for Welsh Government funding.

On teacher pensions, from September 2019 the employer’s contribution will increase from 16.48% to 23.6%. The impact of this on Flintshire schools will be £2.026m.

David Hanson MP said: “The chronic underfunding of the Welsh Government and local government by the UK Government has placed untold strain on our local services.

“The austerity that has been forced upon us is driven by a rigid dogma from the Conservative Party and has no basis in economic reality.

“Whilst I welcome the pay increase for our teachers it should be a cost that is shared across England and Wales.

“We have arrived at a situation where the councils in South East England are cash rich and councils in Wales struggle due to their restricted capacity to raise revenue.

“All we are asking for is some sign that the UK Government is listening.”