MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council will receive £96 million in core funding from the Welsh Assembly Government in 2011-12 to support local services.

This is equivalent to £1,081 for every man, woman and child living in the area. In addition to this, £5.1 million will be available to support capital projects in Monmouthshire. 

The Council will also receive specific grants to support a range of activities including early years and post 16 education, refuse disposal and recycling. 

In line with the Assembly Government's commitment to protect schools and the vulnerable during these particularly difficult times, the Minister pledged that more cash will go to schools and social services over the next three years.   

Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant said, "I am increasing slightly the cash funding of local authorities over the three year period.

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This is in stark contrast to the position in England where local government core funding shows a decrease of 2.3 percent on a like for like basis.

"To protect schools, the settlement includes an increase in funding for education of around £61 million over the three year period. There is also an additional £35 million to enable councils to meet the pressure on vital social services for the young and old during these difficult times.

"There can be no respite. The challenge of delivering good quality services for less money continues.

"I am confident that local authority managers, trade unions and those at the front line of services will rise to the challenge and deliver for citizens across Wales."

Despite the minister's optimism, the mood was gloomier at Monmouthshire County Council headquarters where the settlement was said to represent a 'real terms' reduction of 3.3per cent.

Councillor Phil Murphy, cabinet member with responsibility for finance said: "Local government finance is complicated. It is basically made up of a number of elements, including council tax.

"The largest part of our budget is made up of the Revenue Support Grant and redistributed business rate income. This comes from the Welsh Assembly Government.

"We have been told this week that next year this money will be 3.3 per cent less than the money we received this year. It means that we'll receive funding of £1,081 per resident. This is still the lowest figure per head in Wales and significantly lower than the Welsh average of £1,318 per head.

"The council has also been told to expect a cut in Capital Funding of 20 per cent, but there is no detail yet, so we cannot say at this stage which projects might be affected most.

"We also don't know at this stage how we might be affected by cuts to the grant funding that pays for specific projects.

Councillor Murphy added: "People view Monmouthshire as a wealthy rural area. But as this week's Commission for Rural Communities report points out, there are hidden costs to living in the countryside and rural families need to spend up to 20 per cent more than town dwellers for an acceptable standard of living.

"So this is a doubly tough budget settlement. But we have planned for it. Cabinet discussed the council's medium term financial plan earlier this month.

"It prioritises protecting schools, vulnerable people and economic development. We will keep to those commitments and - although we still don't know the full funding picture for next year - we are still on target for a council tax rise of 3 per cent."