Powys' budget woes put on Minister's agenda

4.09.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 26th Sep 2008

Powys AMs Kirsty Williams and Mick Bates have described yesterday's meeting with the Minister for Local Government as a 'very positive first step' in the fight to raise Powys County Council's settlement for 2009/10 above the forecast nil %.

Kirsty Williams AM for Brecon & Radnorshire said: "We had a positive meeting where the Minister took on board the need to make any announcement of setting a floor figure sooner rather than later; in order to avoid unnecessary anxiety for local authorities, such as Powys, at the bottom of the pile.

"We are hopeful that he will be favourable to announcing the principle of a floor earlier this year than was done last year. But this must come in conjunction with an earlier announcement of the actual figure of the floor so council's know exactly where they stand as soon as possible.

"In the short term we will continue to lobby for a floor along the lines of the 2% seen earlier this year, but in the longer term a more sustainable option is needed in the form of rural grants as suggested by the Rural Development Sub Committee.

"This year councils are facing an even tougher economic climate than last year and a nil% increase will mean either frontline cuts to services such as libraries and leisure centres or a hike in the level of council tax."

Mick Bates, AM for Montgomeryshire comments:

"It is a simple fact that the delivery of services in rural areas often costs two to three times more than in urban areas. Sadly rural councils are suffering at the hands of a short sighted Labour-Plaid Government, which is blind to the additional challenges and pressure on resources that rural areas face.

"Fuel and energy costs are escalating and this is putting increasing pressure on local councils to deliver frontline services. Rural areas such as Powys suffer worse, due to their decentralised nature and sparse population, which leads to a reliance on transport and large numbers of relatively small buildings to deliver local services.

"As part of the Rural Development Committee we recognised the pressures on rural councils suffering from a budget deficit. We have urged those who control the purse strings in Wales to give greater recognition to the issue of rurality, so that rural councils receive a fair budget settlement that really reflects their needs. We also recommended a review of the funding formulae and an analysis of the changing demographic and socio-economic trends in rural areas.

"Times are changing and the services that rural communities will require in the future are changing. The Labour-Plaid Government must wake up to reality and build a more sustainable budget plan for the future, so that local councils are not faced with the yearly anxiety over budget cuts and can continue to provide the quality of service that people deserve."

Notes:

Powys' budget settlement for 2008/09, at 1 % was originally the worst in Wales before being increased to a floor figure of 2%, after a hard campaign. This was still below inflation and left the council to make tough decisions about frontline services.

Kirsty Williams and Mick Bates met with the Minister Brian Gibbons AM along with Gwilym Vaughan, Portfolio holder for finance and Geoffrey Petty, Head of Finance on Thursday 25th September.

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