AMs fight for Powys settlement

11.30.00am GMT Tue 18th Nov 2008

Powys AMs Kirsty Williams & Mick Bates today joined campaigners to call for a higher budget settlement for Powys.

The AMs met with campaigning school teachers and union reps who are calling for more funding for education in the county. If the budget is not increased then educational funding will lose out.

The two AMs have consistently called for a raise in the 3.7% below inflation budget settlement from the WAG, which puts the county at the bottom of the table with Blaenau Gwent and the Isle of Anglesey.

Kirsty Williams, AM for Brecon & Radnorshire said: "I was delighted to join my constituents and Powys Councillors to call for a better settlement not only to ensure the greater investment in education that is so desperately needed but also to ensure that our front line services are kept without a raise in council tax.

"We are now in a difficult economic climate, with ever increasing energy costs and this real terms cut of nearly 4p in every pound will only make things worse for Powys and further threaten frontline services.

"Yet another poor settlement for Powys shows that a change in the formula used to allocate money to local authorities across Wales is desperately needed. The current formula is based primarily on demographic considerations and as it stands rural areas such as Powys lose out because whilst their population may be less than the more densely populated urban centres, the logistical costs of delivering services in the largest county in Wales are clearly much higher.

"We need a fairer system that takes local exceptions into account so that the real cost of service provision is met and our rural areas do not further lose out."

Mick Bates AM for Montgomeryshire said: "The Labour-Plaid Government has once again failed to grasp the fact that delivering local services in rural areas, with such a disperse population and poor infrastructure, often costs two to three times more than in urban areas.

"Last year Kirsty Williams and I met with Powys Councillors in the Senedd and successfully lobbied for a 1.5% floor for Local Government Settlements. It is unacceptable that this year we find ourselves in the same position, with Powys Council facing a settlement far below inflation. This will mean severe challenges and hard times ahead for our council, as Powys will face the difficult choice of choosing between increasing council tax or cutting back on the delivery of front line services, both of which equal a raw deal for people across the county.

"I believe it is vital that we look to Europe to assist areas such as Powys, which year on year are being neglected by a Labour-Plaid Government which has failed to fight for a good deal for Wales. The Assembly Government must implement a Rural Deprivation Grant to address the differential in the cost of delivering services in rural and urban areas and to help us through the tough times ahead."

Cllr Clair Powell will be amongst the protesters attending, she said: "I welcome the opportunity to lobby the Welsh Assembly Government for the vital funding for education in Powys. Our children cannot loose out because the WAG has negotiated a bad settlement from Westminster and is passing this onto local authorities."

Notes:

• The draft budget will today be debated in the chamber, with the Liberal Democrats calling for more money to be given directly to local authorities to spend on local services, without being forced to put up council tax.

• After a successful meeting between the two Powys AMs, Council representatives and the Minister the provisional 0% settlement has been raised to the 1.5% floor, though an improvement this is still amongst the lowest in Wales.