14 November 2007
The Assembly Government’s provisional settlement means devastating cuts for front-line services across north and rural Wales. Four councils in particular within the region get increases of under 2%- 1.9% in Gwynedd, 1.1% in Anglesey and Conwy and only 1% in Powys, the lowest in Wales.
Responding to the Welsh Assembly Government’s provisional local government settlement published today, Cllr Richard Parry Hughes (Gwynedd), WLGA Plaid Cymru Group Leader said:
“This budget for councils across North Wales is the worse since devolution. It comes on top of councils in this area receiving consistently bad settlements over recent years although none which have sunk as low as this. The pressure on council tax across the six North Wales councils will be huge as will the impact on services. For North Wales councils, the distance between Cardiff and Caernarfon feels much wider as a result of this dismal increase. ”
Cllr Michael Jones (Powys), WLGA Independent Group Leader said:
“The Assembly government has claimed on numerous occasions to recognise rural Wales as a distinct policy area. I see absolutely no evidence of this in the settlement. Indeed rural communities across mid and north Wales are the real losers in what is an awful outcome for local government across Wales. The new government talks the language of “One Wales” but the core services which are the lifeblood of rural communities are under threat as never before. In this context our councils must decide what are our key priorities. Is it implementing yet more initiatives from Cardiff Bay or is it about protecting our rural communities from the ravages of this?”
Cllr John Pitt (Conwy), WLGA Conservative Group Leader said:
“Quite how the Assembly Government can expect us to maintain services with this incredibly poor outcome belies belief. The problem is that this will carry through to the next two years and could effectively wipe out most services in a low spending authority like Conwy. Having just achieved our savings package over the recent years it is obscene to start looking for more millions.”
Ends
For more information contact: Natasha Weeks