“Rural Wales at risk of being left behind”- Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds

Today (6^th February 2024) in the Senedd, the Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds has raised her concerns that Rural Wales is at risk of being left behind by the Welsh Government’s draft budget.

Jane Dodds MS has highlighted the cut to the Rural Affairs budget, issues surrounding the future of funding for farmers, and the funding gaps facing local authorities as primary concerns.

According to data from Unison, the following Mid Wales councils will be facing funding gaps for vital local services:

·       Powys County Council will be facing a funding gap of £6,646,000.

·       Ceredigion County Council will be facing a funding gap of £22,000,000.

·       Pembrokeshire County Council will be facing a funding gap of £13,400,000.

·       Carmarthenshire County Council will be facing a funding gap of £29,000,000.

·       Gwynedd County Council will be facing a funding gap of £2,848,630.

In total, Mid Wales councils will be facing a combined funding gap of £73,895,630.

Commenting, Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds said:

“Rural Wales has been disproportionately affected by an imbalanced and short-sighted draft budget.

At a time of major transition and uncertainty, with the agriculture industry assailed by fresh bureaucracy during its move towards a more sustainable future, thousands of rural families and small businesses are facing a cliff edge in support.

Our villages and farming communities are the heartbeat of Wales, and yet they are facing challenges from a lack of digital connectivity, school closures and a lack of transport links.

Combine this with cuts to rural investment schemes, farming budgets and funds for local councils, and we will see a heightened rural decline.

The Welsh Labour Government and their Plaid Cymru partners have offered very little in the way of levitating the pressures on our rural communities, choosing instead to follow the same old “steady as she goes approach” that works to only paper over the cracks in our badly fractured services.

We cannot afford to abandon rural Wales, we must invest in our rural economy while at the same time provide sustainable support for the agricultural industry.”