Plaid Cymru councillors on Carmarthenshire County Council are calling for a root and branch review into how Welsh Government measure and address rural poverty at a meeting of full council next week (Wednesday, 13 November). According to the Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) rural poverty can be masked by the perceived affluence of rural areas and by a culture of self-reliance in rural communities. Although the manifestations of rural and urban poverty are sometimes similar, their causes and scale are often different.
Cllr Hefin Jones will propose the motion:
‘We know that poverty exists in all types of communities and addressing it is equally important wherever it exists. However, rural poverty is different in the way it manifests and is often masked or hidden and the WCPP says that there are “significant gaps in the evidence base” when it comes to shedding light on the distribution of rural poverty. So, how is Welsh Government supposed to support and address rural poverty if it does not even have the full picture? This is why our motion calls on Welsh Government to collaborate with experts to develop and set new and specific targets and criteria to reduce rural proverty and deprivation.’
Cllr. Carys Jones, Cabiet Member for Rural Affairs, Community Cohesion and Planning Policy will second the motion:
‘Our motion calls for addressing the root causes of Rural Poverty through policies and strategies across all levels of government and beyond. We need unique relevant measures in order to recognize and respond to the growing challenges that lie ahead in our rural areas.
From affordable housing to transport, to the cost of heating your home and accessing wifi, there are obstacles and barriers that residents of rural communities must navigate in daily life which don’t exist in other areas. Funding to address these challenges will be key. Imagine how much Welsh Government could improve rural bus networks, for example, if Labour in Westminster paid the £4 billion owed to us from HS2. It is not only urban areas that would benefit from Wales being paid what we are really owed through the Barnett Formula.’
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