Montgomeryshire Assembly Member, Russell George, has challenged the Welsh First Minister over his Government’s support for Powys Citizens Advice Service, saying that ‘poor’ annual funding settlements for Powys Council have contributed to the situation.
Mr George used the opportunity during weekly questions to the First Minister, Carwyn Jones AM, to point out the local authority had found itself in such a difficult financial position that they were forced to consider cuts to CAB services in Powys because of his Government’s repeated and historic under-funding. He also stressed that Powys was one of only three authorities that did not benefit from the Communities First funding programme, which had also exacerbated the problem.
Mr George said:
“First Minister, I don’t need to document the financial position that CAB service in Powys is finding itself in due to potential funding cuts from Powys County Council.
“While I understand the Council’s requirement to make savings, I think cutting core CAB funding would be a short-term, retrograde step and would have a far bigger cost impact that the sum it’s trying to save.
“Powys Council missed out on Communities First funding – only one of three authorities not to receive this funding in Wales last year – which was used by other local authorities to support their CAB services.
“Therefore, is there any additional Welsh Government support you have identified at this stage that the CAB service in Powys may benefit from by delivering government services and what discussions have your officials had with Powys Council and Powys CAB to help mitigate the loss of this vital service for the region?”
Mr Jones said that his Government was working with the Independent Advice Forum to discuss funding pressures on CAB services across Wales but that this issue was fundamentally a decision for Powys Council to take and that the Government was not prepared to back fill support if a cut in funding was made.
