Tomorrow I am joining residents of Powys to lobby the Welsh assembly about the budget settlement we have received. Initially 0%, but now given a floor of just 1.5%, the Powys Against Cuts in Education group have arranged to lobby the Welsh Assembly tomorrow ahead of the finance debate that will take place at the assembly in the afternoon. The very poor settlement is extremeley worrying for Powys  and I hope that the Assembly members will take notice of the concerns we raise. We need to fight for a new formula as being a rural area we are constantly losing out when it comes to the budget settlements. We, in rural areas have our own deprivation issues to face. We have poor or even non existent tranpsort links and need to tackle sparsity issues. There is a huge demand on our adult and social care services and we must ensure that the Welsh assembly take these serious issues into consideration.

Here are some concerns raised by PACE (Powys Against Cuts in Eductaion)

• This year the budget increase is 1.5% – inflation is 5.2% – this represents a huge cut
• Teachers and essential support staff will lose jobs – leading to larger classes and cuts in the subjects offered to pupils in Powys
• Already parents in some schools are raising up to 50% of the budget needed to buy essential learning materials
• Teachers often use their own money to buy materials for classroom use
• Many schools are still housed in crumbling. leaky buildings with antiquated heating systems and little ventilation.

 POWYS AGAINST CUTS IN EDUCTAION (PACE) is a group of non-aligned parents, governors and tecahers. They say enough is enough.

 

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