Local government funding in Wales needs an urgent review to give rural councils the support they need to maintain essential services, Powys County Council has said.
The council, says a review of the funding formula and increased support is needed to acknowledge the cost of providing essential services such as schools and social care across a large geographic region.
The the country’s largest rural authority has revealed that it spends £10.4 million every year on transporting kids to school, with 52% of secondary pupils travelling more than three miles to attend school.
It also highlighted that 58.7% of Powys residents live in villages, hamlets or dispersed settlements, compared to the Welsh average of 17.1%.
Powys also the most sparsely populated county in Wales, with only 26 people per square km with the Welsh average being 150 per km. Powys also has the second largest road network in Wales to maintain.
All these facts have been highlighted to the Welsh Government and Leader of the Council, Councillor Rosemarie Harris, said: “We are not asking for special treatment but for recognition that delivering services in Powys is far more costly than urban areas and needs more funding to provide a level playing field.
“Without changes to the (Welsh Government) funding formula or an increase in the county’s annual financial allocation, the county council will be forced to reduce service delivery and residents will rightly complain they are paying more for less.
“The council has carried out its own analysis of the difference between urban and rural service delivery costs and the findings are stark if not unsurprising.”