Friday, June 28, 2013
Reforming Council Housing finance in Wales
I note from today's Western Mail that the Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr is claiming victory following news that the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Scheme, which has seen over £1bn of Welsh Council rent money paid to the UK Government, will be reformed. This will mean that the eleven councils who still retain housing stock will share an extra £33m each year to repair and build new homes.
The MP’s claim is based on the fact that he tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling for reform and to be fair, a number of press releases over the last few years.
The heavy lifting in securing this agreement however, was not carried out by Plaid Cymru but by Welsh Government Ministers and the Liberal Democrats Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, facilitated by Welsh Liberal Democrats such as myself and Kirsty Williams. That was acknowledged by the Housing Minister in the Assembly last week.
This has been a long campaign covering both this and the last government, in which I, and others across party lines have sought to get some justice for Welsh tenants. I am delighted that it was a Liberal Democrats UK Government Minister that finally settled the matter.
The MP’s claim is based on the fact that he tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling for reform and to be fair, a number of press releases over the last few years.
The heavy lifting in securing this agreement however, was not carried out by Plaid Cymru but by Welsh Government Ministers and the Liberal Democrats Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, facilitated by Welsh Liberal Democrats such as myself and Kirsty Williams. That was acknowledged by the Housing Minister in the Assembly last week.
This has been a long campaign covering both this and the last government, in which I, and others across party lines have sought to get some justice for Welsh tenants. I am delighted that it was a Liberal Democrats UK Government Minister that finally settled the matter.
