POWYS AMs Kirsty Williams and Mick Bates joined campaigners to call for a higher budget settlement for the county.

The AMs joined with campaigning school teachers and union reps outside the Welsh Assembly, in calling for more funding for education in the county. If the budget is not increased then educational funding will lose out. The AMs have consistently called for a raise in the 3.7 percent below inflation budget settlement from the WAG, which puts the county at the bottom of the table with Blaenau Gwent and the Isle of Anglesey.

Kirsty Williams, AM for Brecon and Radnorshire said, "I was delighted to join my constituents and Powys councillors to call for a better settlement not only to ensure the greater investment in education that is so desperately needed but also to ensure that our front line services are kept without a raise in council tax.

"We are now in a difficult economic climate, with ever increasing energy costs and this real terms cut of nearly 4p in every pound will only make things worse for Powys and further threaten frontline services.

"Yet another poor settlement for Powys shows that a change in the formula used to allocate money to local authorities across Wales is desperately needed. The current formula is based primarily on demographic considerations and as it stands rural areas such as Powys lose out because whilst their population may be less than the more densely populated urban centres, the logistical costs of delivering services in the largest county in Wales are clearly much higher. We need a fairer system that takes local exceptions into account so that the real cost of service provision is met and our rural areas do not further lose out."

Last year the AMs met with Powys councillors in the Senedd and successfully lobbied for a 1.5 percent floor for Local Government Settlements.

Councillor Clair Powell said, "I welcome the opportunity to lobby the Welsh Assembly Government for the vital funding for education in Powys. Our children cannot lose out because the WAG has negotiated a bad settlement from Westminster and is passing this onto local authorities."