The Welsh Assembly government announced a consultation on recommendations in a survey of the role, functions and future potential of community and town councils in Wales. The survey report concluded that community and town councils had the potential to make significant contributions to the areas they served by being responsive to local needs, representing local interests to external bodies, facilitating community activities and events, and enhancing the services provided by other bodies: their benefits outweighed their associated costs.
Source: Michael Woods, Bill Edwards, Jon Anderson, Graham Gardner and Rachel Hughes, A Research Study into the Role, Functions and Future Potential of Community and Town Councils, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5490)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | WAG press release
Date: 2003-Nov
The Welsh Assembly approved a severance package for people who had served as local councillors 15 years or more, in an attempt to attract younger people into local government.
Source: The Local Authorities (Allowances for Members of County and County Borough Councils) (Past Service Awards) (Wales) Regulations 2003, Welsh Statutory Instrument 2003/2676 (W.258), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Statutory Instrument | NAW debate | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
A report said that planning authorities' failure to have up-to-date housing needs assessments in their areas had prevented them increasing provision of affordable housing for local people in rural Wales. Instead, some had attempted unsuccessfully to place restrictions on outsiders buying homes in areas, such as the national parks, where high demand was forcing prices out of reach of local people.
Source: Eilidh Johnston, A Source of Contention: Affordable housing in rural Wales, Institute of Welsh Affairs (029 2057 5511)
Links: IWA press release
Date: 2003-Sep
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on the way environmental issues were tackled on Welsh farms, and the payments which could be available to help farmers to take an environmentally sustainable approach to the way they farmed.
Source: Welsh Farming and the Environment: Consultation on a new approach, Welsh Assembly Government (01970 627762)
Links: WAG press release
Date: 2003-Aug
A report said that the new social justice ministry in the Welsh Assembly government faced a difficult task. It said that the main weapon for tackling deprivation would be the 83 million 'Communities First' programme targeted at 142 of the most disadvantaged wards in Wales: but local authorities appeared to be the main agents for delivery of the programme.
Source: Welsh Labour Takes Control: National Assembly monitoring report March to June 2003, Institute of Welsh Affairs (029 2057 5511)
Links: IWA press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A report called for comprehensive new strategies to address rural poverty in Wales. It said the problems facing families living on low income in rural areas include a lack of well paid local employment; poor access to transport; the prohibitive cost of childcare; difficulties in finding good-quality housing; and a poor level of services, especially for families with disability issues.
Source: Tricia Sharpe, The Good Life?, Barnardo s Cymru (029 2049 3387) and NCH Cymru
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
