Speaking during Prime Minister’s Question’s on Wednesday 16th of July, Anne Marie raised the importance of fair funding for rural councils compared to those in urban areas.
Anne Marie strongly supports the Rural Fair Share campaign to redress the huge divide in funding availability. This campaign involves Members of both Houses of Parliament, as well as organisations, community groups, and individuals concerned about the welfare of our rural communities. Better funding for rural councils could be used for key frontline services, such as education. The demands of the f40 Campaign for Fairer Funding in Education, backed by Anne Marie, could be met by an increase local council funding feeding into local education authorities.
In his reply, the Prime Minister agreed that continued investment in the Dawlish railway line is vital to its future resilience. Commitment to investment in other transport schemes, including the sleeper service and road improvements, was also highlighted. Most significantly, the Prime Minister supported Anne Marie’s calls for the funding situation for councils to be fair.
Last week the Growth Deal of £130 million was announced, which will be spent on local projects to encourage development in Devon and Somerset, including improvements to transport, construction schemes, careers, help for the unemployed and specialist skills training. Though more funding has also been made available through Local Government Financial Settlement, much more needs to be done to allocate rural constituencies like Newton Abbot the money they deserve.