Plaid Cymru Council Leaders call out Labour for failing to deliver fair funding for Welsh communities
In response to the UK Government’s Pride of Place programme announced on 25/9/25 where £214m of funding will be provided to Wales to empower local communities to support local facilities, the four Plaid Cymru Council Leaders have issued a statement saying that “Labour has deserted its values and turned its back on promises to deliver fair funding for Welsh communities.”
Plaid Cymru understands that the Pride in Place programme will target neighbourhoods with populations of around 10,000,meaning that many communities in rural parts of Wales will miss out.
Ahead of Jo Stevens, Secretary of State for Wales’ Labour Conference speech this afternoon, where she will say that the UK Government will invest more than £200m to revitalise high streets and regenerate communities in Wales, Cllr Darren Price, Leader of Carmarthenshire County Council, Cllr Bryan Davies, Leader of Ceredigion County Council, Cllr Nia Jeffreys, Leader of Gwynedd County Council and Cllr Gary Pritchard, Leader of the Isle of Anglesey County Council have called out the Labour Government for their “continued disregard for our rural communities that have been disproportionately underfunded over the years”.
Plaid Cymru Council Leaders Darren Price, Bryan Davies, Nia Jeffreys and Gary Pritchard said:
“Any funding for communities across Wales is welcome, but it is clear this does not stem from an understanding of Wales’ needs. It is a political panic button pushed by Labour ahead of a difficult election. The people of Wales can see through that – they have already seen that Labour has deserted its values and turned its back on promises to deliver fair funding for Welsh communities.
“This Pride in Place programme specifically targets neighbourhoods with populations of around 10,000, of which there are only a handful in the four western local authorities we control. This approach highlights the Labour Government’s continued disregard for our rural communities that have been disproportionately underfunded over the years, with countless areas across Wales falling below this threshold and missing out on much needed support.
“This Labour Government is taking local authorities in Wales for a ride – from failing to cover employer National Insurance contributions in the public sector, to keeping councils in the dark about why they are not eligible for funding under the Pride in Place programme. These are the very local authorities that fund our schools, provide social care for our loved ones, and maintain our public spaces and facilities. This is not a government serious about delivering real change on the ground.”
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It’s interesting that the Pride in Place programme is being framed as a ‘panic button’—that really highlights how timing and intention shape how policies are perceived. The challenge,though,is that if communities see it as politically motivated rather than genuinely beneficial,the impact could be undermined regardless of the investment. Maybe the real question is how to build trust so that initiatives like this are seen as long-term commitments rather than short-term fixes.