Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Edwards MP has called for the UK Government housing minister to meet with his opposite number at the Welsh Assembly Government in order to discuss the future of the housing revenue account subsidy system.

Under this system, Welsh local authorities paid £80million back to the Treasury in 2008-2009.

A consultation on local authority housing funding in England will finish on Tuesday, 6th July, and Mr Edwards has laid an early day motion to ensure that the UK Government liaises appropriately with the Welsh Government.

Mr Edwards said:
“It is a ridiculous situation that Welsh local authorities are being penalised to this extent for running their housing budgets effectively.

“In a time of hardship and cuts, this is more than £80million which could be re-invested in the local economy, boosting affordable housing construction, stimulating the local economy and creating new jobs.

“In England they are reviewing the effect of this unfair subsidy system, but the review does not extend to Wales.

“When the consultation period ends on Tuesday and the UK Government begin to analyse the results, they should meet with the Welsh housing minister, Jocelyn Davies, to discuss how we can work together to right this wrong.

“Wales has an older than average housing stock than England, and returning this £80m back to Wales where it belongs is very important to ensure that all affordable housing in Wales is able to meet the Welsh Quality Housing Standard.”

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