Plaid Cymru Ceredigion Your representatives in Ceredigion

The Welsh Government has announced that rail fares in Wales will increase by 4.9% to meet rising costs.

Ben Lake says Welsh public services ‘need urgent financial support’

Plaid Cymru’s Treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake MP, has today (Wednesday 7 February) written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer calling for a review of the Barnett formula to ensure “fair funding for Wales”, after the commitment of a £3.3 billion funding package for Northern Ireland, including over £1 billion earmarked for supporting public services.

The Office of Rail and Road launched an investigation into poor train punctuality and reliability in the Network Rail Wales & Western region late last year.

The investigation follows a continued deterioration in performance in this region at a time when the wider network across Great Britain has seen performance stabilising.

Dear Ceredigion resident, 

I’m writing directly to you, the residents and ratepayers of Ceredigion, in order to explain the extraordinarily difficult financial situation faced by your Council. Over the next few weeks, all councillors will be faced with decisions on setting next year’s budget and I wanted you to be aware of the financial pressures we're under. I have been a councillor for over 10 years and the Council Leader for less than 2 years. I have never known such a challenging financial situation.  

On Monday, 22 January, Ben Lake MP demanded fairer trading practices in the food supply chain during a debate in Westminster on the ‘Groceries Supply Code of Practice’.  

The debate was triggered following a petition calling on the UK Government to amend the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) to require retailers, “without exception”, to: “Buy what they agreed to buy, Pay what they agreed to pay [and] Pay on time”. 

Last Friday, the women of Talgarreg presented Ben Lake MP and Elin Jones MS with a petition calling for peace in Gaza, in honour of the women of the village who did similar work, a hundred years ago.

Ceredigion councillors extremely disappointed with the funding announcement.

Earlier this week, Ceredigion County Council was informed by the Welsh Labour Government what its financial settlement will be for the year 2024-25. The settlement announced is only 2.6% which is significantly lower than inflation, and which is much less than the figure of 3.1% announced by Rebecca Evans, Minister for Finance and Local Government as a minimum. Newport Council received 4.7% and Cardiff Council 4.1%.

Last week, as they have done in previous years,  all Ceredigion Plaid Cymru councillors donated to a very worthy cause, the county's food banks. 

Cheques were presented in Penparcau, Aberaeron, Lampeter, Cardigan and Llandysul giving a total £3250 to support the amazing work of the Ceredigion food banks.

Ben Lake, the Member of Parliament for Ceredigion, has questioned the Chief Executives of Natural Resources Wales and Ofwat regarding the serious failings of the regulatory regime which failed to prevent years of illegal sewage discharged into the river Teifi.

In an exchange before the Welsh Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons, Clare Pillman, Natural Resources Wales’ chief executive, defended the regulator's lack of prosecutions for thousands of days’ worth of illegal sewage discharges in the river Teifi.  

Data compiled by mathematician and former UCL professor Peter Hammond confirmed that the river Teifi has suffered a higher level of pollution than any other river in Wales in recent years. 

‘Plaid Cymru stands with struggling families; it is time for the UK Government to show it cares too’ – Ben Lake MP

Ahead of Wednesday’s Autumn Statement, Plaid Cymru Treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake MP has today (Sunday 19 November) urged the Chancellor to use the opportunity to tackle the ‘inequality crisis’ by cracking down on ‘corporate greed’.