£250,000 Grants Scheme for Rural Areas to Continue under Borough Unitary Authority

Bedford Borough Council's system of grant awards to rural Parish Councils is set to continue in the first year of the new unitary authority, despite having been proposed to be scrapped.

The Liberal Democrats have supported the move, which will see the recent level of grant funding of up to £250,000 to rural areas retained for the 2009/10 financial year, subject to approval of the Borough Council budget at a meeting of the Full Council tonight.

Commenting on the issue, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Harrold Ward Nick Charsley said: "The continuation of the grants scheme is good news for the rural areas of the Borough. A huge range of extremely important facilities, projects and infrastructure have been put in place thanks to the rural grants in recent years, and I am delighted that this valuable source of support for rural communities is being retained for the coming year."

The continuation of the £250,000 grant scheme will be achieved by using unspent funds from past years and reallocating other capital funding. There will therefore be no impact on the proposed Borough council tax increase of 0.9%.