Labour putting the brakes on Community broadcasting - Burnham

5.01.00pm GMT Mon 29th Jan 2007

Eleanor Burnham AM has exposed the Assembly government's delays in delivering funding promised to aid Community Radio groups in Wales during the recent Assembly budget negotiations.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats, along with other opposition parties, won a new funding package for Community Radio of half a million pounds to be delivered over the next five years. However, since questioning Social Justice and Regeneration Minister Edwina Hart on a timescale for the funding and support for applicants, it has been revealed that the government are now dragging their heels in their commitment to deliver the money.

Ms Burnham, Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Culture and North Wales AM, said: "The Minister has revealed a major delay in getting the cash where it is needed in her answer to my question about the support for those applying for Community Radio funding.

"I have been in touch with many Community Radio groups, who still face a long and complex application process in their attempts to set up broadcasting within the heart of their own communities.

"I'm sure that the government thought the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the other parties could be bought off with the settlement for Community Radio, but no one has been convinced by the government's time-wasting.

"I will be writing to Ofcom, responsible for broadcasting in Wales, to find out just how far the Minister's negotiations have got, because we want to see the promise made by the Assembly government delivered."

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