The Labour Party is to put forward a motion in Parliament that will suggest the inclusion of Local Councils in the “Good Causes Fund”.

Stefan Buontempo, Labour Spokesperson for Local Councils stated that the democratic process demands that the central government takes each andevery opportunity to make full use of the bond between local councilsand the communities for which they are responsible, thus a unique opportunity to foster such bonds is the Good Causes Fund.

This fund is designed to provide financial assistance to those who merit such assistance.This fund, administered by the Ministry of Finance and which is often controversial, is eligible to private organizations.

In spite of the fact that local councils work at grass root level, they are excluded from applying for these funds on behalf of their residents.

The Labour Party, whilst fully supporting the request by the Association for Local Councils so that they would be considered eligible to applyfor these funds, is disappointed to note that it is clear that such a request is being totally sidelined by the department concerned.

The Labour Party will therefore be taking this very just cause to Parliament so that the concept of subsidiary funding will truly beapplied in the interest of each resident in the community.