Berman blames lack of cash for failure to bid for UK culture city title.

Byline: Tomos Livingstone

CARDIFF council has not put the capital's name forward to be UK City of Culture in 2013 - blaming the Assembly Government for not providing it with enough cash.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has expressed surprise that all 29 of the entries for the title so far are from England and Scotland.

Cardiff had been expected to compete after narrowly failing to win the title of European Capital of Culture in 2008.

There is still time for a change of plan as the final deadline for entries is not until the end of this year.

But Rodney Berman, leader of Cardiff council, said: "Welsh local government has found itself repeatedly squeezed and so it is no surprise that no city council in Wales feels it can rush into what might be a very costly bidding process for UK City of Culture."

Due to the rotation of the Capital of Culture prize among member states of the expanded EU, British cities will not have a chance to bid again for the European title until 2032 - hence the DCMS' decision to create a new UK-only competition.

The Government wants events like the BBC Sports Personality of the Year to be held in the winning city.

Mr Berman added: "We are all currently contemplating how we might cope with an even lesser increase in funding in the coming year, with many councils feeling they will have no choice but to reduce the number of staff they employ and cut back on the services they provide.

"It is therefore only right that we should think very carefully before considering taking on any new funding commitments and that is no doubt why no Welsh city has yet made a decision to bid.

A spokeswoman for the Assembly Government said: "We have provided a realistic settlement for Cardiff council in what is a tight three-year budget for the Assembly Government.

"While these are challenging economic and financial times for the public sector, businesses and citizens alike, we are committed to providing the necessary resources for local authorities to ensure that they are able to maintain the key services that are vital to the people of Wales.

"Cardiff council will receive pounds 379m in core funding from the Assembly Government in 2009-10 to support local services such as education, social services, refuse collection and recycling services.

"This is equivalent to pounds 1,180 for every man, woman and child living in the area and represents a 3.9% increase on last year's settlement."

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Cardiff lost out to Liverpool in its bid to be the European Capital of Culture in 2 0 0 8