Pupils and Staff from Trimsaran School at Parliament.
Pupils and teachers from Trimsaran School have recently enjoyed a tour around parliament, having a chance to go into both the House of Lords, where they saw where the Queen sits for the State Opening of Parliament, and the House of Commons, where they could actually stand in the very places where the Prime Minister and Ed Miliband, the leader of the Opposition stand when they are speaking.
To thank Nia for her time in showing them round, they gave her a picture of the Gwendraeth Valley that they had made themselves, and Nia responded by saying
“What a lovely surprise! I am absolutely thrilled with this picture. I will put it up on the wall in my office in Westminster to remind me of home.”
- Trimsaran School Pupils giving Nia a picture of the Gwendraeth Valley that they had made themselves.
Speaking up in the House of Commons during an urgent question session called by Labour to hold government ministers to account over their latest statement on solar feed-in tariffs, Nia asked the Energy Minister Greg Barker,
“Given the shattered consumer and business confidence following the fiasco before Christmas, has the Minister conducted any analysis of how many people will take up Feed-In Tariffs on a 13.6p return?”
She went on to question whether people would find it financially viable to install solar panels when the government reduces the feed-in tariff to just 13.6p from this summer – such a low rate of return would make solar panels unaffordable for many people.
Nia has just visited St Dunstan’s rehabilitation centre in Llandudno where she talked to veterans with visual impairments who are benefitting from the centre’s rehabilitation programmes. The visit is part of a Welsh Affairs Committee inquiry into the treatment of veterans in Wales, and was followed by a chance to hear from representatives of organisations working with veterans.
“There is a huge amount of public goodwill towards veterans out there supporting as many as a thousand charitable and benevolent organisations in the UK, and yet it is still possible for veterans in need to slip through the net. There is clearly a need for better co-ordination and streamlining of services to ensure veterans receive the help they need, and to ensure best value for money.”
Nia has called on the government to inspect premises used by the private company ATOS for work capability assessments, after Llanelli residents have reported a faulty lift and no safe exit for wheelchair users in case of fire at the premises in Carmarthen they are summoned to be reassessed for their benefits. She also said that making repeated assessments of people with clearly documented serious disabilities or progressive illnesses was a waste of money and very demeaning for those concerned.
During the debate MPs detailed a catalogue of complaints against ATOS, the company which is undertaking this work for the government, from the way they treated clients to poor decisions which were frequently overturned at appeal. Labour MPs also pointed out that the government should have learned the lessons from the ATOS pilot before rolling the scheme out nationwide.
At Prime Minister’s questions, Nia accused the Prime Minister of complacency about youth unemployment, and demanded to know why the Government’s Youth contract Scheme still had not started.
Speaking up in a parliamentary debate, Nia called for clearer pricing of fruit and vegetables in supermarkets, because it is very difficult to compare prices when items are priced either by weight, or by the item or by the packet. She also called on the government to stop dragging its feet over the long-awaited Grocery Adjudicator Bill which will help to stamp out sharp practices and make sure both farmers and consumers get a fair deal from supermarkets.
Nia has asked the Secretary of State what comfort she can offer disabled people in Wales, when her government is cutting £105million from disability living allowance in Wales, taking money from disabled people that they desperately need to help them cope with the extra costs of living with a disability.
Nia has called on the government to run a high profile advertising campaign and give councils ring-fenced money to carry out a thorough door-to-door canvass when the switch is made in 2015 to individual voter registration instead of the current one-form- per- household system – a change which the Electoral Commission says risks seeing some six million voters disappear from the register, with young voters, transient population and disadvantaged groups most likely to fail to register. Speaking up in Parliament, Nia said, “Getting this new way registering right is particularly important in Wales, because the first time that the new system will be used will be in 2015, meaning it will provide the registers for May 2016 when there are both Welsh Assembly and all-out council elections throughout Wales. I am horrified at the Government’s plans to make registration voluntary and to do
Nia was one of a number of MPs who recently met UK Health Minister Anne Milton to lobby for pregnant women to be offered NHS screening for Group B strep, an infection which can seriously affect or even cause death to newborn babies.
Nia was inspired to take up this cause by Lydia Lloyd form Llangennech whose second son was seriously ill as a result of the infection. At the meeting, the MPs were able to talk to the team who will shortly be reviewing the evidence for screening for group B strep, and back up the case being made by Jane Plumb of the campaigning organisation Group B Strep Support .
Llanelli MP Nia Griffith and AM Keith Davies are holding a Money and Skills event on Thursday 16th February 2012 between 10am and 2pm at St. Elli Centre in Llanelli for families feeling the pinch.
Local organisations like The Money Advice Service, Save Easy Credit Union, Careers Wales West and Working Links will offer advice on managing debt and support to gain new skills and better your employment prospects. The event is free and there is no need to book an appointment.
For more information please call 01554 774902
