The Westminster government’s proposals to make substantial cuts to the Housing Benefit budget, part of the controversial Welfare Reform Bill, which has been criticised by a range of charities, will affect almost 50 000 Welsh households. Housing benefit is paid to people on low pay and low-income pensioners as well as those who are out of work.  The range of reforms include local caps on the maximum allowance households can receive to help them pay rent, penalising those with spare bedrooms and forcing single under-35 year-olds into shared accommodation. The Department of Work and Pensions has predicted that the average loss in Wales will be £9 a week, and as families struggle with rising food and fuel bills, by the Chartered Institute for Housing Cymru estimates that 30,640 homes in Wales will be put out of reach of people on housing benefit as a result of changes brought in by the UK Government in 2012.

Ms Griffith said, “Government Ministers are living in cloud cuckoo land if they think that by cutting back on the money families receive to cover their current rent, private landlords will miraculously lower their rents. That is simply not going to happen, certainly not in the short term. The reality will be that we will see low income families either having to use money they now spend on essentials like food and heating to pay their rent or getting into serious debt. If private tenants then get evicted from their homes, it will be local councils across Wales who are left to pick up the tab for botched Tory cuts, putting them in an impossible situation. As Labour MPs, we have proposed amending the bill to say that a cap should not apply if it will make a family homeless. The precise effects will vary from area to area depending on what rented accommodation is available. The real way to lower the housing benefit bill is to stimulate the economy to create more jobs and get people back to work, and build more affordable social housing. ”

I am pleased that two Llanelli teenagers will be visiting Poland as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust ‘s “Lessons from Auschwitz Project” to visit the concentration camps and learn more about the Holocaust.

This year, the Trust has chosen “Speak Up, Speak Out” as the theme for Holocaust commemoration, drawing an important link between history and the present day. As we remember Dachau and Auschwitz, we also remember those people suffering from persecution in today’s world. Hatred takes many forms and affects many people across the world: we must loudly reject intolerance, and honour those lost in the Holocaust in the best possible way: by never allowing it to happen again.

“We all recognise that medical advances mean that more people are living longer, and that this in turn puts pressure on services. We can all have fine aspirations and we appreciate that many dedicated staff are working hard to deliver services. However, family members, particularly but by no means exclusively women, often find themselves both looking after an elderly parent, and helping out with the grandchildren. We know that women have been particularly badly hit both by the Chancellor’s budget and public sector job losses, but many may soon find themselves picking up the pieces as the Tory-led UK government cuts the block grant to Wales and leaves councils struggling to maintain services. 

If we are going to improve services, we need feedback about how current support systems are working out in practice. We need to hear about people’s real-life experiences of what works well and where there is room for improvement. This is not about being negative; it’s about being constructive about how we could do things better. What is actually happening on the ground? Are needs being met? How easy are services to access? Are the right sort of services being provided? What could be improved? How should we be planning for the future?

I know many of you are already involved in discussing these matters, so let’s channel that thinking and feed back our ideas to the policy -makers.”

Nia explained

“At long last, following considerable efforts from the Town Council’s project officer Paul Harries and Trustee Richard Roper, it looks as if we may get the necessary funding for an up-to-date feasibility study, and we have identified suitable consultants to carry out the work. A key part of the feasibility study will be consultation with local residents about what would be viable, sustainable uses for the building. If we can decide upon a suitable use, we already have the promise of some money from the Railway Heritage Trust which we would then need to match with other funds. I know that many people have been wanting to see something done about this building for years, and I am determined that we should see this project through.”

We know that with greater life expectancy and medical advances there is ever-increasing demand, and costs are escalating. At the same time we know that the Tory-led coalition at Westminster is making savage cuts, including cuts to the Welsh Government’s budget which is bound to put pressure on the health budget. 

We are all quite naturally apprehensive when we hear the local Health Board talk about change, and whilst people accept that for very specialist services they may have to travel elsewhere, we want to keep more routine services here.

Impact on the ambulance service – the more people have to be transported long distances, the greater the burden on the ambulance service – and we have had some very worrying examples of long waits for an ambulance – which is why Keith Davies AM and I have set up  a meeting with the ambulance service.

Board members should be constantly vigilant, and seeking to eliminate wasteful expenditure. We have recently seen figure of paying over the odds for agency staff.    

The Health Minister in the Assembly government has made it clear that she wants to see a proper meaningful consultation.

At the end of the day, it is the local health board the Hywel Dda Health Board that does the detail on any plans to move services around and it is absolutely vital that we make our views very clearly known – we have to argue the case clearly and logically – that’s what the Committee for Hospital Services SOSPPAN campaign ( SOSPPAN stands for Save our Services Prince Philip Action Network) is preparing to do at present, with the first formal meeting between members of the Committee and Health Board chiefs scheduled for 25^th January. I am working hard with the committee to make the strongest possible case t the Health Board to keep services at Prince Philip Hospital, the hospital that is in the largest town in West Wales and that is in within 20 minutes drive of 50% of the population of Carmarthenshire.

An important date for your diaries is Tuesday 14^th February when the Health Board will be in the Selwyn Samuel Centre from 11.30 until 6.30 – a chance for everyone to find out more, and to make our views known.  The SOSPPAN campaign will then be holding a public meeting – details on http://www.sosppan.co.uk

Parents Mr & Mrs Rees and Helen Martin with students Jessica, Zoe and Hannah previously ineligible for college bus but who now have new bus service.

Nia Griffith MP has welcomed action by Coleg Sir Gar and bus operator Gwynne Price which has resulted in three new direct bus services to take students to and from Coleg Sir Gar, for which students will be expected to pay £1 a journey. The routes will serve the Dafen and Felinfoel area, the Morfa and New Dock Road area and a route from Trostre Road via Alban Road and College Square. This follows a campaign by Nia and local students, and their parents who were dismayed to discover when students started college in September that free college transport had been scrapped for those living less than three miles from the college, leaving pupils from areas like Felinfoel having to get two service buses each way at a cost of £5.20 a day to get to the Graig Campus.

Nia Griffith MP commented

“This is an important step forward as it is totally unrealistic to expect students to walk nearly six miles a day with heavy bags in winter weather or lashing rain, and paying over £30 a week for bus fares was risking putting college out of reach for some students. I will continue to press for the best possible deal for students, such as a bus pass, and will urge the College to provide clear information to prospective students about transport arrangements.”

Take the financial crisis in Greece, which has been in the headlines repeatedly this year. Mainland Greece and, in particular, the Greek islands, have become favoured destinations for many thousands of British holidaymakers. We can well imagine the feelings of the crowds in Athens protesting against what they see as very severe austerity measures being imposed upon them. After all, most of them will be like us – wage-earners who have had little to do with creating the crisis.

Whatever the relationships of the states of Europe, the peoples of Europe have grown closer. And yet, within the United Kingdom, the relationship between Government and people is very similar to what it was in the 1950s. Only those of us over a certain age will remember the days of SuperMac when our Prime Minister was an old Etonian who relaxed on the grouse moors of his friends. Now, there is no longer any need to look back to the past for an example of rulers who can have little perception of the lives of ordinary people.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, talking of the global financial crisis said not so long ago that we are all in this together. That’s a phrase which sounds very hollow, when we look round and see friends and family, young and old, squeezed by rising prices, worried about job security and a Cabinet populated by millionaires whose inherited wealth cushions them from worries about paying bills and job security. All in this together indeed!

Nia explained

“The Government’s legal aid reforms propose severely limiting advice on welfare benefits, employment, housing and debt – saving just 2.5 per cent of the legal aid budget – yet cutting this service would leave thousands without the help they need. Preventative and early advice is being cut in many areas, particularly debt, yet this can save £10 for every £1 invested. It is vital to influence crossbencher Lords to support Labour’s amendments to stop this bill leaving vulnerable people with no access to free, independent, quality advice.”

Nia commented,

“It was a great hands-on experience, with pupils able to have a go and enjoy the satisfaction of building a wall, making a bird table and putting the roof on the miniature house. It is just so important for Primary school pupils to have experiences like these, to give them a taste of the opportunities in the construction industry, and show them that girls as well as boys can learn the skills. I know that Dyfrig Dalziel’s are committed to working with the local community to create jobs for people in the area and they are also involved with work on site at Swiss Valley School which is very much appreciated”

ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council and the Industry Training Board for the construction industry, supported Dyfrig Dalziel with the event, by providing valuable advice and information to the school children on the day.

Nia said, “I have long been a champion of recycling. I believe that adopting a more sustainable approach to the way we deal with waste can have a positive impact on our communities. The Crochan project is an excellent example of how treating unwanted items as resources not rubbish can have valuable social and economic as well as environmental benefits. I want to commend Geoff and all his staff and volunteers for their hard work and commitment.”