PLAID PROMISES SECURE FUTURE FOR LLANIDLOES HOSPITAL


One of the first acts of a Plaid Assembly Government after 3 May will be to stop the current round of hospital closures masquerading as ‘downgrading’. This was the promise I was pleased to give on a return visit to Llanidloes Memorial Hospital today when I was given a tour of the facilities by Pat Scull (left).

Llanidloes is just the sort of hospital which Plaid wants to see replicated throughout Wales. It provides a range of both primary and secondary care and is also an efficient way of treating patients who would otherwise have to travel to Aberystwyth, Shrewsbury or even Telford.

Accompanying me on my visit were Dafydd Wigley, Plaid’s Honorary President and North Wales Assembly Candidate and Nerys Evans, Plaid’s Mid and West Wales Candidate. Both were extremely impressed by the facilities and Mr Wigley added “The Labour Assembly Government has treated Mid Wales appallingly over the past 8 years. Without a District General Hospital Powys residents need and deserve all the community care they can get and Llanidloes Hospital is a shining example of what can be done with dedicated staff. It would be an absolute scandal if it were to close”.

An Open Letter to Rhodri Morgan

Dear Mr Morgan

Given that you pay so little attention to what happens beyond Merthyr Tudfil you may not have noticed that Powys County Council is threatening to close four primary schools in Montgomeryshire by August 2008.

None of these schools offers anything less than a good education, indeed one of them, Ysgol Efyrnwy has just had one of the best Estyn reports ever awarded. None of these schools is lodged in unsuitable buildings and every one of them is a real focal point of their community.

The only thing which marks out these schools as candidates for closure is that they have “spare places”, each “empty desk” apparently costing Powys County Council £1000.

I recognise that it is more expensive to fund “small” schools but only in the same way that it is more expensive to perform a hip replacement than set a broken arm. Surely you should not close a school, as Powys intends to do, simply because it is more expensive to fund than a neighbouring school.

The four schools under threat in Montgomeryshire - in Llanwddyn, Llanfihangel-yng-Gwynfa, Carno and Llangurig - between them have 41 “spare places”. I appeal to you, Mr Morgan, to do two things on behalf of these four genuinely community schools. First, out of the £1.2m Assembly surplus for 2006 – 07 would you please direct a paltry £41,000 into the coffers of Powys County Council in order to keep these schools open for another year at least and secondly, given that we are in an election period, would you please instruct Powys County Council to immediately suspend its so-called “consultation” process until it at least sends formal notification of a timetable to the Heads and Chairs of Governors of the schools concerned?

Yours

David Thomas
Chair of Governors
Ysgol Efyrnwy, Llanwddyn
and
Plaid Assembly Candidate for Montgomeryshire

How can Plaid help our School Children?

As a Chair of Governors at Ysgol Efyrnwy (the primary school in Llanwddyn), as a teacher in a secondary school and as a parent of a university student I feel that I have an insight into what affects pupils, teachers and parents across the whole age range of education from 3 – 21.

Both my children attended our local primary and secondary schools and received a first-class education in each. Powys can justly be proud of its record in providing schools which are close to the community and which pass on its values from one generation to another. It is such a shame, therefore, that Powys’ “review” of primary schools has so far picked on the smallest regardless of their quality, the state of their buildings or the role they play in the community. If elected I shall vote against any proposal when it comes to the Assembly to close these six schools.

In opposition Plaid Cymru secured an extra £4.1m for small schools in 2006 and has arranged for up to £16,000 to be added to each secondary school’s budget (£10,000 for primaries) through the county councils in 2007.

Plaid believes that a good school is not just what is taught in the classroom but that other factors can have just as big an effect. A Plaid government will introduce a programme of free nutritious school meals in primary schools and provide laptops for every child going to secondary school. We will expand the school nurse programme so that there will be at least one for each secondary school and introduce more 20 mph and 10 mph zones outside schools during school hours.

Plaid opposes top-up fees for students and will also pay back student loans for those who live and work in Wales for five years after graduating.

How can Plaid ensure a Healthier Wales?

Only Plaid Cymru can stop the downgrading and eventual closure of Llanidloes, Newtown and Machynlleth hospitals. For all their fine words the LibDems will be powerless in a Labour-dominated government to prevent Labour’s programme of cuts and closures and we all remember what the Tories did to the Health Service while they were in power.

Llanidloes is a prime example of the kind of hospital Plaid Cymru would like to see throughout Wales – primary, community care which provides first class treatment for patients who do not need the specialist services of a district general hospital or who need somewhere to convalesce after surgery. If the Birthing Centres in Llanidloes and Newtown close then the only places to give birth in Montgomeryshire will be Welshpool hospital or at home. Only Plaid Cymru can stop this happening.

A Plaid government will create a Community Health Service which will include nurses in schools, check-ups at work and Centres of Wellbeing throughout Wales where primary care and walk-in facilities will be available, beginning where GP and NHS dentist provision is particularly sparse. Plaid believes that prevention is better than cure.

Mental health services have been particularly poorly served by Labour but a Plaid government would follow Scotland’s lead by implementing a strategy based on local community needs and provision.

A Plaid government will create a Patients’ Rights Contract which will ensure that core services are delivered within defined localities and a no-fault pay-out system if patients receive sub-standard care.

Plaid aims to secure free care provision for older and disabled people. In the short term Plaid will cap charges set by local authorities, raise the threshold for contributing to residential costs and create Benefit Take Up teams to ensure that older and disabled people receive the benefits they deserve.

Powys Wants To Close Six Primary Schools

It is so disappointing that Powys County Council has decided to open its review of 6 primary schools in the county through the pages of the newspapers rather than directly with the staff, pupils, governors and parents of the affected schools themselves. It was through the press that, as Chair of Governors at Ysgol Efyrnwy, Llanwddyn, I learnt of Powys' intention to review the school with its possible closure in August 2008. Sadly, Powys failed to send any prior information concerning these plans to the schools or governors affected, an omission of astonishing insensitivity.

No doubt there will be fierce debate in the coming months but I should like to clarify two glaring misrepresentations which are always bandied around on these occasions.

First, Cllr David Jones talks about surplus spaces in Powys as constituting "more than one in four empty seats" as if all the space in a classroom had to be filled to the brim. We should have moved beyond the idea of every classroom crammed with 30 pupils with no room to engage in the investigative activities through which children learn best. In Ysgol Efyrnwy it is true that there is an "empty classroom" but it is also stocked with musical instruments and equipment which simply would not be in the school otherwise.

Whatever the economic argument "surplus spaces" does not mean nothing is happening. The very space created by fewer pupils often gives those who are left much greater opportunities - something both Powys and the Assembly would surely applaud.

Secondly, Cllr Jones says that surplus spaces "cost more than £4m a year". No they don't! Empty space costs nothing! Maybe it makes it more expensive to educate those who remain but the two issues should not be confused. Of course a small school is more expensive to run than a large one but so is a medium-sized one. The most "cost-effective" primary school is probably a mega-school that serves a radius of 30 miles but is that what we want for our children?

Plaid Helps Pensioners With Council Tax

With Powys County Council Tax bills falling through the letter box householders on fixed incomes, pensioners in particular, will no doubt be wondering how they can afford to pay the extra money demanded in 2007 - 08.

Plaid Cymru recognises the plight of pensioners caught in this situation and, as a prelude to scrapping the Council Tax altogether, proposes to cap their payments to no more than the rate of inflation every year until it is finally abolished. The difference between an inflation increase and the Council Tax increase will be paid on behalf of pensioners by a Plaid Cymru Assembly Government enabling pensioners to keep more of their money and not forfeiting it because of a property market spiralling out of control.

Powys' Change of Heart over Electoral Commission Leaflet

I am very pleased that Powys County Council has finally decided to distribute a leaflet specially written by the Electoral Commission for the Assembly elections on 3 May.

When it became obvious that Powys, alone amongst Welsh councils, was not going to distribute this leaflet I urged the Chief Executive to change his mind. While canvassing during February I encountered a widespread lack of awareness of the upcoming Assembly elections and felt that, with changes to the voting system and the unique mix of seats and lists in Wales, people needed reminding how the 2007 election would operate.

The Electoral Commission wanted councils to be responsible for distributing the leaflets as research has shown that householders are likely to read a communication from the council, particularly if it is bundled with the council tax demand. While that won’t now happen at least a private company will ensure that every household does receive its copy before polling day on 3 May so that Powys residents will be as well informed as anybody else in Wales!

Early action on the Llanymynech bypass is deperately needed

Nearly 2,000 HGV vehicles pass through Llanymynech every day along with an incredible 12,000 other vehicles. This is the so-called Manchester to Swansea Trunk Road but it cannot cope with the traffic of the 21st century. Without a doubt businesses are suffering in Montgomeryshire and right across Mid Wales because of these poor road connections and the long-suffering residents of Llanymynech have had their patience tried for far too long.

With Shropshire County Council likely to decide this week to put off the scheme indefinitely there is need for an urgent review by the National Assembly in conjunction with both Powys and Shropshire County Councils to see how these much needed improvements could be made as quickly as possible.

Nurses' Pay Highlights the Defects of Devolution

Many commentators have recently extolled the power of the Scottish Parliament to improve the lot of ordinary people in Scotland.

Another graphic illustration was afforded this week when the Scottish Parliament decided to award the full 2.5% pay rise to nurses from April and not staggered between April (1.5%) and November (1%) as will happen in Wales and England. This Thatcherite and despised staggered increase now employed by a Labour government will rob a nurse on an average salary of £570 and devalue her pay rise, already below inflation, by a further 0.6%.

The Welsh Assembly needs the same powers as the Scottish Parliament to give our nurses the rewards they deserve. The current devolution settlement is unjust and unbalanced and serves Wales poorly.

Does Rhodri Morgan have any "Independent Thoughts"?

Jane Davidson is defying her London leader by expressing opposition to Trident but apparently she has the full support of Rhodri Morgan who, she says, encourages his AMs "to have independent thoughts".

Perhaps Rhodri Morgan would at last give us his own "independent thoughts" on the Iraq War?

Farmers in Montgomeryshire are Grateful for Plaid's Leadership

Plaid Cymru in Montgomeryshire joins the FUW and NFU in welcoming the extension of the Tir Mynydd scheme thanks to the efforts of Plaid's Elin Jones AM.

Because of an impasse in the Agriculture Committee Plaid's Elin Jones was the first AM ever allowed to offer an alternative budget to ministers for a vote in the Assembly. This agri-environment scheme is very important both to farmers and to recreational users of the countryside and it is unthinkable that the Labour Assembly Government should have considered scrapping it altogether especially when figures for 2006 show a fall in income of 36% for hill livestock farms and 42% for upland enterprises.

Although only about 11% of the working population is directly involved in agriculture in Montgomeryshire many more have an indirect relationship with it and the cuts proposed by Labour (including an irreversible 33% reduction in 2007) would have had severe and long-term effects on the viability of many hill farms in Montgomeryshire.

Plaid Puts The Bottom Rung Back On The Ladder

The Nationwide Building Society's latest report on the housing market highlights the need for imaginative policies to deal with the problems faced by those trying to buy their first home.

The report shows that, compared with just 12 months ago, a first time buyer would need to find an extra £700 for a deposit and would be paying an extra £120 per month mortgage on a typical house. To purchase a starter home at an avergae price now requires an income of £40,000. Added to this grim picture we have, in Montgomeryshire, one of the highest gaps in the whole country between average wages and what is needed for an average deposit on a home.

Plaid Cymru has recognised that the bottom rung has fallen off the housing ladder. That is why we are proposing, amongst other measures, a grant of up to £5,000 (£10,000 for a couple like Lowri and Clwyd above) to help towards a first home.

We will all benefit by giving our young people a chance to stay in Montgomeryshire and local services such as schools, post offices and shops would all gain from having young families as a stable part of their communities.

Labour Admits Its Health Service Failure

Ann Lloyd, Head of NHS Wales, admitted last week that the Labour Assembly Government had "failed to win the public's hearts and minds over the reconfiguration of health services". She can say that again! She added "We have failed to show the alternatives".

Labour has indeed given details about the cuts in Llanidloes, Newtown and Machynlleth hospitals and clinics but has failed to provide specific proposals for replacement services to make up for the loss of treatment.

The good news is that a Plaid Cymru government will stop the downgrading of these hospitals in its tracks and develop a network of services to serve people as close as possible to their homes. That makes sense medically and financially and will deliver the services both patients and medical experts know is best.

Yn Cyflwyno Eich Ymgeiswyr Plaid Cymru

Eich Plaid Leol Your Local Party

Introducing Your Plaid Cymru Candidates

DAVID THOMAS MALDWYN/MONTGOMERYSHIRE

Cefais fy ngeni a fy magu yn Hwlffordd a symudais i Lanwddyn yn 1986 lle rydym wedi mwynhau profi Mwynder Maldwyn. Rydw i’n mynychu rhai gweithgareddau diwylliannol fel yr Eisteddfod, Steddfod yr Urdd, Steddfod Powys (rwyf yn Is-gadeirydd Pwyllgor y Dysgwyr 2007), Gwyl Maldwyn, Y Mari Lwyd a’r plygeiniau.

I have lived in Llanwddyn since 1986 and am Chair of Governors at Ysgol Efyrnwy, Chair of the Lake Vyrnwy Marathon Committee and Vice-Chair of the Learners Committee for Eisteddfod Powys 2007. I am also a member of the Powys Citizens Panel. I have worked for Powys County Council as a Youth Training Officer and as a teacher in Llanfyllin High School.

NERYS EVANS CANOLBARTH A GORLLEWIN CYMRU /MID AND WEST WALES

Cefais fy ngeni yn Llangain, Caerfyrddin a fy addysg ym mhrifysgolion Manceinion a Chaerdydd. Rwyf i’n gweithio fel swyddog gwleidyddol i aelodau Plaid Cymru y Cynulliad.

I am a PCS union official in the Assembly and have a special interest in workers’ rights, rural affairs and the Welsh language.

Labour has had 8 years to make a difference in Montgomeryshire, but instead its urban agenda and obsession with Cardiff have resulted in threats to most of our local services – including our hospitals, schools, libraries and post offices.

DAVID SENIOR CANOLBARTH A GORLLEWIN CYMRU/MID AND WEST

WALES

I was born in Welshpool and educated in Oxford, Newtown and the Universities of Wales and Kent. I am a Plaid Cymru Councillor on Welshpool Town Council. I have a strong interest in the sustainable economic development of our market towns and offering young people a chance to remain in our communities.

Rydw i’n dysgu mewn ysgol breswyl ar gyfer bechgyn efo anghenion arbenning. Roeddwn i’n un o aelodau gwreiddiol Cyfeillion y Ddaear Y Drenewydd ar rydw i’n aelod o’r Sefydliad Materion Cymreig.


Mae’n amser Newid er Gwell . Mae’n Bryd Gwneud Gwahaniaeth.
Pleidleisiwch dros Plaid Cymru – Dwywaith!

Mae Plaid yn llawn ystyried nad yw pawb yng Nghymru yn byw ar goridor yr M4 na’r A55, ac rydym eisiau gweld pob rhan o Gymru yn ffynnu. Nawr yw’r amser i wneud gwahaniaeth trwy roi eich ffydd ym Mhlaid Cymru i wneud gwahaniaeth ym Maldwyn.

Only one member of Rhodri Morgan’s cabinet represents a seat outside South Wales. It’s time we made the Government in Cardiff sit up and take notice that Montgomeryshire is part of Wales too! Only Plaid can form an alternative government to Labour in the Assembly and put the issues of hospitals, schools, farming and transport at the top of the agenda.


What can Plaid Cymru do for us in Montgomeryshire?

IN OPPOSITION Plaid has put a cap on student fees, won extra money for every school in Wales, secured the future of Tir Mynydd, won extra council tax relief for pensioners and set up an inquiry into the Welsh Ambulance Service.

IN GOVERNMENT Plaid intends to replace council tax with a local income tax, provide grants for reducing home energy consumption, create affordable housing, double spending on childcare, move three government departments out of Cardiff, develop, not downgrade, community hospitals, develop the Post Office as a service of government, appoint a Language Commissioner, purchase food for hospitals and schools locally and hold a referendum on the Constitution by 2011.

It doesn’t matter where you come from – Welshpool, Wolverhampton or Warsaw – if you think that what happens in Wales should be decided by the people who live in Wales then Plaid Cymru is the party for you. Two of our presidents, Saunders Lewis and Dafydd Wigley, weren’t born in Wales.

It doesn’t matter what the colour of your skin is, how rich or poor you are, how young or old you are or what languages you speak or don’t speak Plaid Cymru is the party for ALL the people who live in Wales.

Beth ydy polisiau Plaid Cymru? www.newidergwell.plaidcymru.org
What are Plaid’s policies? www.changeforthebetter.plaidcymru.org

Get involved! 02920 646000 www.plaidcymru.org Ymunwch â ni!

Plaid Cymru ym Maldwyn www.plaid4maldwyn.blogspot.com Plaid in Montgomeryshire



It’s Time for a Change for the Better. It’s Time to Make a Difference. Vote Plaid – Twice!

Don Rhodri Rides Again!

Why on earth is Rhodri Morgan bringing David Cameron into the Assembly election debate? Most of the things he blames the Tories for are out of the hands of the Assembly anyway and, if Wales is still suffering, as he suggests, it is Labour's fault as they have had 10 years to sort it out!

Rhodri is well and truly in Don Quixote mode, tilting at imaginary foes, afraid to confront the real enemies in his own party. His truest statement is that the Tories have never won a majority in Wales but without a proper Parliament, which Rhodri resolutely opposes, the same thing could happen again and Wales would be defenceless in the face of an unsympathetic government in London - Labour or Tory.

Come on Rhodri, attacking the Tory record in Westminster is so last century. Give us a proper fight based on Labour's record in Wales, not on some bogeyman hiding under the stairs.

PCS Workers Deserve Our Support

The PCS workers who recently went on strike at Revenue and Customs offices in Welshpool and Newtown derserve our support if only because we shall all lose out if, as the Labour government proposes, they are all but closed by 2008.

The loss of 47 posts will take around £1.8m out of the local economy and with jobs in adjacent offices like Oswestry and Aberystwyth also being cut the chances of the workers finding similar jobs is slim indeed.

Also as the nearest manned Tax Office will be in Telford or Wrexham anybody who depends on a face-to-face interview to sort out their tax affairs will be faced with a long journey or will have to use the phone or internet.

With tax evasion and VAT fraud conservatively estimated at no less than a staggering £30bn it would make sense for staff to be retained to recoup these losses which are robbing us all of due revenue.

It is hypocritical of Labour AMs to pretend to support the PCS officers when it is their own government which is cutting their jobs!

A Good Day on the Campaign Trail!

Nerys Evans, Mid and West Wales list candidate, and I spent a very useful day in Welshpool today starting with an hour in the market with Montgomeryshire's farmers. Following that we met with Clive Faulkener of the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust and shared some thoughts about sustainable farming, especially in the uplands, which Clive thinks will be particularly at risk from climate change.

We had a very pleasant working lunch with Nick Knight, Mark Lingard and Anwen Evans of the County Times and then spent an hour with Oldford Commiuniites First and heard about some of the very interesting developments there from Mandy and Hannah. We then met with Dave Morris, PCS union convenor in HMRC Welshpool, who had done some research on the economic consequences of the proposed job losses and had calculated that the impact on the economy would be about £1.8m per year - an awful lot for an area like Welshpool.

Our final visit was to Derwen Farm Shop in Guilsfield where we met Rachel Joseph, the owner, and Zoe (see photo above with [l to r] me, Zoe, Nerys and Rachel) The shop is full of superb and mostly Welsh produce and is a shining example of what can be achieved by local sourcing of food - something Plaid Cymru will be treating as a priority in the new Assembly after 3 May.

I should like to thank all the above for taking time to meet with us today and also to Arwyn Groe, Mike Allen and Sion Powys for accompanying us during parts of the day.

Labour in Westminster keeps ignoring Labour in Cardiff

The past two weeks have offered us vivid illustrations of the political imbalance which exists between Westminster and Cardiff.

First we heard Sue Essex apparently supporting PCS workers against the action of her own government in London and then we had Rhodri Morgan calling for 0% interest rates in Wales. Both of these Assembly politicians will be routinely ignored by their counterparts in Westminster and what London wants (job losses in the public sector and punitively high interest rates for manufacturing industries) it will no doubt get.

Unfortunately we can expect much more of this after 3 May. The Government of Wales Act ensures that Peter Hain and his Westminster pals will have no fewer than five opportunities to overturn any measure proposed by the Assembly. This is a direct consequence of Rhodri Morgan's obsequious capitulation to his MPs when he chose the ridiculous Orders in Council over the sensible recommendations of the Richard Commission.

With the weakest legislature in Europe on offer it will be no surprise if participation in the Assembly elections on 3 May falls below 40% and Morgan and Hain will have only themselves to blame.

Ambulance Response Times Put Residents At Risk

Last year a footballer with a broken leg had to wait for 40 minutes on a cold pitch in Llanwddyn for an ambulance to arrive. Last month a family near Llanwddyn waited 50 minutes for an ambulance to attend an emergency call. Will the next occasion be 60 minutes or even more?

I have no doubt that the ambulance crews themselves are doing a sterling job but the management of the service leaves much to be desired. It is true that for 360 days of the year perhaps we may only need a routine service but on the other five we expect an emergency response from what is, after all, an emergency service.

The whole of the north-west of Montgomeryshire, including the accident blackspots of Lake Vyrnwy and Pistyll Rhaeadr, is being put at risk because of the down-grading of the Llanfyllin Ambulance Station and this needs to be re-examined urgently.

In 2003 the Labour Assembly Government promsed that ambulances would meet their response time targets in 65% of life-threatening situations by March 2005. Latest figures show it is actually happening on just 54% of such occasions. Something is seriously wrong and it requires immediate action.

PLAID CANDIDATES TOUR WELSHPOOL

Nerys Evans, Plaid Candidate for Mid and West Wales, and I will be visiting Welshpool businesses on Monday 19 February.

Welshpool is typical of many Welsh towns with its historic produce and livestock markets alongside more recently developed light industry and services. Plaid Cymru proposes cutting business rates to support Montgomeryshire’s market towns and also developing both public and private transport links so that goods produced in Montgomeryshire can access wider markets more easily”.

We will also be visiting Welshpool Town Hall to discuss the exciting developments on Welshpool Town Council with Plaid Cymru Town Councillor and Mid and West Wales candidate, Cllr David Senior.