Press release on the Welsh Water/Dwr Cymru Wrap up their homes up this winter campaign

Press Release
23 November 2015

 

Mike Hedges AM helps Welsh Water remind customers to wrap up their homes up this winter

• ‘Wrap Up Wales’ campaign highlights need to protect water pipes to prevent the inconvenience and expense of frozen or bursts pipes
• 3,500 calls a day made to insurers at height of 2010 cold spell for burst pipe damage with repair costs averaging up to £7,000
• Less than half of water customers have taken steps to avoid frozen pipes
• Fifth of population have no idea what to do if a pipe freezes in our home.

With the winter upon us, Swansea East  AM Mike Hedges is supporting Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s ‘Wrap Up Wales’ campaign which reminds customers to make sure that the water pipes in their homes are protected to avoid the disruption and expense frozen pipes can cause. The campaign is urging people to take a moment to protect their pipes from bursting and causing damage that could cost thousands of pounds.

The problem is usually linked to pipes that are exposed to very low temperatures, such as those in garages and outhouses.  These pipes expand when it freezes, which can lead to a burst when the pipes thaw. Urgent and expensive repair is then needed to fix the problem.

Recent research by Consumer Council for Water found that about half of households in Wales haven’t taken steps to avoid frozen pipes.  It found that people aged 24 to 35 are most at risk of not being properly prepared. While a fifth of us have no idea what to do if a pipe freezes in our home.

According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), severe cold weather experienced during the winter of 2010 saw around 3,500 calls a day being made to insurers to report frozen pipes at its peak.  An average repair cost for damage caused by bursts pipes can be up to £7,000.

When a problem occurs on pipes in homes it is the responsibility of the home owner or landlord therefore it’s worth taking time to check they are well insulated.  The advice is also relevant to any type of property which might be left empty for a period of time over the winter.

Mike AM said: “I’d like to remind people living in Swansea East to take note of the advice in Welsh Water’s campaign and make sure they don’t get caught out by pipes freezing in their homes or businesses this winter. 

“Frozen pipes which burst can cause unnecessary inconvenience and expense however this can be easily avoided by taking a few moments to check and protect the pipes.”

Ian Christie, Welsh Water’s Managing Director of Water Services said: “If you’re planning to visit family or friends and your home will be empty over the winter you need to be sure that exposed water pipes are wrapped in insulation to protect them. Otherwise they could burst and you won’t know until you return.

“If you are unfortunate enough to experience frozen pipes then make sure you don’t leave taps open and unattended.  As the pipes thaw, the water will likely start to flow which could lead to baths and sinks overflowing if you are not around. 

“Our message is help us Wrap up Wales and take action now to prevent a problem that can cause  a tremendous amount of inconvenience and expense – at the time of the year when you’d least want to face it.”

Tom Taylor, Chair of CCWater’s Wales Committee, said: “Nothing can compensate you or your family for the misery and disruption that a burst pipe can cause.”

“Our message is simple – don’t take the risk. Take action now to make sure your home is wrapped up warm and ready for whatever winter may bring.”

 

More information on how to prevent pipes freezing can be found on the company’s website www.dwrcymru.com   There is also an opportunity to apply for one of the 2,000 free lagging kits we are giving away.

 

-Ends-

Enquiries to Welsh Water’s Press Office

Notes to editor:

How to prevent pipes from freezing:

• Make sure you know the location of your stop tap so you can reach it quickly in an emergency (TIP: It's often under the kitchen sink).
• Make sure any exposed pipes are wrapped or lagged.

• Keep an eye out for frozen pipes, bursts or leaks.
• Fix dripping taps – a gentle trickle of water can freeze and completely block the pipe

What to do if pipes freeze:

• Find your internal stop tap and turn it off.
• Turn on nearby cold taps, to allow the water to escape when it thaws.
• Don't turn hot taps on until the central heating is switched off.
• Move things that might be damaged if the pipe bursts when the water thaws.
• Apply a hot water bottle or hot wet towel to a frozen pipe.
• If you notice a leak after thawing, turn off the internal stop tap and call a plumber.
• If you are unsure of anything at any time call a plumber who is registered with the WaterSafe scheme at www.watersafe.org.uk

Advice on insulating water pipes can be seen on the Welsh Water website http://www.dwrcymru.com/en/My-Water/Prepare-your-home-for-winter.aspx

 

 

 

Press release on the implimentation of recommendation of the Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery

Mike Hedges questions minister on the implementation of recommendation of the Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery

 

Mike said… It is important to hold ministers to account over reports which they are responsible for implementing. I am very pleased to see that the proposals for a Merger between CADW and the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments. There is overlap in their work and this duplication can be reduced through the merger.’

 

Mike Hedges

How many of the 62 recommendations made by the Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery have been implemented?

 

Leighton Andrews

We set an ambitious reform agenda for public services in Wales last year and we are implementing the strategic actions committed to in that announcement. These relate to 60 of the 62 Williams commission recommendations, but are not limited to them.

14:48

Mike Hedges

Thank you, Minister. I expected a number then. Will the Minister produce a timeline for the implementation of the rest and indicate which ones are no longer being brought forward?

 

14:49

Leighton Andrews

Well, I’m happy to publish an update on the implementation of the Williams recommendations and, let me say, there are two, specifically, that are not being taken forward, which are recommendations 12 and 19 in respect of community health councils and in respect of a proposed merger of Cadw and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.

 

press release on question re establishment of Senior Salary board

Mike Hedges AM calls for Senior Salary Board be established to oversee senior public sector salaries.

 

Swansea East AM has called for the establishment of a Senior Salary Pay Board which will oversee and set senior public sector salaries in Wales. He asked Leighton Andrews, Minister at Welsh Assembly -

 

14:39

Mike Hedges -

Public sector goes beyond local government itself. Will the Minister consider setting up a senior salaries board for bodies funded by the Welsh Government that could set recommended bands for senior salaries across the whole of the Welsh public sector?

14:39

 

Leighton Andrews -

One of the issues I think we have to look at as we create one Welsh public service is that there are different terms and conditions in different parts of the public services in Wales. We have established the Public Services Staff Commission, of course, on a non-statutory basis, and next week the draft Bill will set out our proposals for establishing the Public Services Staff Commission on a statutory basis. There are a number of issues that will arise I think that we will have to consider as we move forward on public service pay and public service rewards, and it’s important, I think, that those considerations are given the right framework. I think the Public Services Staff Commission does that.

 

Mike Hedges said….’ I think that if such a commission were established it would take some of the heat and controversy about the size of public sector senior pay and would provide a mechanism for ensuring that some public sector senior salaries do not reach absurd limits which draw public criticism’

 

Ends

 

Speech on Trident Replacement 18 November

 

            SPEECH ON REPALCEMENT OF TRIDENT 18 NOVEMBER 2015

 

Every political party is signed up to the international efforts for world-wide nuclear disarmament, but not every party is prepared to do anything about it. Let’s assume you believe that nuclear weapons act as a deterrent. If you believe that they stop wars, if you believe that they make the world safer, surely the logic of that argument is that every country should have them. We should not be trying to stop countries having nuclear weapons; we should be encouraging every country to have nuclear weapons, because we believe they act as a deterrent. We believe they stop us having wars, therefore, we should make sure everybody has them. We should be exporting enriched uranium so that they can make the bomb that is necessary for the safety of all of us—making nuclear bombs out of enriched uranium, once you’ve got enriched uranium, is not particularly difficult.

 

 

So, that’s what we should be doing if we actually believe it’s going to make the world a safer place by having nuclear weapons. Great Britain has had an independent nuclear deterrent since it became the third country to test its own nuclear weapon in October 1952. Since 1998, we’ve had the Trident programme, which is thought to have 200 thermonuclear warheads, 160 which are operational at any one time, although, again, the Government refuses to tell us the exact number. I’m sure that most other countries in the world that are our likely opponents could probably tell us, but the Government doesn’t think we ought to know.

 

The dictionary definition of ‘deterrent’ includes ‘military strength’ or ‘an ability to defend a country or retaliate strongly enough to deter an enemy from attacking’. If Britain’s nuclear deterrent were to work, no non-nuclear power would dare to attack us or any of our dependencies, any of our allies, or any of our overseas territories. Evidently, the script wasn’t read by the Argentinian junta, who invaded the Falklands without any fear of nuclear attack. The nuclear deterrent completely failed to deter Argentina. It believed, correctly, that not only would Britain not use it, we wouldn’t even threaten to use it; we wouldn’t say that we were thinking about using it if we were losing, which we were at one time. Other countries we have failed to deter with our nuclear weapons include Iraq over the invasion of Kuwait and Egypt over the annexing of the Suez canal. I don’t want to continue, but it’s certainly not deterred anybody.

 

 

The USA has nuclear weapons—probably the most nuclear weapons of any country in the world—but when it was fighting in Vietnam, it used conventional bombing; it also used things that I don’t think it should have done, such as Agent Orange and napalm, but it never threatened North Vietnam with a nuclear attack let alone used nuclear weapons on it, despite being forced out of South Vietnam. The USSR, which is now Russia, which we think about as a state that will do almost anything and which we have to be frightened of, was forced out of Afghanistan. The Taliban was not deterred by their nuclear arsenal

 

 

 

Sorry, I thought a deterrent’s real purpose was to deter, and it certainly hasn’t acted as a deterrent. Supporters of nuclear weapons would say, ‘They have stopped a major war in Europe’. Interestingly, supporters of the European Community make exactly the same argument. But, even if the mutual assured destruction of the nuclear arms race was true of the immediate post-war period until the fall of the Berlin wall, it’s certainly untrue now. Does anybody seriously expect present-day Russia to start invading the rest of Europe? If they do, shouldn’t we be getting nuclear weapons to Norway and Finland immediately? If it wants to make an aggressive act, it is more likely to turn the gas supply off than to fire nuclear weapons.

 

So, why do we continue to want to invest in nuclear weapons that we will not only not use, but not even threaten to use, even when a British overseas territory is invaded? The terrible nature of nuclear weapons together with their environmental impact means that it is unlikely that any respectable Government would use them for fear of the political backlash from the rest of the world.

 

Interestingly, hydrogen bombs have not been tested in recent times. We don’t actually know it works, because it hasn’t been tested—not that I’m arguing it should be tested, but it could just be filled with hydrogen and it wouldn’t cause a thermonuclear reaction on explosion. We don’t know that. I think the last time they were tested by the Americans or the British or even the Russians was probably back in the 1980s. So, we don’t actually know it works.

 

So, why do we continue to sustain it as a misnamed nuclear deterrent? We’re not even independent; we’d only fire it if the Americans said so, so we’d have to ask, ‘Please Sir, can we fire our independent weapon?’ I’m not sure how independent that makes it. The answer appears to be less military than political. It guarantees our place on the UN Security Council. So, why do we want to upgrade Trident? It’s not rusting away. It will still continue to work. It will still continue to work for the next 40 or 50 years. It’s not going to be used anyway, so why waste billions of pounds on upgrading it to buy another system? I’m old enough to remember the argument over upgrading Polaris into Trident. We’ve had one upgrade and nothing has worked. I think really the argument is: why spend money on something not only that we won’t use and won’t threaten to use but that everybody else in the world knows we’re not going to use?

 

Press release for positive parenting campaign

MIKE HEDGES AM WELCOMES POSITIVE PARENTING CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

 

Welsh Labour’s Communities Minister, Lesley Griffiths has launched a new Welsh Government campaign which offers tips and advice to parents on positive approaches to raising children.

 

Mike Hedges AM welcomes news that the Welsh Government is supporting positive parenting.

 

Mike said…. ‘I welcome this news that the Welsh Government is supporting positive parenting. Spending time with children is vital for parents and this campaign will give parents and guardians support and suggestions on how to spend time with their children along with other organisations who can help support parents.’

 

 

The new ‘Parenting. Give it Time’ campaign was launched on Universal children’s day and shows how offering encouragement and praising children for good behaviour is more effective than harsh punishments when children do things wrong.

 

The campaign provides a dedicated website and Facebook page offering tips and information for parents about ways to help take some of the stress out of everyday family activities, such as bed time, bath time and the weekly food shop. The website also provides details of organisations for parents who may need further help and support.

 

‘Parenting. Give it Time’ encourages parents to talk and listen to their children and encourage better behaviour by adopting positive parenting strategies. The campaign also sets out the importance of parents looking after their own health and well-being to help them better manage stressful situations.

 

The campaign is intended to run for three years. The first phase will run from November 2015 until the end of March 2016.

Question on potential closure of HMRC offices in Wales

Mike Hedges AM asks Minister Questions RE Potential Closure of HMRC offices

 

 

 

Swansea East Assembly Member, Mike Hedges asked questions to Ken Skates AM regarding the proposed closure of the HRMC office in Swansea. He asked if he could clarify the Welsh Government had had any discussion with the Westminster Government regarding right to transfer to Cardiff or redeployment within the Civil Service.

 

The Minister confirmed that he would have discussions regarding the possibility of the staff having the right to transfer and or redeploy

 

Mike Hedges said ‘I welcome the comment from the Minister that he will discuss what options are available for the staff. I am aware that this will be a very trying time for the staff in the run up Christmas but we know that the issues are being looked at by Welsh Government Minister. I hope that a resolution can be found which will allow as many people as possible to either transfer to Cardiff or redeploy to other jobs.

 

 

Press release on Health and Education spending in Wales

Mike Hedges AM welcomes news that Wales spending more on health and education

Official figures by the UK Government show that spending per head on health is higher in Wales - and has increased faster than any other part of the UK.

 

Mike Hedges AM said…. I welcome this news which shows the Wales Labour Government delivering on its commitments to the Welsh People. It is good news that Education and health spending are higher than in England. This Government is committed to raising the living standards of the people in Wales and will continue to deliver for them.’

 

The Country and Regional Analysis for 2014, published by HM Treasury, shows that expenditure on public services in Wales stood at £9,904 per head - 11 percent higher than the UK average.

Their analysis also shows that the amount of money the Welsh Labour Government spends per head on health and social services in Wales increased faster last year than any other part of the UK and is 7% higher than in England.

On education, spending per head in Wales is 4 per cent higher than in England.

 

Despite the unprecedented £1.3 billion real terms cut to the Welsh budget which has been imposed by the Tory UK Government, the Welsh Labour Government has provided an extra £150 million for the Welsh NHS this year.

 

Press release on Question on school building programme

Mike Hedges AM welcomes confirmation that School Building programme, including Schools in Swansea East will continue until 2021.

 

Mike Hedges asked questions at the assembly which highlighted the investment made in 3 local schools, and had confirmation from Minister Julie James that this programme of investment in local schools will continue until 2021.

 

 

Mike Hedges

‘This is an example of the Welsh Government making a difference. Three new schools have been completed in my constituency of Swansea East, at Morriston, Cefn Hengoed and Burlais, Burlais replacing two schools which were in a terrible condition, not suitable for teaching children. Is this one of the schemes that’s threatened by the proposed Conservative cuts to education?’

 

14:39

Julie James

‘Can I say to the Member that I agree with him that the three schools in his constituency are particularly lovely? I’ve had the opportunity to visit them, and, as I say, they very much enhance the local community, and it’s a real testament to this Government’s commitment to education that we’ve done it. I’d just like to remind the Chamber that the first thing the Tories did when they got into office was stop the successful schools building that the Labour Government put in place and I think that that’s a tragedy, both for the people in those communities and for education in general in England, which we all know is in a particularly parlous state at the moment.

 

However, this programme is now committed so that the schools that are committed, as long as they are contractually committed, will go forward, and the current envelope goes up to 21. So, that will continue, no matter what happens’.

 

Press release re Cancer drugs being made available in Wales

Mike Hedges welcomes announcment that New cancer drugs to be available in Wales

A new deal with pharmaceutical company Novartis will give patients in Wales access to new cancer drugs which are not currently routinely available in Wales, Welsh Labour’s Deputy Minister for Health Vaughan Gething has announced.

 

Mike said….. ‘It is a very good news for Cancer patients in Wales that this agreement has been reached. These type of agreements benefits both patients and drug companies and offer opportunities to get new drugs to patients quicker. I look forward to similar agreements in the future.

 

The agreement is the first if its kind in Wales and will give patients access to the medicine everolimus - marketed under the trade names Afinitor and Votubia - to treat certain types of advanced renal, pancreatic and breast cancers and non-cancerous brain and kidney tumours associated with tuberous sclerosis complex. These medicines are not currently routinely available in Wales.

 

As part of the agreement Novartis will invest around £1.3m in Wales to set up a study on breast cancer in the main oncology centres and collect outcome data for the patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving everolimus (Afinitor) plus exemestane (Aromasin).

 

In addition, the company is also investing an estimated £150,000 to support six programmes delivering service redesign, healthcare professional education and development, improved patient interaction and support and a tuberous sclerosis complex clinic in Cardiff.

Press release on Heritage Lottery fund WWI scheme

 

New National Lottery investment in First World War Centenary

 

One year from the Battle of the Somme Centenary, Mike Hedges AM urges Swansea East communities to apply for new Heritage Lottery Fund money to explore the impact of the war 

 

On Tuesday 10th November, Mike Hedges, AM for Swansea East attended a Senedd event hosted by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), to find out how people from their constituency can secure new National Lottery money to help them mark the Centenary of the First World War. 

 

Following the phenomenal success of its community grants programme First World War: then and now, HLF has made an additional £4million available in 2015/16 for communities looking to explore, conserve and share local heritage of the First World War.  Grants are available between £3,000 to £10,000.

 

Thanks to National Lottery funding, thousands of young people and communities throughout Wales have already been involved in activities marking the Centenary such as: researching and recording local heritage; conserving and finding out more about war memorials; and using digital technology to share the fascinating stories they uncover.  This new money will help even more people get involved to explore a greater range of stories including those surrounding the Battle of the Somme.

 

Mike said: “The projects and stories I’ve seen here today have been an inspiration.  It’s so important that we remember the impact of this war one hundred years on.    There is still time to apply for National Lottery money and I would urge anyone in Swansea East with an idea for their own project to get in touch with HLF.”     

 

Sir Peter Luff, Chair of the HLF, said: “The demand for National Lottery funding for First World War projects has been phenomenal, so much so we’ve decided to make extra money available. This will mean everyone, in particular more young people, can explore the momentous events of a war that shaped our nation, Europe and the world. Next year marks the centenary of the Battle of Somme and if groups want support for projects in 2016, they need to start thinking about applying now.”
 

The event showcased just a handful of 79 First World War Centenary projects taking place across Wales, thanks to more than £5million of investment from HLF.   

 

Projects on display showed the breadth and scale of First World War stories being explored and shared across the country, including:

 

• £9,200 to Narberth Museum for the ‘Letters from the Front’ project;
• £10,000 to Head for Arts for a project that is helping young people learn more about how Welsh miners were required to use their skills during the war; and
• £8,000 to Women’s Archive Wales for a project that marked the centenary of 1915 – the year when women were first actively encouraged to undertake work traditionally performed by men.

 

More information on how to apply for HLF funding is available at www.hlf.org.uk

 

.

letter to the Evening Post RE Voter registration

Dear Sir

 

RE indivdual Voter Registration.

 

I am writing to highlight the process for Individual Voter Registration which is currently being undertaken by Swansea Council as they compile the Electoral Register for 2016.

 

The system of registering to vote is undergoing the biggest change in over 100 years. Previously, one person could fill in a form on behalf of all members of a household; under the new arrangments, each person has to register indivdually. It is estimated that across the UK as a whole over one million people will drop off the register because of this change.

The film Suffragette which is currently showing in local cinemas shows the lengths women went to win the vote in the early years of the last century. It would be a shame for people to lose this hard fought for right just through not registering.

In order to be included in the Electoral Register, each individual person in a household has to register via the forms sent out by the City Council. You can also register on line at –

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

It is vitally important that everyone registers to vote so that they are able to vote in future elections.

In addition to this, people may not be aware that being on the Electoral Register will have other advantages for people; checks on the Electoral Register will often be the first check undertaken when people apply for credit checks, mobile phone contracts and mortgage applications.

Speech at National Assembly on Draft Wales Bill

Mike Hedges

The draft Wales Bill is a disappointment. I have argued for a long time that we need a reserved-powers model. I still believe we need a reserved-powers model. This is the model not just used in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but across Europe. People may remember, a couple of years ago, I ran through a long list of countries in Europe that use the reserved-powers model; you’ll be pleased to know I’m not going to do that today. But, it is something that needs doing.

                           

It is impossible to get clarity without the reserved-powers model. The question then becomes ‘What needs to be reserved?’ A better question is: ‘Which would be the best Parliament to carry out each function?’ What I expected was that functional areas such as defence, currency and foreign affairs would be reserved. If they were not reserved, Wales would be, effectively, an independent country. While some people would see that at a way forward, I’m not one of them. What we appear to have is the solution to a number of Bills ending up in court and several others that could have done: it’s giving Westminster Ministers a veto over Welsh legislation, and then seeing if we end up in court afterwards. It may avoid court initially, but it puts Wales in a worse position than we are in now.

Following the Local Government Byelaws (Wales) Bill, community and principal councils can bring in laws without needing permission from a Welsh Minister, but the National Assembly for Wales, which I’m sure we will agree to rename ‘the Welsh Parliament’, has to ask permission from Westminster Ministers. We are actually being put, again, in a worse position than community councils. At this stage, I am tempted to ask ‘Would they do this to the Scottish Parliament?’, but I won’t ask that question, I’ll ask ‘Would they do this to the Northern Ireland Assembly, where there is a unionist majority?’ Would any devolved legislature in the world have such a veto put upon them within areas that are devolved? With the northern powerhouse, or the Manchester metropolitan county as we used to know it prior to it being disbanded by a previous Conservative Government, being given power over policing, Wales is moving backwards compared not just to Scotland and Northern Ireland, but compared to greater Manchester and London, and possibly any other of the large cities in England that start having devolution.

If I can say something positive, I welcome the super majority needed for constitutional change—pity it doesn’t exist in Westminster. What we need is a rule that all constitutional change requires a super majority. That would mean that, whilst all change might not be unanimous, what it will be is taken forward with the agreement of the overwhelming majority of Members. This would reduce the risk of change and then further change after the next election.

What I would like to see the Bill do are two major things. First: clarification by bringing the reserved-powers model to Wales in the areas we already have devolved, so that we don’t have the problems that we did over the bye-laws Bill ending up in court. Secondly, I’d like to see a list of areas that would be available for devolution when agreed following discussions on the funding after it passes the super-majority test. This is not blue-sky thinking; this is what happened in Northern Ireland over policing. What we would end up with is clarification of the current devolution settlement, and an end point to devolution, with clearly identified areas not available for devolution—the examples I gave earlier, such as currency, foreign affairs and defence, and we’d probably talk about other things, such as border control. These, obviously, would be dealt with at a national level, with the nation being Britain. But, there are a number of areas of government available to be devolved where the Welsh Government had negotiated the funding and the Assembly had agreed to it becoming unreserved. I’m not a fan of having things just passed down to us, because I have a horrible feeling that having things passed down to us may well mean that we get the powers without any money following, and will be told, ‘You can use your own taxation system to pay for it’. I think that’s a matter which must concern anybody who wants Wales to provide good quality services. This would also stop Wales needing a Wales Bill every five years. This Bill is not and end—it’s not even a means to an end. It’s one step on a journey and it’s probably half a step forward and one step backwards. What we need is clarity. We need the reserved-powers model. We need an end point to devolution and, I think, we actually need a different Bill.