Article on Welsh Chappels - Institute of Welsh Affairs January 2017

In recent decades, we’ve seen a gradual and continual decline in what can be referred to as the two great traditions of nineteenth and early twentieth century Welsh society; that being the tradition of attending the local chapel and the local public house.
Wales is often considered the land of castles but we have substantially more chapels, churches and other religious buildings across Wales. We have some great church buildings and chapels such as St David Cathedral and Tabernacle chapel in Morriston, which has been described as the cathedral of non-conformity, as well as many others with historical significance and architectural merit.
Wales’s ecclesiastical heritage is a very significant part of the nation’s built and cultural heritage. Many who do not attend the chapels of Wales attach a huge significance to their architectural merit and the status they carry within their local communities. As you look around Wales, it is obvious that, in this day and age, Wales now has a huge excess of chapels for its current religious needs. What we have seen in response to this excess is the closure of many in an attempt to not only save money, but also save some of the really magnificent buildings of the same denomination. The upkeep of these remarkable buildings has fallen on the shoulders of the remaining members of the congregation, most of whom vary from the elderly to the very elderly. As one deacon said to me, ‘We inherited this chapel from our parents, but our children do not want to inherit it from us’
The congregations are declining and you’ve got to remember how many chapels there are. According to ‘Blwyddiadur Undeb yr Annibynnwyr’, there are 668 independent chapels in Wales and four Welsh independent chapels in England but at the time of writing that number will almost certainly have declined. We have witnessed former chapels being sympathetically adapted or converted for a number of different uses, ranging from flats, which are the most common, to houses, businesses, restaurants, offices, community centres and, in some cases, converted to places of worship for other religions. Unfortunately others have become derelict, burnt or fallen down.
One notable example of a former Swansea chapel that has been sympathetically adapted is the chapel of Christmas Evans, which now hosts the NSPCC Swansea offices, but they allow people to visit it and see its plaque commemorating Christmas Evans. It is amazing, how many people visit despite the fact it’s not advertised and you have to engage in substantial research to find out where it is, what it is now and arrange to visit
Then there are the people such as Daniel James (Gwyrossydd) composer of Calon Lan buried at Mynydbach chapel and Evan Roberts the preacher who led the great revival from Moriah chapel in Loughor these were just two of the great preachers and hymn writers from Wales.
Wales has got a huge reputation for its preachers, church and chapel buildings which is something we need to build on. I think that, if we’re looking at the American tourism market we need to produce denominational tours in Wales.
It is not just America but countries in the Far East such as Singapore, We have got the situation where New Siloh in Landore, one of the largest 19th century chapels, has been taken over by a church in Singapore.
So, the question is should we in Wales be when aiming at the American tourist market, should we be aiming some of tourism advertising to promote our great religious history its people and buildings.
I think there’s a huge opportunity to promote tourism relating to our chapels, churches and the great preachers and hymn writers of the past.
This is an opportunity that we in Wales need to take before it is too late.

Questions and Speeches December 2016

Speeches and Questions at Welsh Assembly December 2016

7^th December 2016

The ‘A Regional Collaboration for Health’ Programme

15:07

Mike Hedges

10. Will the Minister provide an update on the ‘A Regional Collaboration for Health’ programme? OAQ(5)0080(HWS)

15:07

Vaughan Gething

Thank you for the question. The Welsh Government is supporting Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board and Hywel Dda Local Health Board, together with Swansea University and Trinity university in the development of a strategic business case, which we expect to be completed in the spring of next year.

15:07

Mike Hedges

Can I thank you for that response? I am also supportive of the principle of closer working between the two health boards and the two universities. I want to highlight the importance of Morriston Hospital as a regional centre for the area covered by the two health boards. What progress is being made on greater use of the hub-and-spoke model that has worked so well in renal services and could be applicable to other services, such as the orthodontic service that was discussed earlier?

15:07

Vaughan Gething

There’s real learning to take from renal services within south-west and mid and west Wales. Investments are being made across the patch in terms of the dialysis provision, but, in particular, I think it’s a useful opportunity to highlight that there’s genuine UK-wide leading practice taking place within the renal unit in Morriston, in particular dialysis at home and overnight dialysis as well. It makes a really big difference to individuals. If they’re able to dialyse at home, they get a much better quality in terms of the outcomes of their patient care, and particularly so for those people who are younger and those people who have the most active lives, and for parents, with the ability not to have their normal day-to-day life or working life interrupted by the need to go into a dialysis centre during the day. So, there’s an awful lot to learn about the way that’s already been developed.

I’ve been really clear with the health service that this greater collaboration between health boards on the delivery of services across health board areas is part of what we need to see developed and progressed and implemented across the whole healthcare system within NHS Wales. So, there is lots of learning to take, and I’m generally encouraged by the progress that’s already been made by the two health boards and the university partners.

Debate on Welsh Government Budget

17:13

Mike Hedges

This is the sixth budget I have spoken on in the Senedd. Unfortunately, they have all been made against the austerity agenda of first the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Westminster Government and now a Conservative Government. How long will the austerity path be followed until it suddenly dawns on the Government that it is not working? As Adam Price said earlier, this is the first lost decade of economic growth since the 1860s. That was the time of Disraeli and Gladstone, and Disraeli and Gladstone as young men. [Interruption.] No, I’ll help Neil Hamilton: Palmerston was there at the beginning, Disraeli and Gladstone were there at the end. Or is this austerity agenda just a fig leaf to hide the desire of the Conservatives to shrink the public sector? Where the state cannot be removed completely, they find a way, such as academy schools in England, where the private sector can make money out of it.

Turning to the budget before us, health continues on its journey towards 50 per cent of the Welsh revenue budget; this time next year, I predict it will actually exceed 50 per cent of the Welsh revenue budget. I think it’s running at 49 per cent this year. Health is by far the most important service that the Welsh Government provides, but money on health must be used to its best effect. I remain highly sceptical of the current health board structure, which does not seem to me to be based on natural health boundaries. Some questions on health need addressing: how much does it cost for agency staff? Why is there not an all-Wales medicines service so that if medicines are about to become out of date, they can be redeployed to a different hospital even if it’s in a different health board so as to avoid waste?

17:14

Darren Millar

Will you take an intervention, Mike?

17:14

Mike Hedges Certainly.

17:15

Darren Millar

Thank you, I’m very grateful for your taking the intervention. It’s in relation, specifically, to the costs of agency staff. As you will know, the UK Government took action to put a cap on the cost of agency staff per hour. The Welsh Government decided not to follow suit. That’s costing our NHS millions of pounds every year. Do you share my view that the Welsh Government should reconsider its position?

17:15

Mike Hedges

I don’t share your view. What I would say is that if you put that cap on, you end up with wards running short of nurses, and you end up with hospitals short of doctors. The problem is we need agency staff. The challenge to the Welsh Government and the health service is to get to a situation where we don’t need agency staff because we’re fully staffed.

Why are you, as stated by a former health Minister, twice as likely to have your tonsils removed in Ynys Môn than you are in Wrexham, which are both part of the same health board? Why does the cost of an operation such as cataracts vary so much between different hospitals? We recently heard reported that the cost of locum doctors in Wales exceeds £137 million—an increase from £64 million in the previous year. The highest paid locum, according to the newspapers, received £183,000 last year. We need a system where we get more doctors in, and I put my cards on the table that I believe in salaried GPs.

Why are medical interventions that do no good for the patient still taking place? The auditor general reported on this practice, as have NICE. How many patients overnight does a minor injuries unit need to see for it to be kept open overnight? Currently, the answer to that is three.

We as a committee of the Assembly scrutinised the Cabinet Secretary for health and the Cabinet Secretary for finance as to who engages in the in-depth scrutiny of health board expenditure, not over accuracy and legality, but over efficiency and effectiveness.

Whilst people generally have their major health needs during the last 12 to 24 months of their lives, they can need social care for up to 40 years, with the level and complexity of care increasing as people age, often ending up with a residential care package having to be paid for by the local council. It is also of no surprise that those living in inadequate housing tend to have greater health needs. Health is also a lifestyle. Exercising facilities run by local authorities, and fitness, diet and smoking cessation schemes run by Communities First all help to improve the health of people in Wales.

While the autumn statement has added additional capital expenditure to the Welsh Government’s budget, according to my calculation it still has not even taken us back to 2008 expenditure in real terms. Additional capital expenditure would benefit the Welsh economy. Remember that the capital expenditure that Ed Balls called for and that George Osborne described as wrecking the recovery has now been brought forward by Philip Hammond. It’s very pleasing that they’ve almost learned.

Can I just say something relating to this idea that you have to keep on cutting to make austerity for things to work? No, you grow your economy. You increase your tax take by growing the economy. You get more people working; not as we have at the moment, working limited hours and zero hours and short-term contract hours, but you actually get them working full time and you get their salaries up. When that happens, the tax take goes up and people end up better off. Can I just say that, finally, capital expenditure is desperately needed for things as diverse as new schools and flood defences, even though the global warming deniers do not believe that we need the additional flood defences?

The Welsh Housing Quality Standard

13:54 - Mike Hedges

3. Will the First Minister make a statement on progress being made towards achieving the Welsh housing quality standard? OAQ(5)0328(FM)

13:54 - Carwyn Jones

All social landlords, including Swansea council, are on track to meet the standard by 2020. The latest annual statistics show that in March of this year, 79 per cent of existing social homes now meet the standard—an 8 point rise over the course of the year—and nearly 18,000 households now live in better-quality homes than in the previous year.

13:54 - Mike Hedges

Thank you, First Minister. Can I congratulate the Welsh Government on the success of reaching the Welsh housing quality standard, and can I also say it’s an example of an ambitious target that has been financially supported and that has improved the lives of many, many people, including many of my constituents? But can the money currently allocated to upgrading council properties, when all of them have met the Welsh housing quality standard, be allocated to the building of new council properties?

13:54 - Carwyn Jones

Yes, we’re very keen to make sure that more councils are able to build council houses, and we’re interested, of course, in looking at every innovative way to increase housing supply. The 20,000 affordable homes target includes local authority on-lending to housing associations to enable them to develop. The advantage of that, of course, is that the local authority can borrow from the Public Works Loan Board at a lower rate than would be available from traditional lenders. There are examples of partnership between local authorities and housing associations as well. We’ve moved a long way from the day when local authorities couldn’t build council houses. It’s important that local authorities are able to provide for their populations and, importantly, that the accommodation that’s provided is of the best standard possible.

5. Statement: Child Poverty Strategy for Wales—Progress Report 2016 16:48 - Mike Hedges The majority of children in poverty live in households where one or both parents are working. The cause is not just low pay, but also working practices that some of us thought had disappeared with the ending of the second world war. We’ve seen the growth not only of zero-hours contracts and low guaranteed hours contracts, but also a huge growth of agency workers and self-employed contractors. Whilst there are areas of the economy where each of those suits both employers and employees—zero-hours contracts for things such as irregular sports events, agency workers to fill a skills gap, self-employed sub-contractors for short-term need, and low guaranteed hours to fit in with caring responsibilities—unfortunately, those are not the only reasons the above contract types are used. Zero-hours contracts offer no guaranteed minimum hours of work; they can require a worker to be available to work at all times and give the employer total control over the amount of work each worker gets each week. Low guaranteed hours, such as one hour a day over a five or six-day week, are similar to zero-hours contracts, but they ensure that everyone clocks in daily, so that the employer can then decide how long they will be needed to work. Agency workers and self-employed sub-contractors have the equivalent of zero-hours contracts without even the minimum employment protection. All the above explains why the majority of people in poverty in Wales are also in work. Children aren’t the major breadwinners in any household. Children are in poverty because their parents are in poverty. The only way to deal with it is to get their parents out of poverty. What I’m asking the Minister is: what is being done to ensure—and you talked earlier in answer to Bethan Jenkins about 44 public bodies in Wales—what’s to ensure that they all pay the proper living wage? And what’s in there to make sure they all employ people under decent contracts, not one of the four I talked about earlier? And what is being done to ensure that the sub-contractors that come in also work to those decent terms and conditions? The sort of terms and conditions when I joined the workforce in the late 1970s were the norm, which now seem to be abnormal. So, what is the Welsh Government doing to ensure that the Welsh pound is being used to employ people under decent contracts, with decent terms and conditions and a decent wage? 16:50 - Carl Sargeant I thank the Member again for his very good contribution in terms of an understanding about his community and communities’ work across Wales. The Member is right that we have to enable the family unit—parents—to be able to secure quality, decent jobs. I think, as the Member will be aware, we made sure that that was part of the WFG Act, and that’s why the 44 public bodies have to consider this. It isn’t optional anymore. They have to consider this in a measured way alongside the public services boards. I would like all of our partners to be paying the living wage, and I’m sure that the finance Minister is listening very carefully. I’ll have that further discussion with him to see what we need to do to pursue that with some vigour.