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

 

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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.