Press Release on New Transport offer fro 16-18 year olds

Mike Hedges AM welcomes new Young Persons Discounted Travel Scheme launched July 2015

A new scheme which offers Wales’ 110,000 16-18 year olds the opportunity to save a third off the price of an adult bus fare has been launched by Welsh Labour’s First Minister, Carwyn Jones.

Mike Hedges AM Said….. I welcome this scheme for young people; I regularly meet young people who find it difficult to travel to work, education or recreational activities due to the costs of public transport. This scheme which will come in from September 1^st will make a big contribution to reducing the cost of travelling by bus. I urge young people to register and make use of the scheme when it commences. ‘

Funded by the Welsh Labour Government and developed in partnership with the bus industry and local authorities, the new Welsh Young Persons Discounted Travel (WYPDT) Scheme is designed to help young people travel to and from training and employment more cheaply, but has been extended to cover all of their bus journeys.

16-18 years old are now able to register their interest for the new WYPDT Scheme Card via Gov.wales/mytravelpass (English) or Llyw.cymru/fyngherdynteithio (Welsh).

It will enable them to receive discounted fares on all local buses and TrawsCymru journeys throughout Wales from 1 September.

The Welsh Labour Government has allocated £5million to the introduction of the scheme in 2015-16, and a further £9.75million in 2016-7

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Press release on Tourism Figures for Wales

MIKE HEDGES AM WELCOMES figures which show further growth for tourism in Wales

New official figures have revealed that tourism in Wales is in a strong position with further growth in the first quarter of 2015 when compared to a record breaking 2014.

MIKE SAID.. ‘Tourism plays a vital role in the local Economy and it is good news for Swansea that Tourism in Wales is growing. With visitor attractions such as the Hafod Copper works and the Swansea Community boat running trips up the River Tawe, I look forward to Swansea East benefitting further from these extra visitor’s to Wales. These are in addition of course to the extra visitors to the area from the Swans being the only Premier League team in Wales. ‘

Recent figures show that the volume of nights spent in Wales by GB visitors in the first three months of 2015 was 4.68 million, which is up 17 per cent compared with January to March 2014. 　 The average length of stay in Wales during this period rose to 2.89 nights compared with 2.65 nights in the first three months of 2014. Related expenditure saw a significant increase of 32 per cent on January-March 2014.

International Passenger Survey results for the first quarter of 2015 also show that Wales welcomed 137,000 visits from overseas, which was a 5.4% increase on the first quarter of 2014.

Last year, the UK and Ireland campaign generated close to £240 million in additional expenditure to the Welsh economy, which was up 36 per cent on the previous year.

　

　

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PRESS RELEASE RE Japanese Knotweed

Mike Hedges AM asked The Cabinet Minister for Natural Resources Carl Sargent for an update on the use of Natural predator in research carried out by the Centre for Agricultural Bio Sciences.

The Minister replied that the 5 year research programme had been conducted in April 2015 and was deemed a success. This would now lead to an extension of the research over a wider area and with more aphids released in those areas. The minister felt that this was a significant step in dealing with Knotweed through use of natural predators.

Mike said later ‘Japanese knotweed is one of the most prevalent issues in my post bag. It affects many areas of Swansea East and is a major concern to residents. The news that the natural predator research was successful is a major step in dealing with this issue. I will continue to ask questions at the Senedd on this topic.

　

　

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Question to First Minister RE Cold Calling Zone's and his reply

Mike Hedges

There are many different types of scam—the internet and technology have made it much easier to attempt scams. As the First Minister just said, many of them start off abroad in countries with limited laws to deal with it. In part of Morriston, the Clasemont Park area, a no-cold-calling zone has been set up, which has made a huge difference to the lives of the people living there. Will the First Minister support the development of more no-cold-calling zones in Wales in order to stop one of the most common scams of cold calling and demanding huge sums of money for little or no work?

                                    

14:10

Carwyn Jones The First Minister

Well, yes, the old story of ‘your chimney is falling down, so therefore I can fix it for you for an enormous amount of money’—that was one of the oldest scams in the book. That, unfortunately, is still continuing, and many vulnerable elderly people particularly do fall prey to that kind of scam. I can say first of all that the number of homes covered by no-cold-calling zones is about 38,000, and the Minister, indeed, issued a written statement on 4 February to inform Members of this. But, of course, we will look at ways of extending no-cold-calling zones in the future whilst at the same time looking to lobby the UK Government to tighten up the law particularly with telephone cold calling

Press Release on Knotweed in Swansea

Mike Hedges AM asks questions at Senedd regarding knotweed in Swansea

 

Mike Hedges AM asked The Cabinet Minister for Natural Resources Carl Sargent for an update on the use of Natural predator in research carried out by the Centre for Agricultural Bio Sciences. The Minister replied that the 5 year research programme had been conducted in April 2015 and was deemed a success. This would now lead to an extension of the research over a wider area and with more aphids released in those areas. The minister felt that this was a significant step in dealing with Knotweed through use of natural predators.

 

Mike said later ‘Japanese knotweed is one of the most prevalent issues in my post bag. It affects many areas of Swansea East and is a major concern to residents. The news that the natural predator research was successful is a major step in dealing with this issue. I will continue to ask questions at the Senedd on this topic. 

 

 

 

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Press release RE increase in the number of GP's in Wales

Mike Hedges welcomes the news that number of GPs working in Wales has increased by 10%.

The number of GPs, excluding registrars, retainers and locums, stood at 2,006 at the end of September 2014, working in 462 practices across Wales. This is an increase of 10.5% since 2004.

Mike said ‘this is good news for people in Swansea. The Welsh Government is committed to ensuring that people in Wales have access to good primary health facilities and these figures show that this is being achieved. These figures, in addition to new facilities, such as the expansion of the practice in Llansamlet show that how that commitment is being delivered in Swansea.

　

The figures show that between 2013 and 2014, 137 new GPs (6.8% of the 2014 workforce) joined the profession in Wales. Since 2004, the number of registered patients per GP has fallen by 5.5% to 1,582.

Since 2003, the Welsh Government’s investment in general practice has increased by £147m, rising from £322m to £469m in 2012-13.

　

Speech on Conservative debate on Housing in Wales July 2015

First of all, can I thank Christine Chapman for the way she chaired the investigation and the evidence that we took. I think the committee went through a very detailed investigation and came up with a large number of recommendations. I’m happy to support the general principles of the Renting Homes (Wales) Bill and I’m sure the Minister was pleased to see that the first recommendation of the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee was that it recommends that the Assembly agrees the general principles of the Bill; she might have even been slightly relieved.

                            

There are two distinct rental markets. First is the high-cost, high-quality, generally short-term rental properties, where there are usually no problems. The second is the lower cost end of the sector, which provides housing that, 40 years ago, would have been provided by the local council or by halls of residence for students. The committee made 37 recommendations, but I intend to concentrate solely on four of them.

The first one is an issue that I raised in 2011, and that is electrical safety. Recommendation 30 calls for provision and installation of carbon monoxide and smoke alarms and for the periodic inspection of electrical wiring to be mandatory in rental properties. Carbon monoxide, fire and poorly maintained electrics can, and have, led to deaths. I believe we should support hardwired smoke alarms. We know that electrical sources are the biggest causes of fires in Welsh homes. I believe we should have five-yearly electrical safety checks in the Welsh private rented sector; it’s going to keep people alive. This is not asking for something unusual or particularly expensive, or onerous. Scotland has already done it.

I also have concerns, which I hope the Minister can allay, regarding contracts for 16 and 17-year-olds. Currently, when 16 and 17-year-olds have accommodation, it’s underwritten by a responsible adult, sometimes a parent, but often social services. My concern is that if 16 and 17-year-olds have their own tenancy and manage to organise their own utilities, very hard-pressed social services departments and social workers may decide that they may no longer need support; they’re looking after themselves. I know this is not a responsibility of the housing Minister, but can she say whether she has discussed this with the Minister for social services, and if there will be advice to social services departments, provided by the relevant Minister after the Bill becomes an Act? It really does concern me—everything is sorted, they’ve got a house and they’ve got their utilities, so why should social services still be involved? Well, for a lot of 16 and 17-year-olds, in that state, they’re quite often very vulnerable.

The third issue I want to discuss is retaliatory evictions. When the committee first started to gather views on this, I expected it to be wholly about tenants’ complaints about the need for repairs and landlords then going for evictions. Can I strongly urge the Minister to amend the Bill to include a rebuttal presumption that an eviction is retaliatory in cases where it occurs after a contract holder has registered a complaint with a landlord about the condition of the property? At committee, we were also told that a retaliatory eviction had taken place because the tenants gave evidence in court against a landlord. The landlord took it upon himself then to take action against the tenant. This has to be a cause for concern, not just in terms of housing, but in terms of the way the law is. If people feel they’re about to lose their home if they give evidence against a landlord taking action, I think the likelihood is that very many people will not actually give evidence when they should.

Finally, what quality of homes should people expect? Having dealt with constituents who have houses neither wind nor waterproof, which are very expensive to heat due to poorly fitting single glazed windows, and are damp, does this constitute fit for human habitation, because these properties keep the NHS busy? I fully support the ambition of the Bill, and if my constituents end up in safe, warm and dry properties, then it will have succeeded in improving their lives, and also, as a by-product, it will have reduced demand on the health service.