Mike Hedges AM welcomes £2.8 MILLION BOOST FOR LOCAL BUS TRAVEL

Mike Hedges AM welcomes £2.8 MILLION BOOST FOR LOCAL BUS TRAVEL

Welsh Labour's Transport Secretary Ken Skates has announced a £2.8 million funding boost for the local transport network in Flintshire, Neath Port Talbot, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea and Torfaen.

Mike Hedges AM said ‘I greatly welcome this investment in Bus Travel. Many of my constituents are reliant on busses and the extra investment in services in Swansea will be well received. It shows the commitment of the Wales Labour Government to public transport in Wales’
 

This year’s Local Transport Network Fund primarily focuses on improving bus reliability and reducing journey times by improving accessibility, congestion and integration between different modes of transport.

The funding will help a range of bus priority measures, junction improvements and technical  solutions to further support the bus industry and widen the appeal of buses as an attractive, reliable mode of transport.

The projects which will receive funding from the 2017-18 Local Transport Network Fund are:

• £100,000 for developments for passenger growth on the B5129 strategic bus corridor in Flintshire.
• £617,000 for an integrated transport package in Neath Port Talbot.
• £425,000 for passenger enhancements on the TrawsCymru corridor through improved accessibility in Powys.
• £600,000 for improvements on the A4119 & A4059 bus corridor in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
• £1,000,000 for strategic bus corridors and public transport hubs in Swansea.
• £15,500 for junction improvements at Union Street / Broad Street in Abersychan.

The funds will be made available immediately to the local authorities involved in these projects.

PRAISE FOR PIONEERING ELECTRONIC HEALTH & CARE SYSTEM MIKE HEDGES AM WELCOMES INNOVATION IN THE HEALTH AND CARE SECTOR

PRAISE FOR PIONEERING ELECTRONIC HEALTH & CARE SYSTEM

            MIKE HEDGES AM WELCOMES INNOVATION IN THE HEALTH AND CARE SECTOR

Welsh Labour's Social Services Minister Rebecca Evans has praised Powys’ health and social care services for becoming the first area in Wales to jointly implement a new IT system that helps health and social care professionals work together to provide care closer to people’s homes.

 Mike said… I join in with the minister in congratulating Powys Council for its innovative work in this field. Use of modern technology is going to be a huge part of future Social Services. I look forward to other social services depts. adopting similar practices.

The Welsh Community Care Information System (WCCIS) gives community nurses, mental health teams, social workers and therapists the digital tools they need to work better together, whilst providing the highest possible levels of care. It allows access to relevant information on the care provided to a range of health and social care professionals, to show where a patient is with their treatment.

When fully implemented across Wales, WCCIS will help break down barriers caused by different organisations using different IT systems, by securely storing important information covering a range of activities such as community nursing, health and social care visits, mental health, learning disabilities, substance misuse, complex care needs and social care therapy.

The Welsh Labour  Government provided £6.7 million in capital funding for the initial set up costs for the WCCIS and has made a further £4 million available to support its implementation via the Integrated Care Fund.  

Mike Hedges AM welcomes news that Safer Down’s test for pregnant women to be introduced in Wales

Mike Hedges AM welcomes news that Safer Down’s test for pregnant women to be introduced in Wales

A safer and more accurate test for Down’s syndrome is to be introduced in Wales, the Welsh Government has announced.

Mike Hedges said…. I welcome this new safer test for screening for Down’s syndrome. I have spoken to mothers who have undertaken the current test and all have spoken of the stress which the test induces. This test will be safer and less stressful for the parents, and I welcome its introduction.

Public Health Minister Rebecca Evans has confirmed the Welsh Government has agreed to the introduction of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) within the antenatal screening programme in Wales.

NIPT, a blood sample analysed in a laboratory, will be added to the screening pathway as an additional option for women who accept current primary screening and are assessed as being at higher chance of Down’s, Edwards’ and Patau’s syndrome.

The current antenatal screening programme offers pregnant women a number of different primary screening tests to detect some of the conditions that may affect either the woman or their baby. One of these screening tests shows the chance of having a baby with Down’s syndrome. If this is equal to or higher than 1 in 150, women are considered higher chance but are currently only offered the option of an invasive test to confirm the diagnosis. These invasive diagnostic tests carry a small risk of miscarriage.

NIPT will be offered as an additional option to these invasive tests and for women who receive a negative result, no further tests will be required. It is expected that 1 to 2 babies per year in Wales will be saved from miscarriage as a result of the introduction of NIPT.

NIPT will be rolled out as soon as practicable during 2018. Work is already underway with the other UK nations and charities on the development of health professional training and patient information, designed to ensure women are supported to make a fully informed decision.

Public Health Minister, Rebecca Evans said:

“We want to ensure every expectant mother in Wales receives the information, advice and support they need throughout their pregnancy. Our antenatal screening programme plays an important role in this.

“The Welsh Government has accepted the recommendations made by the UK National Screening Committee and the Wales Screening Committee to introduce Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) as an additional option for women identified as higher chance for Down’s, and to add screening for Edwards’ and Patau’s syndrome and screening in twin pregnancies within the screening pathway in Wales.

“NIPT is more accurate than the current primary tests. A negative NIPT result will offer pregnant women the reassurance they need, without the need for a further invasive diagnostic test – reducing the unnecessary harm from miscarriage that can be caused through the use of these tests.”

The introduction of NIPT will be evaluated over the next 3 years, in line with recommendations made by the UK National Screening Committee and the Wales Screening Committee. 

MIKE HEDGES AM WELCOMES NEWS THAT WELSH START UPS BENEFIT FROM OVER £15 MILLION OF LOANS

MIKE HEDGES AM WELCOMES NEWS THAT WELSH START UPS BENEFIT FROM OVER £15 MILLION OF LOANS

Nearly 2,000 Welsh start ups have benefited from over £15.5 million of Welsh Government-backed loans aimed at getting new businesses off the ground.

Mike said…small business are the back bone of local communities and play vital roles in local economies. Their success is vital to many of our outlying shopping districts for example. I am therefore pleased that the Welsh Government is supporting these important business. I have visited many in Swansea East who have benefited from this scheme. I urge any people starting a business to check the criteria and to meet the scheme advisers.

Latest figures from the UK-wide Start Up Loans Company (SULCO) show that since the fund was established in Wales in October 2013, it has provided support and loans to 1943 new and early stage Welsh businesses, with an average lending amount of around £8000 per company.

The figures mean that over the last 4 years an average of 2 new Welsh businesses a day have benefitted from funding from the Start Up Loan Company.

Mike Hedges welcomes Plans to halve Wales’ food waste announced by Lesley Griffiths

Mike Hedges welcomes  Plans to halve Wales’ food waste announced by Lesley Griffiths

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths has announced ambitious plans to halve food waste in Wales by 2025.

Wednesday 16 August 2017

Mike Hedges AM, Chair of the Environment and Rural Affairs Committee said… I welcome the news that the Government are going to consult on further non statutory targets. Wales has established a reputation around the world for recycling and any new targets will help develop that reputation. I urge all people in Swansea to do all of their can to help reduce food waste and recycle what they can.

Wales has made significant progress in recent years in reducing the amount of food we unnecessarily throw away.  Recent figures, published by WRAP, show a reduction of household food waste in Wales of 12% between 2009 and 2015. Wales’ household waste is now lower than the rest of the UK by around 9%. 

The Cabinet Secretary today confirmed in order to build on this progress, she intends to launch a consultation on a non-statutory target for Wales to halve food waste by 2025, against a 2006-07 baseline.

Lesley Griffiths made the announcement as she welcomed the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham, to Wales. Scotland was the first country in the UK to set a food waste reduction target.

Both Cabinet Secretaries will share views and information around  waste and resource management. Lesley Griffiths is keen to hear the Scottish Government’s experience of setting a food waste target and will discuss with Roseanna Cunningham how Wales has achieved its success in municipal waste recycling. The visit comes a week before the release of provisional annual waste statistics for 2016/17, where Wales expects to improve on last year’s rate of 60% - the third highest in the world. 

The Cabinet Secretaries will also discuss their commitment to developing a more circular economy, an approach where high-quality materials derived from waste products can be supplied back to manufacturers and productively used again and again.

Lesley Griffiths and Roseanna Cunningham will visit Newport WasteSavers, a social enterprise that promotes the importance of reuse and recycling, and Public Health Wales’ new office in Cardiff, which has been refurbished with the use of repaired and recycling furniture and tiles, an excellent example of the circular economy in action. PHW’s refit recently won the organisation an international award for Environmental Best Practice.

Swansea MP and AM react angrily to news that Rail electrification between Cardiff and Swansea scrapped

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling MP announced this morning (20 July) in an article for Wales Online that the Government has scrapped plans to electrify the main train line between Swansea and Cardiff.

This comes just days after the decision to award £6.6bn worth of contracts as part of the next phase of the high speed rail network between London and Birmingham.

Carolyn Harris, MP for Swansea East said:

“The Transport Secretary did not have the decency to formally announce this in Parliament and waited until the last day before the summer recess to slip this out. It shows an utter lack of respect for the people of Swansea and South Wales who have been promised electrification since 2012.

“I have lost count of the amount of times the Government have denied that this was their plan, this is yet another Tory U-turn that will impact heavily on Wales.

“With rail electrification now scrapped, I worry for the future of Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and the Swansea Bay City Deal.”

Mike Hedges AM said….. ‘I agree with Carolyn; this is very bad news for South West Wales. The Tories say one thing and do another when it comes to the people of Wales. Other areas where electrification projects have been cancelled for the last part of a route, have seen services on the part not electrified downgraded and communities on these routes see service reductions. We will be campaigning hard to ensure that the Cardiff to Swansea line does not suffer in the same way’

Mike Hedges welcomes commitment from First Minister, Carwyn Jones, that Swansea will receive Welsh Government support in the same way the Cardiff City deal was supported.

Mike Hedges welcomes commitment from First Minister, Carwyn Jones, that Swansea will receive Welsh Government support in the same way the Cardiff City deal was supported.

Mike Hedges AM welcomed the news that Swansea will be treated exactly the same as Cardiff when it comes to city region funding. First Minister, Carwyn Jones confirmed that in response to a question put to the First Minister on Tuesday 11^th June.

Mike said, ‘ I welcome this news; it is important and reassuring news that Swansea will get equal treatment. The City Deal is such an important programme for the future of the Swansea Bay area, that equal treatment is vital for the successful delivery of the 11 projects within the program.’

The Swansea Bay City Region

14:07

Mike Hedges

5. Will the First Minister outline the Welsh Government’s support for the Swansea Bay city region?

14:07

Carwyn Jones

The First Minister

Well, we are working with local partners to support business growth, to improve infrastructure, and to create a more attractive economic environment across the region.

14:07

Mike Hedges

Can I thank the First Minister for that response? The first supplementary budget provides an extra £20 million for the Cardiff city region. Will the Swansea bay city region get the same financial support from the Welsh Government when it needs it?

14:07

Carwyn Jones

The First Minister

Yes. The Swansea city deal is structured around 11 major project proposals. There is a process set out that triggers the money going to Swansea in the same way as Cardiff. It’s not identical, but the Welsh and UK Governments have committed to jointly invest, subject to the submission and approval of full business cases in relation to the 11 identified projects and the agreement of governance arrangements for the deal, a sum of up to £241 million on specific interventions.