PLAID CYMRU SPRING CONFERENCE 2017

Plaid Cymru – The Party of Wales Spring Conference is taking place in The Riverfront Centre in Newport on Friday 3^rd and Saturday 4^th March 2017.

Spring Conference will be an opportunity to discuss and share the party’s vision with delegates and our members.

There will also be keynote speeches from party leader, Leanne Wood, her cabinet team, our candidates and a number of special guest speakers.

Click here to download the opportunities pack, which includes information relating to the sponsorship and exhibition opportunities. 

Click here to download the booking form.

If you are a party member then click here to see the timetable and for information about the Conference Dinner and other social events taking place during Conference weekend.

WHEN:  March 03, 2017 at 9am - March 04, 2017

WHERE:  Riverfront Centre, Newport

THIS MAKES A PLEASANT CHANGE

There is an old saying along the line of if you stand in the same place long enough then eventually everything will go passed you again. The re-opening of several Gwent police stations by Ian Johnston, the local police and crime commissioner (PCC) , should be welcomed. This bold decision and effectively reverses cuts made  to front desk services at the seven stations (out of 17 stations) that were originally closed to the public back in 2012 (with the loss of 19 jobs). The package of cuts was originally aimed to save around £500,000 as part of £34 million pounds worth of budget savings (by 2015). Gwent Police are reopening Police stations in Caerphilly, Chepstow, Maindee, Monmouth, Pontypool, Risca and Ystrad Mynach. The changes mean that Abertillery police station will now be open to the public on Thursday and Friday from 09:00 to 17:00, with Brynmawr open Monday to Wednesday from 09:00 to 17:00, it is worth noting that previously both these Police stations had only been open for a few hours a week. In Monmouthshire,  Monmouth and Chepstow police stations are also now open to the public from 9am to 5pm, five days a week. Initially the station front counters will be staffed by community support officers (CSOs) until Gwent Police recruit station enquiry officers (SEOs). Front counter services are to be reviewed after 12 months and levels of us will also be monitoured. I for one, hope that this bold step works out, and some of our communities can retain their (open) police stations.

ABERTILLERY RAILWAY STATION

The town of Abertillery in Blaenau Gwent (has a population of about 18,000) and high unemployment. As a former mining town, since the 80's,has suffered a significant increase in benefit receipt, a significant decline in amenities and relatively low economic and employment opportunities. In Scotland simular former mining towns have benefited economically and socially from having old railway lines to Glasgow opened. The re-opening of the Ebbw Vale line to Cardiff (and hopefully eventually to Newport) has brought opportunities to the Ebbw Valley.

Sign the petition to open a train station at Abertillery.

A direct rail link and a railway station in Abertillery would give people access to job opportunities in Cardiff and on the coastal belt. The restored rail link would also bring tourism to a beautiful and historic part of our country. At present the floored devolution settlement means that the Department for Transport makes the final decision on re-opening old railways and building new stations, even if the National Assembly wants it done.

AN OPENLY PARTISAN APPROACH?

The longer the row goes on and on about the departure of the former Gwent Chief Constable the more convinced I am that this is mostly the Labour Party in Gwent having a pop at the PCC because he happens not to be their man. I am sure that if the Labour candidate had got elected and a simular train of events had taken place that we would not have heard a peep form Labour’s motley crew of backbench usual suspects who are occasionally, when not cluttering up the Westminster backbenches, found loitering here in Gwent. 

HAVING YOUR CAKE AND EATING IT?

Oops - a case of forgetting that they are in Government?

It can rightly be said sometimes that a picture is worth a thousand words. Here we have a group of Labour AMs and MPs protesting about the threat to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. While there is nothing wrong with that, they are protesting against their own government in Cardiff’s polices. This is classic Labour in Wales having their cake and eating it. While there may be a faint whiff of hypocrisy about it, there is nothing new here, more locally the Labour MP for Newport East spoke out in Newport against Post Office closures while quietly voting in the lobbies in Westminster to support the closure programme and hoped that no one would notice. Likewise, in relation to the resignation of Gwent Chief Constable we have had a row of Labour in Gwent MPs lining up to condemn the elected Police Commissioner should be put in its proper context, had such an event taken place under the rule of an elected Labour Police Commissioner I suspect that all we would have heard was silence.  

BETTER GOVERNANCE FOR WALES?

Last week Citizen Cameron failed to reduce the number of MP’s from 650 to 600, with the proposed reform of the parliamentary boundaries Wales would have seen a reduction of 25% of its MP’s  (10 out of 40). Incidentally the figure of 40 MP’s was merely historically plucked out of the air. A number of Labour’s in Wales’s elected representatives would have been culled, hence the loud and persistent bleating from some of those usual suspects. Aside from Citizen Cameron’s patience being tried what has been lost was a much needed opportunity to reform the way our National Assembly members are elected.

Lord Elis-Thomas, interviewed on BBC Wales' The Wales Report (last Sunday) advocated reducing the number of Wales' local authorities as part of a wider package of reform, which included reducing the number of Welsh MPs and increasing the number of assembly members. He was absolutely right to link reform of governance at all levels with the introduction of Single Transferable Vote system of voting.  If we are going to reform governance (at all levels in Wales) then it must suit Welsh needs and aspirations rather than blindly following a British model which may not necessarily suit our needs.

If we approach the subject of Wales’s governance rationally then our country is at some levels actually somewhat overburdened with elected representatives. Wales with a population of 3.06 million has 60 AMs, 40 MP’s (at the moment), 4 MEPS; we have 1264 councilors (one for every 1830 electors). Wales also has around 8000 community councillors; out of some 875 'communities' in Wales, 735 of them have a council. Let’s not forget our unelected tier of government with its Assembly Government Sponsored Bodies, Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies (formerly known as quangos) and the seven Health Boards.

So how does Wales compare with other countries when it comes to governance? Scotland with a population of 5.2 million people has 59 MPs, 129 MSP’s and 6 MEP’s. Scotland has 1,222 councilors (one for every 3180 electors) and 32 unitary authorities. There are also 1,200 community council’s in Scotland, incidentally a country where the law states that candidates cannot stand on a party-political ticket. Scotland also has 14 Health Boards, 7 regional transport partnerships, while the Police and  Emergency services are currently undergoing reorganisation.

Slovenia with a population of 2.05 million with 90 elected representatives in its Assembly (88 directly elected and 2 representatives for the Hungarian and Italian minorities) and 7 MEP’s. Slovenia has 211 municipalities (eleven are urban municipalities), all the municipalities have local autonomy. Each municipality has an elected Mayor (elected every 4 years), and a Municipal Council. In the most of the municipalities, the municipal council is elected via PR with some smaller municipalities using a plurality voting system. Slovenia’s urban municipalities have elected Town or City Councils. The country also has 62 administrative districts which are merely territorial sub-units of government administration, each of which has a Head of the Unit who is appointed by the Minister of Public Administration.

A strong case can and should be made for our 22 local authorities to be reorganised into between five and seven counties (with Cardiff as a municipal region in its own right). Such a reorganisation would match the already completed reorganisation of our local health boards which have been reduced in number to seven.  The Conservatives ideologically driven reorganisation of local government in the 1990’s aside from being flawed, replaced several large authorities with 22 smaller authorities. This had more to do with breaking up perceived centres of monolithic Labour power and trying to create local authorities that he conservatives might win control of, than making local government more efficient.

Locally the former county of Gwent was abolished being replaced by five councils which covered; Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Newport and Monmouth. Almost overnight, one chief executive was replaced by five seperate chief executives, five heads of education, five heads of social services and deputies, etc, etc. Any relative economies of scale vanished being replaced by five seperate purchasing organisations, etc. Many of the local authorities, well before the age of austerity in which we no languish were struggling to make ends meet and most of them had to operate with poor financial settlements.

Our institutions at all levels need to be fully democratic being elected with Single Transferable Vote and multiple member constituencies so that they cease to dominated by single political parties and are fit for the twenty first century, rather than the nineteenth. Along the way we can cull the number of highly paid council cabinet members, reduce the number of councilors, and reintroduce some joined up thinking along with sensible economies of scale, and cut out that local government middle management tier without cutting front line services.

TIME TO BRING BACK GWENT

I can think of no better argument for local government reform than the ongoing row over the pay increase awarded by the Labour controlled council cabinet (Plaid voted against) in Caerphilly. On Monday many council staff in Caerphilly will walk out on Monday lunchtime in protest at the disgraceful pay rises set to be awarded to the council's top twenty executives. The former county of Gwent was abolished by the Conservative Government in the early 1990's, being replaced by five councils covering; Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Newport and Monmouth. One chief executive was replaced by five seperate chief executives, five heads of education, five heads of social services and deputies, etc. relative economies of scale were replaced by five seperate purchasing organisations, etc. It's time to bring back Gwent, but, with Single Transferable Vote to ensure that it is fully democratic rather than a Labour in Wales political monolith. Along the way we can cull the number of higly paid council cabinet members, and reintroduce some joined up thinking and sensible economies of scale cut out that local government middle management tier without cutting front line services.

TIME TO DEVOLVE POLICING

At the moment we have four police forces in Wales: Dyfed-Powys, South Wales, North Wales and Gwent, as of this November there will be four elected Police Commissioners. Yet despite this the reality is that the people of Wales have less say over policing in their own communities than people in Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man do. In Scotland, policing has always been a devolved function, it is time for it to be devolved here in Wales. Welsh government ministers in Cardiff will have a far greater understanding of local policing needs and the  expectations of our communities than some distant political appointee in the Ministry of Justice. At the end of the day, regardless of the reluctance of the current Welsh Government in Cardiff to do anything, the Welsh people have a fundamental democratic right to have a greater say in something so fundamental to civilised community life as policing. Policing is only one side of the coin, to make devolved policing work, there is also a need to devolve control of criminal justice.

THE ABERGAVENNY FOOD FESTIVAL

I have been looking forward to this years Abergavenny Food Festival (being held over this weekend) for a while once again (happily) it has once again not clashed with Plaid's annual conference, good for me, bad for my bank balance and (potentially) bad for my cholesterol.  Now well established, the food festival enriches the market town of Abergavenny (and the surrounding area) and adds to Abergavenny's well deserved reputation as the ‘Gateway to Wales’.

The Food Festival, is one of those well organised events that has put the town on the map, it manages successfully to attract visitors from far and wide and showcases exceptional local Welsh produce, local businesses and services and local talent (which we have plenty) within the former county of Gwent. This year's festival, will build on previous successes promises  and make a real difference to Abergavenny and add to the festivals well deserved and growing reputation which has given the traditional market town an international reputation and profile.

http://www.abergavennyfoodfestival.com

ACT TOGETHER - WIN TOGETHER

ACT TOGETHER - WIN TOGETHER

Rally against the Pension Cuts
 

Lunchtime (12pm - 2pm) 

John Frost Square, Newport 

Thursday 30th June 2011

THE URGENT QUESTION?

Lindsay Whittle AM

Plaid Cymru AM for the South East, Lindsay Whittle, has described the loss of 150 jobs at the Identity and Passport service offices in Newport as a bitter blow for the city. Speaking after he raised an Urgent Question in the Senedd, Mr Whittle challenged the First Minister on what action he is taking to mitigate the effects of the job losses on the people of Newport.

Plaid Cymru’s Lindsay Whittle AM said:

“Such large numbers of jobs lost are a bitter blow for Newport and the surrounding areas. While the Tories and Lib Dems seem to think we should be grateful that more people haven't lost their jobs, the new Labour Welsh government must now act to help those people who will be out of work and to help Newport. The new Labour Welsh government should be proactive as the Scottish and Northern Irish governments are being in order to secure new funding from the UK government in order to invest in our communities. It appears that the new Labour Welsh government is last to the table here and the people of Wales have a right to ask why.”

WHAT ABOUT GWENT?

I welcome Network Rail's plans to make improvements to stations, lines and signalling equipment could double the rail capacity of the region by 2015 and to ease railway congestion in Cardiff and the south Wales valleys have been revealed. It has long been recognised that passenger demand in Cardiff and the valleys is increasing at 8% on average each year.

Network Rail, which owns and operates Britain's rail infrastructure, has predicted that the number of passengers travelling in Cardiff and the valleys would exceed 12m per year by the end of 2015 and has said some 900 trains already travelled daily through the Cardiff area, but the railway needed more capacity by the end of the decade.

The proposed changes would remove the rail bottleneck on the Cardiff city line and allow an extra four trains an hour to run through the area. The £200 million pound improvement plan will help the railway manage the increasing numbers of passengers longer-term and will allow for more and longer trains to run on the valley lines, with 600 more seats during the rush hour.

Additionally more freight trains would run in Cardiff, boosting the business sector, and more robust and efficient signalling equipment would improve reliability of services. One question though - what about Gwent?

In the south east we could do with railway stations at Caerleon and  Magor, not to mention the opening of the line between Newport and Ebbw Vale to passenger traffic. We need far better facilities for passengers at Abergavenny, Caldicot, Chepstow and Severn Tunnel Stations - including save and secure park and ride facilities - to provide and alternative means to getting to and from work, not to mention a start being made on the electrification of the Gwent Valley lines.

THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST...

As the ConDem cuts begin to hit home, all of our public funded bodies are going to be under pressure to make savings and under threat of reduced budgets. In Wales, the Arts Council of Wales is already planning to withdraw funding worth £3.6m from 32 arts groups in 2011.

Locally, in the former county of Gwent, the cuts are going to hit home hard. One of the casualties of funding cuts could be Gwent Theatre which was has worked hard over the last three decades taking amongst other things live theatre in many of our schools. Gwent Theatre which has previously received £250,000 a year from the Arts
Council of Wales, may be wound up as a result of the loss of funding.

The Theatre's small company of six people: actors, stage manager, educational and administrative staff who will all lose their jobs as the impact of the loss of funding begins to hit home. It's worth remembering that Theatre Gwent's staff have worked with the Theatre company for over twenty years and have consistently delivered work of the highest quality throughout the former county of Gwent.

There will also be a knock on effect with a further reduction in employment opportunities for actors, script writers, musicians, poets and storytellers all of whom will now lose out when the cuts begin to bite. Gwent Theatre provides employment opportunities for up to 40 people in any given year.

The jobs loses and loss of opportunity are bad enough, but, they are only part of the story. Probably the most significant impact of the loss of Gwent Theatre is going to be the loss of its role in educating countless pupils and young people in Gwent's schools. In 2009 – 2010 alone, Gwent Theatre was able to deliver 220
performances to some 14,000 + young people in some 219 schools.

Gwent Theatre held 81 theatre workshops with over 2500 participants. The highly acclaimed Gwent Young Peoples Theatre put on seven productions, with 5183 youth theatre attendances and audience figures of 1,794. This is a pretty good if not an outstanding delivery of work in a single year from a small theatre company.

Gwent Theatre has worked hard over the years to establish itself as a highly successful company which regularly takes its excellent work into our schools and our communities across Gwent – something that more than than fulfils the aims and objectives of the Arts Council of Wales to put the experience of live theatre into
individuals and communities lives.

This may on the surface appear to be an easy hit, but, it is a cut that is far too deep - Gwent Theatre has successfully and faithfully served individuals, schools and communities across Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport and Torfaen, and has worked solidly for years to build up good working relations across the greater Gwent area.

It's time to think again funding wise, Gwent Theatre does not deserve this fate and neither should our communities be culturally deprived of the important future contributions to could and should made by Gwent Theatre in future years.

Follow this web link to sign the petition to Save Gwent Theatre.

NOT BY BREAD ALONE

The plan to stop funding for Gwent Theatre, which is one of the more established theatre company's which regularly performs in schools across the former county of Gwent, is very bad news indeed. As the cuts begin to hit home, all of our public funded bodies are going to feel the cuts.

The Arts Council of Wales is now planning to withdraw funding worth £3.6m from 32 arts groups from next year. The Gwent area, especially Monmouthshire, is sadly going to be particularly badly hit. Gwent Theatre which was set up over 30 years ago, and has previously received £250,000 a year from the Arts Council of Wales, may well be wound up as a result of the loss of funding.

The impact of the loss of funding will hit the Theatre's small company of six people: actors, stage manager, educational and administrative staff who will all lose their jobs. A number of whom have worked with the Theatre company for over twenty years and have consistently delivered work of the highest quality throughout the former county of Gwent.

There will also be a further reduction in employment opportunities for actors, script writers, musicians, poets and storytellers all of whom will now lose out when the cuts begin to bite. Gwent Theatre provides employment opportunities for up to 40 people in any given year.

The most significant impact of the loss of Gwent Theatre is going to be the loss of its role in educating countless pupils and young people in Gwent's schools - I can remember them coming to my school when i was a kid. It's worth remembering that 2009 – 2010 alone, Gwent Theatre was able to deliver 220 performances to some 14,000 + young people in some 219 schools.

Gwent Theatre also held 81 theatre workshops with over 2500 participants. The highly acclaimed Gwent Young Peoples Theatre put on seven productions, with 5183 youth theatre attendances and audience figures of 1,794. This is pretty good if not an outstanding delivery of work in a single year from a small theatre company.

Over the years Gwent Theatre has worked hard to establish itself as a highly successful company which regularly takes its excellent work into our schools and our communities across Gwent – something that more than than fulfils the aims and objectives of the Arts Council of Wales to put the experience of live theatre into individuals and communities lives.

It's time to think again funding wise, this may on the surface appear to be an easy hit, but, it is a cut that is far too deep - Gwent Theatre has successfully and faithfully served individuals, schools and communities across Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Newport and Torfaen, and has worked solidly for years to build up good working relations across the greater Gwent area.

Gwent Theatre does not deserve this fate and neither should our communities be culturally deprived of the important future contributions to could and should made by Gwent Theatre in future years.

A WELCOME RETURN TO ACTIVE SERVICE

Many people in and around Newport and across Gwent, will welcome the Transporter bridge's return to active service transporting people (and vehicles) across the muddy Usk. I am particularly pleased to see that Newport (and Gwent's) iconic Transporter Bridge is now up and running after its refit. The refit was part funded by the National Assembly Government with £800,000, Newport City Council put in £350,000 from the council and Cadw some £75,000.

The Transporter bridge which dominates the skyline to the south of the city is quite unique, why it does not have World Heritage Status I don't know. The bridge has real potential to draw in visitors, certainly, when on weekend breaks from living and working in London, I brought my a number of my Australian, Kiwi and South African friends to have a look at the Transporter bridge, and to cross back and forth the broad and muddy Usk.

As a small child I never quite had enough Meccano or Lego to make a whole one, usually ending up with merely one of the bridge pillars, although it never stopped repeated construction attempts on my part. Crossing the bridge as a child was a regular treat, but the bridge's working life saw it being used by thousands of Newportonians going to and from work and to and from Somerton park the then home of Newport County. I was as small child (and still am as an adult) fascinated by the way the Transporter Bridge works.