In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.
Assembly Members
Proposals have been put forward laying out the costs of having more Assembly Members. I support the idea that when more and more decisions are being made in Wales there needs to be a look at the number of Assembly Members.
But that has to go alongside a very significant cut in the number of Members of Parliament representing Wales so that the democracy bill overall is not increased.
Whatever happens, I remain totally opposed to the recommended £10,000 a year increase in the salary of Assembly Members from 2016. How can this be acceptable when so many people in our communities are struggling to make ends meet?
Smoking ban
I’m very pleased that a ban on smoking in cars when children under 16 are present is moving forward.
The UK Government has announced this will take effect from October 1 if signed off by Parliament and the same rules are set to apply in Wales, as in England.
A similar law has been in operation in Australia since 2010 and hefty fines have been imposed on those flouting this necessary measure to protect children’s health.
Community cohesion
During a debate at the Senedd, I raised the issue of integration with the Communities Minister, particularly regarding ethnic and religious minorities.
This issue is fuelled by a media that is completely unrepresentative of the situation in Wales, causing a dangerous level of distance between public perceptions relating to ethnic minorities and the reality here in our country as opposed to England
I made the point that this issue provided another argument in favour of the full devolution of broadcasting here to Wales?
Responding, the Minster accepted that the media had a role to play and needed to respectful and honest with their readers.
Olwen Rees
I want to pay tribute to Plaid Caerphilly town councillor, Olwen Rees who has passed away. She represented the Watford area for many years.
Olwen, a Welsh speaker, taught special needs pupils at Trinity Fields school in Ystrad Mynach and at Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni before retiring.
She worked hard for the community where she lived being re-elected many times unopposed and my condolences go out to her family.
Beci Newton
I chaired the meeting at the launch of Beci Newton’s campaign in Caerphilly for May’s UK General Election.
Beci, a firefighter, spoke with passion and if she is elected in May will make a great advocate for Caerphilly.