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Hefin David is the Labour Senedd Member for the Caerphilly constituency.

Senedd meetings resumed this week, following a short recess over the Easter period. It has been a very busy and exciting first week back, as we welcomed Vaughan Gething as First Minister and his newly appointed cabinet.

This week in the Senedd, I asked the new cabinet secretary for climate change about the impact of the new workplace recycling regulations, which came in to effect in Wales on April 6 this year. 

I have been contacted by numerous charities locally, including Ty Hafan who have a shop in Caerphilly. I wanted to know what the Welsh Government are doing to provide practical help to charitable organisations, while they navigate the new regulations.

The cabinet secretary told me that this is a policy which will deliver real results and that he is happy to direct individual companies to a wide range of practical resources, to help workplaces understand the regulations better, as well as examples of best practice.

I also raised the issue of council tax reform in the Siambr this week and the impact it could have on those who pay council tax. 

The minister for finance, Rebecca Evans MS, told me that it is important to recognise that the reforms are not a way of increasing income overall, but to bring in the same amount of council tax in a fairer way.

She told me that it is really important that mitigations – such as the single person discount are also looked at, alongside the work being done on council tax reform. This will ensure that support will be available for those who need it most.

As always, I am available for one-to-one meetings if you think there is anything I can help you with. I am easily contactable by email on hefin.david@senedd.wales or by telephone on 01443 838542.