Pupils Deprivation Grant
Last week Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats agreed a budget deal worth £100m with the Welsh Government.
One of the key elements of the package was a £35m boost to the Pupil Deprivation Grant. The amount of funding given directly to schools for supporting the development and raising attainment among pupils who come from disadvantaged backgrounds is doubling from £450 to £918 per pupil.
Schools receive funds for every children aged 5-15 eligible for free school meals and for every looked-after child. In Caerphilly county borough there are 5,529 young people who receive free school meals
The aim is to ensure that youngsters whatever their backgrounds are able to get an equal start in life.
In the Caerphilly it will mean the grant rises from just under £2.5m to more than £5m.
I was at the Plaid Cymru conference in Aberystwyth and one of the key announcements centred on boosting small businesses and town centres. Leader Leanne Wood said that a Plaid Cymru-led Government would reform the business rates system. Rates paid by businesses with a rateable value of less than £15,000 would be cut. Businesses rated below £10,000 would no longer pay non-domestic rates under the proposals. This would provide a real boost for businesses and town centres across Caerphilly, many of whom have fund things very difficult in the economic climate and competition from the big supermarket chains.
NHS Treatment
Caerphilly Observer readers will be aware that I have highlighted the case of RAF veteran Roy Bushen who has been forced to pay out life savings of £18,000 for treatment for terminal liver cancer – because the NHS has refused to fund it. I know the difficulties in terms of funding but I find it totally unacceptable, given that Roy has paid his taxes throughout his lifetime.
On Saturday at noon a table top sale is being organised at the old Girl Guides Hall in Thomasville with all profits raised going towards the cost of Roy’s treatment. It should not come to this but I hope we get a good turnout for Roy and his wife, Sandra.
Senghenydd Pit Disaster
The unveiling of the memorial to the sacrifice of miners who have lost their lives on Monday was a very impressive ceremony. Perhaps the most poignant part of the day was the original horn from the colliery blaring out again as it had done following the explosion of 1913.
It was also superb to see the involvement of local children and I think many more people attended the memorial site in the evening than during the day. A remarkable day.
Lindsay Whittle
Plaid Cymru South Wales East AM
Lindsay, In your role as an opposition Councillor on Caerphilly Council how do you propose to ensure these deprivation funds reach those children who are entitled to have credited to them?
The reform of business rates cannot come quick enough, and will sadly be too late for many small businesses. If we do not want our town centres full of charity shops this will have to be done, regardless of which party is in power.