In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.
Plaid Cymru Conference
I was at the Plaid Cymru annual conference in Llangollen last week and it is a pleasure to report that Caerphilly was centre stage of proceedings on Saturday.
Plaid Cymru’s Caerphilly candidate for the UK General Election, Beci Newton, was making her first keynote speech at the conference – and what a speech.
Beci, a young married mum with two children, told of her family background in the Labour Party and how she felt Plaid Cymru now offered the best vision for the future of Wales. Her grandfather was a Labour councillor.
She told conference of how proud she was to be a firefighter – which she became at just 18 – and spoke about unlocking the potential of Caerphilly and Wales.
Beci pointed to the issues of decisions affecting Wales – on welfare, on policing, the economy and energy – being taken here not in Westminster.
And she highlighted the need to improve the education system so that children had the opportunity to learn and thrive and also reduce hospital waiting lists on the NHS.
Beci also talked about something I feel strongly about. Local companies should get more of an opportunity to bid for contracts in the public sector. They can then create more jobs and keep the Welsh pound in our communities not flowing outside of Wales to shareholders in the rest of the UK or even abroad.
Her maiden speech deservedly got a standing ovation.
Readers of Caerphilly Observer can read a piece Beci has written for the Plaid Cymru website.
Disabled people and the ‘Bedroom Tax’
During a plenary session at the Senedd last week, I asked the Communities Minister I what help the Welsh Government was giving to disabled people and their families to find suitably adapted housing as a result of the ‘Bedroom Tax’.
This ‘tax’ was inflicted on us by the Westminster Coalition Government, forcing some people to move from their homes and communities, where their families and friends live.
The Minister responded that funding had been given to local authorities to set up housing registers and encourage cross-boundary work. I hope this means that councils are working hard to help disabled people.