South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle’s blog: November 18, 2015

In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle gives his take on recent news.

Housing

Caerphilly Observer readers may recall that last year I raised the issue of house builders naming developments inappropriately.

I wrote to Taylor Wimpey over its decision to name a new housing estate at Pontypandy as Kingsmead.

I made the point that you couldn’t imagine an estate anywhere in England being named Penyrheol or Trecenydd.

Last week I raised the issue of housing development naming in the Senedd with the Natural Resources Minister and asking what guidance, pointing out that it is important that names should at least have some connection with the area in which they are built.

The Minister Carl Sargeant promised to write to me with details of the policy objectives and I hope this will lead to further guidance to local authorities and, indeed, developers.

At the Assembly mention was made by the Communities Minister that 7,560 empty homes in Wales have been brought back into use since 2011. As a housing manager for 25 years, this is to be welcomed.

However, there is an awfully long way to go to solve the social housing crisis in Wales with 90,000 people on the waiting list and desperate for homes. She accepted that there was still a great deal of work to be done and we really need to step up efforts further to turn empty properties into homes.

Older people

During a debate on older people I said that it was important not to stereotype them as frail, senile or a burden on society. Instead of moaning about an ageing population making ever-increasing demands on the health service, we should be celebrating the enormous benefits that people in their 70s, 80s and 90s bring in terms of childcare and voluntary work, which so many undertake.

We want a strong focus on getting young people into employment and training but we also need to ensure that people aged 50 are encouraged to bring their experience and skills to boost the Welsh economy.

The Older People’s Commissioner has said that there are four times as many people over 50 who are not in education, employment or training, compared with those under 25.

And, just as worrying, the percentage of people aged 50 to 64 who are out of a job has risen to over 33 per cent in Wales — much higher than in the rest of the United Kingdom.

There are few enlightened employers who set out to provide employment to men and women over 65. We need the Welsh Government to make sure that the promised adult employability programme gets off the ground next year, and that people over 50 have access to learning new skills as well in some cases to increase their employment prospects.

Caerphilly

It was great to attend the Caerphilly Schools’ Choir Competition at the Gwindy school site. Congratulations to the winners Cwm Aber Juniors. All the schools taking part were excellent.

I also took the opportunity to visit a couple of local fairs. One was the Wesley Church bazaar and the other the Van Road Christmas fair. I came away with a handful of items, including some home-made marmalade.