A VOTE FOR PLAID CYMRU IS A VOTE FOR WALES

 

ACCESS TO OUR GREEN SPACES

Plaid Cymru Senedd Election candidate for Newport West, Jonathan T Clark, has warmly welcomed Plaid Cymru’s vision to create ’20-minute neighbourhoods’ in all towns and cities.

This would mean providing convenient, safe, pedestrian access to the places people need to visit and the services they use nearly every day, including public transport, shops, schools, parks, and social activities. 

A Plaid Cymru government would work to ensure the provision of a good quality green space within a five-minute walk of all households in Wales:

Jonathan T Clark, Plaid Cymru Senedd Election candidate for Newport West, said: 

“One consequence of the lockdowns over the last year, is that many of us have had little option but to do a great deal more walking and generally taking advantage of local parks and nearby green spaces. One of the things exposed by lockdown, is that too many people do not easy access to gardens, parks and green spaces on their doorstep.”

“While Newport is better placed that many Welsh urban areas, with relatively easily accessible  parks and green spaces, this is not the case everywhere.  Around 133,000 Welsh households do not have access to a private outdoor space, and that the average distance people live from a public park or garden is 432 metres.”

“A Plaid government would want to cut this to around 370 metres – no more than a five-minute walk – to ensure the provision of a good quality green space within reach of all households. This is an idea already supported by the Future Generations Commissioner who says that access to green space shouldn’t be down to a postcode lottery but “a right for everyone.”

“This would form part of a Plaid Cymru government’s wider vision to create 20-minute neighbourhoods in all towns and cities providing convenient, safe, walking access to the places people need to go and the services they use nearly every day. This should include public transport, shops, schools, parks and social activities, and would explore the potential for longer-distance cycleways along road networks from regional centres with significant commuter traffic.”

ENDS

FREE AT THE POINT OF NEED

Plaid sets out vision for ‘transformational’ social care – “free at the point of need”

Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price MS has set out his party’s vision for delivering transformational change to social care in Wales by working towards offering care that is “free at the point of need”.

Adam Price MS said that one of the first acts of a Plaid Cymru government would be to establish a Commission to explore ways in which it could source extra money to fund the creation of a seamless Health and Social Care Service, free at the point of need.

The Plaid Cymru Leader added that the pandemic had “shone a light” on the invaluable contribution of care workers and reiterated his party’s pledge to guaranteeing a £10 an hour minimum wage for all care workers.

Adam Price MS said,

“For those of whose loved ones are currently in contact with our excellent care services, the dedication of the staff is no surprise.

“But Covid-19 has shone a light on the hard work, innovation, and challenges of providing home care support, nursing care in the community and quality of life for residents in care homes.

“I’ve seen with my own eyes the struggle that many families face. For my mother, caring for my father with dementia and so many others in the same position, free social care would be truly transformational.

“That is why one of my first acts as First Minister leading a Plaid Cymru government would be to establish a Commission to explore ways in which we could source extra money to fund the creation of a seamless Health and Social Care Service, free at the point of need.

“The Commission would report within a year and consider Plaid Cymru’s preferred option of using general taxation and also a levy-based Social Care Fund along the lines suggested by economist Gerald Holtham.

“A new National Health and Care Service would ensure the seamless integration of delivery on a local level, bringing together local government and health boards in new Regional Care Partnerships.

“Care assessment processes should and would focus on identifying personal care need, rather than the arbitrary definitions of ‘health’ or ‘social’ care.

“For the new Service to be a success it must work for the carers as well as the cared for.

“This is why a Plaid government would also invest in the range and quality of care in the community by increasing the number of district nurses and nurses with a community masters’ degree and increasing nursing students’ placements in care homes alongside the development of career pathways in care for Older People and dementia care.

“We have also set out plans to bring care workers’ pay progressively into line with those of NHS staff, starting with making a £10 minimum wage mandatory for care workers.”

ENDS

IT’S TIME TO PAY UP

Plaid Cymru has called for reform of pay, terms and conditions to bring in equality of treatment for health and social care staff.

In a debate on Wednesday 17th March in the Senedd, Plaid Cymru called for disparities to end, and for care workers to be paid a guaranteed minimum of £10 an hour.

 

Under current arrangements, all health workers in the NHS are paid at least the real living wage. That is not the case in the care sector.

 

A Plaid Cymru government would create a National Health and Care Service, with free social care at the point of need, with health and social care workers put on the same pay scales.

 

In the Senedd debate today, Plaid Cymru will call on the “next Welsh Government” to introduce a guaranteed minimum of £10 an hour for all care workers.

 

The Labour Welsh Government has tabled an amendment which deletes this requirement and replaces it with a mention of a new forum - the Social Care Fair Work Forum - which it says is “looking at how to improve terms and conditions in the sector.”

 

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for Health, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said,

 

“The public has clapped for our carers, now it’s time for government to step up and put a value to the clapping.

 

“Plaid Cymru has made its commitment to our carers - in government, we will create genuinely seamless National Health AND Care Service, which will give care workers the respect they deserve, putting them on the same terms and conditions and pay scales as health workers.

 

“If the other political parties in Wales are serious about this, they will have the chance to back Plaid Cymru’s motion in the Senedd today, and commit to delivering a reformed pay and retention settlement for health and social care staff, including a guaranteed minimum of £10 an hour for care workers.

 

“For our carers, who have put so much into looking after us during the biggest public health crisis in our lifetimes, it is the very least government can do for them”

 

DIWEDD / ENDS

 

NODIADAU I’R GOLYGYDD / EDITOR’S NOTES:

 

           1.     NDM7655 Plaid Cymru Debate - NHS Pay Review: https://business.senedd.wales/ieIssueDetails.aspx?IId=36894&PlanId=0&Opt=3

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Condemns the UK Government’s recommendation to the NHS Pay Review Body for a wholly inadequate 1 per cent pay rise to nurses and other NHS staff which would amount to a real terms cut in their wages.

2. Calls on the Welsh Government to make further representations to the NHS Pay Review Body supporting the specific calls of the trade unions and other bodies representing health and social care staff in Wales for a fair and well deserved pay rise to reflect the sacrifices made during the pandemic.

3. Calls on the next Welsh Government to deliver a reformed pay and retention settlement for health and social care staff, including a guaranteed minimum of £10 an hour for care workers to end the current disparity between health and care

 

2.     Plaid Cymru commitment to create a seamless health and social care system: https://www.partyof.wales/health_and_care_speech_araith_iechyd_a_gofal

A TIME FOR AMBITION

“Settling for 2050 isn’t good enough” – a Plaid Cymru government would adopt more ambitious net zero carbon emission target

 

Commenting on the new carbon emission targets debated in the Senedd today (Tuesday 16 March), Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for the Environment, Llyr Gruffydd MS said:

 

“Wales must reach net zero carbon emissions much sooner than 2050 and a Plaid Cymru Government would adopt much more ambitious targets for tackling the climate and nature crisis.

 

“Many nations and regions around the world are aiming for a faster transition to net zero. Sweden is heading for net zero emissions by 2045, Iceland and Austria by 2040 and Finland by 2035. The Jamtland region in Sweden is aiming for net zero by 2030 and Copenhagen the capital region of Denmark by 2025.

 

“Settling for 2050 isn’t good enough. A Plaid Cymru Government after May’s Senedd election will introduce new regulations that go further and faster in driving down Wales’ carbon emissions.”

 

DIWEDD / ENDS

 

NODIADAU I’R GOLYGYDD / EDITOR’S NOTES:

1: Item SL(5)749 - The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 (Amendment of 2050 Emissions Target) Regulations 2021: https://business.senedd.wales/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=35625

TALKING ABOUT HOUSING

We need to talk about our Housing crisis, Labour in Wales is silent on the matter and the other Unionist or anti devolution parties are silent on this issue. I see few any positives for Cymru / Wales simply being a simple adjunct to England, or Newport being a simple dormitory town for Bristol or Cardiff. I can never subscribe to the Severnside agenda, no matter how many times it gets rebranded and relaunched. 

In our south east, along the coastal belt and in and around Newport and Torfaen (not to mention around Cardiff and Caerphilly) and across Monmouthshire the last thirty years we have seen a significant if not spectacular growth in the amount of housing. A significant percentage of which in recent years has quite failed to fulfil pressing local housing needs. Second homes are an issue even in our south east, especially in the Wye Valley and adjoining parts of Monmouthshire - but the real issue is access to affordable primary of first homes. 

Quite frankly for serious challenging times, we need serious government and serious leadership. We lack both at all levels of government. That is why we need a Plaid government in Cardiff - with a new agenda which will aim at retrofitting 100,000 homes as part of a £6 billion green economic stimulus package. 

A Plaid Cymru government will create a long-term energy efficiency infrastructure plan to retrofit existing homes to the highest environmental standards. This will contribute to our aim of abolishing fuel poverty and decarbonising our country. Plaid will prioritise houses in fuel poverty. 

As part of the biggest public house building programme for 50 years, Plaid will build or convert 50,000 public homes over the next 5 years, including 15,000 genuinely affordable homes to buy. These will include some among the 26,000 empty homes across Wales that will be brought back into use.

Despite the Labour in Wales Government estimating that we will need an additional 110,000 homes across Wales up to 2039, of which half should be affordable, they have never delivered more than 7,000 new homes a year over the past 10 ten yours: out of which have been a maximum of 1,500 affordable homes. We need a step change in Welsh capacity to provide housing.

A Plaid Cymru government’s definition of affordable homes will mirror the mortgage lending rule of 4.5 times the average local household income or around £125,000 – half the Welsh Government’s definition which includes properties up to £250,000. 

MAKE WALES PROSPER

“Poverty is not inevitable – it is a lack of political decision” – Helen Mary Jones MS

 

Plaid Cymru has outlined its plans for a bold new freestanding agency – Prosperity Wales – which will be tasked with developing Wales’ economy.  

 

Speaking ahead of the party’s Spring Conference, Shadow Economy Minister Helen Mary Jones MS said that a Plaid Cymru government would have a clear economic policy to “create and share wealth” and to “build our national prosperity” to enable the “world-class public services that we all deserve.”

 

Prosperity Wales will be characterised by:

·      Spatial approach: Focussing attention where it is needed most

·    Rebalancing: Addressing historical patterns of discrimination that have led to chronic injustice and inequality

·      Growth: Nurturing local businesses, enabling export and improving productivity

·      Research & Development: Enabling existing businesses to innovate, decarbonise and thrive.  

 

Ms Jones says that the focus on foundational economy will ensure local procurement on a massive scale, “spending as much as possible of the Welsh public pound here in Wales.”

 

Prosperity Wales will be led by a Board made up not only of the best minds from the business world, but also experts in tackling inequality and in decarbonisation.

 

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for the Economy and Tackling Poverty, Helen Mary Jones MS said,

 

“There is nothing inevitable about the poverty that so many of our fellow citizens face. This poverty is both a direct result of, and a lack of, political decision.

 

“Prosperity Wales will be an economic development agency with a difference, drawing on expertise from the business world as well specialists in tackling inequality and decarbonisation. Tasked with developing our economy in such a way that opportunities are created fairly across our nation, there will be an emphasis on addressing historical patterns of discrimination that have led chronic injustice and inequality in the way our economy has functioned.

 

“Come the election in May, Labour will have had 21 years in which they have failed to deliver the transformation that Wales so desperately needs. A third of our children are in poverty, our Valleys still bear the scars of the ravages of Thatcherism and our rural communities remain fragile. And with a Welsh Tory party happy to hang on to the coat-tails of their Westminster parents, only a Plaid Cymru government will have the vision, ambition and passion to build the fair, green and prosperous nation - an equal nation - that we all want to live in.

 

“We are clear as a Party about the purposes of our economic policy. We have to make different decisions, and we have to do it now.”

 

ENDS

 

DANIEL LLEWELLYN NEWPORT EAST

Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales, has confirmed Daniel Llewellyn as its candidate for the Newport East constituency for the forthcoming Senedd Elections.  

Daniel Llewellyn said:

"I am very pleased to have been selected to contest Newport East constituency at the Senedd Elections in May 2021. For far too long the people of Newport East have suffered from the fact that Labour in Wales in Cardiff Bay, has long failed to consider the economic and social needs of the people of this constituency.“

He said:

“The people of Newport East need an MS who will actually put the real concerns of the electors of Newport to the forefront rather than party interests. Wales needs more Plaid MS’s in the Senedd to work to deliver for the people of Newport and the people of Wales. The only way to get a government that will always put the interests of Newport at the heart of government in Wales is to vote Plaid Cymru at the next Senedd Elections".

Daniel continued:

‘I have never seen any benefits for Newport being a simple dormitory town for Bristol or Cardiff. I have never bought into the Severnside agenda, no matter how many times it’s relaunched. On the coastal belt and in and around Newport and Torfaen (not to mention around Cardiff and Caerphilly) and across Monmouthshire the last thirty years we have seen a significant if not spectacular growth in the amount of housing, a significant percentage of which has never been aimed to fulfil local housing needs.’

Daniel concluded:

“We have had twenty-one years plus of Labour misrule, Labour are part of the problem. As a community councillor (since 2019) in Bedwas, I feel that politics should start within the community. I have seen first-hand how our communities have been left behind by both Cardiff and Westminster. I want to be that change that we all need.  I want to take that chance to make a difference to people lives and I will bring to Newport East my passion, my drive and my commitment to make things better.”

Adam Price MS, Plaid Cymru Leader, said: 

"We have a superb candidate in Daniel Llewellyn, in Newport East, who is committed in changing the lives of the people of the constituency for the better – getting to grips with the housing crisis, creating well paid jobs to tackle the unemployment crisis and putting the needs of people of Newport front and centre. The choice facing people in May is simple - further decline under Labour, fewer powers with the Tories, or an ambitious Plaid Cymru government that will set Wales on a path to a fairer, more prosperous future with independence.”

Delyth JewelL, Plaid Cymru Candidate South Wales East Regional List, said:

"Daniel's enthusiasm for change is infectious.  As a councillor and community champion, Daniel has proven himself to be a determined advocate for the people he represents.  He is unafraid of speaking truth to power, and he would show the same determination as a Member of the Senedd.  I hope the people of Newport will show him their support to be their representative in our parliament, where I know he would always fight for the community."

Peredur Owen Griffiths, Plaid Cymru Candidate South Wales East Regional List, said:

I have known Daniel for a number of years and he never fails to impress me with his passion, enthusiasm and commitment to every task he turns himself to. He will not rest while there is a problem that needs fixing or an injustice that needs addressing. He will work tirelessly for the people of Newport East carrying your voice to the Senedd and standing up for Wales.

DIWEDD / ENDS