Leighton Andrews

Cardiff City - reading between the lines

Yesterday like most Cardiff City fans I woke up to hear the bizarre news surrounding the 'suspension' of the club's Head of Recruitment, Iain Moody.

I refrained from commenting during the day until by early evening I had gathered enough information from other fans and journalists. 

Thousands of my constituents are Cardiff City fans. There is obviously a major public interest in this story. Equally obviously, it is important not to inflame the situation and make things worse. In sport, as in politics, business and trade union negotiations, it is important to focus on the outcome you wish to achieve and not be distracted by matters that could derail that objective.

My concern, as a fan and as someone who represents a constituency with thousands of City fans in it, is that full support is given by the club to the best manager we have had in a generation, Malky Mackay. On the basis of the information I have, which is certainly not complete, I believe that requires the reinstatement of the Head of Recruitment, Iain Moody.

This is a delicate situation - legal issues of employment law, defamation and the necessity to protect whistle-blowers are involved.

My reading of the situation has been reinforced by two stories breaking overnight. In this Wales Online story, the owner says that the transfer budget was overspent. In this Guardian story, suggestions are made as to who was responsible for signing contracts. Is the Guardian story accurate?

I will post more if I get to know more.

Benefit cuts question to First Minister

Leighton Andrews
  
Does the First Minister agree that the biggest impact on poverty in Wales is caused by the UK Government’s welfare cuts, such as the bedroom tax? Does he also agree with me that the impact of the latest proposals of the UK Government to make claimants sign in at job centres on a daily basis could mean that many of my constituents would have to pay more than half their benefit in travel costs?
  
Finally, is the First Minister aware that today the Prime Minister has said that he does not know the price of a loaf of bread because he uses a breadmaker? I think that the breadmaker is called Clegg. Does the First Minister agree with me that the clear message going out from the UK Government to those in poverty is that they should buy a breadmaker?
 
 Carwyn Jones 
 Y Prif Weinidog / The First Minister 

 ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ says the Lord’s Prayer. That is not something that the UK Government is providing for the vast majority of people. ‘Give us this day our daily breadmaker’ sounds more like it. However, I think the point is a serious one, and it is this: with the bedroom tax—[Interruption.] What is the price of a loaf of bread? It depends what type it is. It varies between 60p and £2.50, depending on where you buy it and what type of bread it is. It is like asking what the price of a car is. [Interruption.]
 
 Y Dirprwy Lywydd / The Deputy Presiding Officer 

 Order. The hubbub has now got to the scale where I cannot hear what is going on. I do know the price of bread, so I did not need that information. First Minister, you really should not react to sedentary comments, ever.
 
 Carwyn Jones 
 Y Prif Weinidog / The First Minister 

 As somebody who is often told by people in Bridgend, ‘It’s nice to see you out shopping in the local shops’, that is something that I am more than familiar with. I am given the task, when I am free, to go shopping, so I am familiar with the price of bread and litres of milk. 

The serious point here is this: there are people who will be suffering as a result of these benefit cuts. The point that the Member for the Rhondda makes about travel costs is a serious point. People will now have to lose money in order to sign in, for no apparent purpose or reason; it will not help them to get jobs and to reduce the number of people who are unemployed. It is the same with the idea that people who are long-term unemployed should be made to work. That is an argument that many people in Wales would find attractive, I understand that, but it is not an attractive argument if it means that those people would be doing work that people who are paid to do it can no longer do, and they lose their jobs as a result. We know from the bedroom tax and the benefit cuts that the reality is that the message the Tories and the Lib Dems are trying to project is that people who are unemployed have only themselves to blame. That is what they are saying. The people who are being made redundant—it is their own fault. The people who lose their jobs because of the economic conditions created by the UK Government—it is their fault. That is the narrative that they are trying to construct, but the reality is that none of them understands the true cost on individuals and families in Wales of the benefit cuts that their Government is taking forward.

Iain Duncan Smith and the continuing relevance of Gwyn Thomas

Yesterday, in a much-trailed speech, Iain Duncan Smith made it clear that some claimants would be expected to spend 35 hours per week in a job centre. That means daily trips to job centres. As I said in the Assembly yesterday in questions to the First Minister,  some of my constituents would have to spend more than half of their benefit on travel.

Of course, no-one should be allowed to claim benefit fraudulently. But it will be ordinary claimants who will be caught by this scheme. There aren't job centres in all communities, and that means bus or train journeys - bus journeys only in the Rhondda Fach - for most.

I am currently reading Gwyn Thomas's novel about the Rhondda in the 1930s, Sorrow for thy Sons, as part of my background research for this centenary celebration evening in the Park and Dare Theatre in Treorchy on October 24th . It was the first novel he wrote, though it wasn't published until after his death. The following passages are particularly relevant today:

The Labour Exchange was a church hall....The vicar had not demurred when the government converted the hall into a Labour Exchange. Three thousand men, drawn from a two mile radius, signed there. The vicar said that this was the finest use to which the hall had ever been put.

If this latest IDS policy is implemented, then the UK government will need local Labour Exchangees again, if it is not to force those on benefit to spend their income on travel. Well, I suppose we have a few church halls, community centres and institutes that could be used. It's back to the Thirties folks, and no exaggeration.

 

 

"Made in the Valleys" Craft Exhibition 28/29th September 2013

The "Made in the Valleys" Autumn craft exhibition will be held on the 28th - 29th September at the Rhondda Heritage Park, Treforest. Be inspired and entertained by South Wales' creative talent. Bring the family to experience the work of artists, designers and makers for the home, garden or gifts. Learn about the work from the creators and enjoy 'have a go' sessions.

11:00 - 16:00 daily.

For additional information, please telephone 01443 682036 or visit www.rhonddaheritagepark.com

 

 Details of exhibitors are listed below:

 CONFERENCE ROOM

 Mel De Castro Pugh - "Spiny Sharkly Things" -
Artisan Jewellery collective

Gaynor Lewis - "Fashionned in Glass" - Handmade
Glass Jewellery & beadwork

"Cornelia Weinmann Design" - Printmaking: lino
prints, etchings (demonstrating/tasters)

Megan Phillips - Animal sculptures

VILLAGE STREET

 John Binet-Fauvel - Sculpture: knitted recycled wire, mainly
creatures (demonstrating )

Melissa Warren - Knitted Textiles: accessories, garments,
textile jewellery

"Lemon Blues" - A selection of hand made local
Welsh craft

Julie Croad - Books and individual poems by Julie Croad,
local writer.Laugh out loud poems concerning everyday events.

 THE FANHOUSE

Julie Taylor - "Taylored Craft" - Crotcheted and
stitched accessories and homewares ( demonstrating )

Christine Clare - "Artfully" - Art: Acrylic on
canvas

Michelle Lewis - "Woolly Wumpkins"- Dyed wool
yarns, crotchet, patterns, kits

Helen Silvers - "Silver Stitches"- Hand made dolls
& machine embroidered accessories

WORKSHOPS

FANHOUSE

Sat 11.00-2.00 or 2.30-4.30"Make a Street"
suitable for all ages, £3.50 or £5 for two people with Gayle Rogers and Chris
Williams

Sun 1.00-4.00 "Make a Pinboard" with Gayle Rogers
& Chris Williams £29 Pre Booking essential to Chris [email protected] 07981859075/01443441182

Sat and Sun Creative Art workshops for children, making
masks, sticky faces etc using mainly recycled materials £1

Michelle Lewis - Circular hand knitting workshop, kits available,
£1 to participate.

Helen Silvers - Dressing and decorating your own Spirit
doll, made by Helen £5, just turn up any time!

 VILLAGE STREET

 Sat 2pm & Sun 2pm"Is there a book in you?"
FREE Workshop with Julie Croad

Sat and Sun drop in between 11.00 and 3.30 Any age, £2 Make
a Lavender Bag with Melissa Warren

 

Backing the unions

Last week the Welsh Government announced that it is taking action to deal with the blacklisting of trades unionists by some private companies.

 

Public sector bodies in Wales can exclude blacklisters from bidding for public sector contracts under new Welsh Government guidance that aims to eradicate the practice. Blacklisting is a practice where individuals have been denied employment opportunities because of their trade union membership or their involvement in trade union activity. It is known to have been used by construction companies operating in Wales, and to have involved Welsh construction workers.

This is an issue on which a number of trades unions including Unite and the GMB have been campaigning for some time and it has been discussed in the Rhondda Labour Party’s monthly meetings as well.

 

A Procurement Advice Note has been issued to all Welsh public bodies to outline the necessary steps that can be taken through procurement to help eradicate blacklisting – which can be very damaging to the careers and livelihoods of trade unionists.

The guidance makes clear those circumstances where Welsh public sector bodies can exclude blacklisters from bidding for a public contract.

The use of blacklists is wholly unacceptable and we fully sympathise with the individuals and their families who have suffered a terrible injustice as a consequence of contractors engaging in this practice.

Procurement is an important part of the overall policy toolkit of the Welsh Government. Under no circumstances is it acceptable for any business in receipt of public procurement expenditure to use blacklists.

We are determined to take action in Wales. We hope other Governments in the UK will take similar action if they have not already done so.

 

Another issue where Labour has been active on employment law has been in relation to zero-hours contracts. Ed Miliband made Labour’s position clear at the TUC conference last week and I have been working with my Pontypridd colleague Mick Antoniw AM on this issue after it was raised with us by the GMB.

 

Finally on trades union issues I am pleased that the teaching unions have recognized the different approach of the Welsh Government and have decided not to stage strikes in Wales this autumn. We opposed regional pay for teachers when I was Education Minister and we were critical of the UK government’s plans in relation to teacher’s pensions.

 

(My column in this week's Rhondda Leader)

South Wales NHS programme summer update

The South Wales Programme proposes fundamental changes to the way in which
hospital  services are delivered to the Rhondda and to others throughout
South Wales. The consultation document refers to a ‘best-fit’ model based on a
five-hospital Option 3 with key services of consultant-led maternity and
neo-natal care, inpatient children’s services and emergency medicine based at
the Heath in Cardiff, Morriston in Swansea, the new critical care centre
planned for Cwmbran, Prince Charles in Merthyr  and Princess of Wales in Bridgend.

I believe that this proposal is not the best option for either my Rhondda
constituents or the South Wales population as a whole.

I do not dispute the case for change, nor the challenges facing the NHS in Wales.
However, my conclusions from assessing the evidence are different. I believe
that the interests of South Wales and South Powys are better served by Option
4, with these key services of consultant-led maternity and neo-natal care,
inpatient children’s services and emergency medicine based at Heath in Cardiff,
Morriston in Swansea, the new critical care centre planned for Cwmbran, Prince
Charles in Merthyr  and the Royal Glamorgan hospital.

I sent in a full submission to the consultation, arguing

• 
  Option 3 will result in serious and unequalled
  pressures on maternity and neo-natal services at UHW
• 
  Option 4 would address this risk
• 
  The financial arguments are significantly in
  favour of Option 4
• 
  Option 3 will produce worse health outcomes
  and accentuate health inequalities
• 
  Travel issues for patient visitors and
  elective patients have not been properly considered
• 
  Emergency journey times would increase and
  treatment outcomes for those in the most significant areas of deprivation could
  be worsened
• 
  As an alternative, the SWP should consider a
  further option, based around a joint governance model for the two M4 corridor
  hospitals at PoW and Royal Glamorgan, with consultant-led facilities being
  managed across the two hospitals
• 
  Finally, it is essential that the long-term
  security of the Royal Glamorgan Hospital is maintained, with serious
  consideration given to its adoption as a centre of excellence for specific
  designated clinical disciplines.

 Apparently, there have been over 50,000 responses to the
consultation. That shows how passionate people are about the issues. I want to
thank everyone from the Rhondda who has got involved. The number of responses
means the decision will not be finally taken until much later in the year.

(This was my Rhondda Leader column in August)

 

NHS Reconfiguration

Welfare Benefits and GPs

BBC Radio Wales is leading on a story about advice being given to GPs not to write letters supporting welfare benefit appeals.

This was brought to my attention by constituents this week and I have written to Bro Taf Medical Committee asking on what basis they have given this advice. It is outrageous. We know that high proportions of appeals are succeeding, often with support from local AMs, MPs and of course GPs. I will also be raising this with Ministers.

Tonypandy Community College Ugandan Head Teacher visit

I recently met with Robert Wandaski,  Headteacher of Tonypandy Community College's link school Busui Central College in Mbale.  Robert was in Tonypandy on week long visit.  I enjoyed talking with Robert about the differences between the Welsh and Ugandan education systems and his experience of visiting Wales.

I was also pleased to meet with Tonypandy Community College students who had recently visited Uganda.  The Tonypandy Community College Uganda Link started in 2008 but this was the first year that students from the college had made the visit.  It was a pleasure to meet Alex Prosser, Dewi Harris and Naomi Lewis and talk with them about their experiences in Uganda.  You can read more about their visit and the Uganda Link project on the Tonypandy Community College website.

Rhondda Calendar awards

In 2004, I set up the Rhondda Calendar to raise money for local organisations in conjunction with the Rhondda Leader.  The calendar features photographs of the Rhondda taken by local photographers.  It is sponsored by local organisations and businesses.  I am delighted that this year we have raised just under £4,000 which was shared between 25 Rhondda organisations.