Deputy Housing Minister visits Wrecsam

Jocelyn Davies AM, the deputy minister for housing in the One Wales Government, will be in Wrecsam tomorrow visiting the Bridge St site at Penybryn in the morning and then addressing the "Delivering Affordable Housing" conference in the afternoon.

Interest in the conference has been huge with 70 people pre-registering, mainly housing officers, councillors and others working in the field as well as tenants and local residents.

The conference starts at 12.30am at the Nick Whitehead Theatr, Glyndwr University, and Jocelyn Davies will be speaking at 1pm. Parking is a nightmare at the university at the moment so please allow plenty of time!

Wrecsam Communities Festival this Saturday

If you've got a spare couple of hours between 11am-4pm on Saturday, November 20, come to Queen Square in Wrecsam town centre to take part in the Wrecsam Communities Festival.

It's been called at short notice to show Wrecsam's positive side in the face of a provocation by the English Defence League, which claims to want to come to our town to protest. In fact, it just wants to target Muslims with its message of hatred.

The key message from the festival, which is free and features some top bands and local entertainment, is that Wrecsam's united against racists like the English Defence League and their bonehead supporters.

See you at the festival!

Ian Lucas goes bilingual!

Readers of this blog will recall my campaign to extend Section 6 of the Welsh Language Act to Members of Parliament, so that they would have to produce material for public consumption bilingually. This followed publication by Ian Lucas MP of his annual report which was all in English despite 14% of the population of his constituency speaking Welsh. Not having had much success in corresponding with Mr Lucas direct and with the Welsh Language Board being unable to help; I then presented a petition to the Assembly Petitions Committee which following legal advice decided that the Culture Minister had the necessary powers to amend the Act to include MP's within its provisions. This was reported in detail by BBC Wales
When asked to respond by the BBC at the time he declined but the BBC report said:

Mr Lucas declined to be interviewed, but said that his "minuscule" allowance did not cover costs of translating reports.

Today I received a Parliamentary Update from Mr Lucas with the Welsh translation, "Diweddariad Seneddol" below the title.

Also included on the leaflet was the following note:

"If you would like a copy of this Update in Welsh, please contact me and I will be pleased to supply it"

Os hoffech gopi o'r diweddariad hwn yn Gymraeg cysylltwch a mi os gwelwch yn dda a byddaf yn falch o anfon un."

This leaflet was paid for from Mr Lucas's 'miniscule' Communications Allowance.

Now as all my friends know I am not one to gloat or to challenge someone's motivation for changing their mind but it does make one think whether Alun Ffred has quietely had a word with the Welsh MP's and told them to get their act in gear and to start providing an equal service to Welsh speakers. Or perhaps it could be that Mr Lucas is reaching out to those Welsh speakers who can make the world of difference at the next election, a swing of 15% away from Labour in Wrecsam is all it needs, and it happened in Norwich North!

Whatever the reason I am grateful that he has seen the light.

As near as dammit!

These are the words used by Westminster Civil Servants to describe what will be in the Queens Speech for extensive new powers for Scotland tomorrow:

The Times has learnt that in the speech drafted by ministers there will be a key reference to “taking forward legislation” on the Calman Commission’s proposals to give the Scottish Parliament more tax-raising and other powers.

This will be followed within the next two to three weeks by a White Paper that will outline exactly which parts of the Calman report Gordon Brown’s Government has decided to implement. A senior Whitehall source said yesterday: “While it might not be every dot and comma of Calman, it will be as near as dammit.”

Also being published tomorrow is Sir Emyr's report, and whilst we all expect some surprises, I wonder if Hain and the government will be as keen to implement his recommendations as Westminster are to implement Sir Kenneth Calman's recommendations?

Professional Fees!

My wife is a nurse and in order to practise she has to register with the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) and also complete several days of professional development every year. The annual cost of registration is £70, which she pays herself. Imagine my surprise today to see a report requesting authority to Wrecsam Council to pay the professional fees of Educational Psychologists employed by the Council. Further investigation suggests that a number of other 'professionals' have their registration fees paid by the Council, such as Social Workers, Care Workers and Occupational Therapists. Apparently this 'perk' is provided so as to retain difficult to recruit staff like Educational Psychologists. It seems somewhat unfair that staff working for one Public Authority i.e the NHS Trusts have to pay their own professional fees whilst Local Authorities pay their employees registration fees.

Anyone want to take a guess at the total cost of this to taxpayers in Wales?

Must go, I can feel the need to make lots of requests under the Freedom of Information Act!

David Hockney.

"We're all being choked to death by the State fumes Hockney" was the headline to an article about the artist and an exhibition of his early work in yesterday's Times. In the article Hockney goes to town on the government slamming politicians for intruding into his life, he says:

I don't want to live my life dictated to by doctors, we're being treated like children...There are 3000 new laws, 3000 new criminal offences, 3000 new punishments and 3000 new criminals. They should stop making these laws and listen to people.

I for one am in agreement with Hockney, as a nation we are rapidly becoming totally dependant on the state, there is an expectation that the state will look after you, as someone says from the cradle to the grave. The following story from today's Sunday Times illustrates even more interference in our lives:

Health and safety inspectors are to be given unprecedented access to family homes to ensure that parents are protecting their children from household accidents.

New guidance drawn up at the request of the Department of Health urges councils and other public sector bodies to “collect data” on properties where children are thought to be at “greatest risk of unintentional injury”.

Council staff will then be tasked with overseeing the installation of safety devices in homes, including smoke alarms, stair gates, hot water temperature restrictors, oven guards and window and door locks.

The draft guidance by a committee at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has been criticised as intrusive and further evidence of the “creeping nanny state”.

Until now, councils have made only a limited number of home inspections to check on building work and in extreme cases where the state of a house is thought to pose a serious risk to public health.

Nice also recommends the creation of a new government database to allow GPs, midwives and other officials who visit homes to log health and safety concerns they spot.

The guidance aims to “encourage all practitioners who visit families and carers with children and young people aged under 15 to provide home safety advice and, where necessary, conduct a home risk assessment”. It continues: “If possible, they should supply and install home safety equipment.”

The proposals have been put out to consultation and, if approved, will be implemented next year.

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is a huge intervention into family life which will be counter-productive.

“Good parents will feel the intrusion of the state in their homes and bad parents will now have someone else to blame if they don’t bring up their children in a sensible, safe environment.”

About 100,000 children are admitted to hospital each year for home injuries at a cost of £146m.

What will be next? Victim tatooed on our foreheads, or perhaps a number burnt onto our arms!

Springburn

Edrych fel canlyniad gwael i'r SNP yng Ngogledd Ddwyrain Glasgow, Llafur yn mynd i gael dros hanner y pleidleisiau. Tybed pwy fydd yn y trydedd lle? y BNP neu y Ceidwadwyr. Edrych yn debyg fel fydd y Rhyddfrydwyr Democrataidd yn ei safle arferol yng Nghymru ar Alban sef pumed. Gweld hefyd fod Tommy Sheridan yn ei ol gyda phlaid newydd er ei fod yn aros i fynd o flaen ei well. I gael y newyddion diweddaraf doswch yma.