Llongyfarchiadau i Sainsbury's

Gwahoddodd rheolwr archfarchnad Sainsbury's, Plas Coch, Wrecsam, nifer o Gymry Cymraeg, yn cynnwys Mrs Jones! i gyfarfod i drafod sut i hyrwyddo y defnydd o'r Gymraeg yn yr archfarchnad ac hefyd hybu gwerthu cynnyrch Cymreig. Roedd agwedd bositif y rheolwr Nick tuag at yr iaith wedi gneud argraff ar bawb oedd yno... llongyfarchiadau a diolch iddo.

Ar y llaw arall siomedig oedd agwedd dwy o'r banciau mawr yn Wrecsam sef y Nat West ar HSBC. Chwilio oeddwn i am ffurflenni 'archebion parhaol' neu Standing Orders. Doedd gan y Nat West ddim a doedda nhw ddim yn mynd i gael rai chwaith oherwydd fod yna ddim gofyn amdanynt. Roedd yr HSBC chydig bach a mwy o gydymdeimlad tuag at y galw am wasanaeth Cymraeg, ond eto doedd ganddy nhw ddim ffurflenni 'archebion parhaol' ond mi fuasent yn gyrru rai i fi...gawn ni weld.

Mae hyn yn dystiolaeth bellach bod angen Deddf Iaith newydd ar gyfer cwmniau preifat, mae'r esiamplau yma'n dangos yn glir mae chydig o gwmniau tebyg i Sainsbury's sydd yna, mae'r nifer helaeth yn debycach i Nat West a HSBC. Tydy cynnig gwasanaeth Cymraeg yn wirfoddol ddim yn gweithio...mae angen deddfwriaeth.

Hwyrach fod darllenwyr y blog yma yn cofio ryw 'spat' bach rhwng y fi ag Ian Lucas ynglyn a'i adroddiad blynyddol uniaith Saesneg ag ymateb haerllug yr AS i nghwyn i. Wedyn cychwynais ddeiseb ar wefan y Cynulliad i newid Adran 6 o Deddf yr Iaith fel fod ASau yn dod o dan adain y Ddeddf. Mae Pwyllgor Deisebu y Cynulliad wedi derbyn y ddeiseb ac wedi gofyn am farn gyfreithiol ynglyn a newid Adran 6 a mi fydd yn ol o flaen y Pwyllgor, fis Medi... dwi'n eitha hyderus o lwyddiant.

BNP fails to find allies to form new bloc in Europe

Good news for all that the BNP cannot find partners to join with them to form a group within the European Parliament and the reason why:

Their plans to forge links with other parties, such as Italy's Northern League, failed because other Right-wing groupings feared that the BNP's controversial reputation would lead to isolation.

You must be seriously nasty if other nasty European Fascist parties like Hungary's Jobbik, France;s National Front and Italy's Northern League don't want to play with you because of you're reputation.

For the full story in the Telegraph go here

Wrexham MP's 'cheap point scoring' over Venture

Curious coverage of this in the Leader - the story has appeared online twice, here and here, in a matter of days. Same story, different headline.

For the record, this is how we responded to Ian Lucas's initial press release:

Wrexham's MP has been accused of trying to score cheap political points by attacking Plaid Cymru.

Plaid has two councillors in Caia Park and they expressed surprise that Labour's Ian Lucas had opted to attack Plaid on the matter of funding for The Venture playground. They said they visited parents and staff at The Venture just last week and have tried to keep party politics out of the matter.

Plaid councillor for Whitegate Marc Jones said: "Ian Lucas really has to get his facts right before he starts making these unsubstantiated attacks. He makes much of a pledge* before we were elected to end the £8,000 grant that Caia Park Community Council gives to The Venture each year as an open-ended subsidy. All other bodies applying for funding from the community council have to make a detailed case for what is being funded - The Venture shouldn't be any different.

"We have never mentioned The Venture's funding from Wrexham County Borough Council - the process for this funding was already ongoing before we were elected. So he is mistaken in his claims and I would urge him to withdraw his remarks."

He added: "Everyone accepts that, due to greedy bankers, there will be less money in the public sector in coming years. Does Mr Lucas think The Venture should be immune from cuts in the public sector? Does he think The Venture cannot make savings because during our visit last week Malcolm King told us that could make 10-20% cuts if needed. In fact, savings have already been identified. Not for the first time, it seems Mr Lucas is out of touch with the reality on the ground."

Cllr Carrie Harper, who represents Queensway, said: "For the past two months we've been promised financial details from Malcolm King. We're constantly being told The Venture has no money to run its core services but we know that the council this year is giving it £86,000 for just that purpose. On top of that there is three years' funding amounting to £316,000 from Communities First, which includes core funding. "

"Yesterday Ian Lucas was in the paper blaming the council leader, today he blames Plaid - perhaps the blame lies closer to home."

Both Plaid councillors stressed that decisions about funding for children's services had been made by officers and the entire process had started before they were elected. They said: "To try to score cheap political points on this matter may suit Ian Lucas's agenda but won't help the children of Caia Park one bit."

Mr Lucas also criticised Plaid Cymru councillor Arfon Jones, who is the lead member for children and young people. He responded: "Ian Lucas tries to make this out to be a Plaid vendetta against The Venture but the truth is that The Venture is one of many organisations subject of a new Commissioning Strategy. This was first mooted in November 2007 - six months before we were even elected as councillors. All the other organisations co-operated with the Council and provided the information requested months ago but Malcolm King and The Venture have failed to co-operate. We have always said there is no need for the Venture to close, their own returns to the Charity Commissions shows their income to be £500,000 a year.”

Cllr Arfon Jones, who will challenge Ian Lucas at the next General Election, added: "This attack by Lucas is politically motivated and is the start of his fight to retain his seat and his £94,000 salary. Ian Lucas knows that Plaid Cymru’s excellent result in the recent European election makes his position extremely precarious and vulnerable. This attack on us has nothing to do with the welfare of children but all to do with the welfare of Ian Lucas.”

* Plaid's pre-election (April 2008) leaflet in Caia stated:

For the lack of £30,000 Queens Park Youth Club has been forced to close. Many people will have fond memories of it as a place where they met, socialised and perhaps had their first kiss.
£30,000 is a comparatively small amount to ensure a place for our youngsters to meet up safely, socialise and engage with others in their community. If we compare value for money with The Venture, which last year spent over £400,000 on 214 children, we get some perspective.
Last year Caia Park Community Council, Communities First and the Caia Park Partnership all donated money to The Venture but couldn’t save the youth club.
Why is The Venture considered more of a priority than our youth club?
Why is our community council the only one in Wrexham that gives it money when it is a facility that takes referrals from the whole of Wrexham?
Our community council is Labour controlled and the Venture is run by Labour councillor Malcolm King.
When Plaid Cymru community councillors are elected in May, we will end the open-ended subsidy of the Venture and instead invest in our community and our children.

It is quite clear that our pre-election leaflet refers to the £8,000 grant The Venture receives from the community council rather than Wrexham Council's funding, which still amounts to £188,000 a year.

Auditor General Critical of Communities First.

Jeremy Coleman the Welsh Auditor General has published a critical report of the Communities First Programme in Wales saying that the Welsh Assembly Government:
"...cannot demonstrate how far Communities First is meeting...its objectives."
The objectives of Communities First is to reduce poverty and helping to improve the lives of people who live in the poorest areas. In another critical comment the report states, "WAG has not monitored effectively the impact of the programme."

As readers of this blog will recall I wrote to the Auditor General some time ago to complain of Caia Park Communities First wasting £35,000 plus on producing a book the Wisdom of Caia Park and distributing free to all households in the area.

Since 2001, the Welsh Assembly Government have spent £214 million on 188 Communities First areas across all 22 Local Authorities in Wales. Ask yourselves do we have more children in poverty now than we had in 2001, I think the answer is yes.

I am very pleased that the Auditor General has come to the same conclusion as I and many others have about whether this massively expensive programme has delivered lasting benefits to our poorest communities.

Gwersyllt Community Council Website.

Just been to the launch of the Gwersyllt Community Council Website at the Resource Centre.This website provides details of services provided within the community as well as council business. It is one of the very few Community council websites in Wales and the first in Wrecsam. Anyone who has any suggestions or additions feel free to contact the Clerk Keith Bryan via the contacts link from the website. The next stage is to translate the website into Welsh.

New flats will be for students say Wrexham FC bosses

From the Evening Leader 8/7/09, following Plaid Cymru Press Release.

WREXHAM FC bosses have denied, in the strongest possible terms, that new flats to be built as part of The Racecourse redevelopment could be rented out to anyone other than students.

The move comes after Plaid Cymru county councillor Arfon Jones said he would be writing to chief executive Paul Retout after concerns were raised with him that some of the 840 planned apartments might be rented out to the private sector if terms with Glyndwr could not be agreed.

But both Mr Retout and Wrexham chairman Geoff Moss have flatly denied any such plan exists, and said their relationship with the University was as good as it could be. In April, Wrexham Council's planning committee approved plans by Wrexham Village to build 521 flats and then a further 319 flats in the two-phase scheme along Crispin Lane which club bosses have said will secure the future of Wrexham FC.

Mr Retout said: "Basically we have got a very good working relationship with them and will be working on a reservation agreement together.

"It's part of the planning requirement that the flats are just for students, so it's required by law and would be illegal to do otherwise.

"We have worked so hard with this development – to have someone spreading rumours that act against us is not helpful."

Speaking about the potential rental cost of each flat he said: "New standard accommodation at Bangor University is £103 a week. It is not going to be in that region, but we are talking about a brand new development with state of the art rooms."

Chairman Geoff Moss said: "We are on really good terms with the university – I could not see how the relationship could be better – and I think it is a case of somebody trying to make a political noise."

He added no discussions as to rental prices had yet been conducted with Glyndwr, and added: "We'll sit down with the university at a later date and discuss it with them."

Cllr Jones said he would be writing to Mr Retout after concerns were raised with him that the flats might be rented out to "other organisations" or the private sector if terms could not be agreed between Wrexham Village Ltd, the company set up to develop the project, and Glyndwr University

Councillors hit back at MP's new claim over Wrexham Venture funding

Article from Evening Leader's Website written from a press release by Ian Lucas MP and responses from Plaid Cymru Councillors in Wrecsam

WREXHAM'S MP has hit out again over funding for a playground in the town – this time attacking Plaid Cymru County Councillors

Ian Lucas has already accused Wrexham Council of delays in setting up meetings between himself and the authority to discuss the future of the Venture, in Caia Park.

Now he has turned his attention on Plaid Cymru's county councillors who last week claimed the Venture was not in danger of closure despite claims to the contrary by the centre's management.

Mr Lucas said: "These councillors say they have given assurances about the Venture – but the only assurance they give is that they "believe" the Venture has the money it needs to operate.

"Yet the Venture cannot trade insolvently and much of its funding is ring fenced, so it cannot be accessed simply to meet any running costs.
"Plaid Cymru councillors in Caia Park said in their election leaflets in 2008 that they would cut the Venture's funding.

"The lead member for children and young people is a Plaid Cymru councillor (Arfon Jones), and although he receives a special responsibility allowance for this post he has not yet spoken out about the issue but left officers to face the media instead.

"Cutting the Venture's funding in the way Plaid Cymru have proposed will ultimately lead to the closure of the Venture or cuts in the service it provides."

Cllr Arfon Jones, who will challenge Lucas at the next General Election, added: "This attack by Lucas is politically motivated and is the start of his fight to retain his seat.

"Ian Lucas knows that Plaid Cymru's excellent result in the recent European election makes his position extremely precarious and vulnerable

"This attack on us has nothing to do with the welfare of children but all to do with the welfare of Ian Lucas."

Whitegate councillor Marc Jones said: "We have never mentioned the Venture's funding from Wrexham Council - the process for this funding was already ongoing before we were elected. So he is mistaken in his claims and I would urge him to withdraw his remarks."

Cllr Carrier Harper added: "Yesterday Ian Lucas was blaming the council leader; today he blames Plaid – perhaps the blame lies closer to home."

Source - Evening Leader 8/7/09.