The Blue Print

The news that Cardiff Airport is to revamp its terminal http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8474283.stm is very welcome, and for those of us in public life who have criticised the appearance of and services at the airport this is to be celebrated.

I hope that the planners and the Assembly Government prioritise these changes so that we can start a renaissance at Cardiff Airport. Unlike some of my colleagues in the Senedd I am a fan of air travel and the contribution it makes to the economy and the potential it has here in Wales. Having travelled quite a lot from Bristol in the past year and having seen the quality of the airports elsewhere in the UK, such as Newcastle (seriously…it is a fantastic airport!) it is time for Cardiff to seize the opportunity.

The big issue beyond redevelopment though is being able to attract more airlines to use the airport. If we want people to flood to Cardiff then the shiniest building in the world will not do it, they need airlines that take them to where they want to go and at prices which compare well with Bristol and Birmingham. We need the management at the airport and the Welsh Assembly Government to start attracting new airlines to Cardiff because at the moment a lot of business is simply going elsewhere.

For many of my own constituents being well placed near the M4, getting to Bristol and Birmingham is not a big problem and although slightly more inconvenient than Cardiff the financial savings make it worthwhile. Hurrah to a new terminal but where are the airlines?

Before Christmas our new First Minister appointed his new Cabinet, including the surprise promotion of Jane Hutt as the Minister for Business and Budget. The use of the word budget sounds like she was found in “Pound Stretcher”!

After her failings in health and education I suppose the natural next step was to take control of the Assembly finances. In the debating chamber today I asked her what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer since her appointment. Cutting through the waffle in the reply she obviously hasn’t.

In all fairness she has met with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and she does keep in touch with officials but the man in charge is the Chancellor. I find in incredible that she hasn’t even had a telephone chat with him in light of the 17% cut to public expenditure which he has ordered. The Treasury are making plans for significant reductions in public spending in an attempt to reduce the deficit. In the Financial Times on Monday the Chancellor said that this was “non negotiable”.

Surely any capable Minister would want to know what the thinking at Whitehall is and what the likely impact will be for Wales. We are roughly one month into the new Assembly Government and already we are seeing a poor performance by our new budget Minister.

But I suppose that’s always the risk with budgeting

On Saturday I spent some time volunteering with a new initiative called the Cardiff Foodbank. I must admit it’s not the sort of thing I usually do, although I am involved in a number of charitable organisations.

In December I met with Ian Purcell one of the organisers who talked me through what the Foodbank does, and how it is linked into the UK charity. Foodbank asks people for food donations which can be stored and given through a voucher scheme to families in crisis who are identified by health and social care professionals.

I got involved as it caught my attention because the charity helps families in Cardiff, and it targets groups for whom there’s little community support.

I am not doing to apologise for believing that unless charity begins at home then we have little chance in fostering an understanding as to how to be kind to anyone else in the world. I know that there is considerable suffering outside of the UK but in fairness the government and organisations do an incredible amount of work overseas. We are all taken by the pictures of destruction, famine and disease on TV but the plight of our immediate neighbours can all too often be overlooked. The families in crisis helped by Foodbank are those where the effects of unemployment might be starting to hit hard or where an elderly person for example might have little or no family support. It’s the sort of situations where there’s not much help at the moment.

So on Saturday I helped out at Sainsbury’s in Thornhill where we encouraged shoppers to donate items from our shopping list and it was a massive success. The organisation was first class, we were ordered into three groups to hand out leaflets, collect items at the tills and load the food into the van. The generosity of the public was incredible; the spirit of human kindness on full display and apart from a few people who weren’t too interested the response was more than a tonne of food collected. One lady even donated a full trolley load!

I came away glowing, not because of what I did, but because of what I saw.

An excellent article in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph on faith schools caused me to think about the future of those schools in Wales, especially in light of Edwina Hart’s comments during the Welsh Labour leadership campaign that they “should be left to wither on the vine.”

I attended the Bishop of Llandaff Church-in-Wales secondary school in Cardiff. It was the natural choice for my family where church played an important part in our lives. The decision wasn’t part of some middle class trend, I doubt at the time if my parents considered themselves to be in this category, it was a choice about the type of schooling based on their and my beliefs.

Church schools in Cardiff like Welsh medium schools are fewer in number than other maintained schools, and as a result their catchment areas therefore are usually wider. We had a good cross section of pupils from most of Cardiff, Barry and the Vale attending what is still an excellent school. The political left have traditionally seen faith schools as elitist and the comments by the Health Minister show a worrying lack of understanding.

I firmly believe in an expansion of faith schools, they provide excellent standards and are usually found in several slots in the top ten of schools. As opposed to being the preserve of the middle classes they can provide huge opportunities for pupils in areas who otherwise would have to settle for the local Comp. An education through the Christian ethos can be of tremendous benefit, where an understanding and appreciation of faith in our education system is capable of breaking down barriers in a society where we are becoming increasingly suspicious of others.

The lack of ambition for a diverse education system is holding Wales back and not providing an educational experience which promotes choice and responds to our diversity as a nation.

Earlier today I asked the Welsh Assembly Government whether the Counsel General would examine the attempt by WPD to drain the Llanishen Reservoir.

There has been an ongoing battle between the American company who want to build on the site, and the local community who want to save this wonderful open space. In the Assembly chamber I raised two concerns about the possible loss of the reservoir water.

Firstly Cadw, the body responsible for protecting our national heritage, recently listed the site for its heritage and architectural contribution. The action by WPD may well be open to challenge by Cadw and the Welsh Assembly Government. Secondly there is the issue of the loss of water. I understand that there are legal requirements for the maintaining of an adequate water supply in the event of an emergency.

It is important that the Government’s chief legal officer examine the situation as quickly as possible, these issues have pan Wales implications and are not just planning issues for the capital city. As the AM for Cardiff North I am as ever committed to securing the site for future generations.

Memory Lane Cakes which has been based in my constituency for almost 50 years has today confirmed that there will be job losses at the company. This has not come as a shock as the future of around 80 workers was being discussed before Christmas.

Job losses are rarely good news to those affected, but I do think that the company has acted responsibly in responding to a difficult situation, working with the union and Careers Wales to ensure that help is given to those who will now need to look for work. I had a very productive and frank meeting with the management before Christmas and they were keen to do all possible to help their workers to move on.

I have already been in contact with the Deputy First Minister urging the Welsh Assembly Government to act quickly in processing any applications from workers for financial assistance under the ReAct scheme, it would not be acceptable for bureaucracy to get in the way of support for those looking for alternative employment.

Importantly too, the management see a future for the company here in Cardiff. I will be doing all I can to support the company is helping them to achieve this.

Having fallen over this morning outside my constituency office in Whitchurch I could easily see why Cardiff Council had decided to keep all schools in the city closed today. It now appears that some people are criticising the Council and schools for caving in to the weather too quickly.

Keeping children out of school is of course a headache for parents who have to juggle their work responsibilities as a result. One would also expect a knock on effect for businesses who become short staffed although looking at the villages in my constituency having few customers is probably having more of a negative impact.

Schools have a responsibility for the safety of their pupils. Looking at the paths and playgrounds, unless the Council has an exhaustive supply of grit, it is obvious that the school site is currently a hazardous place to be. Getting to school for many would also have been difficult with side roads remaining untreated and dangerous to drive or walk along. If we expect schools to act in loco parentis then we should expect them to put the welfare of those children first. I am therefore supportive of what the Council has decided.

There is however a further difficulty. As we know long term weather forecasts are fairly useless, until recently no-one predicted this weather, and some are now saying that the freeze will continue for some time with snow likely on the weekend. It begs the question as to how much planning can actually occur and when a local Council is close to exhausting its supply of grit to whom can it turn for help?

New Year’s resolutions these days tend to disappear more quickly than the UK’s financial credibility. How much weight loss can we achieve how many new books to read or bottles of wine to cut down on, all form part of the annual ritual of self improvement.

Perhaps the resolution for the government needs to be financial fitness. The facts are truly terrifying; in the forthcoming financial year the UK annual debt will hit £179bn with our current debt position at 12% of our GDP.

In the disastrous years at the end of the 1970s when Britain’s economic position was seriously weakened our debt was 8% of GDP. Our financial situation is dreadful and has far reaching consequences, and one which cannot be blamed on the banks alone.

For more than a decade we saw healthy economic growth and the treasury’s bank account swelled, more money was spent by the UK and Welsh Assembly Government and little was saved for a rainy day. Our current economic position might improve, albeit very slowlyand to be honest no-one seriously expects the UK economy to grow very much at all in the next few years; our financial position as a result is even more worrying.

A fragile economy realises little income to close the enormous gap between our income and expenditure so our debt is not going to reduce without significant reductions in public expenditure, we can’t spend our way out of a recession and the continuing attempt by the Government is madness. We do need to radically examine where public spending can contract as part of a planned reduction in our deficit.

The UK has been warned that its financial state of affairs threatens the viability of the country as a safe investment bet, if we don’t look to achieve financial fitness then other countries may not bother lending to us in the future.