The Blue Print

For 50 years Memory Lane Cakes has been based at Maes-y-Coed Road in the heart of Cardiff North, a major employer of 1,000 people in a small constituency with few big companies.

The news over the weekend that the parent company Finsbury wishes to cut 4% of its workforce has come as blow in this part of Cardiff. The fact that they are consulting the staff until the first week of January means an uncertain Christmas for workers in Cardiff who do not know how hard the axe will fall here. The lack of clarity can be of no comfort to them or their families.

Having contacted the Deputy First Minister over the weekend I am pleased that his officials responded positively by meeting with Finsbury Foods today. I hope that the Welsh Assembly Government will be able to help in the short term and also provide assistance to workers if job losses do materialise.

I am meeting with the management at Memory Lane Cakes on Wednesday to seek assurances about the handling of this consultation and to do what I can in sticking up for constituents who might not have a happy new year.

For all the talk of improving access to public transport for disabled people has anyone ever tried getting a train from Llandaff (North) railway station to Cardiff in a wheelchair?

I pose this question because I have been doing a survey of railway stations in the constituency to see how accessible they are. Some are ok for wheelchair users, although you may have to go around the houses, quite literally, to access them. However others such as Llandaf f (North) and Heath High Level are absolutely useless.

The bottom line is that if you are disabled and live in west part of Whitchurch or in Llandaff North then you won’t be able to get to the correct side of the platform to get the train to Cardiff. There is a footbridge but wheelchairs and steps are an unhappy mix so there’s no way of a wheelchair user getting onto the correct side.

Similarly, if you are disabled living in Heath and want to travel to a destination on the Rhymney Valley line – even if it is just to Llanishen or Thornhill, then you would have to negotiate several flights of steps just to get to the platform. There is no other way to access it.

The Disability Discrimination Act was specifically intended to break down barriers for disabled people, putting pressure on private and public organisations to make their premises and services as accessible as possible.

It is high time the UK Government in collaboration with the Assembly Government truly enforce the DDA and compel the owners of these, and other, stations to have access for wheelchair users.

An area where the Assembly Government can make a difference is by investing in platform accessibility.

The UK Government has committed itself to spending £370m over the next ten years on improving access to deliver its Accessibility Strategy for Great Britain’s Railways’, which was published’ in 2006. The strategy states that:

“The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) will specify and fund franchised passenger services within and bordering Wales from 1st April 2006. It also has the option to fund new rail investments in Wales, over and above that currently specified.”

As part of the £370 million fund, up to £7 million a year is allocated for improvements to smaller stations. Yet I have discovered that from 2006-09, only £403,348 had been spent in Wales, despite the large number of smaller inaccessible stations in this country. Yet WAG has said that it’s not its responsibility to submit bids, rather it’s the role of Arriva Trains Wales to do this.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that WAG wouldn’t play an active role in this. I would expect the Assembly Government to work in close collaboration with Arriva Trains Wales to ensure we maximise additional investment.

It’s not just about getting onto the train, its also about being able to reach the platform to get to the train in the first place!

Cardiff Council’s proposals to reorganise schools in Whitchurch in my constituency are based on inaccurate information and demonstrate a worrying lack of understanding about our local education system.

At a public meeting at the high school last night the council officers’ performance (in the absence of any of the Executive members of the council) was lamentable. They struggled to explain the impact of reducing the high school from a 12 to a 9 form entry school and the potential ability to deliver all that they do now.

The document setting out their case, and which is the basis of the statutory consultation process, relies on pupil projection figures which the council has since corrected.

In 2008 the council told the Assembly Government that the pupil projection figure for 2014 for Eglwys Newydd was 320 and for Eglwys Wen 282. However figures given this year are 343 and 295 respectively. In fact all the council’s figures for these two schools have had to be revised since 2006, demonstrating the upward birthrate trend. On a matter of law I am not sure what the legal requirements are for the accuracy of data used in a statutory consultation process, but I intend finding out.

Figures aside, I see this process as an attack on good schools, a way of manipulating figures to support other less popular schools. I fail to see how schools which lack strong local parental support can be improved just by forcing their children to attend them.

We have an on-line petition to support our Whitchurch schools at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/supportwhitchurchschools/

I never thought I’d be much good as a spy, but yesterday morning I went undercover at the A&E department of the University Hospital of Wales which happily for me is conveniently located in my constituency.

The purpose of my visit, at the invitation of a number of the nurses who live in Cardiff North, was to see at first hand the pressures they face throughout the day. One problem that became apparent within minutes of me arriving was the difficulty in managing a considerable number of patient admissions together with all the problems which impact on A&E due to factors elsewhere in the hospital.

We toured the GP out of hours clinic, which is co-located with the A&E and discussed the excellent work they do. I met with nurses and doctors in the Medical Assessment Unit and also the Surgical Assessment Unit and was struck over and again that regardless of the difficulties they face their commitment to their patients remained constant and strong.

Whilst I intend doing a couple of posts on this visit (starting later in the week) with some recommendations for the Assembly Government there was one fact which struck me hard. By 9am yesterday morning the hospital wasn’t just full there were 27 people waiting for a bed. Now 9am isn’t an especially busy period, apparently that happens between 11am and 3pm when GPs are in a frantic process of referring their patients to A&E.

What was worrying was that there were some patients who had been on hospital trollies for a long time. In fact at least 3 of them for more than 3 days because of a lack of beds in the hospital.

The Education Minister has agreed to close a school in my constituency which serves an area with few community facilities.

Cefn Onn Primary School has been a central part of one of the large housing estates in Llanishen for 5 decades. I would like to place on record my praise for the headteacher, staff and governors who have worked hard to save the school from closure. It is an incredibly sad day for local families who will feel very let down as a result of this decision.

When Cardiff Council decided to close this school the birthrate in the city had been falling, and this became the premise on which the school closure programme would progress. Since 2002 however the birthrate in Llanishen and across Cardiff has been increasing and the council has had to amend its own pupil projection figures. Pupils from this area will now have the option of attending 4 other schools, and whilst the alternatives are all excellent schools the loss of Cefn Onn has the potential to fragment the community.

This latest closure not only ignores the new birthrate trend it is fundamentally a nail in the coffin for the community the school has served.

I represent a constituency which has excellent schools with superb standards and results, popular with pupils and parents.

Other parts of Cardiff are not so lucky, some have lower standards and falling rolls. Instead of addressing why some schools are not as successful Cardiff Council has determined to close schools in my constituency in order to save those where the problem actually lies.

We are expecting the council to consult over their plan to reduce the number of primary schools and reduce the size of Whitchurch High School. This is madness. Our primary schools are popular and well subscribed, the combined places at Eglwys Newydd and Eglwys Wen, according to the council, will require an increase in places by 2014 not a reduction. The high school is the biggest in Wales and delivers a diverse and high standard of education to its pupils and in my view should not face a cut in its numbers from a 12 to a 9 form entry school.

Cardiff council will be opposed by me and our councillors for Whitchurch & Tongwynlais. There will be a vigorous campaign and the council will be challenged on its proposal because we do not want to see successful schools penalised. Let the fight begin.