The Blue Print

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.

I ask this rather bleak question out of concern. I am sure that I am not the only person who finds airports such as Bristol and Birmingham a more pleasurable and cheaper alternative. During 2009 I did make good use of Cardiff but I made better use of Bristol.

There’s more places you can fly to from Bristol (more than 100 compared to Cardiff’s 50) and even where they have destinations in common, Cardiff is usually more expensive. This week I looked at booking flights to Spain for the summer and for the two of us it was £150 cheaper in total to fly from Bristol. The longer that prices remain this different between Cardiff and other airports within a reasonable travelling time then an increasing  number of people will choose to ignore Cardiff.

The quality of service at Cardiff compared to Bristol is significantly different. In addition to more destinations, more airlines, more shops, a bigger bar and restaurant, Bristol feels like an international airport. In fact it is similar to other successful regional airports such as Birmingham and Newcastle. On any comparison Cardiff does not sit in the same league.

The decision by BMI Baby to reduce their number of aircraft with a significant loss of staff was bad news for Cardiff Airport. Friends of mine working in the industry tell me that this airline is in trouble and has been for some time. Apart from BMI Baby, Fly Be, and some charter flights Cardiff has little else going for it, which is why I asked the Deputy First Minister in December whether the viability of Cardiff Airport would be called into question if BMI Baby collapsed. Naturally I didn’t get an answer.

These might be short term issues although I do not see what is being done to prevent them becoming long term problems which threaten the very existence of the airport.

The announcement by the Health Minister that she wants the Assembly have legislative competence over organ donation is flawed for two big reasons.

Firstly there is a question as to whether it is better for the UK as a whole to have a common system for regulating the use of organs or whether a nation like ours should have a separate legal system. The experience in mainland Europe is that organ donation and usage is organised at a national level, even in Spain one of the most decentralised countries in Western Europe where presumed consent operates, it is not left to the 17 autonomous communities.

Secondly there is the assumption that changing the law and the system to presumed consent suddenly leads to an increase in available organs. This is simply not the case. The law in Spain was changed in the 1970s but there was no positive impact. The breakthrough happened in the 1990s when the Spanish government invested in the clinical training so that medical staff could feel happy to approach grieving relatives. They also invested in the transplantation units and the coordination of the organs that were available. There is no evidence to suggest that the change in the law did anything. The investment though was absolutely key.

My concern with have an opt out system is that it relies on people being lazy, perhaps having never uttered what they feel about organ donation. In Spain there is no register of who has opted out, it’s just left to families who might not whether the deceased had any objections to their organs being used.

I have an organ donor card, my view has been recorded in a positive way, it’s a pity that the Welsh Assembly Government has given up on leading the nation in urging people to show their generosity.

The talks in Copenhagen have not been straightforward, with uncertainty as to whether the big players would attend, developing countries leaving the table and then returning, and the big question as to whether this summit will be a missed opportunity.

The financial pledge made at the end of last week by EU leaders who have negotiated a three-year deal to pay 7.2bn Euros to help poorer nations cope with climate change was described as ‘inadequate’. The target cut in emissions has not found favour either.

The draft deal envisaged emission cuts by rich countries of 25-40% from 1990 levels by 2020 – this has been viewed by developing nations as not going far enough. Small island states and poorer nations of Africa and Latin America have called for the document to endorse the target of keeping the temperature rise since pre-industrial times below 1.5C. This is below the figure of 2C, which was endorsed by the G8 and major developing economies in July, and implies the need for drastic emission cuts. The cuts promised so far come to 18%.

Our small nation needs to do its bit. Wales has provided the example to other nations – principally to sign up to 10% reduction in carbon pollution in 2010 across the Assembly Government estate; 3% a year total cut in carbon emissions in Wales (80% by 2050); all party support for 40% cut in green house gas emissions by 2020.

One of the problems though is the 2010 biodiversity target that the Assembly Government will miss this target. The fact that we have already got a 2026 target set in the Environment Strategy is quite a commitment but without clear lines of responsibility and funding it is hard to see how a future target will be met, and as biodiversity is an indicator of how sustainably we are living, we are clearly failing on the statutory sustainability duty.

What happens in Copenhagen is incredibly important, but we must get our house in order too.

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.