Politics
Latest from council leader Cllr David Simpson

COUNCIL Leader, Councillor David Simpson, has provided a further coronavirus update.
He said in the latest in his regular briefings: “Well what a year we have all had. Who could have imagined how this Pandemic would change our lives in such a way?
“As an authority we have worked hard to protect our communities and ensure we managed the delivery of our services.
“On December 30 a meeting was held with Ministers in relation to back to school.
“As an authority we are proceeding with our plans for distance learning until face to face teaching returns on Monday, 11th January.
“Critical worker and vulnerable children’s child care will be provided from the 6th January.
“We will continue to use the evidence provided by Welsh Government to make decisions about the safe reopening of schools. If there needs to be any changes we will let learners and their families know.
“The Health Minister outlined the continuing concerns about the rise in hospitalisations. And I would like to highlight that our NHS is working very hard, but facing unprecedented times as we also face the additional winter pressures.
“I would urge you to please continue to adhere to the stay safe messages from Welsh Government about socially distancing and following the guidance as we remain in alert level 4.
“Covid-19 is still present in our communities and we all have a continued role to play to reduce the spread of the virus.
“I appreciate that my messages throughout the year have been asking for your support and I am very grateful for the way everyone has helped each other and supported those in our communities.
“I want to thank everyone in Pembrokeshire for doing the right thing and ensured we minimised the impact of Covid. However, I am very aware that this has impacted on many so my thoughts go out to you.
“It would be wrong of me not to highlight my thanks to all the NHS staff, care workers and carers out in the community.
“They have all worked so hard to look after those who need care – even more so this year as the demands have been higher. I [would like to] thank everyone in our health and care sector for what they have done for us.”
“I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and please raise a toast at midnight to the end of 2020 and welcome in 2021.”
Politics
Call to replace the Lords

OVERHAULING Parliament’s London-dominated second chamber would help empower the UK’s nations and regions, writes Willie Sullivan a senior director at the Electoral Reform Society.
It’s been a year since Boris Johnson’s victory in the 2019 general election, an election won with a commitment to ‘level up’ those communities left behind.
Since then, our politics has been shaken by a pandemic that has put pressure on the already strained constitutional settlement that holds the nations and regions of the UK together.
We’ve seen attention turned to local and regional government as well as the devolved administrations. We’ve seen clearly how the over-centralising nature of Westminster can hamper and undermine public trust. The video of Andy Burnham first hearing news of Greater Manchester’s Covid funding settlement at a live press conference will go down as a low point in Britain’s patchwork devolution framework.
This is all set to the backdrop of declining faith in our politics. At the same time as the PM was returning to Number 10 last winter, polling for the Electoral Reform Society showed that just 16% of the public believe politics is working well in the UK – and only 2% feel they have a significant influence over decision-making.
For a government publicly committed to a levelling up agenda, this democratic malaise must serve as a warning: it will take more than economic investment or shiny new infrastructure to remedy the feeling of powerlessness that many feel outside of Westminster.
Tackling that will require some long-overdue reform. The calls for a clear framework for devolution in the UK have become impossible to ignore in recent months. Even areas of England with mayors felt sidelined this year, but the picture was even worse elsewhere – with zero guarantees that local people would be consulted on changes that would affect their lives immeasurably.
There’s a good way to start empowering the UK’s nations and regions: overhauling Parliament’s unelected second chamber.
Abolishing the outdated and unaccountable House of Lords offers a chance to rebalance politics away from Westminster – and create a representative Senate of the Nations and Regions.
Recent Electoral Reform Society analysis found that nearly a quarter of peers are based in London, compared to just 13% of the UK public. Over half – 56% of peers – live in the capital, or the east and south-east of England, while peers in the east and west Midlands make up just 6% between them – leaving many areas in which the Conservatives won seats in the so-called ‘red wall’ woefully underrepresented.
It should be said, this is only peers we know about: more than 300 refuse to state even the country they live in (some live overseas), and hundreds more do not even provide a direct email address for people to get in touch and stand up for their areas.
All this undermines the government’s stated intention to ‘level up’ the regions, when we have a chamber that is skewed towards one patch of England.
Reforming this London-dominated second chamber is a rare issue that is highly popular across all parties. 71% of the UK public back an overhaul of the House of Lords, research showed this year. The issue cuts across Britain’s divides, with an overhaul backed by a majority of those who voted Conservative or Labour in the 2019 general election, and those who voted Leave or Remain in the EU referendum.
As well as levelling up representation – with peers elected using a fair, proportional voting system – a genuinely accountable second chamber could establish a guaranteed voice for the regions of the UK, to speak as one, to scrutinise legislation and our constitutional settlement with clear communities in mind. The UK remains one of the most centralised countries in Europe – and the archaic, power-hoarding set-up in Westminster has a big role to play in why this is.
The pandemic has shown just how important it is for those outside the capital to be truly heard. There are many reasons why voters had more confidence in their governments’ Covid responses more in Wales and Scotland, but having a stake – being genuinely ‘in it together’ makes a big difference.
This is a challenge to all parties, from Boris Johnson as he tries to plot a path for recovery for the UK, to Keir Starmer as he begins to outline his own view of devolution.
One thing’s clear: the London-dominated House of Lords is undermining the voice of local communities. A Senate of the Nations and Regions could be the gamechanger we need.
Politics
Taskforce returns empty homes to use

“There was a formal process and a range of forms to complete but my grant was approved and the work has been done. I am delighted.”
Politics
North Wales Commissioner to stand down

“A true public servant, he will be remembered for representing the people of north Wales with determination and for fighting to ensure that the voices of victims of crime are heard within the justice system.
“On behalf of Plaid Cymru, I wish him all the best for the future.”
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