Politics
HS2 funding – will Wales get a share?
PLAID CYMRU has accused the Welsh Government of ‘doing nothing’ for three years to secure a share of funding for Wales from the HS2 rail project. However, the Welsh Government has claimed that this is ‘nonsense’ and that Wales will receive hundreds of millions of pounds as a direct result of HS2 spending. Plaid Cymru’s Westminster Treasury spokesman Jonathan Edwards wrote to the first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland asking them to consider opposing the project if the devolved nations did not receive financial compensation. In his letter of response on June 2, First Minister Carwyn Jones said the Welsh Government had “made representations to the UK Treasury previously about High Speed Rail funding.”
The First Minister concluded that his government would ‘continue to press Wales’ case on this issue of High Speed Rail… aiming to ensure that all parts of the UK receive full consequentials arising from decisions about High Speed Rail.” However, Mr Edwards claims that, following a series of Parliamentary questions and an FoI request, it has been revealed that the Welsh Government has made no formal representations to any UK Government Minister or Department on the matter in the last three years.
In response to one question, asked in Parliament in October, Robert Goodwill MP said that ‘Ministers have not received representations from the Welsh Government regarding HS2 and Barnett consequentials.’ Following a written question to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in which Mr Edwards asked what representations had been received from the Welsh Government concerning Barnett consequential from HS2, he received the reply that ‘Treasury Ministers are in regular contact with Welsh Government Ministers on a variety of matters.’
Jonathan Edwards said: “In the Assembly chamber, on television interviews and in newspaper articles Labour elected members and spokespeople from Wales are misleading the public on their support for our nation getting a fair share of this enormous rail investment project in England.
“It’s bad enough that Labour MPs from Wales supported the project despite being fully aware that it will suck hundreds of millions of pounds out of the Welsh economy each and every year. Now, however, the First Minister and his party have been exposed as having done nothing to back up their rhetoric. Indeed, I would say that the First Minister, including in his letter to me, has tried to pull the wool over our eyes.
“With every week that passes more and more people recognise that there will be a huge injustice unless Wales has full fairness from HS2. It was growing public pressure that saw the Labour Party u-turn in the first place. But just like so many other occasions, the Welsh Government will play to the gallery but never follow through with actions. “The reality is that the Labour party supports HS2 and the Welsh branch office will always put the interests of the Labour party before the interests of Wales.”
In Parliament this week the Secretary of State for Transport said Wales would benefit from the high speed rail project, but avoided answering the direct question from Mr Edwards who wanted to know why Wales was being unfairly treated in relation to HS2 expenditure. Mr Edwards asked the Transport Secretary: “Given that, unlike Network Rail, HS2 Ltd is not devolved to any part of the United Kingdom, will the Secretary of State explain why the statement of funding policy for the devolved institutions, which was published along with last week’s comprehensive spending review, provides for a 100% Barnett consequential from HS2 to Scotland and Northern Ireland, and one of 0% to Wales?”
The Transport Secretary said “I believe that Wales will benefit from what I have announced today, because it will be very important to the north Wales economy.” Speaking after his question, Mr Edwards said: “The way HS2 has been handled stinks to high heaven. An independent report says the Welsh economy will lose over £200million a year yet Labour and Tory politicians are blissfully content to see a generation’s worth of transport investment swallowed up, with our nation paying for transport improvements in English cities, and then have the audacity to tell us we should be grateful.
“As has been shown, the First Minister, his government and Labour party in Wales have done nothing more to secure funds from HS2 than issue a press release over three years ago. “The people of Wales deserve a government that will always act in the Welsh national interest as opposed to the interests of their London bosses.”
However, a spokesman for First Minister Carwyn Jones rejected these claims: “Plaid Cymru have fallen asleep on this issue – they are way behind the curve,” he claimed. “Their propensity for getting things wrong on funding just shows they can’t be trusted with the Welsh economy. “These particular claims are, again, nonsense. “Welsh Ministers have made representations to the UK Government to ensure Wales gets its fair share of additional funding as a result of HS2.
“As a result, Wales will receive a Barnett consequential of more than £755m over the next five years because of increased UK Department for Transport budgets, a consequence of the investment being made in HS2. “However, we have long been of the view that the Barnett Formula itself does Wales no favours and have repeatedly called for fair funding. “We welcome the UK Government’s commitment to a ‘funding floor’ to deliver fair funding for Wales as part of the Spending Review, and await the details.”
News
Too many children in Wales living in poverty – Lib Dems want action
THIS week in the Senedd, the Welsh Liberal Democrats renewed their demands for the implementation of child poverty targets.
According to a report from the Bevan foundation, 29% of children living in Wales are currently experiencing poverty (an estimated 190,000 children).
The same report highlighted that the largest percentage of children living in poverty are from working households or in couple households.
The Welsh Lib Dems are now renewing calls for the Welsh Government to create a set of targets for reducing child poverty, which the party argues will allow for more accountability.
The party has previously called for the implementation of targets, citing recommendations from the Calling Time on Child Poverty Report published in November last year.
Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “The latest statistics on childhood poverty in Wales paints a very distressing image of families across the country struggling to make ends meet.
Over the course of the last six years, the proportion of children in poverty has skyrocketed. Fuelled by worsening economic conditions and a complete lack of action from both governments in Westminster and Cardiff Bay.
We cannot act complacent about these figures nor accept the clear lack of progress in fighting child poverty, behind each statistic is a child that the state has failed.
It remains painfully clear that the Welsh Government is failing to make any meaningful progress in this fight, which is why they must follow through with the implementation of clear set targets that will allow for further accountability.
We as a party have continuously called for the creation of these targets and we will not be silenced. For the sake of future generations we urge the Welsh Government to listen.”
Education
Conservative calls for academies and free schools rejected by Senedd
THE SENEDD has rejected calls to introduce free schools and academies after a report found major challenges in Wales’ education system.
Tom Giffard led a Conservative debate on educational attainment, warning that Wales is consistently at the bottom of UK-wide league tables.
The party’s new shadow education secretary pointed to an Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on education in Wales which found low outcomes and high levels of inequality.
Mr Giffard told the Senedd the IFS report highlights the pitfalls of the Welsh Government putting all its eggs in the basket of a skills-based approach.
Criticising a failure to measure skills inequalities and pupil progress, he stressed that Wales’ lower performance is due to policy and approach rather than funding or the pandemic.
He said: “It seems the Welsh Government relies on Pisa results to tell the story but then, when those same results are all too disappointing, they are dismissed in equal measure.”
Mr Giffard, who previously worked in a primary school, said declines in Pisa results can be observed in almost every country that has adopted a skills-based approach.
Raising concerns about disappointing Pisa results, the South Wales West MS pointed out that Wales saw the lowest scores in the UK for every subject.
Heledd Fychan, Plaid Cymru’s shadow education secretary, warned that Wales’ schools are understaffed and facing difficult decisions due to budgets being at breaking point.
She criticised implementation of the Welsh Government’s additional learning needs (ALN) reforms, saying schools cannot realise the aims without the budget to bring them to life.
Ms Fychan said Plaid Cymru agreed with much of the Tory motion but her party would not support calls for free schools and academies.
Sam Rowlands described the IFS report as damning, warning that the Welsh Government’s education reforms have been disastrous and have widened inequality.
The Tory MS claimed the reforms are systematically holding back disadvantaged children, saying: “The most remarkable fact is that the performance of disadvantaged children in England is either above or similar to the average for all children in Wales.”
Mr Rowlands added: “The poorest in England’s schools are doing the same or better than the Welsh average, thanks to ambition, the academies and free schools.”
Samuel Kurtz, a fellow Tory, said free schools and academies have driven up standards in England as he argued a Wales roll-out provides an opportunity to improve outcomes.
James Evans, the Conservative MS for Brecon and Radnorshire, highlighted the party’s pledge to get 5,000 more teachers into Wales’ classrooms.
Buffy Williams, the newly elected chair of the Senedd’s education committee, said Wales is undergoing a profound transformation propelled by ALN and curriculum reforms.
The Labour MS for Rhondda stressed the importance of listening to teachers and allowing ample time for the reforms to take root in classrooms across Wales.
Altaf Hussain recounted a conversation he had this week with a headteacher at one of the largest schools in his South Wales West region.
The Conservative said: “The major improvements they have been delivering to attainment and addressing behavioural issues are all at risk because of cuts to funding.
“Vital work undertaken to improve the lives of young people with additional needs could be halted because they cannot afford to continue employing the support workers.”
Lynne Neagle recognised the scale and seriousness of work still ahead to improve Wales’ education system, stressing: “I am not, in any way, complacent about that task.”
Wales’ newly appointed education secretary, who takes over from Jeremy Miles, said sustained improvement in attainment will be among her top priorities.
She told the chamber: “My early focus has been to listen closely to schools and where it is clear that schools seek more scaffolding.”
Ms Neagle said the Welsh Government will work with trade unions and employers to reduce workload and eliminate unnecessary red tape.
The Conservative motion was voted down, 14-35, following the debate on April 24. The motion as amended by the Welsh Government was agreed, 26-23.
Climate
£1m turbine application to be decided by all councillors at County Hall
A TWICE-BACKED £1m scheme for a “20-storey-high” wind turbine at a Pembrokeshire mansion will have to be decided by all councillors.
Mr and Mrs Glen Peters of Western Solar Ltd are seeking permission for a single turbine on land near the Grade II-listed Rhosygilwen Mansion, which includes an arts and functions building known as Neuaddydderwen.
Members of the April meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee were recommended to refuse the scheme, despite backing it at their March meeting.
This backing meant the application returned to the April meeting for ratification after a ‘cooling off’ period; the application having been deferred at the January meeting pending a site visit.
It was initially recommended for refusal in January for several reasons, including potential harm to the setting of the Grade-II-listed house and grounds, and fears of threats to the safe operation of West Wales Airport at Aberporth in neighbouring Ceredigion, some 9.5 kilometres away.
The last concern was later withdrawn.
In papers ahead of the April meeting, officers, again recommending refusal, have said the scheme “would not protect or enhance the setting [of Rhosygilwen] but rather would result in significant harm to this interest of acknowledged importance”.
They have also warned any backing of the scheme against policy recommendations could set a precedent for similar developments.
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