I sponsored and spoke at the ‘Drink Wise, Age Well’ Programme launch event for their ‘Calling Time for Change’ Charter.
As I said “In Wales, those aged 65 and over are the only age group where drinking above the daily guidelines is increasing”, but “there is no reason why older adults should be left behind in terms of progress towards reducing alcohol-related harm”.
Speaking in the Tackling Poverty Debate, I joined members of all parties in calling on the Welsh Government to produce a Tackling Poverty Strategy. Welsh Labour Government Members, including those representing seats in north east Wales, failed to support this.
Focussing on policies made in Wales, I stressed that the UN Special Rapporteur’s Report on ‘Extreme Poverty and Human Rights’ noted that Wales faces the highest relative poverty rate in the UK, that twenty-five per cent of jobs in Wales pay below minimum wage, and that although the Welsh Government scrapped a poverty-specific action plan and the post of Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty in 2017, the Welsh Government’s new Prosperity for All Strategy ‘has no strategic focus or ministerial responsibility for poverty reduction, and lacks clear performance targets and progress indicators’.
As Oxfam Cymru states ‘The lack of a strategy denies the tackling poverty agenda a clear direction’.
Speaking in the Welsh Conservatives Debate on Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), I stated that the Health Board “will not be celebrating the fact that next Saturday will be four years since it was placed into special measures” and that “this Health Minister’s repeated statements that he ‘expects to see action’ have become hollow”, and called for him to stand down.
I attended last Friday’s briefing for North Wales AMs, MPs and Council Leaders by BCUHB’s Chair and Chief Executive.
Questioning the Education Minister, I called for action to address exclusions of pupils with Additional Learning Needs in breach of the legal requirement for schools to first ensure they have made appropriate adjustments for autistic children or other disabled children.
Questioning the Health Minister, I highlighted concerns raised with me by sensory loss charities in North Wales about inequality in access to information for people with sensory loss.
I Chaired the Cross Party Group on Hospices and Palliative Care. Other Assembly engagements included Social Business Wales, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and Community Foundation in Wales.
I also assisted with the presentation of certificates at the 10th Anniversary celebration of North Wales ‘Young Dragons’ volunteers.
If you need my help, please email [email protected] or call 0300 200 7219.
