Rising Debt in Flintshire - how to find help

Personal debts are rising and this is causing misery to many families struggling to manage their finances. The Citizen's Advice Bureau in Mold has seen a 39% increase in debt enquiries and bankruptcies have nearly doubled in the past year. This has led to a significant increase in housing repossessions. One of the main problems behind these statistics is the lack of affordable housing available to a population in Flintshire that is growing at 3.6% above the Welsh average. There appears to be a lack of co ordinated policy between the planning department and the housing department, with no one being held accountable for the failings in the system. Labour controlled Flintshire Council's housing department is in crisis and has been for some time. Homelessness in the County is rising. The county is also seeing a rise in debt problems amongst pensioners managing credit card and loan debts. Revaluation of peoples housing in order to introduce council tax rises has hit pensioners and those on low incomes hard. A stealth tax that has implications for those struggling on the margins. Once someone is of pensionable age it is very difficult to raise income as pension income is largely fixed. Help is at hand for those struggling to manage debt and those needing help or advice should contact Chris Bailey at Mold CAB.

Andrew Lansley exposes Labour hospital tactics

Labour's obssession with power over good government was again exposed today. It is disgusting that local residents of good hospitals are going to see their services suffer or close because of the Labour party's desire to hold onto marginal seats. Labour have caused this crisis in the NHS through their dotty policies and by creating armies of bureaucrats. Their mismanagement of the health service should make them hang their heads in shame. The local community hospital in Holywell has seen GPs pull out of the walk in minor injuries unit because Labour allowed GPs to pull out of 24 hour cover when they renegotiated the contracts, this has meant that nurses have had to take up even more responsibilities. It has also worsened the local health board budget because Labour forgot that GPs contracts funded beds in community hospitals - by failing to keep that requirement in the new GP budgets the LHBs now have to pay even more money to GPs. The deficit in Wales is running at £76 million and this years overspend for North East Wales Trust is £9 million. Yet the spend on bureaucrats is 20.2 million. ........................

Labour "the party the party the party"

The recent actions of Mark Tami and the concern with its effect on "the party" show that what worries Labour is not the policies of governance but the effect on their own positions. I note that David Hanson MP (and Sandy Mewies AM) removed themselves today from the leadership crisis, by attending a photocall in Holywell "announcing" WAG funding for a new hospital at Holywell... coincidentally this funding was also announced before the 2003 Welsh elections by then Health minister in Wales Jane Hutt..........Oh and by coincidence new "funding" from Europe was announced in Blaenau Gwent after the defeat of Labour in their heartlands.....A divided party - no real interest in long term thinking - and concern about their own positions -daily job losses announced in Wales...........positive policies, looking at the long term, being concerned about those they were elected to represent? Long term thinking? I dont think so................

University top up fees

LABOUR CAN'T CLAIM CREDIT FOR CONSERVATIVE POLICY


According to figures from the university admissions service UCAS more than half of first-year students in Welsh universities will be from Wales, while there has been a fall in the number of Welsh students going to English universities.

Welsh students studying at Welsh universities will not have to pay Labour's top-up fees thanks to a Welsh Conservative motion passed in the National Assembly in May 2005.
I welcome the 7.5% increase in the number of Welsh students attending Welsh universities and that for the first time for many years more than 50% of freshers in Wales will be Welsh. Student debt is a major consideration in determining the choice of university.

It is Conservative policy to provide the access to lifelong learning opportunities for everyone who is able to gain the relevant entry qualification to the higher or further education course of their choice, regardless of their financial circumstance.

Education Minister Jane Davidson must be held to account as to why she and all the other Labour Assembly Members voted against the motion not to introduce 'top-up' fees for students residing in Wales attending Welsh universities. Welsh Conservative policy allows parents to encourage and support their children to aspire to higher and further education. All Welsh students applying to study in Wales have the Welsh Conservatives to thank for being spared the full effects of Labour's tax on learning.