Labour playing catch up

Oh dear oh dear, Labour's tired administration really are running out of ideas. Several months ago after our visit to St Kentigern's Hospice Brynford Cllr Matt Wright and I pushed hard for a hospice lobby day in Cardiff. That hospice lobby day took place, Mark Isherwood and a number of others working hard for hospice funding in recognition of the hard work they do. Under the Labour Welsh Assembly staff have faced funding squeezes from Labour's Assembly Government receiving 20% LESS than their English Counterparts for the last few years.

The Conservatives announced a spending commitment of £10 million for hospices in Wales.............seems that Sandy Mewies and Carl Sargeant having failed to recognise the funding hole faced by hospices over the last 3 years have finally caught up. Labour have clearly been reading Conservative policies I am delighted that they have finally recognised the shortfall facing hospices - pity that they have wasted so much on useless bureaucracy in the NHS rather than directing money where it could provide vital care to those who need it. Had Labour adopted the Welsh Conservative Budget there would have been far greater funding.

Prison overcrowding

It is utterly ridiculous that the Home Office have yet again tried to interfere in the sentencing ability of Judges. It is the job of the Home Office to make sure that there are sufficient prison places for those whose offences mean that they should serve a prison sentence. There is no doubt that the constant interference of the Labour government in Criminal Law has made the current situation much worse. There have been over 3000 new criminal offences created by the Labour Government, combined with increasing interference in sentencing. The flood of sentencing provisions over the last 10 years has resulted in the Government chopping and changing its mind as it struggled to be seen to be doing something - without tackling the real causes of the problems. In order to seem tough on crime the Government has sought to underfund the "community options" available to Judges. This has led to the public, quite rightly being suspicious of a system that appears to fail to tackle criminal offending. The current overcrowding of prisons is a sign that the government failed plan for the consequences of their legislation, and also dramatically affects the possiblity of rehabilitating those who are in prison. The current situation is a disgrace - and the Labour government only has itself to blame.

Battle for Flint Community Hospital

The battle to save Flint Community Hospital continues. Before Christmas I took Jonothan Morgan AM shadow health minister for the Conservatives in the Assembly to see the fantastic service provided by the hospital to residents in Flintshire. I spoke to local residents and patients at the hospital who pleaded with Jonothon to do something to stop Labour's Welsh Assembly Government policies from closing it. I am delighted Clwyd Community Health Council representatives held a meeting in Flint this week, I spoke to representatives from the Community Health Council many weeks ago. Meanwhile Labour continue to say one thing and do another, not a single Labour AM turned up to listen to local people protesting against the closure when we demonstrated in Cardiff........and of course they voted for this process in the Assembly which is resulting in yet another reorganisation and chaos for local services. Meanwhile Flintshire residents have just 10 days to get their written responses to the local health board make your voice heard....