I want to write to Carolyn Thomas
Carolyn Thomas: ...by local authorities, which is another issue. Reserves cannot be used for ongoing revenue funding, because, once they are gone, that is it, and, as Mike earlier said, part of the reserves are the schools' budgets. It's vital some reserves are held should there be storm damage to council-maintained infrastructure. We've seen in recent years landslides and subsidence causing major damage...
Carolyn Thomas: ...from six depots to one, rationalising staff by nearly 40 per cent, year after year salami slicing departments by 30 per cent. When we could not cut vital services, such as social healthcare and education, any more we took to street scene then and anything deemed non-statutory. And now we're really concerned about leisure services, as we've been discussing at committee. Ten years ago,...
Carolyn Thomas: ...that they are the most likely group to be inactive, and this can cause serious health consequences. It's a real concern that, according to Swim Wales, just 52 per cent of pupils moving to high school are able to swim. Swimming is an essential life skill that should be taught through schools as it will capture every child and may be something that families can no longer afford when hit with...
Carolyn Thomas: ...here.' We talk about industry jobs, but there are jobs there for people working in public services and health and dentistry, nurses—all these that are growing. So I'd like you to work with the education Minister and the economy Minister to promote these fantastic jobs that are being created in north Wales. Thank you.
Carolyn Thomas: ...are being made, and more nurse and allied professional training places are being offered than ever before, with new courses at Glyndŵr, in north-east Wales, as well as Bangor, and a new medical school being developed as well as a dental academy. More community and reablement beds are being offered in Wales, such as at Marleyfield in Buckley, thanks to the ICF and housing funding, and I...
Carolyn Thomas: ...the start of austerity and cuts to public services, and will get worse under this UK Tory Government and their cost-of-living crisis. We can't look at the NHS in isolation. Adequate housing, food, education and fair work all contribute to good physical and mental health. Year after year, I've seen preventative services be squeezed and cut as councils look at anything non-statutory....
Carolyn Thomas: ...excellence at Coleg Llandrillo's Rhyl campus is further evidence of the Welsh Government's commitment to the renewable energy sector. The centre there will become a hub for delivering world-class education and training in engineering, with the latest specialised equipment, and will be a new institute for renewable energy technology, in partnership with RWE Renewables. A main feature of...
Carolyn Thomas: ...fair access to swimming pools and sports clubs. Access to medical appointments is one of the biggest concerns for residents. But running bus transport is expensive. It needs to integrate with school transport to help subsidise the journeys for the rest of the day, and I'm aware that the Learner Travel Measure (Wales) 2008 is being reviewed, but we need to understand the cost and resource...
Carolyn Thomas: ...can help with sustainability and well-being. Community halls, pubs, playing fields and other areas should be protected for people and nature, such as Penrhos nature reserve in Anglesey or the old school field in Llanfynydd in Flintshire, which has just had an asset transfer. Community energy, community foods and community houses are all great initiatives that need further encouragement and...
Carolyn Thomas: ...the Welsh Government for their continued recognition of the highly skilled workforce that we have in north Wales and for the investments being made in the health sector, including the medical school in Bangor. Medical radioisotopes can now be created by particle reactors, as was mentioned earlier, rather than nuclear reactors, and have been for some time in other countries. The latest and...
Carolyn Thomas: Like many adverse childhood experiences, poverty impacts a young person in many ways, from their health and cognitive development to social and educational outcomes. The consequences of this can stay with a person all their lives. That's why it's so unforgivable that most vulnerable families have had to bear the brunt of Tory austerity measures over the last 12 years. The introduction of...
Carolyn Thomas: ...of maybe a highway resurfacing contract through local authorities and also possibly active travel contracts, and then that could be used for medical appointments and access to free swimming through schools, where I know transport has been raised as an issue—accessing swimming. Thank you.
Carolyn Thomas: ...send everyone to work from home and keep front-line services running. We were stunned and it was frightening for our workforce. Initially, I spent time collecting PPE of any type from playgroups, schools, businesses and volunteers who had been printing 3D face masks. Flintshire care homes and domiciliary care staff were desperate for any form of PPE. Orders they'd placed for PPE were being...
Carolyn Thomas: .... Access to sports needs to be made available within easy reach of our communities, close to where people live. It's so important. And as the Deputy Minister explained during the evidence session, school facilities can bring huge benefits to the local community, ensuring all local residents can enjoy state-of-the-art sporting facilities where schools have received funding from Welsh...
Carolyn Thomas: Minister, on top of hearing that the modest additional funding for social care and schools will not cover the funding gap, capital funding continues to be cut as well, and there's no consequential for the high speed 2 line for our railway infrastructure, which is concerning. The UK Government also had an opportunity to invest in public services, to grow the economy that way, by investing in...
Carolyn Thomas: Trefnydd, I recently visited the new health education innovation centre at Wrexham Glyndŵr University, where they have now expanded to offer nursing and allied health degrees. This opens up a world of opportunities for students to become nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists, speech therapists—it's fantastic, the offer now—and also for existing health employees to retrain and reskill with...
Carolyn Thomas: ...aware of it, preferring to draw down more public funding to install their network. That needs investigating. With more reliance on online communication for health, employment, business grants and education, we need more decent broadband connectivity for people. And I agree that it should be recognised as an essential service. Thank you.
Carolyn Thomas: —he has said to me that the Welsh Government, though, does provide PDG funding, so they do use that money to enable those who are on free school meals to visit education centres at the moment. So, if the Minister could let me know if that funding is being cut, because it is essential. As I said, schools do not have the resources. Now is not the time for this. The UK Government, the Tory...
Carolyn Thomas: ...independence, bonding with others in a day at camp or an outdoor activity are ones you do remember, and it's great for physical and mental health and well-being. I don't remember going to one with school, but I went with the Brownies and Sunday school, and I remember reading to children who were missing their parents, and I know that that is an issue that has been brought up—being away...
Carolyn Thomas: .... I am told that people in the public sector are now presenting as needing a roof over their heads, as wages have not risen with the Tory cost-of-living crisis. And the Prime Minister needs to be educated that you cannot grow the private sector while cutting the public sector under austerity too. The private sector cannot step in, as there is a huge workforce and skills shortage there too...
