Dear resident,
Please find below an update on the issues which I have been working on over the last month.
On a brief note, I would like to thank all of those who generously supported my appeal to help families fleeing war torn countries. There was a great response and a group left Montgomeryshire a couple of weeks ago for the Austrian/Hungarian border to deliver the donations.
As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any feedback on the newsletter or if you would like me to help with anything.
Health
Health Services in Shropshire & Mid Wales
The NHS Future Fit programme board has deferred a decision on naming a preferred site for an emergency centre and other health services. The Board, which has been tasked with assessing a range of scenarios for changing emergency, planned and urgent care within Shropshire and Mid Wales, has decided that more detailed work ought to be carried out into financial and staffing challenges before a preferred option is put out to consultation on the future of NHS services in our area.
In my view, while changes to our health services are needed, they must be the right changes for the people of Mid Wales. Whilst a detailed assessment will be carried out before any preferred option is presented, it is clear that a decision has to be made at the earliest opportunity on how to best tackle the deficit at the Shropshire & Telford Hospital Trust. There are now fears that Shropshire’s hospitals won’t be able to cope with winter pressures which is clearly a concern.
Changes in Shropshire are taking place to improve healthcare services. But any reconfiguration still provides a degree of uncertainty. The people of Mid Wales want services to be retained or strengthened and services must be changed in a way which delivers the best possible outcome for those of us in Montgomeryshire who rely on services from across the border.
I have today met a number of Montgomeryshire GPs and other health professionals to discuss healthcare provision.
I have also recently conducted my own health survey, and I hope that the results will help to strengthen the position for Mid Wales residents when I present my findings. I’ve had an outstanding response so far with over 2000 people returning their views, which shows just how important this issue is to the people of Montgomeryshire.
The survey can still be completed at www.russellgeorge.com/health
Education
Secondary School Reorganisation
Powys County Council’s Cabinet has decided to commission a further report to examine the future configuration of secondary schools in the county. The County Council’s Education Department will now assess a business case for a Welsh Medium Secondary School and the knock on effect on primary Welsh language education in the county before making any decision. As a result, we are told that any decision on the future of the county’s high schools will now be delayed until at least Spring 2016.
The proposals on the future provision of secondary education in North Powys are of huge importance for parents, pupils and communities across Powys. In my view, the way in which the County Council and its consultants, Sbectrwm, have conducted this process so far has dented confidence in the process and caused uncertainty for parents and children. There has also been some unhappiness expressed about the consultation process, and this is a matter that I intend to take up with the Children’s Commissioner in Wales. I also question the value for money of the £24,000 spent on an external consultancy.
It is now essential that all interested parties are now given ample opportunity to fully participate in the discussion on the future of our education system in Powys. In my view, every child should have the choice to be educated in a local school in the language of their choice and, over the next few months, as Powys County Council considers its business case, I will urge them to ensure that this principle is at the forefront of their minds and they consider more than just the financial viability of secondary school provision when coming to a decision.
Communities
Fair funding for Powys
I have recently spoken in a Senedd debate to call for a fair funding settlement for Powys after successive years of under-funding. For 8 years in a row, Powys County Council has received one of the worst local government funding settlements from the Welsh Government of all 22 local authorities in Wales.
It has been my view for many years that the Welsh Government should reform the formula which it uses to decide how much each council receives. The current system is fundamentally flawed as it doesn’t properly take into account the challenges of delivering vital public services over large rural areas of Mid Wales.
A recent special budget seminar held by Powys County Council confirmed that the under-funding of Powys has left the authority facing a £27 million funding shortfall over the next three years and that the Powys budget would have been £16 million higher if the county had received the Welsh average.
Over the last nine years, Powys has received a 0.5% increase in funding compared with the Welsh average of 9.8%. Cardiff has had a funding increase of almost 19% during the same period.
Local Banking
There are a number of issues to update you on regarding changes to bank services locally.
Last week, I met with Barclays’ Head of Corporate Relations, Jonathan Brenchley, alongside the Mayor of Llanidloes, Cllr. Phyl Davies and Cllr. Graham Jones, County Councillor for Blaen Hafren, to seek assurances that the Barclays branch in Llanidloes would remain open.
The branch is currently open every weekday from 10am – 4pm but from Monday 30th November, Barclays intends to reduce its opening hours to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only.
It’s disappointing that the opening hours are being reduced, especially given the fact that residents and businesses in the town have already seen the loss of the HSBC and NatWest branches. Barclays did however provide us with confirmation at the meeting that they had no intention of closing the branch.
The bank will now open from 10am to 4pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on weeks when a bank holiday falls, the branch will open on Tuesdays.
Also, NatWest have recently confirmed the times for their mobile bank service which will take place every Monday at the following locations:-
Montgomery – outside the town hall – 10.30am – 11.20am
Llanidloes – Spar Car Park – 12.30pm – 1.30pm
Llanfair Caereinion – Black Lion Car Park – 2.30pm – 3.15pm
Arts
The Arts Council of Wales will be holding a funding advice surgery in the Oriel Davies, Newtown on Friday October 23rd.
The Arts Council is hoping that it can help increase the amount of arts investment in North Powys so if you’re an artist or organisation with a project proposal or would like to book a one to one session with an adviser from the Arts Council, please contact them on 0845 8734 900 or email [email protected]
Telecoms
Broadband
Last month, I chaired a meeting at the Elephant & Castle Hotel in Newtown to discuss the progress of Superfast Cymru. Community leaders from areas which are yet to be fibre-enabled were in attendance as well as representatives from local business groups.
My postbag continues to be dominated by frustrated residents and businesses asking for more clarity from BT about when they will have access to fibre broadband.
The meeting was productive and I was encouraged to learn that the project is on track with 53% of premises in Montgomeryshire already able to receive fibre broadband, but clearly the pressure needs to be kept up.
It's my role to scrutinise the Welsh Government to ensure they meet their target of providing 96% of premises in Wales with access to fast fibre broadband by Spring of next year.
Due to its rural makeup, I'm concerned that a high proportion of the final 4% may be in Montgomeryshire and I'm keen to ensure that these premises aren't forgotten. I would like people to be told as early as possible if they are not going to benefit from the project so that the viability of other solutions such as wireless, satellite and mobile broadband can be explored.
As a result of some of the concerns expressed at the meeting about the way in which BT communicates with residents, BT has agreed to make improvements to its website and provide more detailed information for consumers on the projected availability of the upgraded service.
If you would like information on your specific circumstances, I would urge you to visit the Superfast Cymru website at www.superfast-cymru.com or you are welcome to contact me and I will make enquiries on your behalf.
Mobile
After a large spate of complaints from residents at the deterioration in mobile coverage, I have called on mobile operators to make a concerted effort to tackle mobile coverage issues in Montgomeryshire. As a result, I will be convening a meeting of mobile network operators next month, for community representatives to discuss ways in which coverage can be improved in Mid Wales.
I think it's important to bring the network operators to Mid Wales so that they can hear directly from community leaders about the day to day difficulties which residents experience when trying to make a simple phone call or send a text message. EE, Three and Vodafone have agreed to attend but I haven’t yet heard from O2.
In recent years, we have heard a lot about the launch of new 4G services and new network sharing agreements between the operators which are supposed to have improved coverage and speeds but the reality in some rural areas is that mobile coverage has actually got worse.
If you are experiencing on-going mobile coverage issues or have experienced a deterioration in service, I would like to hear from you. Please contact me by email [email protected] or phone 01686 610887 to report any problems.
Transport
Road Safety
I have also recently raised the issue of road safety with the First Minister following a Road Safety Foundation report which reported that the A44 between Llangurig and Aberystwyth; the A458 between Welshpool; and the A483 between Llandovery and Newtown are some of the most dangerous roads in Britain.
Over a number of years, I have consistently raised the issue of road safety and called on the Welsh Government to make improvements to the road network throughout Mid Wales.
Dyfed Powys' Police and Crime Commissioner, Christopher Salmon, has already taken the lead in reducing the number of motorcycling deaths on Mid Wales roads through projects which seek to improve motoring behaviour. I was therefore pleased that the First Minister has committed to improving road safety in Mid Wales through programmes which provide additional training to motorcyclists and other high-risk road-user groups; the installation of new signage; and making people more aware of some of the hazards of driving in Mid Wales.
Surgeries
I will be in the following areas in the coming weeks, so please contact me if you would like to meet with me to raise any issue. You can also call my office on 01686 610887 to book an appointment at my Newtown or Welshpool office.
Saturday 24 October – Newtown, 10.30am – 12.30pm
Saturday 31 October – Tregynon, 10.30am – 12.30pm
Friday 6 November – Morrison’s Welshpool – 5pm – 7pm
Saturday 7 November – Berriew – 10.30am – 12.30pm
Saturday 14 November – Arddleen – 10.30am – 12.30pm