Freedom Central » Eleanor Burnham

WASTE WATCHERS – Day 13

Freedom Central — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 13:16:21 +0000

Last February, it was revealed by the Welsh Liberal Democrats that health bosses in North Wales had been taking advantage of a £1.1m subsidy for leased cars to run top of the range Jaguars, sporty Audis and BMWs. The Betsi Cadwaladr health board pays out £2m-a-year for a car leasing contract.

Some £940,000 of that is recouped from payments from staff who choose to top up the subsidy to run a higher specification vehicle than standard.

The list of leased vehicles, published under the Freedom of Information Act, contained a £24,000 Alfa Romeo costing £5,311-a-year; a £36,000 Audi costing £8,188-a-year; BMW 3-series Sport at £7,098-a-year; and four Jaguars, including an XF S-Luxury worth £39,000 and leased at £8,748-a-year.

Welsh Liberal Democrat North Wales Regional Candidate Eleanor Burnham said:

“At a time when Welsh businesses and the people of Wales have to tighten their belts, the North Wales health board should be making savings is areas like this and concentrate spending on front line and essential services.

“I understand that LHB nurses and care workers need to travel around the area visiting patients and the majority of cars used, like Ford Fiestas, reflect this. However, I question whether the LHB needs to use luxurious cars like an Audi Q5 Quattro, BMW 3 series sport or a Jaguar XF Luxury.

“While the cost of the long list of these luxury cars is part borne by the employee, if there is no work related requirement to lease a car of this prestige, why should the people of North Wales subsidise this extravagance?

“The staff who work with the public do an incredible job under difficult circumstances however the failing of the management and leadership should not be rewarded with luxury car leases like this.

“The days of spend, spend, spend are over and now we are entering a time where efficiency and value for money should be the mantra.”

Tourism can drive economic recovery for all Wales

Freedom Central — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 05:18:59 +0000

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have marked the start of Wales Tourism Week by announcing their commitment to boost jobs in the tourism sector. The sector already supports 172,000 jobs across Wales. However, the Welsh Government often fails to understand the vital economic role tourism plays in driving growth. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have pledged to put tourism at the centre of their economic strategy in the forthcoming elections.

The Welsh Liberal Democrat plan for creating jobs in tourism includes:

• Prioritising the marketing of Wales as a tourist destination to new overseas markets rather than other parts of the UK, in order to develop a more sustainable tourist base.
• Making St David’s Day a public holiday and global celebration of Wales, raising global awareness and encouraging people to visit for the day and to buy Welsh products.
• Developing a major events calendar that is specifically tasked with bringing events to Wales that are broadcast to new markets, such as the Tour de France and the American NFL.
• Better promoting of off-season activities and assisting in creating a wider range of winter activities across Wales in order to reduce seasonal variations in tourism.
• Making rural tourism a priority by investing in broadband and wi-fi and ensuring that rural destinations and transport are coherently advertised.
• Making Tourism part of the economy portfolio rather than the responsibility of the Heritage Minister as is currently the case.

Commenting, Jenny Randerson AM, Shadow Minister for the Economy, said:

“Tourism brings in over £6 billion to Wales every year – it is a central part of the Welsh economy but with the right support could grow further and help fuel a sustainable economic recovery”

“Tourism is an essential part of the Welsh economy and should be treated as such. We will complement our plan by putting the Minister for the Economy back in charge of driving tourism forward.

Eleanor Burnham, Shadow Heritage Minister added

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats have a coherent plan to boost tourism and create jobs by promoting Wales in new areas, making St David’s Day a public holiday and developing a proper strategy to attract major events like the Tour de France.”

“Many rural areas are reliant on tourism for their income. Everywhere in Wales can share in the economic recovery”

AM fears for reputation of equality at Assembly

Freedom Central — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 11:17:31 +0000

The Wales on Sunday reports on Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member, Eleanor Burnham’s fear that the Welsh National Assembly could lose its reputation as a beacon of workplace sexual equality.

In a speech to a Hansard Society seminar last week, Eleanor spoke openly about her sense of rejection by Liberal Democrats in the North Wales region after she was relegated from first to second on the party list in an all-member ballot. She has been replaced by Councillor Aled Roberts, the leader of Wrexham Council and as a result is unlikely to hold her seat next May:

Ms Burnham said that all her hard work had counted for “nothing”.

A member of the audience, who didn’t want to be named, said: “It was obvious how upset she was – it was a very emotional speech. I don’t know Eleanor very well, but I felt quite sorry for her and wanted to give her a big hug.”

Another person who heard the speech said: “It was obvious that she felt very badly let down.”

Ms Burnham, speaking on the panel alongside Labour’s Christine Chapman and Plaid’s Helen Mary Jones, told Wales on Sunday: “We were all worried by the implications of a report saying the proportion of women AMs is likely to go down to 30% after May’s election.

“Before 2007 the Assembly was equally balanced, with 30 men and 30 women, but it’s below that now.

AMs join fight against homophobia with Liberal Youth Wales

Newswire — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 04:27:09 +0000

Liberal Youth Wales today claimed that their campaign for anti homophobic bullying guidance has taken a huge step forward after three Liberal Democrat Assembly Members announced their full support for the campaign.

Jenny Randerson, Veronica German and Eleanor Burnham have publicly announced their support for the campaign. Campaigners are asking Education Minister, Leighton Andrews to introduce specific guidance for schools on how to deal with homophobic bullying.

Sian Cliff, Communications Officer for Liberal Youth Wales, has welcomed the news. “We’re ecstatic that our Assembly Members are supporting us. We hope that they will be able to put pressure on the Labour-Plaid coalition to finally take action. They have ignored the issue for long enough. We also extend a welcome to any other AMs from all parties who wish to support the campaign.”

Oliver Townsend, Campaigns Officer for the organisation, also added “This is great news. It is clear that our young members are actually driving Welsh Liberal Democrat campaigns and policy. But gaining the support of Liberal Democrat AMs is just the first step. We hope AMs from other parties will step forward and help end the deafening silence on this issue.”

The petition can be signed here.

Faenol Festival funding criticised

Freedom Central — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:27:36 +0000

A Welsh Liberal Democrat Assemb;y Member has raised questions after a major music festival was given nearly £250,000 of assembly government money only days after other cultural organisations lost public funding.

The Faenol Festival in Bangor, Gwynedd, which is organised by opera star Bryn Terfel, will receive the money over the next three years. It comes after the Arts Council of Wales (ACW) cut grants to several arts organisations.

The fairness of the funding has been questioned by some assembly members. But the assembly government insisted the festival was one of a number of events being supported that would promote culture, stimulate business growth, and enhance communities.

The funding decision was made by Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones after the Faenol Festival was cancelled last year due to financial problems.

North Wales Liberal Democrat AM Eleanor Burnham said there were “many interesting questions” to ask about it.

She said: “There are several doubts because the process has been long winded for those other groups, many of whom have been rejected through the Arts Council process.

“Then suddenly, interestingly and overnight, there is some more money, a considerable amount of money, found from another pot for a separate organisation.”

She added that the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, of which she is an honorary president, “could have really relished” a similar funding award to that received by the Faenol Festival.

Yesterday’s Welsh Liberal Democrat Debate on Ieuan Air

Freedom Central — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:50:30 +0000

The secret subsidy

Newswire — Mon, 10 May 2010 08:50:13 +0000

This morning’s Western Mail reveals that the Labour-Plaid Cymru Welsh Government has refused to reveal how much public money is being used to restart flights between North and South Wales today.

They say that the subsidy for new operator Manx2 is a commercial secret, even though the sum paid to the previous operator was made public. It seems that the subsidy paid will depend on how much of Manx2’s costs are covered from ticket revenue.
Thus if travellers are deterred from booking because of the possibility of volcanic ash disrupting aviation over the months ahead, taxpayers could effectively end up paying for empty seats on the flights.

The Western Mail reveals other commercial contracts where the amount of subsidy has been revealed by the Welsh Government and argue that the new air service should not be exempt from such transparency. They point out that officials have disclosed the subsidy for other transport services, including annual payments of £1.7m for the “Gerallt Gymro” rail service between Holyhead and Cardiff and £720,000 for TrawsCambria long-distance buses. They also disclosed the subsidy for Highland Airways – £800,000 per year – to operate North-South flights, and its £400,000 annual payments to Anglesey council for operating the civilian air terminal at Valley.

North Wales Liberal Democrat AM, Eleanor Burnham agrees with the thrust of the Western Mail’s argument. She said: “Now we’re in a time of absolute austerity, we need to know we’re getting value for money. Why don’t they spend the money on transport which everybody can benefit from instead of the few in Anglesey and the north of Gwynedd?”

She described the Assembly Government’s explanation for keeping the subsidy secret as “codswallop”. “It’s pathetic. We pride ourselves on trying to be open and transparent but here we have a closed and secret deal, which gives you cause for concern that it’s costing more than they want you to know.”

She suspected Manx2 would receive a higher subsidy per month than Highland Airways received, and questioned the wisdom of starting a new air contract before the threat of volcanic ash disruption had passed.

Welsh Liberal Democrat debate on Child Poverty

Freedom Central — Sun, 09 May 2010 12:25:29 +0000

From the Plenary session on Wednesday 5th May.

Labour and Plaid Ministers accused of abusing their position

Newswire — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 07:52:36 +0000

The BBC are leading this morning on claims by the opposition parties that two assembly government ministers are abusing their position by announcing £17.5m in tourism grants during the general election campaign.

The money will fund schemes in Swansea Bay, Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd and will include three new visitor centres, including one at Aberdaron on the Llŷn Peninsula and new facilities at Dale, Porthgain and Coppett Hall in Pembrokeshire.

Ministers said the centres will provide top-class, environmentally friendly facilities for people to enjoy the coast by foot or water and experience water sports.

However, the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Tories have accused the Plaid Cymru and Labour ministers of using their roles in the assembly government to try and influence voters in the run-up to the May 6 election.

Welsh Liberal Democrat heritage spokeswoman Eleanor Burnham said: “While this money for coastal tourism projects is welcomed, the timing of this announcement is blatant electioneering from the Labour-Plaid government.

“Why have they waited until the election to announce this money? People will see straight though this stunt and the Labour and Plaid Cymru government should have more respect for the people of Wales.

“Their votes cannot be bought by electioneering stunts like this.”

Welsh speakers should have the right to be tried before bilingual juries

Newswire — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:42:42 +0000

The BBC report that the UK government has decided against selecting bilingual juries in certain cases on the basis it would outweigh the principle of random selection.

The decision follows a consultation looking at, for example, trials where large amounts of evidence are in Welsh.

It has been met with dismay by politicians who believed it could play a part in an increase in bilingualism in Wales.

Eleanor Burnham, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Heritage Minister said:

“This a clear set-back for the promotion of the Welsh language as one of the official languages of Wales. People should have the right to be tried in front of bilingual juries.

“The 1993 Welsh Language Act makes clear reference to Welsh and English having equal treatment when administrating justice in Wales. If we are to have a truly bilingual nation, the Welsh language should be treated on an equal basis in all aspects of Welsh life.”