Freedom Central » Labour

Trouble at home

Freedom Central — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:54:17 +0000

BBC Wales highlights a growing row in the backyard of First Minister, Carwyn Jones, this morning. They say that Labour run Bridgend Council’s attempt to pay men and women fairly for doing the same type of jobs means that some staff face losing up to half their basic pay.

This is happening in local authorities across Wales of course where job evaluations are underway, but Unison leaders say Bridgend council’s approach is particularly brutal:

More than 5,500 staff at Bridgend council are affected by job evaluation with consultation on the plans continuing.

Unison leaders told the BBC’s Politics Show Wales that one teaching assistant currently paid a basic salary of just under £23,000 a year could expect to be paid just over £11,000.

A manager on about £33,500 a year would go down to just over £26,000, while a more junior officer’s basic pay would fall from around £25,500 to just under £18,000.

Steve Belcher, Unison regional organiser, said he agreed with the principle of job evaluation to ensure equal pay but there needed to be “meaningful consultation”.

He said councils must treat the issue “with the seriousness it deserves”.

“They [Bridgend council] are not offering to protect those who are at detriment,” he said.

“They’re not offering any back pay and perhaps worst of all, they’re proposing to remove all of the terms and conditions such as unsocial hours, weekend working and things like that.”

Bridgend council estimates most staff will see their pay rise or stay the same but union leaders say the rises are sometimes as little as a few pounds a year.

The record of Labour-run Councils on this issue across Wales is particularly poor with Rhondda Cynon Taf in particular effectively sacking all its staff and reemploying them on new terms and conditions so as to force through changes. No wonder the First Minister is uneasy at what his Labour colleagues are up to in his own area.

Labour’s absymal local government record

Peter Black — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:02:19 +0000

How Labour behave when they are in power is a useful indicator as to what their values really are. It is quite shcoking therefore to read in this morning’s Western Mail what is going on in Bridgend.

They say that council workers are to be balloted for industrial action at a local authority where their union claims some are facing pay cuts of up to £10,000 a year:

The proposals by Labour-controlled Bridgend council, which follow a job evaluation exercise, have horrified many of the workers affected. A union meeting which officials expected around 200 to attend ended up overflowing on to Bridgend Rugby Club’s Brewery Field stadium, with 600 members present.

Steve Belcher, regional organiser of Unison, said: “Every local authority is going through a job evaluation exercise by law, but these are the worst proposals I have seen anywhere.

“We are aware of teaching assistants who have been told they will have their salary cut from around £22,000 to £12,000. People are obviously very unhappy and don’t know how they would be able to make ends meet.”

Mr Belcher said the council had had 14 years to prepare for the implications of job evaluation.

In Rhondda Cynon Taf the Labour-run Council effectively sacked and re-employed their workers on new contracts after failing to reach a negotiated settlement. In Neath Port Talbot employees have had to take a pay cut to help the Labour run Council balance their books.

So much for standing up for the working man and woman.

Who pays the bills?

Freedom Central — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 04:31:22 +0000

The BBC report that Electoral Commission has published a summary of donations for the second quarter of 2011, a period that covers the Welsh General Election.

However, there does not appear to be a specific report on the Electoral Commission site as yet with regards to that election so it is difficult to identify details of expenditure by and donations to Welsh Parties. This is possibly because the deadline for an expenditure return exceeding £250,000 in that election has not yet passed.

The BBC say that at a UK level donations given to the Conservatives in the three months to the end of June exceeded those for Labour by almost £1m. The Tories were given £4.2m over the most recent quarterly disclosure period while Labour received £3.22m. The Lib Dems were given £972,344 as overall donations to political parties totalled £8.6m:

Notable donations to the Conservatives over the period included £107,000 from Rainham Steel and £265,000 from Focus on Scotland – an “unincorporated association” which is not obliged to reveal the the names of donors using the vehicle to give money.

Labour’s four largest donations all came from trade unions, headed by Unite which gave £765,628.

The Liberal Democrats received £250,000 from Brompton Capital and £200,000 from C&C Alpha Group – both venture capital firms.

Among other parties, the SNP received £126,697, the UK Independence Party £66,552 and the Green Party of England and Wales £16,940.

Welsh Government to remain highly centralised and opaque

Peter Black — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 07:48:58 +0000

The Western Mail reports that ethe Welsh Government has indicated it has no plans to follow the UK Government in releasing more data on schools and hospitals.

They point out that David Cameron has indicated that the UK Government will publish data on clinical outcomes and prescribing for GPs practices, as well as NHS hospital complaints by the year’s end. He also plans to bring together school spending data, school performance and Ofsted judgements in a parent- friendly portal, which will be searchable by postcode.

The intention is that the data will help people find the right doctor for their needs or the best teacher for their child.

However, a Welsh Government spokesman said: “For the past 10 years, we have made available the minutes of Cabinet meetings and Cabinet sub-committees as well as publishing all decisions taken by ministers.”

How they think that this is comparable is difficult to fathom. Welsh Labour in Government have already shown themselves to be centralising and controlling, now they have confirmed their reputation as secretive and opaque as well.

Labour’s Lagging government

Kirsty Williams — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 04:07:59 +0000

We are six weeks from the elections and the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Government are getting on with the job they were elected to do – governing and legislating. The Scottish Government is demanding more fiscal powers and they are rocking the constitutional boat. Whether you agree with the SNP’s policies or not, they are doing something. The story in Wales is different.

The first major government announcement in Wales came on Tuesday when the First Minister rose to his feet to outline his Welsh equivalent of the Queen’s Speech. This should have been a momentous occasion since the people of Wales gave us the thumbs up to more law-making powers in the March referendum, but as we were sat there in the Chamber it went off like a damp squib.

There was no mention of how they were going to boost the economy or get to grips with the enormous amount of money wasted in the Welsh NHS. There was no ambition for our country in his legislative priorities. What we heard instead were his priorities for cycle paths and allotment spaces. While I fully agree with those intentions, there are certainly more pressing issues.

Four years ago, the former Labour First Minister rose to his feet to give his legislative priorities. They were numerous, substantial and detailed pieces of legislation concerning child poverty, environmental protection, education, home care and the Welsh language.

At the time, Rhodri Morgan was leading a minority Labour administration, soon to be superseded by the One Wales coalition government with Plaid Cymru. This was five weeks after the election – a very busy period.

Back to 2011, six weeks after the election and it has taken this Labour Government all this time to come up with these few priorities. The Welsh Assembly Government or WAG as it was previously known, is now called the Welsh Government.

Some have suggested that it should be called the Labour Assembly Government or rather more crudely LAG. It has been said that Welsh Labour only want to be in government for the sake of being in government and not make any real difference in government. The events (or lack of) of the past five weeks have proved that Welsh Labour is lagging behind.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Members continue to put pressure on the Labour Government to come up with legislation and policies to get to grips with our struggling economy, failing NHS and underperforming education system.

Labour forms minority government

Kirsty Williams — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:12:43 +0000

Labour are the largest party and with half the seats in the Assembly, I expected Carwyn Jones to form an administration. I have already spoken to Carwyn and offered my congratulations.

The stability in government that Carwyn Jones seeks will only be possible if parties work together, put aside their differences and seek to find consensus, and that means give and take from all parties.

The priority of the Welsh Liberal Democrats now will be to work to advance the policies that we have fought this election on. It is clear that Wales is suffering from a weak economy and serious failings in our schools and NHS. Where Labour proposes serious answers to these problems, they will have our support.

It is also clear to me that the people of Wales will not be well served without the opposition parties actively holding the government to account and scrutinising its decisions. So we will judge each issue on its merits, afraid neither to support the government nor to oppose it, where we judge that to be in the best interests of the people of Wales.

As the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru enter a period of introspection, the Welsh Liberal Democrats will be the strong, responsible voice of constructive opposition that Wales needs.

WASTE WATCHERS – Day 6

Freedom Central — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 11:14:59 +0000

In August 2010, it was revealed that the Labour-Plaid government had spent more that £400,000 in a year on external PR companies while emplyoing 25 full-time PR and communications staff. A Freedom of Information request revealed the Labour-Plaid government used external PR firms from April 2009 to March 2010.

Peter Black, Welsh Liberal Democrat South Wales West Candidate said:

“With 25 in-house press officers and public relations staff, you’d hope that the Labour-Plaid government wouldn’t have to pay large amounts of money to external consultants.

“We have been warning the Labour-Plaid government for a long time that they need to cut back on the amount of money they spend on external consultants and rely on in-house experience to save money.

“During the Welsh General Election campaign, the Welsh Liberal Democrats will expose the waste and inefficiency of the Labour-Plaid government over the past four years. When every family, charity and business is having to make every pound stretch that little bit further, Wales needs a government that does the same.

“Labour and Plaid Cymru have made waste, incompetence and inefficiency into an art form. “

Waste Watchers – Day 2

Freedom Central — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:22:11 +0000

In 2009, the Welsh Liberal Democrats revealed that between 2006 – 2009, the Labour-Plaid government ‘lost’ 31 laptops, 10 blackberry devices and six mobile phone causing concern about wasting tax payers money and data protection issues.

The cost of replacing the 31 laptops was approximately £22,800, the 10 BlackBerries £2,500 and the six mobile phones £720, all at the expense of the Welsh tax-payer. This is just another example of waste in the Labour-Plaid government.

Peter Black commented:

“In the last Assembly term, the Welsh Liberal Democrats had a very strong record of holding the Labour-Plaid government to account on wasteful spending. We want to root out waste and inefficiency in government so that we have a lean and efficient government to deliver our policies on the economy, health and education.”

WASTE WATCHERS – Day 1

Freedom Central — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 04:22:53 +0000

The Welsh Liberal Democrats will expose an example of the waste and inefficiency of Labour and Plaid Cymru in government on each day of the Welsh general election campaign.

Kirsty Williams struck a blow for more efficient government when she exposed the waste and inefficiency in International Business Wales (IBW). Last July, it was revealed that civil servants promoting Welsh business abroad charged nearly £750,000 to 35 assembly government credit cards on first class flights, lavish hotels and swanky meals in posh restaurants all over the world.

Following the revelation of the scandal by the Welsh Liberal Democrats, the Labour-Plaid Government was forced to conduct a review to ensure the civil service provided value for money. Measures taken, including relocating IBW’s New York office from the expensive Chrysler building to the more modestly priced British Consulate, eventually saved more than £500,000 in its expenditure last year.

Kirsty said:

“Labour bankrupted the UK and that is making life tough for everyone. When every family, charity and business is having to make every pound stretch that little bit further, Wales needs a government that does the same. Instead, we have had a Labour-Plaid administration that has turned waste and incompetence into an art form.

“That great Welsh figure, Nye Bevan, once talked about the ‘language of priorities’. During this campaign we will be exposing Labour and Plaid Cymru’s priorities in government and challenging them to justify their wasteful spending.

“We will be setting out how the Welsh Liberal Democrats would ensure that Wales can make better use of our money. The Welsh Liberal Democrats will root out government waste so that expensive schemes aren’t dragging our economy down and the money we do spend makes a real difference to families.

“This isn’t just talk. Welsh Liberal Democrats have already saved the Welsh taxpayer money by forcing the government to take action on the massive amount of waste we exposed in International Business Wales. Promoting inward investment to Wales is important but Labour and Plaid allowed officials to live it up, with a grossly extravagant lifestyle funded with our hard earned money.”

Plaid Cymru and illiteracy

Peter Black — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:53:16 +0000

Plaid Cymru have another attempt this morning at distancing themselves from their own and Labour’s appalling record on education in Wales since 2007 when they launch a new policy to tackle illiteracy.

They have set themselves another long term target that will prove difficult to hold them to account on due to the fact that it spans more than one Assembly term, to halve the illiteracy rate for children leaving primary school by 2015 and eradicating it by 2020. Who can forget the aim of halving child poverty or eradicating fuel poverty over a long period, neither of which were achieved?

Equally as important though, this is Plaid Cymru trying to hide their culpability for the mess the education system has got into by hiding behind the launch of yet more new initiatives. The many dedicated teachers, heads and support staff working tirelessly to improve the life opportunities of young people, have been let down by the Labour Plaid Cymru One Wales Government.

The PISA report showed that outcomes in the Welsh education system are falling further behind England, Scotland and Norther Ireland, the Chief Inspector’s report painted a damning picture of one third of schools not delivering an adequate education for their pupils and the funding gap between England and Wales has increased from £527 t0 £604 per pupil.

In the light of all this it is ironic that the main response of NASUWT Wales organiser Rex Phillips is that Plaid’s plan has to be fully funded:

He said: “It’s a laudable aspiration but it has to be backed up by funding. They have to have practical proposals about how these aspirations and aims are going to be realised. What you can’t do is expect the teaching profession to deliver on that unless they invest in education.”

It underlines the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ position that if we are to put right what is going wrong in Welsh education then we need targeted investment. It is a major failing of Labour and Plaid Cymru that they have failed to grasp and action this over the past four years. How ironic that they are rediscovering their enthusiasm for education now an election is looming.