March - a busy month for emergency calls.

I see once again the Welsh Conservatives and their buddies, the Liberal Democrats, are "disgusted" that in March the Welsh Ambulance service failed to reach it's all Wales target of reaching 65% life threatening emergency calls withing 8 minutes. According to the BBC Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams accused Welsh ministers of failing to address the issue calling the figures an "absolute disgrace".

I've posted in the past that I think the statistics collected are a bit worthless see 999 responce times and pointless statistics.

And we all know what the Conservative led Coalition in England want to do with the NHS - privatise it completely. See BBC House of Lords to debate NHS 'privatisation'

But back to March 2013 - when fast swathes of Wales was covered in deep snow, whilst the rest of us shivered in bitter cold winds, it was not surprising that the number of emergency calls in March where up by 2,069 compared to March 2012.  In fact March 2013 had the highest monthly number of Category A calls since the service classification changes introduced in December 2011.

Something both the BBC "Ambulance delays: Wales targets missed in every area." and the Daily Post  "Ambulance Service misses 999 response time target for most serious calls for tenth month in a row" think not important to point out.

But why let the facts get in the way of a good story or some political point scoring.

For "latest National Statistics produced by the Welsh Government were released on 24 April 2013 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority" see Ambulance services, March 2013.

Conservative dogma flies against facts

Manchester International Airport

The Welsh Conservatives; at the Welsh Assembly this Wednesday, will hold a debate on the current bid by the Welsh Government to purchase Cardiff International Airport. A private company would then run the airport on behalf of the Welsh Assembly, on what I take it would be a not for profit basis.

The Conservative following their long held dogma against anything in public ownership oppose the purchase. Conservative transport spokesman Byron Davies said to BBC News "I don't believe nationalisation is the way forward," [....]

"There is no current reason to believe their ownership of Cardiff airport will be anything but another financial calamity."

Although facts really don't hold up that argument, as most of the worlds best airports are in public ownership.

In 2012 in the World Airport Awards the top 5 where, with majority shareholder shown:

1. Incheon International Airport (Government of South Korea)
2. Hong Kong International Airport (Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region)
3. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (Dutch Ministry of Finance)
4. Beijing Capital International Airport (Chinese Government)
5. Munich Airport (Free State of Bavaria)

And the winner of the Europe Regional Award was Hamburg Airport with the City of Hamburg being the majority shareholder.

And as we have discussed before the award winning Manchester International Airport is another good example of a public/private partnership see.. The Thursday Quiz - Regional Airports.

Also as argued by Neil Clark writing for the Guardian in December 2010 'Why we should nationalise our airports', 'the failure of BAA to deal with recent snowfalls has exposed the price we pay for having our infrastructure in private ownership.'

And the private ownership of Cardiff International Airport cant be said to be a success can it? - surely if we are to encourage international business to invest in Wales we need an international airport to be proud of, something we don't have currently, and as we know public/private run airports can be successful as proved throughout the world.

Finally some airport trivia - did you know that a major shareholder in Bristol Airport with approximately 49% is Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

Can we save our high streets?

In the Daily Post today Dylan Jones Evans, Economic adviser to the Welsh Conservative Party, wrote about the ideas put forward by the Welsh Conservatives in a bid to revive our high streets.

As we know even high streets in large cities and towns are struggling, but it's even worse in smaller towns and villages - the percentage of empty shops growing year on year, as more shops close due to either going bankrupt or moving to out of town retail centers.

Then there is the hassle of finding somewhere to park, a lack of choice, poorly maintained streets, tight household budgets and busy lives.

In other words without adequate footfall high streets are doomed to fade away.

And of course you have the large out of town shopping centers, with their big brand names in large convenient stores, with free parking and easy access. All approved by politicians of all parties - who now seem to be concerned about the demise of the high street.

But let me talk about the elephant in the room, in times of austerity, when money is tight, and we all work long hours to make ends meet, our first priority is to find the best price without hassle, and these days a growing trend is....the first place we look is on the world wide web, especially with more and more of us now owning smart phones.

The ONS in their retail sales report for September says the key points on internet sales are:

• The average weekly online spend (Internet sales values non-seasonally adjusted) in September 2012 was estimated to be £507.8 million, which was an increase of 9.4 per cent when compared with September 2011.
• The amount spent online was estimated to account for 8.8 per cent of all retail spending excluding automotive fuel.
• More was spent online in the non-store retailing sector than any other sector. Spending online now accounts for 63.0 per cent of total spending in this sector up from 62.9 per cent in September 2011. In the food sector 3.1 per cent of spending was spent online, up from 2.7 per cent a year earlier. This sector has the lowest proportion of online spend in relation to all spending.

As you can read we still prefer shops for purchase of food items, though more of us are starting to buy online. And we know who dominates the food sector - that would be the supermarkets.

So being realistic any shop on the high street is going to struggle, even specialist shops, unless they can attract the footfall. And one way of doing so is to have a presence on the world wide web, offering a specialised quality service.

Therefore not sure how much tax breaks would really help, after all we would need to raise that money elsewhere - robbing paul to pay peter and all that. As for free parking in town and village centers is a good idea, but whilst paying for parking may discourage some, doubt it's the main problem.

To me the key to saving the high street is proper maintenance of them, a redesign including in many cases making them more car friendly - get rid of pedestrianised zones where they don't work.

But above all seek young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, and give them support and grants to open shops in their local area. Councils should have powers to take over empty shops and offer them to such entrepreneurs as starter units (like you have with industrial units). And the welsh government should ensure that high street shops have access to fast broadband.

We shall not see the traditional high street again, but that does not mean that it cant adapt and grow and be a place for the next generation of entrepreneurs in niche markets to find their feet and prosper.

NHS in Wales - how can we improve the service?

Let's be clear, the NHS in Wales needs to be reformed, it's costing too much money and we cant afford it. This means having to take some difficult decisions like moving some specialist care to centers of excellence, and either reducing level of care at general hospitals or closing them altogether. One reason for this is the shortage of trained nurses and doctors. And this is not a problem for Wales alone, a similar path is been followed in London see: BBC News Four north-west London A&E departments face closure.

We all need to ask this fundamental question: How do we; having regard to the need to make substantial savings in the NHS budget, provide a modern service that meets the expectations of the public and those of the founding fathers, at a time when the call on the NHS is growing annually?

This should be the benchmark - will my actions make the NHS better, otherwise what's the point?

As Prof Longley says We now desperately need a serious public debate about these issues. Most of the NHS in Wales provides a good and robust service; but key bits are giving serious cause for concern. Choices are now required on what to do about this. To sit on our hands and ignore the evidence is to put at risk the quality of care for future patients.

Which brings me to 'Opposition unites behind no confidence motion in Lesley Griffiths' (BBC News)

As you may know a report published in May by Prof Longley said changes are needed to the NHS in Wales. Welsh Government ministers used this independent report as justification for changes they are implementing in NHS provision across Wales.

Even I could have told them that, the days of general hospitals are over, we can't afford them and they don't provide good quality for money. Of course closing local hospitals is never going to be an easy task, most politicians think that supporting closure of their local hospital would be political suicide.

As the old adage says 'Don't like the message shot the messenger' which is what it seems the opposition parties are doing, with their rather silly motion of no confidence, because they say the report by Prof  Longley wasn't as independent as claimed.

But what will it achieve, say if Leslie Griffiths AM, Health Minister did resign, what then?

To return to my benchmark question, would this make the NHS better? - the difficult question of the need to reform the NHS would still be there, other than some cheap political point scoring nothing would have been achieved.

I suppose there will be a debate on the motion of no confidence, of which there is little chance of it being passed. Are the opposition parties really telling me that instead of the Welsh Assembly debating important issues that affect us all, they want to waste time so they can score some cheap political points. Do they really think the welsh public are that stupid?

And what is Plaid Cymru doing, come on Leanne Woods get a grip!! - remember being seen to side with the Welsh Conservatives will do you, nor your party any favours (just ask the previous leader Ieuan Wyn Jones).

As for the Welsh Conservatives whom according to latest opinion polls are less popular than UKIP, are these the first salvos in Shadow Health Minister, Darren Millar AM bid to become the next Welsh Conservatives leader? - after all, even though I might disagree with what he says, he does seem to be the most effective Conservative AM of recent times.

The Conservatives of Gwynedd, are no more - they are a dead parrott.

In the recent elections for Gwynedd County Council, Plaid Cymru came within a whisker of becoming the ruling party - which means that they will now need to enter into a coalition with one of the other parties, or gain support from a few independent councillors.

However, the coalition talks won't include the Welsh Conservatives, because in terms of election results they do not exist within Gwynedd.

The three brave individuals whom did stand under the Welsh Conservative banner didn't do that well, they where:

Martin Anthony Peet in the Pentir ward, gained 60 votes.
Bronwen Naish in the Criccieth ward, gained 98 votes.
Robert Edward Hawkes in the Tywyn ward, gained 247 votes.

And all of them came last in their respective wards.

So in Gwynedd where the electorate in March 2011 was 85,540 (see The Electoral Commission) the Welsh Conservatives only managed a total of 405 votes or less than 1% (0.4735% to be precise).

Of course some true 'conservatives' could be hiding under the banner of independents, but that surely would be 'political cowardice'.

Welsh council elections and some poor manifestos.

In May, the rest of Wales shall vote for the councillor of their choice. Meanwhile, we on Ynys Môn will wait patiently until next year, before we decide whom we want. Hopefully by then, together with multi member wards, we can get rid of those disgraced Councillors whom have made the island such a laughing stock.

However, we can still take an interest in what the main parties are saying to the rest of Wales in their manifestos.

I think we can all agree that in order to encourage people to participate in democracy you need transparency and accountability. Take voting for a councillor, first of all their should be a genuine choice of candidates.  Then that choice should be based on a clear understanding - what a councillor says will be their priorities, what their aims and aspirations are, what their fundamental beliefs are.

This is why a manifesto is important, it is where candidates can spell out what they stand for, be that a national or local manifesto.

If we look at the Welsh Conservative Manifesto 2012 we have things like:

We are committed to abolishing business rates for small businesses. This will allow firms to expand and hire new staff,stimulating local economies. To further boost the economy, Welsh Conservatives are committed to the introduction of enterprise zones in Wales, to offering tailored support for the unemployed and to freezing Severn Bridge tolls.

Now do remember this is a manifesto for local Council elections, and whilst the Welsh Conservatives maybe committed (Thesaurus - bound or obligated, as under a pledge to a particular cause, action, or attitude; "committed church members"; "a committed Marxist") to do many things, what it does lack is details on how it hopes to achieve them. Take the commitment to freeze Severn Bridge tolls, surely that's a matter for the UK Government, unless they wish to have responsibility devolved to the Welsh Assembly. If so why not spell it out, and even then, what has that to do with election of councillors, especially to ratepayers in North Wales?

At least their coalition partners at Westminster, the Liberal Democrats, can in their Manifesto make claims (if disputed) about actions and results of Councils i.e Wrexham and Cardiff, where they have been the ruling party.

For me Plaid Cymru's  Manifesto is the most comprehensive.

As an example their manifesto says: The transport system in Wales is the main source of air pollution. Local councils have an important role to play in ensuring we have a transport system in Wales which meets our economic and social needs but also reduces our carbon emissions. Plaid Cymru-run councils will build on Plaid Cymru’s successes as part of the previous Welsh Government in ensuring that more money is spent on public transport than on road-building. In Cardiff, Plaid Cymru has more than doubled spending on cycle infrastructure, created new park and ride schemes and a bike hire scheme.

A manifesto for local council elections that actually mentions local councils - surely not?

As for Labour, the least said the better. According to BBC News: Labour is not publishing a national manifesto, saying it will not offer voters "blanket promises" - yes go figure.

See also:
Welsh Ramblings - Not fit for purpose
Insideout Swansea - Back on the stump.

Vat rise bad news for small businesses.

In August 2009, George Osborne, the then shadow chancellor, appearing on the BBC Radio 4 Today program said "There have been absolutely no internal discussions, there are no secret plans for an increase in the VAT rate,"

Although it wasn’t a surprise to most, that when in power that is exactly what they did, by raising VAT to 20% in January, 2011.

A poll by Premierline Direct in January, revealed that a majority of small and medium sized businesses were concerned about the impact of the VAT rise. The poll showed that, overall, 90 per cent of those running small businesses are worried about the effects of the rise.

The Conservative Party, like to portray themselves as the party of the shopkeeper and defender of small businesses. For instance in the Welsh Conservative manifesto they promise to reduce the tax burden of small business, by abolishing the need for many to pay business rates.

A report in todays Sunday Times; headlined "Vat rise is crushing small businesses", by their economics correspondent, Roberts Watts says “Collapse by small business have risen 20% so far this year, in part because of the coalition’s increase in VAT, insolvency experts have said”.

“A tougher stance by the taxman has also contributed to the rise in failures, which is expected to gather pace as the year progresses”.

As the Conservatives point out, SME’s are vital to the economy, and growth in this sector brought about by an ‘entrepreneurial boom’ was seen as essential if the gamble made by George Osborne, the Chancellor; that the jobs lost in the public sector would be replaced by new jobs in the private sector, was to pay dividends.

Some would point out that Labour also increased the rate of VAT to 17.5% when previously in power.

However, what no political party can deny is that in times of austerity, if you cut taxes in one part of the economy you will need to rise taxes elsewhere.

And for the Conservatives to claim that they are the only political party that would help small business doesn’t quite ring true anymore.

Will Plaid Cymru sign a pledge on tuition fees?

The Welsh Conservatives we are told wrote their manifesto with coalition in mind. It lays down policies that they won’t or can’t change in any subsequent negotiation for a possible coalition government.

One such issue I suspect is student tuition fees, it’s not surprising that the Conservatives are promoting a similar policy to the one they are implementing in England.

Their welsh policy is:

"Implement a fair and sustainable fees system for Higher Education in Wales. Universities will be permitted to raise fees to a maximum of £9,000 subject to WAG approval.

Establish a hardship fund, to help the most disadvantaged students. Bursaries will be linked to basic entrepreneurship training to cultivate an enterprising mind–set in our students."

Plaid Cymru, a possible coalition partner to the Conservatives after May 5, have a very different policy on student tuition and is as follows:

"A Plaid Government will meet the extra cost of top-up fees for Welsh domiciled students, whether they study in Wales or elsewhere within the UK. We will not support any further increases in tuition fees for our higher education students and we will seek the abolition of tuition fees as and when public finances allow."

The question is a familiar one that faced Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats when they joined the Conservative led coalition UK government.

It will be interesting to see, should the results make a rainbow coalition government possible in Wales, whether this is one of the policies that Plaid Cymru are also willing to abandon?