'Disappointment with the Council’s funding settlement'

MS for North Wales

With the Senedd in recess, I attended a meeting of MSs and MPs representing Flintshire with Flintshire County Council’s elected Members to discuss their disappointment with the Council’s funding settlement from the Welsh Government for the coming financial year and the implications of this. Under the Welsh Government’s Provisional Local Government Settlement 2024-25, Flintshire will once again receive one of the lowest increases in Wales, 20th out of 22, with only Conwy and Gwynedd to receive a lower settlement.

Telecare is a monitoring service providing remote support to older, disabled and vulnerable people in their own homes.

I met the Programme Manager for the Telecare Programme for Wales to discuss the rollout of digital landlines, the need to protect Telecare users and vulnerable customers, and issues that need to be overcome in order to successfully migrate people and services across to a safe, secure digital solution.

I also met with ‘End Youth Homelessness Cymru (EYHC)’ to discuss their work. EYHC is a coalition working towards the goal of ending youth homelessness in Wales by 2027, founded in 2017 off the back of a campaign to ensure 16-17-year-olds were not placed in unsupported and temporary accommodation, such as B&Bs, often alongside adults with substance use issues or who had been in contact with the criminal justice system.

Research shows that 48% of people who experience homelessness in their lifetime have their first experience under the age of 21, and that neurodiverse young people, including those with Autism and ADHD, have a greater risk of homelessness in a system where people don’t recognise their support needs and don’t fully value their potential skills and abilities. If we want to prevent homelessness in Wales, it is evident that we must start by preventing youth homelessness.

As Chair of the Senedd Cross-Party Group on Fuel Poverty and Energy Efficiency, I met with the Group’s Secretary, who is also Head of Wales for National Energy Action (NEA), and with NEA’s Policy & Campaigns Officer (Wales). The Group’s next meeting on 22nd February will include a session on the new Warm Homes Programme with the Minister for Social Justice and a discussion with Calor on low carbon heating solutions in rural areas.

The latest labour market statistics for Wales show that employment fell to 71.1%, compared with a 75% UK average. For nearly a quarter of a century, successive Labour Welsh Governments have failed to use the levers in their control to close Wales’ prosperity gap.

For my help, email Mark.Isherwood@senedd.wales or call 0300 200 7219.