'I am very pleased that telecoms providers have reacted to the concerns raised by me and many constituents'

Mp for Clwyd South

This month, it was an honour to open the new exhibition at the Corwen Museum on Easter Saturday. The exhibition is about the slate mines in Glyndyfrdwy and has been created in conjunction with the Glyndyfrdwy Women’s Institute, the community, and with resources from the National Museum of Wales, the National Slate Museum and The Home Front Museum in Llandudno. As part of this year’s project, Corwen Museum is promoting Glyndyfrdwy as an area of natural beauty and history and is using the research they have gathered to create local history boards in the village. More information can be found on the Museum’s website – www.corwenmuseum.org.uk.

I was also delighted to visit The Abbey Dingle Care Home in Llangollen recently, and to hear about the many sensible and safe precautions taken by Kenneth, Carol and the rest of the team, which have had the effect of preventing any Covid casualties at the care home. I enjoyed my visit very much and was most impressed by the regular activities organised for residents at the home. The whole team of staff do an amazing job, and I would like to praise them for the work they do under extreme duress from challenging external events impacting on the operation of the Home.

Locally, I am very pleased that telecoms providers have reacted to the concerns raised by me and many Clwyd South constituents by pausing all further Digital Voice switchovers until the technology is sufficiently robust. Recent storms have highlighted the need to have resilient connectivity in the event of extreme weather, and rural localities such as Clwyd South are unfortunately much more exposed to challenges such as prolonged power cuts and unreliable broadband and mobile service than urban areas.

On 8th March, I sponsored a Parliamentary Reception in the House of Commons with Mondelēz International, whose iconic brands include Cadbury, Maynards Bassetts, Ritz and many more. One of Mondelēz’s factories is based in Chirk, where cocoa beans are processed, and fresh milk is added to make Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bars. The event was attended by more than 150 MPs and I was thrilled that so many attendees were able to try a great product of Clwyd South themselves!

On 18th March, I was pleased to speak in support of the Third Reading of Rosie Cooper MP's important Private Member’s Bill - the British Sign Language Bill. The Bill will recognise British Sign Language as a language of England, Wales, and Scotland in its own right. In Clwyd South, there are many organisations that help people who are deaf, such as the Wrexham and Denbighshire Deaf Children’s Society, AVOW - the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham - and The Rainbow Foundation, and I was pleased to pay tribute to them during the debate.

It was also a pleasure to attend the National Trust’s Parliamentary Reception on 30th March 2022 in the House of Commons and to learn more about their #BlossomWatch campaign which is encouraging more people to connect with nature in Wales. It was good to chat to Lhosa Daly (Regional Director Wales) and Rebecca Williams (Assistant Director) about our amazing National Trust properties in Clwyd South - Chirk Castle and Erddig.

I recently welcomed the launch of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund by the UK Conservative Government. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will see places in Wales that need it most draw up plans this year to deliver on their local priorities. This has great potential to help revive communities, tackle economic decline and reverse geographical disparities in communities like Clwyd South, and I’m thrilled that North Wales will be receiving £126 million, allowing us to build back better out of the pandemic.

I continue to send out a monthly e-newsletter so constituents can read more about my activities in Clwyd South and Westminster. If you’d like to start receiving this monthly MP’s e-newsletter, you can sign up using the following link: www.simonbaynes.co.uk/sign-simons-e-newsletter.