With the Welsh Christian Party’s Jeff Green determined to fight Brecon and Radnorshire in the forthcoming general election and in the wake of his colleague Martin Wiltshire winning the recent by-election in Llandrindod’s West Ward, it’s time to look at the party’s draft election manifesto.
First impressions are that it is merely an uncosted wish-list with traces of motherhood and apple pie. However, it needs to be unpacked and decoded.
The Welsh Christians seem to have an extremely simplistic approach to economics identifying it only with taxation and the financial sector. Here the 20% rule is applied across the board – 20% income tax, 20% corporation tax, 20% capital gains tax and 20% VAT. How much this will raise is difficult to predict but my guess it is hardly enough to pay for their defence policy.
On law and order, there is a clear bias towards the motorist – raising the motorway speed limit to 90mph and tinkering with fines for speeding and car park overstays. There is also some very woolly thinking on possession of illegal substances, banning the use of bailiffs and stamping out the sex slave trade.
There is a great deal on education ranging from the innocuous to the downright threatening. Examples include the reinstatement of the ‘Classical’ subjects (if this means bringing back Ancient Greek and Latin, I’m all for it); support for the use of reasonable force by teachers to maintain discipline in schools (depends what you mean by reasonable); re-instate mandatory Christian religious education in schools (no to free-thinking, then); ensure that the United Kingdom’s Christian heritage is properly reflected in the National Curriculum (what precisely does this mean?); ensure that proper balanced teaching and debate occurs in schools around the concepts of ‘Evolution’ and ‘Creation/Design in the universe. This last is the thin end of the wedge, on the pretext of balance, the Christian Party is seeking to promote unproven and unproveable notions of about creationism and intelligent design.
Other policies include: the restoration of Sunday as a day of rest for reflection by individuals and communities (is this a convoluted way of saying ‘we must all go to church’?); reject of all attempts to redefine marriage (presumably this means no to same-sex civil partnerships); maintain a well-resourced military with a nuclear deterrent (is this so we can bomb all those nations with whom we disagree or who are in some way different from us?)
Clearly, the emphasis is on the promotion of a very fundamentalist and doctrinaire version of Christianity which has neither respect nor regard for people of other faiths or of no faith. This curious wish-list reveals the naivety of the Christian approach and its origins in the neo-conservative agenda of the Bush presidency of the United Sates. Overall, this manifesto has little practical relevance to the political reality of Britain today. It is ill-conceived, simplistic and shows no evidence of having been thought through.
In short, it is little more than a programme to take us back into the Dark Ages of religious prejudice and superstition, a call for a repressive theocracy in preference to a modern liberal democracy. Voters should reject it and all it represents.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Saturday, 27 March 2010
I Have So Many Defects
The letters column of the Brecon & Radnor Express this week contains a thorough character assassination of an unnamed blogger who is accused of lacking in humility, lacking in understanding, lacking in courage, “invertibrate”, which I take to imply, spineless and, worst of all, having intellectual thoughts.
Now although the blogger is not named in the letter published in the newspaper, I know that it was me who was being attacked because the correspondents took the trouble to send me a copy of the e-mail containing their letter to the editor by post. So it is clear that the editor removed my name from the letter as it was published.
However, the thrust of their attack is that I prefer to post to this blog rather than write to the editor of Brecon & Radnor Express, and that not to write to the newspaper, as they do frequently, is in some way cowardly.
Mea culpa. I am also facially hirsute and vertically challenged, but then we can’t all be perfect.
Now although the blogger is not named in the letter published in the newspaper, I know that it was me who was being attacked because the correspondents took the trouble to send me a copy of the e-mail containing their letter to the editor by post. So it is clear that the editor removed my name from the letter as it was published.
However, the thrust of their attack is that I prefer to post to this blog rather than write to the editor of Brecon & Radnor Express, and that not to write to the newspaper, as they do frequently, is in some way cowardly.
Mea culpa. I am also facially hirsute and vertically challenged, but then we can’t all be perfect.
Friday, 19 March 2010
Abuse By The Clergy Is Still Abuse
There is an interesting and thought-provoking article by Johann Hari in today’s Independent which makes me ask whether it is right to continue with the planned visit to Britain in September by Pope Benedict.
Most of us are conditioned by our upbringing to respect our Christian tradition and to value the part it has played in the formation of our ways of seeing the world. However, there comes a time when most of us realise that rationality is superior to irrationality in guiding the actions of human beings, and, as Hari suggests, a rational response to religious extremism, on the part of whatever religion one identifies with, is to subject that extremism to the rule of law, i.e. the law devised by wise men and progressively refined down the ages based on commonly accepted ideas of justice.
For far too long we have allowed religiously inclined people to convince us that another law, the so-called God’s law, is so superior to man’s law that it is somehow blasphemous to even question it. This way of thinking has allowed evil people to abuse the weak and vulnerable and when they are discovered, allows them to be presented with further opportunities to exploit other vulnerable people.
Those who promote religion argue that it serves to help us distinguish right from wrong, but it seems that notions of right and wrong so preached apply only to the laity and never to the clergy themselves. This hypocrisy has got to be checked, and I’m afraid a pastoral letter from someone who believes himself to be infallible doesn’t quite suffice.
Most of us are conditioned by our upbringing to respect our Christian tradition and to value the part it has played in the formation of our ways of seeing the world. However, there comes a time when most of us realise that rationality is superior to irrationality in guiding the actions of human beings, and, as Hari suggests, a rational response to religious extremism, on the part of whatever religion one identifies with, is to subject that extremism to the rule of law, i.e. the law devised by wise men and progressively refined down the ages based on commonly accepted ideas of justice.
For far too long we have allowed religiously inclined people to convince us that another law, the so-called God’s law, is so superior to man’s law that it is somehow blasphemous to even question it. This way of thinking has allowed evil people to abuse the weak and vulnerable and when they are discovered, allows them to be presented with further opportunities to exploit other vulnerable people.
Those who promote religion argue that it serves to help us distinguish right from wrong, but it seems that notions of right and wrong so preached apply only to the laity and never to the clergy themselves. This hypocrisy has got to be checked, and I’m afraid a pastoral letter from someone who believes himself to be infallible doesn’t quite suffice.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
It Couldn't Happen Here, Could It?
Sam Wollaston’s review of last night’s BBC 2 programme on Italy’s maverick Prime Minister in today's Guardian is too good not to share.
Picture this. It's election day, May 6 or some date thereabouts. Britain is going to the polls. But when we get there, we look down at the ballot papers and feel bored. Labour, yawn. Conservative, snore. Who wants Gordon Brown or David Cameron to lead the country, when all they care about is politics? So we cross out all the names and write other ones instead – light entertainers, media tycoons, racists, cruise-ship singers, playboys, womanisers, criminals, tax evaders, that kind of thing. People who'll make Britain a bit more fun.
Then, when it comes to the count, it's found – hardly surprisingly, it has to be said – that no one has an outright majority. Hey, no problem, the PM can be a jobshare. And that's how, on May 6 2010 or some date thereabouts, we elect Rupert Murdoch, Peter Stringfellow ("I guess this is now officially a well-hung parliament," he'd quip on taking office), Jane McDonald, Bruce Forsyth, Ron Atkinson, Lord Ashcroft and The Kray Twins to run the country. The Krays are dead? Oh well, the others can cover for them, God rest their souls.
Right, the government needs to put forward some MEP candidates. Rupert selects a few Page Three stunnas; Peter cherry-picks some of favourite pole dancers; Jane, who's travelled a bit, puts herself forward. Ha! Good one, Jane, but seriously, love, take a look at yourself, you're well into your 40s! So Big Brother's Shilpa Shetty is approached instead, although Ron has his reservations . . .
What do you mean this is all a bit far-fetched? It happened – it is still happening – just down the road, in Italy. Pretty much exactly as described above. Except for the jobshare bit, because they've got one dude who covers all bases. Meno Male che Silvio c'e. That's his party's official song, and it translates roughly as Thank God for Silvio.
Picture this. It's election day, May 6 or some date thereabouts. Britain is going to the polls. But when we get there, we look down at the ballot papers and feel bored. Labour, yawn. Conservative, snore. Who wants Gordon Brown or David Cameron to lead the country, when all they care about is politics? So we cross out all the names and write other ones instead – light entertainers, media tycoons, racists, cruise-ship singers, playboys, womanisers, criminals, tax evaders, that kind of thing. People who'll make Britain a bit more fun.
Then, when it comes to the count, it's found – hardly surprisingly, it has to be said – that no one has an outright majority. Hey, no problem, the PM can be a jobshare. And that's how, on May 6 2010 or some date thereabouts, we elect Rupert Murdoch, Peter Stringfellow ("I guess this is now officially a well-hung parliament," he'd quip on taking office), Jane McDonald, Bruce Forsyth, Ron Atkinson, Lord Ashcroft and The Kray Twins to run the country. The Krays are dead? Oh well, the others can cover for them, God rest their souls.
Right, the government needs to put forward some MEP candidates. Rupert selects a few Page Three stunnas; Peter cherry-picks some of favourite pole dancers; Jane, who's travelled a bit, puts herself forward. Ha! Good one, Jane, but seriously, love, take a look at yourself, you're well into your 40s! So Big Brother's Shilpa Shetty is approached instead, although Ron has his reservations . . .
What do you mean this is all a bit far-fetched? It happened – it is still happening – just down the road, in Italy. Pretty much exactly as described above. Except for the jobshare bit, because they've got one dude who covers all bases. Meno Male che Silvio c'e. That's his party's official song, and it translates roughly as Thank God for Silvio.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Whatever Happened To Local Democracy?
In a couple of days, Powys County Council will meet to debate a way forward for the Schools Modernization agenda which was recently forced into the spotlight by an ill-judged leak of a working document which revealed the extent to which communities in Powys are likely to be damaged by potential school closures.
The sad reality of this mess, and indeed much of local government in Wales today, is that none of the 22 local authorities have much scope to resist, amend, or in any way change the policy diktats of the Welsh Assembly Government. Over 80% of the money spent by local authorities is derived from WAG and the old clich̩ Рhe who pays the piper, calls the tune Рremains the dominant theme of almost everything that happens in Welsh local government.
In this reality, county councillors have little freedom to act according to their consciences, WAG says, "Jump!" And councillors ask "How high?" For all the fine words we will hear in the Council Chamber on Friday, the tantrums and the grandstanding, the fact remains, the agenda has been set by WAG and the councillors are required to comply or face even more punitive reductions in the council’s budget.
In modern Wales there is no longer anything "local" about local government, government is effectively located in Cardiff Bay and members of the 22 local authorities in Wales are simply instruments of that Welsh Assembly Government. They may huff and puff but they will never be able to blow the house down.
So if WAG has decided that Powys will have only eight secondary schools, then that is what will happen, if WAG has decided that Powys schoolchildren will be face journeys of an hour or longer to get to school in the mornings and another hour or longer to get home again at night, then that is what will happen. If WAG decides that the 14 – 19 curriculum can only be satisfied by further hour or longer journeys during the school day, then that is what will happen. The sustainability agenda is going to be ignored by forcing children to spend the greater part of their school day travelling rather than learning. Or perhaps the masterplan is that all lessons will take place on buses thus obviating the need for school buildings at all. Don’t laugh, remember may a true word is spoken in jest.
The sad reality of this mess, and indeed much of local government in Wales today, is that none of the 22 local authorities have much scope to resist, amend, or in any way change the policy diktats of the Welsh Assembly Government. Over 80% of the money spent by local authorities is derived from WAG and the old clich̩ Рhe who pays the piper, calls the tune Рremains the dominant theme of almost everything that happens in Welsh local government.
In this reality, county councillors have little freedom to act according to their consciences, WAG says, "Jump!" And councillors ask "How high?" For all the fine words we will hear in the Council Chamber on Friday, the tantrums and the grandstanding, the fact remains, the agenda has been set by WAG and the councillors are required to comply or face even more punitive reductions in the council’s budget.
In modern Wales there is no longer anything "local" about local government, government is effectively located in Cardiff Bay and members of the 22 local authorities in Wales are simply instruments of that Welsh Assembly Government. They may huff and puff but they will never be able to blow the house down.
So if WAG has decided that Powys will have only eight secondary schools, then that is what will happen, if WAG has decided that Powys schoolchildren will be face journeys of an hour or longer to get to school in the mornings and another hour or longer to get home again at night, then that is what will happen. If WAG decides that the 14 – 19 curriculum can only be satisfied by further hour or longer journeys during the school day, then that is what will happen. The sustainability agenda is going to be ignored by forcing children to spend the greater part of their school day travelling rather than learning. Or perhaps the masterplan is that all lessons will take place on buses thus obviating the need for school buildings at all. Don’t laugh, remember may a true word is spoken in jest.
Friday, 12 March 2010
Now Here's A Tory Worth Having
I’ve just seen a press report that Edward Macmillan-Scott, former leader of the Conservative MEPs but expelled by Cameron last year has joined the Liberal Democrats. This is very good news because this is a man widely respected by friend and foe alike and one who has loads of relevant experience of European politics.
Let’s hope he is starting the flight of the moderate, sensible One-Nation type Tories who are fed up with the vacuousness of the Cameroons. Who will be next, I wonder?
Let’s hope he is starting the flight of the moderate, sensible One-Nation type Tories who are fed up with the vacuousness of the Cameroons. Who will be next, I wonder?
Thursday, 4 March 2010
The Dangerous Law Of Averages
Shortly, the annual Council Tax (or more correctly the Community Charge) bill will be dropping through our letterboxes. For residents of Powys this means an increase of 4.25%, and if my memory serves me correctly, this comes on top of a 2.9% increase last year and 3.25% increase the year before.
The Welsh Local Government Association trumpets the fact that the average increase for the whole of Wales is just 3.6% and that is less than the year-on-year rate of inflation of 3.7%. Well that’s all right, then. After all WLGA is keen to remind us that despite these persistent and above inflation increases in the council tax in Powys, the actual average charge to Powys households is still lower than the Welsh average by approximately £37 for Band D properties.
For Powys residents this is not all right. What neither WAG nor WLGA actually say is that over this same period, Powys County Council has received only a 1% increase each year in the income it receives from the Welsh Assembly Government. Effectively, Powys County Council’s income from WAG has been reduced significantly if one takes inflation into account and the burden of funding local government in Powys has been deliberately shifted from the general taxpayer to the local community charge payer. What this means that the overall amount of tax we pay, taking general and local taxation together has increased significantly over the last few years, since we have had no reduction in general taxation and local taxation continues to rise. How else is the Welsh Assembly and its Government to be funded?
However, the real problem for the residents of Powys comes when you set these huge hikes in taxation against the average incomes of Powys taxpayers. Average household incomes of taxpayers in Powys are much lower than the Wales average for a number of reasons:
· The proportionately higher number of self-employed people in Powys who, as always in times of recession, take a much bigger financial hit than employed people.
· The earnings of employed people in Powys are less than the Welsh average because private sector pay rates here are significantly lower than in the rest of Wales.
· There are disproportionately more people of pensionable age living in Powys and these people tend to have to rely on their low, fixed pension income and always struggle to keep pace with inflation.
So before you accept the spin which WAG and the WLGA put on the increases in council tax, remember that one of the canons of taxation is that the amount of taxation demanded from an individual should always be related to that individual’s ability to pay. To try to pass off years of above average increases in council tax in Powys as justifiable because the average band D property charge in Powys remains below the Welsh average is plain hypocrisy when no account is taken of the particular financial circumstances of the residents of Powys.
The Welsh Local Government Association trumpets the fact that the average increase for the whole of Wales is just 3.6% and that is less than the year-on-year rate of inflation of 3.7%. Well that’s all right, then. After all WLGA is keen to remind us that despite these persistent and above inflation increases in the council tax in Powys, the actual average charge to Powys households is still lower than the Welsh average by approximately £37 for Band D properties.
For Powys residents this is not all right. What neither WAG nor WLGA actually say is that over this same period, Powys County Council has received only a 1% increase each year in the income it receives from the Welsh Assembly Government. Effectively, Powys County Council’s income from WAG has been reduced significantly if one takes inflation into account and the burden of funding local government in Powys has been deliberately shifted from the general taxpayer to the local community charge payer. What this means that the overall amount of tax we pay, taking general and local taxation together has increased significantly over the last few years, since we have had no reduction in general taxation and local taxation continues to rise. How else is the Welsh Assembly and its Government to be funded?
However, the real problem for the residents of Powys comes when you set these huge hikes in taxation against the average incomes of Powys taxpayers. Average household incomes of taxpayers in Powys are much lower than the Wales average for a number of reasons:
· The proportionately higher number of self-employed people in Powys who, as always in times of recession, take a much bigger financial hit than employed people.
· The earnings of employed people in Powys are less than the Welsh average because private sector pay rates here are significantly lower than in the rest of Wales.
· There are disproportionately more people of pensionable age living in Powys and these people tend to have to rely on their low, fixed pension income and always struggle to keep pace with inflation.
So before you accept the spin which WAG and the WLGA put on the increases in council tax, remember that one of the canons of taxation is that the amount of taxation demanded from an individual should always be related to that individual’s ability to pay. To try to pass off years of above average increases in council tax in Powys as justifiable because the average band D property charge in Powys remains below the Welsh average is plain hypocrisy when no account is taken of the particular financial circumstances of the residents of Powys.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Questions, Questions
The Letters Column of today’s Brecon & Radnor Express has two rather unusual contributions under the common headline “Banging the Lakeside drum”.
The first is from Cllr Sarah Millington which appears to be a long-winded whinge about how she has attempted to use her position as the local member to somehow influence the awarding of a tender to operate the Lakeside Restaurant, but has been rebuffed by the County Council’s Board. In it she seems to be blaming Cllr Ken Harris for persuading the Board to prevent her carrying out her democratic duties to represent the electorate of Llandrindod South in the eventual awarding of the contract.
The second contribution comes from those inveterate correspondents to our local newspapers, Peter and Heather Speake. Writing in support of Cllr Millington’s stance, they imply that members of the Board were uncooperative and hostile to representations from Cllr Millington, they go on to question the authority of the Board to take executive decisions and proceed to lecture the Board on loyalty.
Now in spite of the indignation clearly felt by both Cllr Millington and Mr and Mrs Speake at the Board’s refusal to set aside the statutory regulations for the handling of the local authority tendering process in the case of the Lakeside Restaurant, some questions remain.
Why and on whose behalf does Cllr Millington seek to influence the awarding of the contract for the supply of catering services at the Lakeside Restaurant?
Why do Cllr Millington and Mr and Mrs Speake apparently believe that members of the Board of the County Council, advised by qualified and experienced officers, are not capable of selecting the most appropriate operator for the Lakeside Restaurant?
Why is Cllr Millington so keen to throw mud at Cllr Harris? It couldn’t be anything to do with a forthcoming general election, could it?
The first is from Cllr Sarah Millington which appears to be a long-winded whinge about how she has attempted to use her position as the local member to somehow influence the awarding of a tender to operate the Lakeside Restaurant, but has been rebuffed by the County Council’s Board. In it she seems to be blaming Cllr Ken Harris for persuading the Board to prevent her carrying out her democratic duties to represent the electorate of Llandrindod South in the eventual awarding of the contract.
The second contribution comes from those inveterate correspondents to our local newspapers, Peter and Heather Speake. Writing in support of Cllr Millington’s stance, they imply that members of the Board were uncooperative and hostile to representations from Cllr Millington, they go on to question the authority of the Board to take executive decisions and proceed to lecture the Board on loyalty.
Now in spite of the indignation clearly felt by both Cllr Millington and Mr and Mrs Speake at the Board’s refusal to set aside the statutory regulations for the handling of the local authority tendering process in the case of the Lakeside Restaurant, some questions remain.
Why and on whose behalf does Cllr Millington seek to influence the awarding of the contract for the supply of catering services at the Lakeside Restaurant?
Why do Cllr Millington and Mr and Mrs Speake apparently believe that members of the Board of the County Council, advised by qualified and experienced officers, are not capable of selecting the most appropriate operator for the Lakeside Restaurant?
Why is Cllr Millington so keen to throw mud at Cllr Harris? It couldn’t be anything to do with a forthcoming general election, could it?
Yob In A Suit
Evidence from the Guardian website yesterday, if indeed evidence were needed, that Nigel Farage is nothing other than a yob in a suit. He has compounded his outrageous attack on the appearance and character of the President of the European Council by refusing to apologise.
Taken together with his flimsy attempt at self-justification on BBC TV’s Question Time last week, we are left with an unpleasant impression of an arrogant, ill-mannered and self-obsessed man who seems to believe that if he shouts long enough and loud enough the European Union will simply go away.
Sadly, this sort of behaviour is what we are coming to expect from the far-right - the BNP, UKIP and their many fellow travellers in the Conservative party. They all seem to dance to tunes from Lord Ashcroft and News International.
Taken together with his flimsy attempt at self-justification on BBC TV’s Question Time last week, we are left with an unpleasant impression of an arrogant, ill-mannered and self-obsessed man who seems to believe that if he shouts long enough and loud enough the European Union will simply go away.
Sadly, this sort of behaviour is what we are coming to expect from the far-right - the BNP, UKIP and their many fellow travellers in the Conservative party. They all seem to dance to tunes from Lord Ashcroft and News International.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Preserving Sustainable Communities
At the special meeting of Powys County Council on 11th February, Cllr David Jones, Portfolio Holder for Schools, proposed that he would bring to today’s meeting of the Council’s Board a proposal for the establishment of a Programme Review Board for Schools Modernisation which would state that Board’s terms of reference and also its composition.
I’ve just popped into the Board Meeting and no such item was on the agenda. Moreover, chats with various Board members suggest that the reason that this paper has been delayed was because Cllr David Jones had gone on holiday. Alternatively, some councillors seemed to suggest that such is the importance of this issue that a great deal more preparation is required before the County Council can move the issue forward. It is rumoured that these proposals will be brought to the Council's Board in a fortnight's time, on March 16th.
Perhaps the councillors are at last beginning to realise the strength of concern among the electorate about the council’s plans to modernise Powys’ schools. They should not be surprised, in past times, education in the three shires of Powys was always a hot topic, and the high standards of education, both primary and secondary, was something of which the residents of Breconshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire were inordinately proud.
This pride persists into the modern day and although we no longer have an education committee within the democratic structures of Powys County Council, another concession to financial pressures put upon Powys by WAG, we still expect our councillors to take an active interest in, and do their utmost to protect, the remaining educational institutions in the county. The electorate will not easily forgive those councillors who have the temerity to try to save money by sacrificing either schools or educational standards.
I acknowledge that it is not easy for councillors to resist the threats and blackmail that emanate from WAG concerning education costs in Powys, and I also acknowledge that the surplus capacity argument is difficult to counter. However, schools are about more than simple issues of cost and capacity, schools are about communities, both learning communities and the wider communities. They are core institutions for the communities which they serve, something which was recognised with WAG’s Community-Focused Schools Initiative. Budgetary pressures cannot be allowed to put that initiative at risk when it is only just beginning to be implemented.
If Powys County Councillors fail to protect the thirteen high schools from this concerted assault by WAG, they will be subject to the charge of being party to the wholesale decimation of the remaining local communities of significant size. Remember, Knighton and Rhayader lost their secondary schools when secondary education went comprehensive and they are both the poorer for it.
If peak oil has already arrived, then the overall cost of transporting pupils ever greater distances and more frequently will soon outweigh the potential savings that might accrue by closing schools now. Far better to concentrate on ensuring that Powys is able to secure communities that are able to sustain themselves into and uncertain future. Powys County Councillors have to make the right decision on schools modernisation, not only for the current generations, but for future generations who are likely to have to cope with a quite different economic and social climate.
I’ve just popped into the Board Meeting and no such item was on the agenda. Moreover, chats with various Board members suggest that the reason that this paper has been delayed was because Cllr David Jones had gone on holiday. Alternatively, some councillors seemed to suggest that such is the importance of this issue that a great deal more preparation is required before the County Council can move the issue forward. It is rumoured that these proposals will be brought to the Council's Board in a fortnight's time, on March 16th.
Perhaps the councillors are at last beginning to realise the strength of concern among the electorate about the council’s plans to modernise Powys’ schools. They should not be surprised, in past times, education in the three shires of Powys was always a hot topic, and the high standards of education, both primary and secondary, was something of which the residents of Breconshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire were inordinately proud.
This pride persists into the modern day and although we no longer have an education committee within the democratic structures of Powys County Council, another concession to financial pressures put upon Powys by WAG, we still expect our councillors to take an active interest in, and do their utmost to protect, the remaining educational institutions in the county. The electorate will not easily forgive those councillors who have the temerity to try to save money by sacrificing either schools or educational standards.
I acknowledge that it is not easy for councillors to resist the threats and blackmail that emanate from WAG concerning education costs in Powys, and I also acknowledge that the surplus capacity argument is difficult to counter. However, schools are about more than simple issues of cost and capacity, schools are about communities, both learning communities and the wider communities. They are core institutions for the communities which they serve, something which was recognised with WAG’s Community-Focused Schools Initiative. Budgetary pressures cannot be allowed to put that initiative at risk when it is only just beginning to be implemented.
If Powys County Councillors fail to protect the thirteen high schools from this concerted assault by WAG, they will be subject to the charge of being party to the wholesale decimation of the remaining local communities of significant size. Remember, Knighton and Rhayader lost their secondary schools when secondary education went comprehensive and they are both the poorer for it.
If peak oil has already arrived, then the overall cost of transporting pupils ever greater distances and more frequently will soon outweigh the potential savings that might accrue by closing schools now. Far better to concentrate on ensuring that Powys is able to secure communities that are able to sustain themselves into and uncertain future. Powys County Councillors have to make the right decision on schools modernisation, not only for the current generations, but for future generations who are likely to have to cope with a quite different economic and social climate.
Stop Negelecting Rural Wales
The Welsh Assembly will receive a report from the Wales Rural Observatory that highlights the plight of the so-called "deep rural areas" following a decade of closures of schools, pubs, post offices and shops. I am sure the report will make quite difficult reading for AMs who represent these communities.
The four "areas of concern" highlighted in the report are: broadband provision, public transport, house prices and access to services. However, although there will be much hand wringing and despair about the consistent failure of WAG to address these issues which have been highlighted before, we would do well to remember that these four areas of concern have become a concern precisely because WAG and the rural local authorities have failed to make a concerted effort to address these issues since devolution.
There has been much talk but little action in persuading the broadband service providers to provide a broadband service in the rural hotspots. Regional and local government have failed to put sufficient pressure on BT to upgrade the telephone network in rural areas despite their huffing and puffing.
Similarly, there has been a great deal of talk about models of public transport in rural areas with great expectations being created about a role for the voluntary sector and their various community transport schemes. However, very little happens no consortia of local providers are ever formed because no financial incentive is offered from either the Welsh Assembly Government or the local authorities. We have waited long and in vain for the much-heralded Local Service Boards to grasp the need to create co-ordinated local transport networks. This issue has been part of the Wales Spatial Plan agenda since the adoption of the spatial plan, but nothing happens.
There is little any government agency can do to directly influence the prices of houses on the open market, but the failure of both regional and local government to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing in rural areas is nothing short of a disgrace. Until the very recent opportunity for housing associations to acquire partially completed and empty properties from developers hit by the recession, very little was ever done to address the severe lack of affordable housing in the deep rural areas.
It is in the area of access to services that the inadequacies of government intervention is felt most severely. Given the poor rural transport network government really needs to ask how do the residents of deep rural areas get to their doctors, dentists, hospital appointments? How to children from these areas get to school and how long does it take them to get there in the morning and to get home in the evening? How far and for how long do the residents of these areas have to travel to access shops, advice services, job centres, government agencies etc.?
Now in the light of the areas of concern highlighted above, consider the pressure that WAG is currently putting on local authorities to "modernise" their schools provision, bearing in mind that modernise is a euphenism for closing individual schools and forcing children to travel ever greater distances and more frequently to access their education.
Let us be absolutely clear before we get the crocodile tears from our politicians in response to this report from the Wales Rural Observatory, the main reason why these "areas of concern" have become areas of concern is because of the failure of an urban dominated regional government to address the special issues that pertain to rural Wales. This One Wales Government and the Labour Administration before it have steadfastly refused to recognise the special problems resulting from sparsity and rurality, preferring to concentrate their efforts on measures of social deprivation which are heavily biased towards the urban areas and happen to lie in constituencies that tend to elect Labour politicians at elections, or is this simply a coincidence?
The four "areas of concern" highlighted in the report are: broadband provision, public transport, house prices and access to services. However, although there will be much hand wringing and despair about the consistent failure of WAG to address these issues which have been highlighted before, we would do well to remember that these four areas of concern have become a concern precisely because WAG and the rural local authorities have failed to make a concerted effort to address these issues since devolution.
There has been much talk but little action in persuading the broadband service providers to provide a broadband service in the rural hotspots. Regional and local government have failed to put sufficient pressure on BT to upgrade the telephone network in rural areas despite their huffing and puffing.
Similarly, there has been a great deal of talk about models of public transport in rural areas with great expectations being created about a role for the voluntary sector and their various community transport schemes. However, very little happens no consortia of local providers are ever formed because no financial incentive is offered from either the Welsh Assembly Government or the local authorities. We have waited long and in vain for the much-heralded Local Service Boards to grasp the need to create co-ordinated local transport networks. This issue has been part of the Wales Spatial Plan agenda since the adoption of the spatial plan, but nothing happens.
There is little any government agency can do to directly influence the prices of houses on the open market, but the failure of both regional and local government to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing in rural areas is nothing short of a disgrace. Until the very recent opportunity for housing associations to acquire partially completed and empty properties from developers hit by the recession, very little was ever done to address the severe lack of affordable housing in the deep rural areas.
It is in the area of access to services that the inadequacies of government intervention is felt most severely. Given the poor rural transport network government really needs to ask how do the residents of deep rural areas get to their doctors, dentists, hospital appointments? How to children from these areas get to school and how long does it take them to get there in the morning and to get home in the evening? How far and for how long do the residents of these areas have to travel to access shops, advice services, job centres, government agencies etc.?
Now in the light of the areas of concern highlighted above, consider the pressure that WAG is currently putting on local authorities to "modernise" their schools provision, bearing in mind that modernise is a euphenism for closing individual schools and forcing children to travel ever greater distances and more frequently to access their education.
Let us be absolutely clear before we get the crocodile tears from our politicians in response to this report from the Wales Rural Observatory, the main reason why these "areas of concern" have become areas of concern is because of the failure of an urban dominated regional government to address the special issues that pertain to rural Wales. This One Wales Government and the Labour Administration before it have steadfastly refused to recognise the special problems resulting from sparsity and rurality, preferring to concentrate their efforts on measures of social deprivation which are heavily biased towards the urban areas and happen to lie in constituencies that tend to elect Labour politicians at elections, or is this simply a coincidence?
Monday, 1 March 2010
Powys Against Cuts in Education
This post is devoted to the campaign to Save Powys Schools, currently being organised by the Powys Against Cuts in Education group that successfully resisted cuts some years ago.
Powys Against Cuts in Education
Charter
· All Powys children from 3 – 18 need good local primary schools, high schools and sixth forms
· Sixth forms are vital to schools – sixth formers lead, mentor and help younger pupils which is beneficial both to them and the younger children to whom they are role models
· Children with special needs deserve good special schools as well as well resourced integrated units
· The network of 13 secondary schools with their sixth forms is a precious and vital part of our rural community
· Powys schools provide excellent pastoral care because all children are known and valued
· Powys schools are centres for their communities – providing space, facilities, employment and care and contributing to the local economy
· The temporary dip in pupil numbers provides a wonderful opportunity for smaller classes
· Schools do not just teach skills – they foster creativity, critical thought and the importance of community
· Powys schools already provide a high standard of education
· Improvements should be brought about by consultation with teachers, pupils and communities – not by diktat from Cardiff
· Most of the problems in Powys schools are due to continual underfunding, shoddy buildings and inadequate facilities
We call on our councillors to stand up and fight for our local schools which are one of our most precious assets in Powys. The handling of this issue has caused huge demoralisation to parents, teachers and pupils. They must put this right by guaranteeing to keep all 13 schools and sixth forms open. They should not allow themselves to be blackmailed by WAG. Our schools are more precious to us than any dubious promises of ‘state of the art’ facilities. They should resign en masse rather than allow the wholesale slaughter of our schools!
Defend our Schools!
The website www.savepowysschools.com will be up and running shortly and will carry news of the campaign together details of how you can support offer your support.
This is a vital issue for all residents of Powys, to lose any of the thirteen secondary schools in unthinkable. Our communities are being decimated by the successive closure of post offices, pubs, primary schools and now the very real threat to secondary schools. It is time to draw the line in the sand and say to our County Councillors - NO MORE CUTS.
If we let our secondary schools be decimated, then our communities will die as families with young children will be forced to move away in order to receive those basic services to which they are entitled. Make sure your County Councillor knows what your views are on the continuing threat to our children's secondary education.
Powys Against Cuts in Education
Charter
· All Powys children from 3 – 18 need good local primary schools, high schools and sixth forms
· Sixth forms are vital to schools – sixth formers lead, mentor and help younger pupils which is beneficial both to them and the younger children to whom they are role models
· Children with special needs deserve good special schools as well as well resourced integrated units
· The network of 13 secondary schools with their sixth forms is a precious and vital part of our rural community
· Powys schools provide excellent pastoral care because all children are known and valued
· Powys schools are centres for their communities – providing space, facilities, employment and care and contributing to the local economy
· The temporary dip in pupil numbers provides a wonderful opportunity for smaller classes
· Schools do not just teach skills – they foster creativity, critical thought and the importance of community
· Powys schools already provide a high standard of education
· Improvements should be brought about by consultation with teachers, pupils and communities – not by diktat from Cardiff
· Most of the problems in Powys schools are due to continual underfunding, shoddy buildings and inadequate facilities
We call on our councillors to stand up and fight for our local schools which are one of our most precious assets in Powys. The handling of this issue has caused huge demoralisation to parents, teachers and pupils. They must put this right by guaranteeing to keep all 13 schools and sixth forms open. They should not allow themselves to be blackmailed by WAG. Our schools are more precious to us than any dubious promises of ‘state of the art’ facilities. They should resign en masse rather than allow the wholesale slaughter of our schools!
Defend our Schools!
The website www.savepowysschools.com will be up and running shortly and will carry news of the campaign together details of how you can support offer your support.
This is a vital issue for all residents of Powys, to lose any of the thirteen secondary schools in unthinkable. Our communities are being decimated by the successive closure of post offices, pubs, primary schools and now the very real threat to secondary schools. It is time to draw the line in the sand and say to our County Councillors - NO MORE CUTS.
If we let our secondary schools be decimated, then our communities will die as families with young children will be forced to move away in order to receive those basic services to which they are entitled. Make sure your County Councillor knows what your views are on the continuing threat to our children's secondary education.
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