Plaid Cymru Ceredigion Your representatives in Ceredigion

This week the Urdd celebrates 100 years! Wales as a nation has benefitted greatly from an organisation that not only has helped to protect the Welsh language, but has also brought many happy memories.

The organisation’s contribution to the nation’s young people over generations is priceless. The Eisteddfod stage has provided school children with a platform to gain skills and develop their confidence from a very young age, and several have gone on to have very successful careers on national and international stages. The sports clubs and societies provide opportunities for keeping fit and for competing on local and national levels.

The Welsh Government has announced a £600,000 grant to the National Eisteddfod to support the use of the Welsh language in our communities.

The news comes at a time where there were concerns for the additional costs that will arise due to inflation, rising costs and the pandemic, as additional Covid 19 measures will be needed to ensure safety on the Maes. 

Unadopted roads are highways which have not been brought under the wing of a local council, to be maintained by them alongside the rest of the highway network. Privately owned, they are often the responsibility of housing developer or local residents.  

There are approximately 25,000 kilometers of unadopted roads in Wales, and it’s been estimated the cost of bringing all unadopted roads in Wales serving five or more properties up to the minimum standard would be £1.56 billion (based on a price of £600-per-metre). 

Ben Lake MP has written to the Prime Minister, calling on the Government to take urgent action on food waste.   

Two million tonnes of fresh, unsold food is wasted in the UK every year. Funding to help farmers and food producers get this food to frontline charities has now ended. If the funding were to be extended, it could create an additional 53m meals for vulnerable families. Without it, the food will be needlessly wasted – thrown into biogas digesters, sent to landfill or simply ploughed back into the fields.  

The letter is part of the #FoodOnPlates campaign, run by FareShare, the UK’s largest food redistribution charity. They are calling on the government to commit to vital food waste funding ahead of next week’s Comprehensive Spending Review.  

Ben Lake MP has today pledged their support for the Long Live the Local campaign to help pubs and breweries in Ceredigion recover and thrive. Ben Lake joins over 125,000 people who have signed the petition so far, including 123 in Ceredigion alone. 

Ben Lake MP is calling on the Government to lower VAT & Business Rates for pubs and for an overall reduction in Beer Duty. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on brewers and pubs throughout the UK and continues to do so as the sector tries to kickstart its recovery. The sector needs an immediate boost and the fact that a local pub adds £100,000 to its local economy, creates jobs and acts as a social hub, underlines how directly investment in the form of lower VAT, Business Rates and an overall cut to beer duty can help pubs and their communities to recover. It will also boost Britain’s world class brewing sector, a homegrown manufacturing success story that brews over 80% of the beer we drink.

Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson on agriculture in Westminster, Ben Lake MP, has said that “warm words won’t cut it” for Welsh farmers concerned about the impact of the New Zealand trade deal, which was announced last night.

Last year’s analysis by the UK Government found that its effect on Britain’s GDP would probably have “limited effect … in the long run” – being between a positive growth of 0.01% or negative growth of -0.01%. The analysis also concluded that an agreement would have “a potential decrease in employment in the agriculture and semi-processed foods sectors in the long run”.

Following a long standing campaign by Elin Jones MS and local residents, Elin is pleased to have received confirmation that plans are underway to create a shared-use path connecting the village of Dole to Bow Street, on the A487.

Prime Minister ‘disconnected from the real world’ says former HGV driver

In today’s PMQs, Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion, Ben Lake, told Boris Johnson that a “long-term solution” to the supply chain crisis requires “improved working conditions” and “measures to reduce waiting times at distribution centres.”

Mr Lake referenced the Department for Transport’s ‘National survey of lorry parking’ from 2018, which identified that there is an immediate need for more than 1,411 parking spaces across England, to enable drivers to take their legally mandated rest breaks without concerns for security and safety.  

Waiting times also contribute to HGV drivers’ poor working conditions. The 2021 Post-Brexit Hauliers Survey showed that increased waiting times at the border was the biggest impact cited by respondents (81%), followed by increased time spent on admin (69%).

MS tells the Trust: ‘the way to improve ambulance response in Ceredigion is to invest in the number of crews at anyone one time, not to reduce’

Ben Lake MP has launched a short survey to seek the views of local organisations, clubs and societies on the services available to their community bank accounts.

Many organisations have shared concerns with the Ceredigion MP that local branch closures have impacted on their ability to open bank accounts, change account signatories and withdraw and deposit cash. As a result, many societies, charities and third-sector organisations are having to deal with increased travel expenses, heightened security issues and cashflow problems all resulting from the lack of local banking services.