Devolution: Have Your Say Public Meeting
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North Wales : Public Event to have your say on Welsh Devolution.
The Commission on Devolution in Wales will be holding a public meeting in Wrexham tomorrow Tuesday June 4 th at the Catrin Finch Centre , on the Glyndwr University Plas Coch site, from 6.30 pm – 8pm.
They are seeking people’s views on how the current settlement can be improved.
They say they want as many people as possible to turn up and have their say.
They are particularly interested to hear our views on how it is working in practice at the moment.The Commission for Devolution For Wales website advertising the event actually gives the following as the address of the meeting:
Tuesday 4 June 6.30-8 pm – Public Meeting Catrin Finch Centre, Plas Coch, Mold Street , Wrexham.
There is no Mold Street ! Obviously written by someone who has never visited Wrexham, Mold Road being one of the main roads into the town!
A query was emailed to them about this event for further information as they tweeted the leader & glyndwr. Only Glyndwr retweeted.
Unsure who is doing their social media and map skills (!) but it needs improving to improve engagement.
Not sure what is meant by a ” public meeting” , many of these meetings are based on written questions submitted before the meeting and some are selected by the panel for discussion. I really hope this is a genuine public meeting and they take questions from the floor. Among topics that need addressing are the NHS in Wales, covering many aspects , the standard of education locally and nationally and communications.
if the public aren’t deciding the format of the meeting or who should speak, they’re not really having a say. In reality, they’re only being given an opportunity to listen.
@wxm 6751 wrote:
Would wrexham.com attend and read out a collective statement of its forum contributors?
Can do… If allowed!
Email could work or tweet them if they reply :)
Of course you’re allowed. Whether you’re a journo or lawyer you have a right to speak for or question the people. We should all get our thinking caps on!
Big subject. It has to start with money, because whatever we want to do we must be able to afford. Wales costs £8bn a year to run in public services? A big chunk of that comes from central government. Historically a Welsh Secretary argued for this around the cabinet table. How does it happen now, and how effective is this (10 yrs in)?
We then need to know what we get with devolution. We can make choices as a nation, but can we then pay for them? First question I guess, with the size of global economics, can Wales be competitive going it alone. Not just trade competitive, but in the provision of excellent public services?
Health is probably the highest risk public service that is on its knees. We have three hospitals in North Wales, and we surely want to keep them. We have lost some of the community hospitals, but I haven’t heard anyone arguing to retain them as satellite trauma centres as they do in USA. The situation that has emerged with GP doctors not responsible for registered patients health 24/7/365 is not good, and should be reversed. We don’t expect them to work around the clock, but having their own team who broadly understands the practice caseload is surely essential.
Education, are we big enough to go it alone? What is wrong with the UK model? In truth, who pays for this?
Roads, Rail & Transport. Can we ever solve this one in Wales. People trade on the basis of what’s closest and most profitable. The north is connected by the A55 to a big economy in north west England, and the south with the M4 to not just Bristol, but London. What can Wales provide as a devolved place, that could not otherwise be provided? How could Wales afford the big infrastructure projects, of even growing the A55 and the M4 to carry the traffic that will emerge to 2020 and 2030? Will devolution electrify the north Wales west coast main line?
Culture possibly causes the most contention. We are all very proud to be Welsh, and I don’t think in the last century that our culture or values has dislodged in any way. What we do need to do is celebrate more of who we are to the outside world, to advance greater trade, and visitors; to have visitors, we need facilities that compete, are better, than other places to visit. We need to spread ourselves across the globe, as have our Irish cousins.
Why would we want to change our policing & fire services? We just need to continue to invest in strong community delivery, and infrastructure, technology and resource for them? Our ambulance service seems to have strains, but this directly connects to the structure of hospitals and GP’s?
Economic development, and trade, is critical, if we are to afford the services to support an aging population, and educate young people into a competitive global market. What are we doing to attract the big employers of tomorrow? What will Wales be known for on the global stage? One key component of the markets of tomorrow is knowledge – and we should cherish our universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor and Glyndwr. If people cannot afford fees and subsistence costs, in 2030, higher education on the doorstep could be essential.
The DEVOLUTION debate starts on the question of leadership? If we are to galvenise as a nation of one, we need a set of key objectives, and shared aspirations for the life that we want to lead. We need to face the bad, as we aspire to the good, and that will take strong leadership, with a committed and capable team. Having shared some thoughts, I’m going to try and think through key questions or statements . . .
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/maintaining-and-strengthening-the-welsh-devolution-settlement
One point worth making, TAX.
If Wales is to have its own tax raising powers, where will the people find the money to pay this extra tax? If it can vary corporate tax for business, and it lowers these rates compared to England (eg low levels in Ireland), will this be allowed to happen – a gold rush into Wales
Ambulances are routinely waiting outside hospital’s A&E departments, as many as nine have been seen locally outside the Maelor Hospital. How are they addressing this problem? Are they confident they have a solution?
( If they blame the Welsh Ambulance Service , they are ducking their responsibility,)
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