A view from Clwyd South’s Member of the Senedd

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South constituency Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home. (You can view an archive here).

Clwyd South MS Ken Skates writes…

Earlier this month, Wales moved to Alert Level One as the Welsh Government set out its updated Coronavirus Control Plan.

The First Minister said that if the public health situation allows, Wales will move to Alert Level Zero on Saturday, August 7. All premises would then be able to open and most – but not all – restrictions would be removed and replaced with an ongoing requirement for all organisations and businesses to carry out Covid-19 risk assessments. These will determine what measures are needed to be put in place to keep staff, customers and visitors safe.

Face coverings will still be required by law on public transport and in most indoor public places, with the exception of hospitality settings, and there will be no legal limits on the number of people who can meet others indoors, including in private homes.

I also want to echo what the Welsh Government and the Chief Medical Officer have said – the pandemic is not over and the virus continues to spread across Wales. This means it is as important as ever for everyone to say yes to vaccination. Wales’ world-leading vaccination programme has weakened the link between the virus and hospitalisation, but we are still seeing people – including young, fit people – falling ill and being admitted to hospital.

In North Wales, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has repeatedly stressed the importance of people aged 18-40 getting their vaccines. BCUHB is now also inviting people who will turn 18 within the next three months to book their vaccination.

The health board has brought forward the second dose interval for both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine from 8 to 6 weeks – in line with expert guidance from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency – and anyone in North Wales who remains unvaccinated can now book their jabs online here. Walk-ins vaccination clinics are also being held at the Catrin Finch Centre in Wrexham and Deeside Mass Vaccination Centre from 9am-6pm on Tuesday to Sunday during July.

Focusing on Clwyd South, I will soon begin a series of summer street surgeries across the constituency to talk to residents and see what local issues I might be able to help with. Along with my team and local volunteers, I will also be delivering thousands of summer newsletters.

Since my last column, I have had a number of constituency engagements, including meeting with local farmers and union leaders in Denbighshire (pictured) which provided a valuable opportunity to hear about some of the issues the industry is facing.

I also met with Howard Sutcliffe, Denbighshire Council’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) officer, to discuss the Welsh Government’s plans to create the first new National Park in Wales since 1957 right here in Clwyd South (pictured) – you can read Wrexham.com’s report here.

As well as a celebrating our area’s unique natural beauty, National Park status will further boost tourism – an industry so vital to Clwyd South – and support the green economy as we look to build on our proud record of being one of the most environmentally friendly countries in the world.

After raising the issue of local bank closures in the Senedd, which was covered in my last column, I recently met with Banc Cambria, who are working with the Welsh Government to create the UK’s first community bank. There isn’t a community in Clwyd South which hasn’t been affected by bank closures.

I launched the plans for the Community Bank of Wales during my time as Economy Minister to provide everyday banking throughout Wales for our many communities abandoned by the big banks and left high and dry by the UK Government abandoning its agreement with the sector that that last branch in each community should remain open.

During the meeting, I put forward the incredibly strong case for a pilot branch in Clwyd South and I look forward to welcoming project leader Mark Hooper to our area later this year.

This week, my engagements include catching up with the Llangollen Railway team to find out how they have got back on track following further financial support from the Welsh Government.

Prior to the Senedd election in May, First Minister Mark Drakeford said the Welsh Government would work with local people to help the Railway back up and running if re-elected, and earlier this month it was confirmed the Welsh Government has provided two rounds of Cultural Recovery Fund grants to the Trust – totalling more than £290,000 – to help with running services and restarting operations.

If you need advice or support, please email [email protected] and include your home address and a contact number. You can also find regular coronavirus updates on my Facebook page and sign up to my weekly newsletters here.

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South constituency Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home. (You can view an archive here).