A view from Plaid Cymru’s North Wales Member of the Senedd

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home – you can find them all here. ​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

In this month’s column Llyr Gruffydd MS writes: ‌

​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The crisis facing public services across north Wales shows no sign of abating over the summer.

Betsi Cadwaladr health board is budgeting for a £134 million deficit and is struggling to meet even that eye-watering figure.

The North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority has a £6m budgetary pressure that it’s seeking to plug by potentially reducing firefighter numbers by 12%.

Local authorities across Wales report a £400m anticipated deficit – and that’s not including Wrexham Council’s £23.8m in-year black hole that it announced this summer.

There are individual explanations to all these separate stresses and strains but there are two common threads.

Firstly, demands on all public services continues to rise – especially in the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the after-effects of the Covid pandemic.

Our ageing population – significantly older here in the North than the overall Welsh population – is making more demands on our health and social care services and poverty also has its costs. Even for a service such as fire and rescue, deprived communities need more resources.

Secondly, the squeeze on central financing of public services is now well into its second decade.

The initial austerity years saw public services cut to the bone (and beyond in some areas) and a quick fix of outsourcing and private financing initiatives came back to haunt many authorities.

Then the additional pressures that all sectors – but particularly health and social care – faced during the pandemic years saw some crisis funding but this is not being sustained.

The past couple of years have also seen a sharp rise in inflation and costs that, in turn, has sparked a series of public sector strikes.

Firefighters, nurses, doctors and council staff have had a decade of wages failing to keep track of inflation – something that was bad enough when inflation was relatively low and stable. However, the double-digit inflation we’ve endured in the past year has sparked a revolt borne of long-standing feelings that things can’t carry on as before.

The strikes we’ve seen – and those still unresolved pay disputes – are also about securing and maintaining services as much as about individuals’ pay.

Nurses, doctors and allied health professionals understand that the Covid pandemic placed untold strain on a workforce that has been creaking for too many years due to a lack of workforce planning and growing demand.

Additional recruitment, investment in training and a laser-like focus on retention of highly skilled and highly experienced over the past 15 years could have seen that pressure eased but a combination of poor senior management and even worse oversight from the Labour Government has seen Betsi become a by-word for failure.

If we’re not careful, other vital public services will see a similar deterioration as the core funding needed to maintain them is eroded by a central government that has squandered so much public money on wasteful projects and schemes that have only benefitted Tory donors and those on the fast-track.