Commission on Devolution Meets In Wrexham

Yesterday the ‘Commission on Devolution in Wales’ met the public in Wrexham in a meeting at the Catrin Finch Centre of Glyndwr University.

The team representing the Commission were Paul Silk (Chairman) Trefor Jones and Noel Lloyd. The meeting took the form of a Power Point presentation and the public were encouraged to make their views known as it progressed, the slides were also given out on paper – and we have taken pictures and included them below for people to read.

Areas already devolved were pointed out first and it was clear that not everyone was happy with how they have been delivered. There was disapproval that some NHS treatments are not available at all in Wales , causing some to move to England to access treatment . Also services that are being outsourced to England, specifically the moving of the Neo Natal provision in North Wales to Arrowe Park was mentioned. Clearly what people wanted was the same treatment availability for everyone and funding should be provided to achieve this.

Education was also mentioned as although it is a devolved matter, teachers salaries are still set by the UK government and Wales is stuck with a situation it can do nothing about.

The meeting then proceeded to look at the next possible matters to be devolved.

Police and Criminal Justice was the first up. The meeting broadly supported the suggestion with some reservations. There would be a need to preserve the established links with the North West . A prison would need to be built in North Wales to provide accommodation for males, females and youths. A police force for the whole of Wales was not wanted by the audience. Someone from the Probation Service hoped if it did happen then Probation would not be outsourced to an organisation such as G4S.

Broadcasting

The Commission believed that it would not be sensible to attempt to tackle this now. However the participants at the meeting felt it might be a good idea if North Wales would be guaranteed a better television signal and more news coverage.

Energy

There were mixed feelings over this, many felt we held the upper hand as we have the potential to develop Hydro, Wind and Nuclear Power.It was also pointed out that we have plenty of water which could be sold to England to create income. One wag suggest selling our water at£100 per gallon! Energy is part of a National Grid and therefore any separation would be almost impossible was another view point.

It was also pointed out that an enquiry into the possibility of a Wind farm near Welshpool which started yesterday would be decided in Westminister, not the Welsh Assembly, in fact it was not known how much weight the views of the Assembly would even have.

The meeting then turned to structure of the devolved settlement. Trefor Jones said “You can’t find an ideal one anywhere , we have looked around the world at the structures of devolution”

Some felt the Scottish and Northern Irish models were better. The view was voiced that “Here in Wales we have to work within the structure we have”.

The meeting generally voiced the opinion that devolution should benefit the whole of Wales. Numerous people mentioned the predominance of money spent in Cardiff . Reference was made to Wrexham waiting forty years for a link road to the Industrial Estate while Cardiff is awash with new roads .The purchase of Cardiff Airport by the Assembly was also highlighted and how that it was of no benefit to North Wales! Again a general view of the meeting appeared to be the theme North Wales has never had a ‘fair deal’.

Councillor Carole O’ Toole summed the whole discussion up saying “Devolution is not equally embedded across Wales, the North South divide is still evident. Many people here associate more with the North West of England. It is disappointing there isn’t a greater understanding of the full meaning of devolution, people are not fully engaged”

The Commissioners agreed that there was a need for better communication through the media. On this point Wrexham.com noted that the social media and email responses of the Commission was lacking, a point we raised prior to the meeting in this Wrexham.com Forum Thread.

The meeting closed with the Commissioners thanking everyone and pointing out this was the best attended meeting they had held. There were about 60 people present and everyone was given time to put their point across in an open manner.

Slides

The slides referred to are below, they do mention Defence & Immigration however they were not really touched on during the meeting. We would link to the PowerPoint file on the official site, however it does not seem to be published.

A Wrexham.com Forum thread to debate this meeting , and the issues raised can be found by clicking here! Please feel free to take part!

A Wrexham.com Forum thread to debate this meeting , and the issues raised can be found by clicking here! Please feel free to take part!