£25 Million to ease tuition fees pressures

Welsh Labour’s Education Minister Leighton Andrews today welcomed extra funding to ease the pressures on student finances.

The Welsh Assembly Government has allocated a further £25million from in-year reserves for 2010/11. 

Extra pressure in the current year has been caused by a rise in the number of students in 2009/10 and 2010/11. At the same time there was an increase in the number of students eligible for means-tested grants.

This funding is evidence of how the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government is helping students to get the best possible start in life. Despite a difficult overall funding settlement the Assembly Government continues to have a strong commitment to Higher Education, and will be investing nearly £400 million next year.

As the Assembly Government tries to protect education spending following the worst financial settlement since the Assembly was established in 1999, this latest funding increase recognises the increase in student numbers this year.

Welsh students will not pay extra tuition fees

Welsh Labour’s Education Minister Leighton Andrews today announced that Welsh domiciled students will not have to pay extra tuition fees as the cost will be met by the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government.

In England, basic tuition fees will rise to £6,000 per annum and Higher Education institutions will be able to charge fees up to £9,000, providing they can demonstrate a commitment to widening access and other strategic objectives. The threshold at which students have to start repaying their student loans will also increase from £15,000 to £21,000.

However, the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government is determined to support Welsh students and has announced that Welsh domiciled students will not have to find either £6,000 or £9,000 to study. The increase in fees for Welsh domiciled students, whether they study in England or Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland, will be paid by the Welsh Assembly Government.

So, Welsh students who go to university in 2012-13 will be paying the same in real terms as students who go to university in this academic year. In addition, Welsh domiciled students will continue to be eligible for subsidised loans to meet the costs up to the current level of tuition fee.

The announcement comes as the UK ConDem Government - including the Lib Dems who promised to oppose tuition fee increases at the General Election six months ago - plans to force students in England to pay up to £9,000 in tuition fees themselves. While the Conservatives are determined to shift the burden to students, the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government is giving Welsh students the opportunities they deserve.

Don’t get bitten by loan sharks this Christmas

With only one month to go until Christmas day, Welsh Labour’s Social Justice Minister Carl Sargeant is warning people of the dangers of borrowing money from loan sharks

Loan sharks often prey on the most vulnerable people in society, including the unemployed and single parent families. However in today’s difficult financial climate more and more people are turning to loan sharks when money is tight, and it is estimated that around 150,000 people in Wales currently owe money to an illegal moneylender. 

Illegal moneylenders can range from small time loan sharks to violent and organised criminals operating throughout Welsh communities. Launched in February 2008, and supported by the Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government, the Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit (WIMLU) raises awareness of the dangers of loan sharks and provides advice and support to victims. Since its launch, the unit has helped 1,412 victims of illegal money lending.

The Unit also works to stop illegal moneylenders operating in Wales. Since 2008 their investigations have led to the arrest of 43 loan sharks

The Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government has provided over £62,000 of funding to help the Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit, Credit Unions and partners to tackle the loan shark problem in Wales.

The Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit on the 24 hour Hotline can be contacted on 0300 123 3311, by e-mail on imlu@cardiff.gov.uk or Text 'loan shark' to 60003.

Frontline health service a budget priority, says First Minister

First Minister Carwyn Jones today reiterated that the Labour-led Assembly Government will do all it can to protect NHS frontline services in its Draft Budget, which is published next week.

The First Minister was addressing healthcare professionals at a major international conference in Cardiff today on chronic conditions, public health and the challenges that face the NHS.

Carwyn Jones said:  “Next week, the Welsh Assembly Government will publish its draft budget for the next four years.  I can’t reveal the detail of that yet, of course, but let me make this commitment to you;  the NHS is, and always will be a priority for the Assembly Government, and we are doing all we can to protect this cherished service.

The First Minister said that the NHS is already performing more efficiently than it did some years ago.  He said that the average length of stay in hospital for orthopaedic care and treatment had fallen by a whole day since 2005 and nearly 6,000 fewer operations are cancelled each year.  He said that streamlining the NHS to 10 organisations was making savings and management costs are falling.

Concluding his speech, the First Minister said:  “The NHS was born in Wales, and is the pride of Wales.  I’m proud that the NHS in Wales has remained true to the principles of its founder, Aneurin Bevan, with services provided free at the point of need.  That’s why I’ve promised that universal benefits such as free prescriptions are here to stay.

“Past experience has shown what happens when financial pressures are translated into all-round cuts in services – with those in greatest need often taking the biggest hit.  It’s that overarching principle of chwarae teg, fair play to all our people, on which the NHS was founded and which my Government is basing its priorities.  And I know that you as NHS staff who care for any patient, regardless of their background, will appreciate that principle more than most.”

Welfare Spending: Some Facts

The chart below is taken from the excellent UK Public Spending website.

It shows welfare spending as a percentage of GDP since 1950. The welfare spending that George Osborne is about to slash, that Labour ran up in order to build a “client state” and which “we can no longer afford”.

In 1997 welfare spending as percentage of GDP was 7.76% , in 2010 (despite a recession and higher unemployment) it is 7.26% – lower than in any year 1979 to 1997.

This is being cut, as Douglas Alexander argues, for political reasons. As Don Paskini notes, it will hit the low paid hard.

Stop the sale of the Royal Mail

The UK government is to begin the process of privatising Royal Mail, raising the prospect that the "one price goes anywhere" universal postal service could be scaled back.

The business secretary, Vince Cable, has revealed plans for a bill to enable the sell-off of Royal Mail, which will include offering shares to employees. He appeared to confirm that there could be a total privatisation – going further previous Liberal Democrat and coalition promises.

A YouGov poll last month found a majority of voters of every party oppose privatising Royal Mail with support at only 15 per cent.

Deliveries could be cut back to five times per week. Under existing legislation, Royal Mail is required to provide six deliveries per week of letters at an "affordable and uniform" price to anywhere in the UK.

The ConDem coalition belives that Royal Mail will not be able to afford to carry out this service even though overall its letters business doubled operating profits last year and there is already a fully funded modernisation programme agreed by both management and unions is in place bringing stability to the company.

The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), who reprsent thoudands of postmen and women, voiced fears that the Government was plotting to "seize" pension assets it said were worth £26 billion.

CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said: "Privatisation is old politics. It's the failed politics of history which brought disruption to Britain's utilities and railways and astronomical prices for consumers. Dangerously in this case, we fear the Government may also be plotting to seize the pension assets.

"Privatisation would be devastating for Royal Mail and the whole country's postal services. The universal service has been a key part of the UK post for 170 years but because it isn't the profitable element of mail, the privatisation will put it at risk.

"This could damage the service for all customers, including millions of small business and potentially harm the UK economy. Privatisation will also mean separation of Royal Mail and the post office network, putting the very existence of many more post offices that play such a key role in Britain's communities at risk.

"Royal Mail has always been a privatisation too far and there is a public majority out there who will vote this Government out for flogging off our national assets and breaking our public services."

Dave Ward, CWU deputy general secretary, said: “Everyone’s a loser if you privatise the Royal Mail. Jobs and services will suffer and customers will see prices soar.

“We’ve put in place a detailed and fully funded modernisation programme which is dramatically transforming Royal Mail. Why does the government want to threaten the stability and capital of this programme when it’s proving a major success?." 

Hundreds march through Cardiff in protest at spending cuts

Around 300 protesters from across Wales marched through the city centre this weekend in opposition to the cuts proposed by the UK government.

The public sector employs around a quarter of the workforce in Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government has said the Spending Review meant it would lose £1.8bn from its budget over the next four years.

The march, which started at City Hall and ended with a rally at Sophia Gardens, was held by trade unions who believe that the proposed cuts to public services will cause widespread jobs losses in Wales.

The march started at 1pm and the procession was led with a banner supporting the Newport passport office, which faces closure and the loss of 300 jobs following an announcement from the Home Office last week.

The event was organised by members of a number of unions. Speakers included representatives from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, the Nasuwt teachers’ union and the branch secretary at the Swansea Remploy section of the GMB union.

A number of local Labour members joined the march along with the Plasnewedd Branch Labour Party banner.