I spoke at the online meeting on 'Co-production and the future of disability services in North Wales following de-escalation' hosted by TheFDF Centre for Independent Living (formerly Flintshire Disability Forum), with attendees from across North Wales. As both the Charity’s Patron and Chair of the Cross Party Group on Disability, I emphasised that the best approach everyone should take to disability equality is “No decisions made about us without us” and that Co-production “is about seeing everyone as equal partners in local services—breaking down the barriers between people who provide services and those who use them”.
I quoted from legislation which requires public authorities to address barriers that impede disabled people, to promote their involvement in the design and delivery of care and support services, and to work with them to help achieve goals that have been decided together.
Any public authority behaving otherwise is therefore in breach.
I had an online meeting with Hafod, a not for profit provider of housing, care and support, to discuss their Manifesto proposals for the Welsh Parliament Elections 2021. As they state, “We need to tackle causes not symptoms” and therefore to focus “on community and citizen strengths to help people take ownership to achieve their personal and collective ambitions”.
As Chair of the Cross Party Group on Neurological Conditions, I met the Wales Neurological Alliance online to discuss the impact of COVID 19 on people with neurological conditions and our future work programme.
I wrote to Wales’ Local Government Minister asking her to confirm her intended course of action after Welsh Local Government Association Group Leaders proposed a £762 million economic stimulus package in response to COVID 19.
As Shadow Armed Forces Minister, I attended a live broadcast by the British Army in Wales, which detailed how they serve the nation and how they are supporting the response to the current Coronavirus pandemic.
I welcomed the announcement that North Wales Police is to receive £1,067,000 from the UK Government’s £25 million ‘Safer Streets’ initiative to help them crackdown on organised crime in Wrexham and Rhyl.
Without a valid Local Development Plan (LDP) in place, local communities and green spaces are up for grabs by developers, but Flintshire County Council have been dragging out their LDP for years. I highlighted serious concerns raised with me after the Council released personal information in the LDP representations made to them by members of the public in a worrying online data protection breach.
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