Skates lands award for helping youngsters find work

* Ken Skates receives the award from  Gareth Pennant,

Assembly Correspondent for Golwg magazine.

Picture courtesy of ITV Cymru Wales.

Clwyd South AM Ken Skates has won a top award for helping thousands of unemployed young people into work.

The Labour Assembly Member was declared the nation’s rising star at the Politician of the Year awards last night (Tuesday) at a ceremony hosted by ITV Wales and the Wales Yearbook Online in Cardiff.

 

Mr Skates won the 'Member to Watch' award after steering the Welsh Labour Government's flagship youth employment scheme Jobs Growth Wales to "unparalleled" success and overseeing Europe’s most ambitious broadband scheme, Superfast Cymru.

Wrexham-born Mr Skates, who has his constituency office in Llangollen, paid tribute to the people of Clwyd South during his acceptance speech, and to the 13,000-plus 16- to 24-year-olds that Jobs Growth Wales has helped – which include almost 1,000 in Wrexham and Denbighshire.

 

He said: “It's a humbling honour to receive this award for the work I did in my previous role as Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology.

 

“I’m exceptionally grateful for the opportunity to serve as the AM for the people of Clwyd South as well as in the Welsh Government, and I will continue to work as hard as I possibly can for the people who elected me.”

 

The judges were unanimous in their decision to award Mr Skates the award, stating: “The panel were particularly impressed by the impact you had on the Jobs Growth Wales programme in your first deputy ministerial portfolio, a scheme so vital to our young people that required a champion both to motivate youngsters and engage employers.”

Cllr Davies congratulated Deputy Minister Ken Skates on his recent award "Member to Watch" at the Politician of the Year Awards.

He said: "Whilst being on opposite ends of the political spectrum, we work well together to do what is best for Llangollen and the Dee Valley."

Cllr Davies went on to say: "We worked well together to deliver the job saving and job providing Sainsbury/Cilmedw project and I am looking forward to working with him and the site owners of Mile End Mill to deliver an iconic tourism and job creating site."

Warning over roadworks for new health centre

 

* An artist's impression of how the new health centre will look.

 

Building work on the new health centre on Mill Street in Llangollen is now quite advanced and the next stages of the project will include the work needed to provide electrical and water supplies to the building, divert water mains, construct a pavement alongside the new building, provide drainage to the road, install bus stops, relocate the 30 mph zone and provide additional street lighting. 

 

According to the county council, this work is planned to start on the January 5 and continue for five to six months.  

 

While it takes place the road past the site will at times be restricted to a single lane, with traffic lights in place to control vehicles coming into and going out of Llangollen on the A539 (Mill Street) road to Ruabon. Bishop’s Walk will also be affected.

 

The main contractors, Read Construction, and the Health Board are currently working with Llangollen Railway to co-ordinate the movements of locomotives along Mill Street during the period that these lane restrictions are in place. 

 

No lane closures will take place during the following holiday periods: April 3-13, May 1-5, May 22 and June 1.

 

A statement from the contractors says: "We would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused by these temporary traffic control arrangements and ask for patience and understanding from road users whilst we undertake these essential works."

 

Read Construction will coordinate the lane restrictions with the utility companies and sub-contractors and will provide up to date information on their website (www.readconstruction.co.uk) and on the noticeboard at the Bishops Walk end of the construction site. 

 

They will also contact the residents of Bishop’s Walk directly. The individual utility companies will put up signs providing their contact numbers before they start work.

 

Once complete in mid 2015 the health centre will bring together the town’s GP practice and community health services run by the local Health Board with services provided by Denbighshire County Council and the voluntary sector. 

£50,000 raised in memory of tragic Tesni

 

* Tesni's parents Jason Edwards, who works for Ifor Williams Trailers, and her mum, Dwysan, who works at the Penybont surgery in St Asaph, present the £50,000 cheque to air ambulance crew paramedics Neil Lewis and Karen Davies, pilot James Benson and John Williams, managing director of Ifor Williams Trailers.

 

The heartbroken parents of a teenage girl who died tragically have met the helicopter paramedic who tried desperately to save her after she collapsed.

 

Neil Lewis was aboard the Wales Air Ambulance helicopter when it flew into the village of Cynwyd, near Corwen, as a thank you for the £50,000 that was raised by a sponsored walk in memory of 14-year-old Tesni Edwards (pictured right).

 

The distinctive red helicopter that's based in Welshpool landed in a field across the road from the headquarters of Ifor Williams Trailers where Tesni's dad, Jason, works.

 

There too were mum Dwysan and Jason's colleagues from the trailer firm who organised the Taith Tesni walk from Cynwyd to Llangollen.

Ifor Williams Trailers added to the amount raised to more than double the pot of money donated to the charity which has three helicopters based in Caernarfon, Welshpool and Swansea.

 

It's highly unusual for the Wales Air Ambulance to make visits like this but they made an exception because of the "phenomenal amount" raised by the walk.

 

The emotional meeting was the first opportunity that Jason and Dwysan have had to say a personal thank you to the Wales Air Ambulance crew who did their very best for their beloved daughter.

 

Sadly, they were unable to save the popular pupil of Ysgol Dinas Bran, in Llangollen, who died of an undetected enlarged heart a couple of weeks before her 15th birthday in April last year.

 

Neil, who was on duty the day Tesni collapsed along with fellow paramedic Mark Timmins, said meeting Jason and Dwysan was a humbling experience.

 

Dwysan, who is the Practice Manager at the Pen-y-Bont doctors' surgery in St Asaph, said: "We were amazed and overwhelmed by the effort that went into organising and the huge amount of money that’s been raised.  It’s beyond words really.

 

"It’s nice that something so amazing has been done in Tesni’s name and it’s helped us massively that something good has come out of it.

 

"It was great meeting the crew today. We were quite nervous about it before coming because obviously it was quite emotional seeing them again but it was really nice to meet them under different circumstances.

 

"We managed to talk to them about Tesni and tell them about her before that day. We showed them her photo and we were able to talk about her and how she did at school and what her plans were and they said that they really like meeting the families.

 

"They do an amazing job. They’re very brave and that’s why we wanted to raise money for them, to continue that amazing service that they provide."

 

Jason, who works in the stores department at Ifor Williams Trailers, said: "In the beginning I was hoping we would raise about £15,000 so when we found out it was £50,000 I just couldn’t believe it. It was absolutely unbelievable."

 

According to paramedic Neil Lewis, they very rarely had the opportunity to meet the relatives of the patients they treated.

 

He said: "It’s a very humbling experience first and foremost. To get the chance to meet Jason and Dwysan and to talk to them is a kind of healing process for us and the family.

 

"It certainly means a lot to me and I hope I can help with their grieving process as well.

 

"We can reach anywhere in Wales within 20 minutes and it costs more than £6 million to keep our three helicopters flying.

 

"The amount of money raised by local communities is staggering and it means we can serve the population and hopefully get them to the right hospital within the right time, which is a major thing in serious illness or accident."

 

John Williams, the managing director of Ifor Williams, Trailers, was among those with Jason and Dwysan when the helicopter arrived.

 

He said: "We were honoured that the Wales Air Ambulance decided to fly to Cynwyd to receive the proceeds of the Taith Tesni sponsored walk.

 

"It is impossible to imagine what Jason and Dwysan and Tesni's brothers, Morgan and Findlay, have endured having her wrenched from their lives so cruelly.

 

"We organised the sponsored walk in line with the family's wishes and we are pleased that we have been able to play some part in keeping the helicopters flying."

 

Wales Air Ambulance corporate manager Anna Evans was extremely grateful to Tesni's parents and Ifor Williams Trailers for organising the walk.

 

She said: "Fund-raising events like Taith Tesni are how we keep our helicopters flying. 

 

"We don’t get any Government funding or National Lottery funding even and every penny that we raise goes into the helicopter.

 

"The £50,000 raised in Tesni's memory is a fitting tribute to her. Obviously, Tesni will never be forgotten by her parents and her friends and her extended family but what they’ve done is make sure that she will never be forgotten by the people who rely on the Wales Air Ambulance."

County agrees £5.4 million cuts

Councillors in Denbighshire have approved the latest package of cuts totalling £5.4 million, as part of its overall plans to save £17 million over two years.

At a meeting in County Hall, Ruthin today (Tuesday, December 9) the council agreed the Phase 2 cuts, bringing the total amount of savings made to date to £10 million - this leaves a further £7 million to find over the next two financial years.

As part of the budget process, the council invited residents to get involved in a debate called Cutting our Cloth, to look at how the Council could lessen the impact of cuts on local communities.

Over 822 survey responses were received on a wide range of proposals, as well as petitions received as part of organised campaigns. A summary of the feedback received was discussed by the Council as part of the decision making process.

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, said: "We are grateful to Denbighshire residents for getting involved in the debate and for sharing their thoughts and ideas on how we can lessen the impact of cuts. The feedback has been reported to the various services for consideration and was also considered today as part of the budget debate.

"This level of cuts is unprecedented in Denbighshire and we are having to make difficult decisions on proposals which have generated some significant debate in our communities.

"I can reassure residents that the budget setting  has been one of the most detailed and most intense processes ever undertaken in Denbighshire. Councillors have received presentations in numerous workshops over a number of months and these have given us the opportunity to scrutinise every proposal in detail before they came to Full Council for a final decision."

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance and Assets, said: "We have done as much as we can through careful financial planning, through trimming services and protecting vital services to the public.

"The time has now come for us to start implementing some of the most difficult decisions we have ever needed to make as a council.

"Unfortunately we need to find a further £7 million and we are currently looking at what options are available to us to meet this difficult challenge."

Commenting, Llangollen county councillor Stuart Davies said: "I am disappointed to see the Labour Group in DCC failing to support any of the proposed cuts that we were being forced to implement by the Welsh Government in our Budget meeting today

"I am as a member of a responsible authority prepared to be pragmatic. We have to make a balanced budget, it is the law, members refusing to engage is a cop out. Just saying no doesn't hack it. It leaves the responsible members to make the horrible decisions."

He added: "They are following the lead of Chris Ruane MP and Ann Jones AM. They don't want to implement the Welsh Government cuts but can't come up with solutions on how to deal with them.

"I have heard Labour Party members discussing selling council farms to fund the Welfare Benefits Unit, not understanding that that is a capital receipt, a one-off and anyway can't be used to fund on-going revenue costs!

"They put forward a motion today that we should continue to fund the Welfare Benefits unit without coming up with a viable way to fund this non-statutory cost. They completely failed to understand that we have been through a long and arduous process in which they have attended meetings and yet sit on their hands when it comes to the crunch."

Police target illegal off-roaders

Police in the Dee Valley are warning illegal off-roaders who damage fragile and protected moorland that they risk being prosecuted and having their vehicles seized.

The warning follows an operation on Sunday, December 7, which was mounted in response to public concerns that some riders and drivers are riding or driving illegally on highly protected land.

Local officers joined forces with their partners from Natural Resources Wales and staff from Denbighshire County Council and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to conduct this day of action.

“The operation focused on the Moel Fferna, Ceiriog Forest, Cynwyd Forest and the Llantysilio Mountain areas which have been identified as areas that are being used illegally by some who have been off-roading on footpaths and the moors,” said local District Inspector for the Conwy and Denbigh Rural area Gareth Jones.

“Both Moel Fferna and Llantysilio Mountain are classed as Special Areas of Conservation and are protected under European law.

"For a number of years now we, along with our partners, have been warning against illegal off-roading. Yesterday’s action is part of our on-going work to stop the illegal activity which is having a detrimental impact on the area’s flora and habitats – much of which is highly protected.”

A total of 16 people were stopped as part of the operation. Seven were disrupted prior to committing offences and left the area, five were issued Section 59 notices and reported for various offences, another was reported for a related offence whilst three others were given appropriate words of advice for minor matters.

Insp Jones added: “This area forms part of a Protected Landscape, of which there are only five in Wales.  We will be continuing with our work and advising all off-roaders that when they go out on their bikes or in their 4x4 to ensure they stay on designated legal routes. The reality is that riders who break the law are likely to be prosecuted and risk having their vehicles seized.”

County's school meals service amongst best in UK

Denbighshire County Council's school meals has once again been independently judged to be among the top six best performing in the UK.

It took the accolade in the face of stiff competition from larger councils from the North West of England and other areas around the UK.  

The service was judged on school meal uptake, productivity, training, communication to customers and procurement and this is the fifth year in a row that the service has been short-listed  - the service won the award last year.

A council spokesperson said: "Denbighshire is rightly proud of it's school meals team which consistently perform well when compared against other councils school meals services." 

Warning to businesses over debt recovery scams

Trading Standards officers in Denbighshire are warning businesses to be on their guard against suspect debt recovery calls.

The warning comes after reports were received that businesses are being telephoned by people claiming to be from a debt collection agency chasing an outstanding debt. The threat of further legal action is used to extort money from the business.

Emlyn Jones, Public Protection Manager said: “We have been advised that there have been a number of reports nationally involving this scam. Callers sometimes use names of legitimate agencies to seem more credible, and in this case they are telling businesses they have an outstanding debt for advertising space in a Business Directory.

He added, “Whilst some small businesses may indeed use business directories for advertising we are urging them to be on their guard. Never give personal or financial details to anyone and anybody cold calling asking for money should be ignored without first making further checks.”

Anyone approached or affected by these callers can contact Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.