AM calls for end of uncertainty over disabled funding

North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to end the "uncertainty" for the thousands of disabled people and their carers who are anxiously waiting to hear whether funding will be available to enable them to continue to live independently.  

The Independent Living Fund (ILF) delivers financial support to disabled people so they can choose to live in their communities rather than in residential care.

 

Speaking in the Assembly Chamber this week, Mr Isherwood (pictured) said there is real concern among disabled groups that the Welsh Government are not proposing to ring fence ILF.

 

Calling for a Welsh Government Statement on the matter, Mr Isherwood said: “I call for an update on Welsh Government’s intentions for the Independent Living Fund (ILF). The Minister will be aware that, after the responsibility and funding was transferred from the UK Treasury to the Welsh Government for this, supporting disabled people to live independently, disabled groups expressed concern that the Welsh Government was not proposing to ring-fence the fund.

 

“Well, we’re now into March, with less than four months to the final closure of the existing funding on 30 June, and we’re still awaiting a decision following the consultation that ended before Christmas, I understand, which leaves very little time for new arrangements to be put in place. Therefore, there are many anxious existing ILF recipients and carers, fearful about their future ability to continue living independently.

 

“Concerns have been exacerbated by rumours, which may be no more than that, that Welsh Government will delay a decision for 12 months, which, if the case, it’s hard to imagine anything other than the funds being transferred to local authorities against the opposition of recipients, carers, the Wales Alliance for Citizen Directed Support, Disability Wales and other third sector organisations.

 

“I understand that some local authorities, certainly in North Wales, are writing to people regarding their final care plan from the ILF, telling them that, for funding after June, they should contact the local authority social services department, and giving a named person to contact, who’s already left.”

 

Mr Isherwood claims the Minister for Government Business, Jane Hutt AM, failed to address the points he raised and instead laid blame with the UK Government.

  

Mr Isherwood added: “This had been raised with me as Co-Chair of the Cross Party Group on Disability as a matter of serious concern to disabled people and their carers. I’m disgusted that this Minister chose to score cheap political points rather than address this.

 

“As the Scottish Government stated, current funding for this support to disabled people has been transferred from the UK Treasury to them, but this Labour Welsh Government won’t admit that the same applies in Wales. This was transferred to the devolved administrations so they can decide how  ILF users in their nations will be supported. Scotland has appointed a full time ILF Business Manager and embedded a project assistant within ‘Inclusion Scotland’, Disability Wales’ sister body.

 

“It is simply not acceptable that disabled people in Wales are being left in the dark as the closure of the existing scheme fast approaches.” 

Firms warned over cyber threats

A lack of understanding about potential cyber dangers means small and medium sized business in North Wales are putting a third of their revenue at risk.

 

That's the warning from internet security expert Henry Platten (pictured), a former policeman who is now patrolling the virtual world keeping businesses safe.

 

He will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Wrexham Business Professionals at the Catrin Finch Centre at Glyndwr University on Tuesday, March 24.

 

The group was established by local solicitors and accountants who collaborate on a non-competitive basis to promote the development of businesses, skills and employment opportunities for professional people.

 

The other keynote speaker will be Neil Ashbridge, the Bank of England's Agent in Wales.

 

Mr Platten, who has also worked as a BBC journalist, set up set up the Flintshire based firm eTreble9 with wife, Danielle.

 

A great deal of their work involves helping firms in North Wales battle cyber threats.

The firm has also created revolutionary scheme to keep children safe online.

 

The eCadets scheme beat rival contenders from all over the UK to win first place in the category for Making the Internet a Safer Place at the prestigious Nominet awards.

 

According to Mr Platten, recent research by the Cyber Streetwise organisation had revealed that small and medium sized companies are putting 32 per cent of their revenue at risk because they are falling for some of the common misconceptions around cyber security.

 

That, he said, leaves them vulnerable to losing valuable data and suffering both financial and reputational damage.

 

Worryingly, two thirds of SMEs didn't consider their business to be vulnerable, and only 16 per cent felt that improving their cyber security was a top priority for 2015.

 

Mr Platten added: "There are many benefits from using social media safely and appropriately - it's a brilliant tool for marketing, recruiting and so on.

 

"But going blindly into social media and integrating it into your business without being aware of some of the risks beforehand can be potentially dangerous.

 

"Without being aware, sometimes people can disclose commercially sensitive information that they may not wish to.

 

"There is a risk of being hacked via social media accounts when people bring their own devices into work and then integrate with the work system.

 

"There are also viruses that can easily be spread through social media and there are reputational risks.

 

"One misplaced sentence on Facebook or Twitter can cause an organisation untold damage in terms of crisis management.

 

"Businesses are at risk of being victims of crime as well with fraud being one of the top ones.

 

"Potentially, if your cyber security isn't up to scratch, thieves can hack in and steal money from your bank account.

 

"One of the ways that that works through is that the email account you have connected to your social media account.

 

"If that’s the same one that you run your life with people who find it very easy to do the hacking can very easily work out your email account attached to your social media account.

 

"Generally you will share some personal information through your social media account which can be used to identify your password and then they simply go through the password process, match it up to your email account.

 

"As soon as they’re in, they see your entire life, who you bank with, your home address where your deliveries are sent.

 

"So an easy way around that is if you have a social media account, have a separate email account that is just for social media and nothing else.

 

"Data now is the most valuable commodity in the world. It’s more valuable than gold or oil.

 

"In looking at identity theft and fraud, small businesses are the prime target because cyber criminals know they don’t have huge internet teams working 24/7 keeping them safe.

 

"That’s why it’s important for small businesses to know how to use the internet and social media it in the right way.

 

"If you understand the risks then you can protect yourself, you can get the maximum benefit without any of the danger coming along as well to make sure that your business can run in a consistent and a smooth way without any avoidable hiccups."

 

Wrexham Business Professionals spokesman Simon Griffiths, of Chartered Accountants Guy Walmsley, said: "We are delighted that Neil Ashbridge and Henry Platten have agreed to share their expert views.

 

"Neil will be giving us a brief update on the latest economic position while Henry will be giving us guidance about how to use the internet safely and appropriately."

Llan man triumphs at Wounded Warrior games

* AJ Pingham with the four medals he won

at the Wounded Warrior games in Las Vegas.

 

A DISABLED ex-servicemen from Llangollen fought his way to four medals – including a gold – at the recent Wounded Warrior games in Las Vegas.

 

Representing Team Great Britain, 38-year-old Alistair Pingham – known as AJ to his friends – triumphed against the cream of disabled athletes from the UK, USA and Australia by storming to gold in the seated discus, silvers in both the shot put and wheelchair basketball and bronze in archery, all of which he tackled from the seated position.

 

* AJ Pingham, third from left, with fellow
members of the GB team in Las Vegas.

AJ, who is originally from Tamworth in Staffordshire and now lives with his wife Joy and their two children in Llangollen, has for the past three years been a teaching assistant in the pupil support unit at Ysgol Dinas Bran in the town.

 

He spent four and a half years serving in the Royal Navy as a marine engineer mechanic, and he says it was the amount of his sport he played during that time that led directly to his disability.

 

AJ said: “I’d been playing hockey for 18 years and played even more when I joined the navy. In fact, I was captain of the navy’s hockey team for three years.

 

“The result of all this was that the ligaments in both my ankles started to deteriorate.

 

“I had an operation in which they attempted to rebuild them. They re-routed tendons from the back, near the achilles tendon, by drilling holes through my ankle bones.

 

“That helped for a time but it also gave me arthritis which has gradually eaten through the cartilage in my ankles to the point where they can’t be replaced.

 

* AJ competes in the archery. 

“I now find walking quite painful. I use a stick and have a specially adapted car.”

 

After leaving the navy, AJ took a job as a lecturer at the former Yale College in Wrexham but was forced to leave that when his disability became too acute.

 

He is now at Ysgol Dinas Bran which he praised for putting in a number of disabled aids to help him do his job.

 

AJ decided to resume his passion for sport as a way of trying to regain a normal life.

 

For a number of years he has played for Chester’s wheelchair basketball team, Cheshire Phoenix, and started his fightback to frontline sport by winning selection for the British team in the inaugural Invictus Games started for injured ex-service personnel by Prince Harry and held last September.

 

He won a gold medal for his country in wheelchair basketball after beating off strong competition from teams from across the world.

 

AJ then overcame a tough selection process to become one of just 21 disabled ex-service athletes chosen to represent Team GB in the Wounded Warrior games staged at the Nellis air force base near Las Vegas in Nevada earlier this month.

   

It was a week of intense competition which saw over 100 athletes, all injured in some way while serving with their countries’ armed forces, taking part in everything from basketball and volleyball to archery, swimming and rifle shooting.

 

While Team GB took a total of 47 medals in all disciplines, AJ came home with an incredible haul of four medals.

 

He said: “It was a fantastic occasion and I was honoured to be part of the team sent over to the States by the charity Help for Heroes.

 

* AJ's fantastic medal haul of four.

“I’m really enjoying myself competing and it’s nice to be able to push yourself to the limit.

 

“I think every injured service person suffers from some form of depression because of the things they suddenly can’t do any more but competing has helped me to beat that depression.

 

“In fact, my wife says that she’s now got her husband back.”

 

AJ is currently training six days a week with the aim of reaching the GB trials for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, when he has an eye on competing in rowing, shot put, seated discus and archery.

 

He also hopes to take part in next year’s second Invictus Games, which are due to be held in the USA.

 

But before all that he has another major hurdle to overcome when both of his feet are amputated to help rid him of his problem ankles.

 

Incredibly, AJ says he’s looking forward to the surgery, planned for some time later this year.

 

He explained: “It will open up a lot of new doors for me as far as competing is concerned, like being able to get blades for running and prosthetics for rock climbing.

 

“When you have pain every day like I have anything to improve your standard of life has to be welcomed.

 

“My son Luke, who is 11 and at Ysgol Bryn Collen, has told me that when I go for a run for the first time after having my feet amputated he’ll be running alongside me.”

 

The purpose-built wheelchair AJ uses for competition was supplied by Help for Heroes but to enable him to continue competing at the highest levels, he is currently on the lookout for a sponsorship deal. 

 

* He can be contacted through Ysgol Dinas Bran on 01978 860669.

Breast cancer change "greatly concerns" patients says AM

North Wales’ Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Aled Roberts says that centralising breast cancer surgery  in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd from April this year as part of the announcement on maternity services two weeks ago has caused great concern to many cancer patients who will be forced to travel long distances.

 

“There appears to be have been no proper consultation with cancer patients from Gwynedd and Wrexham about this change which is the result of consultant-led maternity services being removed from Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and concentrated in Ysbyty Gwynedd and Wrexham Maelor,” commented Mr Roberts.

 

“Many patients and their families from the western and eastern extremities of North Wales will be forced to long distances to get to Glan Clwyd and in some cases it may well mean that women will be having life changing breast cancer surgery without the support of their families.

 

“I have been contacted by breast cancer patients who are very worried about these changes and the speed with which they are being implemented. I will be writing today to the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to ask whether they have assessed the transport difficulties that these changes will create for many patients. It appears to me that they have considered the medical benefits without giving due consideration to what this may mean for people’s lives.

 

“In the long term I am very concerned that the Betsi Cadwaladr Board may be planning more urgent changes to medical services as a result of problems recruiting staff. Will more services be concentrated in one or two hospitals?

 

"Wouldn’t it be better for the Board to be honest about their future plans? I am planning to raise these issues with senior managers at Betsi Cadwaladr and will report back with their response.”

New garden waste scheme starts March 30

Denbighshire County Council is counting down to the re-start of its garden waste collection service at the end of the month.

Since the announcement of charges for garden waste collections last autumn more than 11,000 households have opted into the scheme.

The first collection vehicles will leave council depots in Bodelwyddan and Ruthin on Monday March 30.  H

Householders that have opted in receive a collection calendar for the fortnightly service and a bar-code sticker for their green bin, or bar-coded tags where garden waste is collected in bags.

The council assures residents that all orders placed by March 16 will be ready for the first collections that start at the end of March.

Residents should refer to their collection calendar which for their actual collection day.

Councillor David Smith, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, said:  “More than 10,000 orders have been fulfilled and calendars and stickers have been sent out and extra bins or bags delivered.

"Some orders, less than 2% of the total, have been held up due to some inconsistencies but every order placed by March 16 will be ready when the service starts.  "

Anyone who wants to receive the service when it starts needs to place their order by the 16^th, though it’s possible to opt-in to the scheme at any time.”

Denbighshire’s introduction of charges for garden waste collection followed a significant reduction in its grant from the Welsh Government and will reduce council spending by around £400,000 annually from April 1 2015.

The council set an annual charge of £24 to empty its standard 140 litre green garden waste bin every two weeks with an option to have a second bin for an extra £12.

There is an equivalent service in place for residents who use the Council’s green dumpy sacks for garden waste.

The new service will operate for all 12 months of the year; there will be no seasonal break as there has been this winter.

Householders can opt in to the garden waste collection service by making a secure payment online at denbighshire.gov.uk/gardenwaste.

Payments can also be made by calling Denbighshire’s Customer Service centre on 01824 706101 or in person at any of the Council One Stop Shops.

Annual town meeting deals with some hot issues

ONLY about 20 people turned up for the annual town meeting at Llangollen Town Hall yesterday (Tuesday) evening.

However, a number of hot local issues were still aired. 

The meeting is the yearly opportunity for local people to hear what the Town Council has been doing on their behalf over the previous 12 months and for them to fire questions and comments from the floor on issues of interest.

In his opening address the mayor, Cllr Bob Lube, said that over the past year he had attended 55 meetings, representing and promoting Llangollen locally and nationally.

The council’s planning committee, he said, had continued to be vigilant, its members giving their “careful and considered recommendations” on all planning applications received.

He announced that a vacancy had arisen on the council following the resignation of Cllr Jane Palombella due to work commitments.

The Friends of the Town Hall group had given attention to the fabric of the building, with work including the fitting of new lights in the main hall and lighting outside the building being upgraded.

The Town Council had over the past year given financial support to organisations such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, he explained.

In conjunction with the Cittaslow community group, there had been a World Café event at the Town Hall last November at which people were able to give their views on local issues in a relaxed atmosphere.

A crowd-funding project led by Cllr Phil Thane through Cittaslow Llangollen had successfully raised £1,000 to pay for a one-day traffic study of the town centre with a view to easing traffic problems. This would take place on May 26 and be followed by a public meeting in the Town Hall.

The project to facelift the Chain Bridge had progressed well and would see the re-opening of the historic landmark within the next few months – 31 years after the bridge was closed for safety reasons.

Cost of supporting the project to the Town Council was £6,000, said the mayor, adding: “It just shows what a small community can do when committed to a cause.”

Other schemes in hand were improvements to the cemetery, he added.

He praised volunteers from Llangollen Tidy Town Team for the many hours of unpaid labour they had put in over the year, describing their contribution as “exceptional”.

Cllr Lube also had praise for organisers of key annual events such as Remembrance Sunday, Hamper Llangollen Food Festival, the Christmas Festival, the Eisteddfod, the Fringe, the Women’s Festival and the railway’s steam gala.

“My thanks to all involved in these magnificent events,” he said.

The mayor described the Town Council’s budget for next year as “prudent” and said that its share of the council tax bill – the precept – would be £88,845 – an increase of 61p on a Band D property.

Revealing that this would be his last town meeting as mayor as his two-year term of office was ending, Cllr Lube summed up by saying: “There’s certainly a lot of activity in the community at the moment and there are many opportunities for people to get involved.”

Questions and comments from the floor began with praise from resident Phil Jones for Cllr Phil Thane and Cittaslow for organising the latest traffic study.

Cllr Thane replied that in Castle Street drivers, traders and pedestrians had competing priorities for what should be done and that all solutions were contradictory. Hopefully, he said, the consultants would come up with an answer.

A resident pointed out this would be the third traffic study done on the town centre in recent years, asking: “Nothing ever gets done, so what’s different about this one?”

Cllr Thane said this was a “grassroots” scheme by the community rather than the county council.

There was then criticism from the floor that the Town Council had not been consulted on the last county-authorised survey.

The mayor replied that the Town Council was making representations about this.

The mayor was then questioned from the floor about what plans the Town Council had for the future look of the Royal Gardens and the adjacent war memorial.

Cllr Lube responded that he had requested an artist’s impression of a possible scheme to be prepared to facilitate a debate.

He added that a working group, comprising members of the local Royal British Legion, Tidy Town Team, Civic Society, Museum and Rotary, had been formed to decide on a possible scheme. There was also the possibility of looking into whether a suitable scheme would qualify for lottery cash support.

Edwina Hart, of the Save Our Paths campaign group, thanked the Town Council for its support of its battle to save the countryside around Llangollen from “damage and trespass” by illegal off-roaders.

She added that 500 people had now signed a petition in support of the group’s aims.

Other points raised from the floor included:

* Pedestrian access to the new health centre being built on the A539. The mayor said the Town Council had made representations about this to the county council and the health board.

* Whether Sainsbury’s would ever occupy the new supermarket being built for them on the former Dobson & Crowther site on the A5. Cllr Lube said he had recently been told by the site manager that Sainsbury’s were still coming and that the completed building was due to be handed over to them in September.

* Measures to control dog fouling. The mayor said county council enforcement officers – now in plain clothes rather than uniform – were regularly visiting the town.

* Traffic lights on the A5 at the bottom of Birch Hill. Cllr Lube said he had been informed that a survey was currently being carried out to determine ground movement at either side of  the road. He added he had been told that any sideways movement detected would mean major work which would take some time to complete.

The meeting, which was also attended by eight town councillors and Town Clerk Gareth Thomas, closed after about an hour at just before 8pm with the mayor thanking all those who attended.  

Crime tsar examines helicopter base decision

A crime tsar is investigating whether he can challenge the decision to axe a police helicopter base in North Wales.

 

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Winston Roddick CB QC (pictured below) is unhappy about the lack of proper consultation over the planned closure of the base at Rhuddlan in Denbighshire on September 15.

 

The police helicopter base at Hawarden in Flintshire will remain open.

 

The announcement was made last month by National Police Air Service (NPAS), which runs the UK’s police helicopter services.

 

It was part of a package of cuts which will see eight of the service’s 23 bases closing.

According to NPAS, it was facing budget cuts of 14 per cent in the next three years on top of the 23 per cent savings they had already made.

 

Mr Roddick said: “I am concerned that the decision by NPAS to shut the base in Rhuddlan does not concentrate enough on north Wales’s needs. 

 

"Likewise, I am concerned that consultation prior to the decision being made was clearly lacking. 

 

"NPAS has not taken the time to properly explain the rationale of the new operating model to us and I am therefore exploring whether there is an option to appeal the decision.

 

"The closures were presented as a fait accompli.  A series of working group meetings is being planned by NPAS to consider the reorganisation but this is too little, too late.

 

"In the meantime, I am in discussions with the Chief Constable to fully assess the implications of what is being proposed.

 

"The airbase in Rhuddlan represents the culmination of a great deal of hard work on the part of officers from this force and the location is central to north Wales.

 

"It is vital that the integrity of the air cover for North Wales is maintained and that the region continues to benefit from a first class service."