AM attacks county over halting Right to Buy

Shadow Housing Minister and North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has criticised Denbighshire County Council’s decision to stop people buying their own council houses for five years.

Denbighshire has voted to stop ‘Right to Buy’, following in the footsteps of Anglesey, Flintshire, Carmarthenshire and Swansea councils.

The council has said there were 10 applicants for every vacant council home in the county and right to buy "threatened investment in new homes".

But Mr Isherwood (left) claims the take-up of ‘Right to Buy’ is no longer significant enough for its suspension to reduce housing pressure.

He said: “I believe this is the wrong way forward. Abolishing ‘Right to Buy’ in Denbighshire will deny the prospect of home ownership to tenants and will not in itself increase the supply of affordable housing.

“Further, current legislation only allows Councils to suspend the Right to Buy’ for a limited time in a specified area, which would make a negligible contribution to improving the availability of affordable housing, given findings by leading expert Professor Wilcox that tenants remain in occupation for 15 years on average.

“As the Welsh Affairs Committee found, the suspension of the Right to Buy would not in itself result in an increase in the supply of affordable housing.

“The proposed scrapping of Right to Buy is a smokescreen and would not do anything to create more homes or increase the numbers of households with their own front door.”

Mr Isherwod says Welsh Labour has mounted a sustained attack on ‘Right to Buy’ and  in 2015  halved the ‘Right to Buy’ discounts from £16,000 to £8,000 and signalled its intention to scrap the ‘Right to Buy’ altogether.

He added: “Welsh Conservatives would instead protect the ‘Right to Buy’ for tenants wanting to buy their council home and reinvest ‘Right to Buy’ proceeds into new social housing, providing more homes for more people languishing on Labour’s waiting lists, increasing the number of people who are able to find a home to meet their needs.

“‘Right to Buy’ has already dwindled under Welsh Labour. During 1999-2000, 3590 ‘Right to Buy’ Council Home sales were completed in Wales, rising to 6,865 during 2003-04, but since falling to just 176 in 2014-15.  

“The social housing crisis is the result of Welsh Labour policies, not right to buy. During its first 3 terms in Welsh Government,  Labour cut the supply of new affordable homes by nearly three quarters and slashed the total number of social homes in Wales by nearly 30,000.

"As the 2012 UK Housing Review stated "it was the Welsh Government itself that gave housing lower priority in its overall budgets, so that by 2009/10 it had by far the lowest proportional level of housing expenditure of any of the four UK countries".

“National House Building Council’s figures show that Wales was the only nation in the UK to decrease new homes registrations in 2014-15.  Compared with a 7% increase in the UK overall, Wales is lagging behind with a 2% reduction.”

Valley Girls raise £3,000 for hospices from calendar sales

* Valley Girls hand over a cheque for £1,500 to Hope House Hospice.

Members of Valley Girls WI have said a big public thank you to everyone who has helped their Llangollen Vintage Calendar raise a total of £3,000 for two charities.

The money will be split between Nightingale House Hospice and Hope House Hospice.

A group spokeswoman said: "We'd like to thank the Chamber of Trade and Tourism for their support and for encouraging local business to stock and sell the calendar and also the businesses themselves, who were all very supportive, co-operative and even had staff giving us an extra plug at the checkout, which bumped up sales.

"We're so grateful to all of our local supporters who took this project to their hearts and made many sales to friends, relatives, colleagues, members of their dance class or patients in the waiting room.

"No opportunity was missed. Everyone can feel proud, this really was a community project.

"The Valley Girls are taking a break from calendars this year to concentrate on something a bit different.

"It will all come together around the time of the Fringe Festival.

"Members are hoping to show off some of their creative skills but nothing has been confirmed yet as details are a bit woolly!"

* Another £1,500 cheque goes to Nightingale House Hospice.

New police boss pledges to serve all the people

* New North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones.

A new police boss has pledged to serve all the people of North Wales without fear or favour - and to make tackling domestic violence a top priority.

Former police inspector Arfon Jones, the second ever North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, was speaking on his first official day in office (Thursday, May 12) after succeeding Winston Roddick in the job.

Standing as a Plaid Cymru candidate, he swept to victory with a massive majority of 25,364 votes.

According to Mr Jones, a member of Wrexham County Borough Council, it was one of the proudest days of his life to lead the force he served for 30 years, both in uniform and as a detective.

A native of Harlech in Gwynedd, he is married with two daughters and four grandchildren and lives in Gwersyllt, near Wrexham.

Mr Jones is now in charge of a budget of £147 million and is responsible for making sure the money is spent effectively to keep the people of North Wales safe and secure.

In doing so, he vowed to represent everybody in North Wales, regardless of their political affiliations.

He said: "It's very important.  I agreed 100 per cent with what Sadiq Khan said when he became Mayor of London, that he represented all the people of London.  I think that is perfectly correct.

"I think all politicians should do that, no matter who has voted for you, you represent all your electorate without fear or favour. It’s part of being sworn in.  I have promised to do this and I take my responsibilities seriously.

"I plan to consult widely about the policing priorities for North Wales to make sure we have a good idea of what it is that the people of North Wales want us to deliver over the next 12 months.

"Once I publish the plan I will then scrutinise the force and hold the chief officers to account to make sure that the plan is realised."

One of the commissioner's first priorities will be tackling the issue of domestic violence.

Mr Jones wants to extend the use of body-worn video to all front line police officers in North Wales so that evidence of crimes can be captured as they happen.

A total of 128 video camera kits have already been deployed across North Wales and have proved a big success, particularly in relation to domestic violence.

Mr Jones said:  "Domestic violence is a hideous crime and one I feel passionately about.

"The fact that seven victims of domestic violence are killed every month in England and Wales makes it an obvious priority. 

"There’s an emotional cost, there’s a cost to society and there’s a financial cost and I think it’s a responsibility to us all to prioritise things of this nature.

"I would very much like to provide every front line officer in North Wales with a body-worn video. 

"I think that the evidence that is coming out from the use of body worn video is that the number of offenders who are arrested and charged and brought before the courts has increased.

"I would certainly encourage victims to come forward, either by reporting the matter directly to the police or by getting in touch with a partner agency.

"When people come forward to report such an offence, it's often the case that it will have happened dozens of times previously.

"To be fair to my predecessor, Winston Roddick, he did a lot of work on this issue and I’m looking forward to carrying on this work and developing it further."

Another priority for Mr Jones keeping children out of the criminal justice system to ensure they are not criminalised at a young age, blighting their future prospects.

One of the problems, he said, was the absence of a consistent approach in the way young justice services were delivered in different parts of North Wales.

I’ve been leading Children’s Services for Wrexham County Council with responsibility for Youth Justice which comes under the Ministry of Justice at Westminster.

"It is financed by the Welsh Government, the office of the Commissioner, North Wales Police, the probation service and the health board and it is all dealt with differently across the whole of North Wales.

"Responsibility for youth justice should be devolved to Wales because at the moment the way it works is that it’s like a postcode lottery and I think that children and young people deserve a better service.

"We should intervene earlier when the children are younger and break the cycle of crime before it happens."

Chief Constable Mark Polin wished Mr Jones well in his new role. He said “I would like to congratulate Mr Arfon Jones and welcome him as the new Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales. 

"I look forward to working closely with him to deliver the Police and Crime Plan and ensuring North Wales remains a safe place to live, work and visit where vulnerable members of society are protected from harm.”

New Dot Cinema has an horrific offering

Tonight's screening at Llangollen's New Dot Cinema in the Town Hall council chamber is one of two films specially chosen to appeal to a young adult audience.

Critically acclaimed Swedish horror Let The Right One In (pictured below) is a vampire movie unlike any other.

Less trashiness, more intelligent suspense.

Doors open tonight (Friday May 13) at 7.30pm.

Be warned: this film contains sex and nudity, violence and gore - not for the faint-hearted!

Then next month's film is Dear White People showing on Friday June 10.

A low budget, independent recent release from the US, this stylish, sharp talking and beautifully shot movie tells a story about being a black face in a white place.

New Dot organiser Keiron Preston has encouraged several new volunteers from the 18-25 age group to assist at this special screening.

Together they've tweaked the refreshments for a new market and will be present on the night to run the proceedings.

This initiative is part of an on-going strategy to reach out to different sectors of the community in the Dee Valley.

New Dot Cinema is a not-for-profit organisation, run by volunteers. Watch this space for news of a spectacular summer screening in conjunction with The Fringe Festival!

More information: http://www.facebook.com/NewDotCinema/

Tickets, priced at £5 each, are available online or from Baileys Deli of Llangollen. Also available on the door, unless sold out.

MP calls for women's pension re-think

* Susan Elan Jones with other MPs in Parliament calling

on the government to re-think its pension plans for women born in the 1950s.

Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones joined WASPI Westminster, a cross-party group of MPs that is calling on the Government to look again at pension provision for women born during the 1950s.

The Labour MP said: "The Government urgently needs to make fair transitional arrangements for all women born on or after April 6 1951 who have unfairly borne the burden of the increase to the State Pension Age (SPA).

"Hundreds of thousands of women have had significant changes imposed on them with a lack of appropriate notification. This isn't fair or right.

"It is a big issue for many women in our area and indeed across the UK. Planning means everything when it comes to pensions."

She added: "At the heart of the campaign is the 1995 Conservative Government’s Pension Act included plans to increase women’s SPA to 65, the same as men’s.

"Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI), agree with equalisation, but don’t agree with the unfair way the changes were implemented – with little/no personal notice (1995/2011 Pension Acts), faster than promised (2011 Pension Act), and no time to make alternative plans."

RAFA Club to host charity concert

A charity concert will be staged at Llangollen RAFA Club at 8pm on Saturday May 28.

Featuring Alan B, who has toured with singing greats including Rob Orbison, all proceeds from the event will go to the Wrexham Maelor Hospital stoke unit. There will also be a raffle.

Tickets, at £5, are available from Gwyn the Butchers, the RAFA Club or on the door on he night.

No confirmation over supermarket tenants

* Neither Aldi nor Home Bargains will confirm an interest in the new supermarket.

Neither of the two retail giants suggested as potential occupiers of Llangollen’s “ghost” supermarket will say for sure whether they have an interest in taking it over.

Sainsburys, who built the 34,000 square foot store off the A5, announced a year ago that they wouldn’t be running it directly due to adverse economic conditions and revealed they were looking for potential tenants.

The pull-out also dashed hopes for 130 promised jobs.

There has since been speculation that supermarket chain Aldi and discount group Home Bargains were ready to sign a deal to jointly occupy the building.

But this week both companies remained non-committal.

A spokesman for Aldi told llanblogger yesterday (Tuesday):  “Aldi, the award-winning discount food retailer, is keen to develop a new food store in Llangollen.

“There is a clear need for greater shopping choice in the area and Aldi is looking at a variety of sites that fit both suitability and convenience for local shoppers.”

And a spokesman for Home Bargains said today: “Unfortunately, it’s a no comment from us, as we work to a strict planner of confirmed stores.”