A view from Clwyd South’s Member of the Senedd

Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Assembly Members to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home – you can find them all here.

In this month’s column Clwyd South’s Member of the Senedd, Ken Skates writes: ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌‌​​‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌​​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​​ ‌ ‌

I was delighted to join Vaughan Gething at the launch of his manifesto to become new Welsh Labour leader in Wrexham.

Vaughan will deliver more powers for Wales, and share more power within Wales – something I have called for previously. At Coleg Cambria, he announced game-changing pledges which will see more decisions affecting north Wales made here.

I’m backing Vaughan because I believe he has the experience, energy and vision to improve people’s lives. His manifesto includes bold, progressive policies – including expanding free childcare – which will do just that, as well as the delivery mechanisms needed to boost our economy.

Vaughan’s background is rooted in trade unions and campaigning for Welsh devolution. He’s being backed by major unions representing more than 100,000 Welsh workers including Community, the CWU, GMB, Usdaw, Unison and my own union, Unite.

We need the new leader to hit the ground running, and we are seeing that leadership already. Shotton Steelworks survived the 1980s because good people like Lord Barry Jones fought for it, and right now we’re seeing Vaughan fighting for the future of Welsh steel while the UK Government pats itself on the back for agreeing a deal which will see 2,800 jobs lost and families devastated.

I have once again asked Wrexham Council to issue an update regarding the B5605 at Newbridge.

It is now almost two years since the Welsh Government confirmed funding of more than £2.8m to repair and reopen the road – which was in addition to the grants it had already given to the council for investigations and exploratory work.

With the recent storms causing road closures, it has reiterated the urgent need for the road to be reopened and residents are getting more and more frustrated at the lack of information.

Constituents still ask me on a regular basis why nothing appears to be happening and where the money has gone, and they need urgent answers.

I will share the council’s response with the public when I have it.

Along with local councillor David Bithell, I recently met with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to further discuss residents’ complaints about foul smells from the Hafod landfill site in Johnstown.

We were told that – following our initial meeting in December – NRW had issued the site operator, Enovert, with an enforcement notice for breaching its environmental permit.

The company was deemed to have fallen short of its responsibilities in several areas, including odour and landfill gas management requirements and failing to suitably manage levels of contaminated liquids.

Residents have contacted myself and Cllr Bithell regularly to complain about the smell from the site, so we are grateful to NRW for listening and for taking swift action after our first meeting.

I hope this provides some reassurances to local people, but we will continue to monitor the situation and will waste no time in seeking further sanctions if things don’t improve quickly.

In the meantime, residents should keep reporting issues to NRW by contacting the 24/7 Incident Communication Centre on 03000 65 3000.

In the Senedd, I asked for an update on the plans for upgrades at Ruabon Station.

The Welsh Government wants lifts installed to improve access between platforms. However, as train station infrastructure is not devolved to Wales, the UK Government needs to support the plans or they cannot go ahead. And, so far, Tory Ministers have repeatedly refused to back our campaign.

I was told the Welsh Government is doing everything it can, and Ruabon remains ‘one of our top priorities for delivery in Wales’. Transport for Wales is working with Network Rail on the plans, and a final outline design is due at the end of March.

The final say on whether these long-awaited improvements will get the green light will once again come down to the UK Government.

The Welsh Government’s first bid for funding was a replacement bridge with lifts, and the second for a reduced cost alternative which would see lifts fitted to the existing footbridge. Both were rejected.

You can read the full transcript of my recent question to the Welsh Government here.

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