Beth Winter MP

July 2021 Report

Mark Drakeford this month moved us into Covid Alert Level One. This means we will be able to meet as many people as we like outdoors without socially distancing and up to 6 people can meet indoors with masks. All being well we could be moving into Alert Level Zero on 7 August. This would mean a further relaxation and no limit on the number of people who can meet indoors. Mask wearing will be eased off gradually in line with the risk to public health. We are not yet out of the woods despite the easing of restrictions and we all have a role to play in keeping safe, and protecting the NHS. The 5th July 2021 marked the 73rd birthday of the NHS. Read here the article I wrote on this which was published in the Western Mail. It is past time for a pay rise for key workers across our society. That’s why on Saturday 3rd July, I was proud to join NHS Workers Say No marching in to demand a pay rise for NHS staff. They have more than earned it. Also in the news this month was the Mineworkers Pension Scheme (MPS). The Government have so far taken over £4bn from the MPS without putting in a penny. The cross-party BEIS Committee (which is majority Tory) recently recommended that the Government amend the 50:50 surplus sharing arrangements in favour of the miners and hand over £1.2bn to the miners immediately. This month we saw an appalling response from the Government who rejected the recommendations out of hand and refused to change the deal. This despite a promise from Boris Johnson during the election campaign. I was interviewed on GTFM and BBC Radio Wales on this subject and expressed my frustration as well as asking in Parliament for the Government to review this decision. A better, and more trustworthy Government can be found here in Wales and I am pleased to be able to continue to sing the praises of our progressive Welsh Government on the Climate Crisis. In the last month we have seen not only a commitment to plant 86 million trees, but also a freeze on road building. This will allow time to reassess schemes through the lens of the Climate Crisis and for Welsh Government to plan how it will reach its target of 45% of journeys being made by sustainable modes. I wanted to make sure local people had the chance to have their voices heard on transport in the and so the second of my Climate Assemblies was themed around Green Transport, with Future Generations Commissioner Sophie Howe, RCT Climate Champion Rhys Lewis and public transport expert Gemma Lelliott addressing us. Like the previous event on Green Jobs, this was a positive event with an excellent turnout by local people & groups who raised many important issues and made lots of useful suggestions about how Cynon Valley could transition to a Green Transport system. Thanks to those of you who attended and contributed to this very important discussion.

WORKING TOGETHER IN CYNON Beth Winter MP FOR A FAIRER FUTURE FOR ALL In Cynon

The 28th June was the national Right To Food day of action organised by my friend and colleague Ian Byrne MP. In recent weeks I have tried to visit all of the foodbanks and food pantries across Cynon Valley to get a feel first hand for the level of food poverty in our communities. It was inspiring and upsetting in equal measure to visit Merthyr Cynon Foodbank, the Salvation Army, Community Pantry, Community Pantry, Penderyn Community Pantry, Big Bocs Bwyd in and School’s community pantry. I also took a few hours to help collect for Merthyr Cynon Foodbank in Tesco. I understand that the Food Bank at Ramoth chapel in has now ended and a new Community Pantry has opened up at Hirwaun Primary school. I am inspired by the amazing people who come With the inspiring Cleide at Merthyr Cynon Foodbank together to make sure nobody in the community needs to go without, but at the same time I believe that none of these initiatives should be needed because everyone should have a right to food. Something has gone seriously wrong when hundreds of people in Cynon Valley are relying on food parcels. As well as an inspiring visit to Penywaun primary school with Chair of Governors Cllr Helen Boggis, I hosted a meeting of primary schools this month to hear about how lockdown has been for pupils and their hopes and dreams for the future. Thank you to all those schools who participated. I also visited two comprehensives in the constituency. I was accompanied by Cllr Steve Bradwick, Chair of Governors, when I met Mrs Morgans at Aberdare Community School and was also pleased to visit High School where I met the Head, Mr Cripps. The first of July marked the second anniversary of the tragic death of Christopher Kapessa. I have been working with and trying to support Christopher’s mother, Alina, since starting in the role of MP and I felt honoured to be invited to speak at an emotional anniversary event on Zoom. Thanks to Mountain Ash Town Football Club who this month unveiled a plaque dedicated to Christopher. This November, Royal Mail will be ending their post office accounts. Thousands of older people rely on these accounts for their State Pension and other benefits and will need to open an alternative bank account. This can be a complicated and time consuming process so my office has joined Age Connects Morgannwg and Citizens Advice RCT in raising awareness of the upcoming change, so that people are prepared. If anyone you know relies on post office card accounts, please let them know! I also joined my fellow RCT MPs and Alex Davies-Jones in writing to the main banks in RCT asking them to make sure that there remains a physical banking service in our communities. With so much of my first 18 months(!) in the job dominated by Covid, I have continued playing catch up and trying to get out and meet as many people as possible in Cynon Valley. As well as the visits to food banks and schools mentioned above, this month I popped in to Social Club, to Mountain Ash market, to the Bryncynon Strategy and to My Valley, an online marketplace for sustainable products based in . It was also great to meet David from RCT Heart Heroes in person at the unveiling of a new defibrillator in Ynysboeth, the first community defibrillator in that community. Finally, I had a brilliant time with my family at the launch of Caban Guto at Daerwynno outdoors centre in . I also enjoyed visiting the new splash pool at Aberdare Park one evening with my youngest. Thanks to everyone who took the time to meet me during these visits! Finally, I spent an evening with local police officers looking at the pressures they face in our community – particularly with the effects of Government underfunding. I will continue to raise this matter in Parliament and will continue to work collaboratively with our local police force .

WORKING TOGETHER IN CYNON Beth Winter MP FOR A FAIRER FUTURE FOR ALL In the Bubble

Following the Right to Food Day, I used a question I had been called for in Parliament to call for a lift to the benefit cap. In my view, it is straightforwardly wrong that the DWP calculates how much people need to get by, and then forces them to live on less than that. It is inhumane and it is forcing thousands of families in Wales to choose between eating and heating their homes. Read more here. This month also saw the dreadful news that Rishi Sunak intends to phase out the £20 Universal Credit uplift this Autumn. The uplift has been a lifeline to millions, including an estimated 7000 people in Cynon Valley. To remove it is cruel and callous and will drive families into poverty and debt. I will continue to argue for making the uplift permanent and extending it to those on legacy benefits. As the co-chair of the cross party group on UBI I have continued to meet various groups to discuss the UBI trial, including the Future Generations Commissioner Sophie Howe and expert on the topic Guy Standing. I’ve also been in correspondence with the relevant Minister in Wale, Jane Hutt MS. A quick reminder as well about the latest inquiry of the Welsh Affairs Committee, of which I am a member. The inquiry will look into the benefits system here in Wales, asking what needs to change in Wales, and whether or not further devolution is needed in this area. If you would like to submit evidence to the inquiry, please do so ahead of the 10th August deadline. The Welsh Affairs Committee has also this month completed its report on railways in Wales, which you can read here. We concluded that a ‘Wales Rail Board’ should be established to take a strategic approach to rail investment in Wales. We also concluded that HS2 should be labelled as an England- only project, not an England and Wales project, as it brings no discernible benefit to Wales in its current form. This would mean Wales receiving Barnett consequentials, which we currently do not. A number of incredibly concerning pieces of Tory legislation were brought to the House this month, including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. There are no end of reasons I could speak against this sordid bill and I’ve previously raised concerns about its implications for freedom of speech and the right to protest. This time I chose to stand in solidarity with the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community whose way of life would be criminalised by the bill. I also spoke in Parliament against the cruel and inhumane Nationality and Borders Bill which will have devastating consequences for refugees and those seeking asylum in the UK. The Bill is fundamentally flawed and means the Government will turn their backs on some of the most vulnerable people on Earth. The Bill risks breaching international law and undermines global efforts to support victims of war and persecution. The Labour Party opposed the Bill when it returned to Parliament for its second reading this month and in my speech, which you can read here, I urged the Government to shelve this Bill and return to the House with a proposal to reform the asylum system that would respect the basic rights of refugees to live a dignified and contented life in the UK. Another bill the Tories are forcing through is the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which would clampdown on dissenters and protect the right of fascists and inflammatory speakers to spout hate on campuses. Watch my speech against the Bill here. I didn't get to speak against the Health Bill but I signed Zarah Sultana’s reasoned amendment to try and throw out the bill and was proud to join demonstrators outside Parliament protesting against the bill, which would open the door to further privatisation and to the kind of sleazy backroom dealings for NHS contracts we have been seeing throughout the pandemic. You can read more about it here. I am very conscious that health is devolved and met with anti-privatisation campaign group Every Doctor this month to discuss the differences here in Wales. Another difference between Wales and the UK is the approach to the Climate Crisis. I spoke about this in a recent Westminster Hall debate about Climate Change in Wales, and gave examples of the positive work being done here in Wales as well as here in the Cynon Valley where it has been wonderful to have to so many local people and groups getting involved with my climate assemblies. I was pleased last month to see more detail on Welsh Government’s ‘Reforming our Union’ plans, centred around constitutional reform and devolution. The UK Government has consistently shown its contempt for the devolution settlement in recent months so this a vital and timely discussion, and it is positive that Welsh Government are committed to having it.

WORKING TOGETHER IN CYNON Beth Winter MP FOR A FAIRER FUTURE FOR ALL Tom’s Comms

Part of my role is to co-ordinate Beth’s economy advisory group, bringing together local people who are interested in the local economy. Beth has now commissioned the Bevan

Tom Bateman Foundation to undertake research on the economy of the Cynon Valley and what that could Communications look like after Covid. The economy group are Officer advising the Bevan Foundation on the local context in this process. The research is currently on track for publication at the end of September. You can read Beth’s article on this which was This month saw the second of Beth’s Cynon published this week in Labour List here. Climate Assemblies, this time focused on The other project that has been keeping us Green Transport. Like the first session on busy is what we are calling the Roadshow. We Green Jobs, this was really well attended and are all very conscious that due to Covid we’ve demonstrated the amount of expertise that we spent a lot of time in the office and not enough have here in Cynon Valley. time out and about speaking to people across One of Beth’s key election pledges was to Cynon as we’d intended pre-Covid. We’ve been focus and campaign on Climate Crisis and the playing catch up over the early part of the Environment. Another was to work alongside summer and over August we are committed to local people to identify priorities for action and stepping this up further and spending some time find solutions. This mindset meant it seemed in each of the 15 wards in the Cynon Valley. quite a natural idea to try to bring local people If you will be in Cynon Valley during August together with climate change policy experts and and you’d like to come and say hello or help out hear what they thought. at a street stall, please get in touch and I can let Often environmental policy can seem you know when Beth will be in your area! quite top-down to people and we wanted to Finally, Beth held her first street surgery in ensure that we gave local people the Cilfynydd at the end of June, and there will be a opportunity to say what they thought needed to full programme of street surgeries across Cynon happen, having heard what experts had to say Valley starting in September after the roadshow. about the problems we face. The third and final Tom Bateman event will take place in September, with [email protected] speakers to be announced closer to the time.

01685 243166 @BethWinterMP WORKING TOGETHER IN CYNON [email protected] FOR A FAIRER@BethWinterMP FUTURE FOR ALL