Gerald Jones MP Putting and Rhymney at the heart of Parliament Annual Parliamentary Report 2020

Dear constituent As your Labour Member of Parliament for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, this is my fifth annual report to you since I was first elected in 2015. I hope it gives you an idea of some of the work I’ve been doing in the past year to support and stand up for our area. If you have any thoughts or comments on the report, or any issues or concerns you feel I can help with, please see my contact details on the back page. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen our country experience some of the most challenging times for generations, it’s been uplifting to see communities supporting each other and adjusting to the new reality. The lifting of restrictions has allowed us to transition back to a form of normality, and in the months ahead it’s important for us all to continue supporting each other as much as we can.

Shops in reopen: supporting local businesses with Dawn Bowden MS In July, Dawn Bowden MS and I met with local businesses and shop owners - from a distance - in Merthyr Tydfil Town Centre, to try to gauge the feeling in the local community and offer our support and solidarity. Dawn and I visited a number of businesses around the Town Centre and it was great to see them open and trading again, and local people returning to High Street shops after a difficult and uncertain time during the lockdown. Our local shops play an important role in our communities, and I want to encourage everyone to please support our local businesses as much as you can, to help them recover and continue to serve local people during these difficult July 2020: with Dawn Bowden MS offering our support to local and unprecedented times. businesses in Merthyr Tydfil Town Centre 2019 - 2020: December General Election and being appointed Shadow Wales Minister Despite a disappointing national result in the December General Election, it was an honour to be re-elected as the MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney for another term, and I’m extremely grateful to all those who put their faith in me. Earlier this year I was delighted to be appointed as Shadow Minister for Wales by the new Labour Party leader , supporting my friend and colleague MP as the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales. Work began in the new role straight away as I took part in a historic session of Welsh Questions, which made history as the first session of ministerial questions to be held virtually. I was proud to be part of the history December 2019: being sworn in again as MP for Merthyr too, and be the first Opposition MP to Tydfil and Rhymney after the election result ask a virtual question in Parliament. Going forward in this new role, I’ll continue to do all I can to stand up for the people of Wales and hold the UK Government to account.

Working hard for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney during the COVID-19 pandemic Although the pandemic has changed the way that many of us work and live, my team and I have adapted and continued to work hard supporting constituents with issues and concerns. In the past few months I’ve held a number of telephone and virtual advice surgeries for constituents, attended regular virtual meetings with our local Councils, Health Boards and police, and continued to stand up for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney in Parliament - virtually and physically - supporting local communities and businesses and holding the UK Government to account. As we continue to adapt to the ever- changing situation of the pandemic, July 2020: distanced meeting with local authority I’ll continue to work hard for our councillors on local antisocial behaviour area and do everything I can to support our communities through these unprecedented and challenging times. February floods: calling for relief funding and supporting affected communities In February, the floods caused by Storm Dennis and Storm Ciara devastated communities both in our area and across Wales and the UK. Many months later, our local authorities, Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly County Borough Councils, have still been struggling with the costs of recovery and repair. Although in Wales funding for environmental issues like flooding is devolved to the , its budget from Westminster has been cut by more than £4 billion since 2010 under UK Government austerity, with both local Councils in hugely difficult financial positions even before the COVID-19 pandemic. In February, I secured a promise February 2020: calling on the Prime Minister to guarantee from the Prime Minister that flood relief support for Wales during PMQs the funding Welsh local authorities need would be provided by the UK Government; however, at the time of writing this crucial support still has yet to be confirmed. The costs that our Councils are facing have not gone away, and in the past few months I have called on the Government time and time again to finally step up and deliver the funding, speaking in debates, asking Parliamentary Questions and meeting with the Secretary of State for Wales. I’ll continue to push the Government on this to ensure that our communities finally get the support they desperately need to repair and recover. In the past few months, together with Dawn Bowden MS and local councillors, I’ve held meetings across the constituency with people who were affected by the floods to offer my support, and worked with our local authorities, as well as Welsh Government, to ensure that all those who were affected can get the answers and the funding they need from the

February 2020: speaking in an Urgent Question on flooding UK Government to finally recover to call for urgent relief funding from the damage done.

COVID-19 financial support: urging the UK Government to help those who’ve been excluded

Over the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an immeasurable impact on our society, rapidly changing our way of life and forcing the UK Government to act to save millions of jobs from being lost. While the support provided by the Government’s job retention and self- employment income support schemes has been hugely welcome, at least three million people in the UK have been unfairly excluded from the help due to falling through the gaps of the schemes, including those who were new starters in late March, freelancers and many self-employed people.

Due to the rigid criteria for the

Government’s schemes excluding people from the support, many have faced hugely difficult situations during the pandemic, left without any income, and in the past few months I have tried to push the Government to revise its schemes and stand by those whose lives have been devastated by the crisis, as the Chancellor said he would July 2020: urging the Chancellor to extend coronavirus support during the summer. to those who desperately need it in Parliament Nobody should be forced to miss out on their income through no fault of their own, and I have written to the Government and spoken in Parliament on various occasions to urge the Chancellor to revise the schemes, and worked with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Excluded UK, which aims to bring justice for the three million people across the country who have missed out on support.

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www.geraldjones.co.uk Call — 01685 383 739 Email — @GeraldJonesLAB [email protected] /GeraldJonesLabour Write — Oldway House, Castle Street, @GeraldJonesLabour Merthyr Tydfil CF47 8UX