2011 Blog Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,300 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 55 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Boundary Commission proposals will see Labour ‘lose out’.

Seems that Labour, despite their apparent support for electoral reform and better democracy (yet failed to spend anything substantial on the AV Referendum in May) are complaining that Labour will be the worst hit because of  ”Westminster Government’s plans” to alter

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constituency boundaries following the Boundary Commission‘s proposals.

Despite the fact that the Boundary Commission is a statutory committee for the Electoral Commission, which is an independent body, Labour are under the impression – or so Cardiff West Labour MP Kevin Brennan seems to be - that the proposals are attempts made by the Conservatives to secure an advantage for the party at the next election.  He also seems to think that Labour is still the party of the working class. But that’s another discussion.

However, I do agree that changing the law to remove penalties on people who do not register to vote would keep many people off the Electoral Register. But again, this argument by Labour is nothing more than a self-serving, selfish approach. Kevin Brennan even said himself;

“Most of the people who won’t register to vote will be poor people, who would be more likely to vote Labour.”

They also seem to be under the misguided impression that changing boundaries will change support. A Labour spokesperson claims that the Liberal Democrats could be wiped out in Wales;

“reconfigured constituencies [...] will be merged with neighbouring constituencies in one way or another [...] Whichever direction they go, there will be fewer Lib Dem supporters.”

They also seem to think that Plaid Cymru will be left with only one seat.

So why are Labour who were clearly elected by the people of Wales (or so they think) in the last Welsh Election worried about losing a few seats? (May be the minority government bit of it). Their argument isn’t concern for those who will not be registered to vote, or even encouragement for the proposals to equalise the number of voters in constituencies across the UK, this is Labour looking after their own.

Wales Online. 

 

In Praise of the Independent: Finding strengths in Nick Clegg

In Praise of the Independent: Finding strengths in Nick Clegg.

What would Clegg say if he wasn’t in Government? Lib Dems have lost their most effective voice

What would Clegg say if he wasn’t in Government? Lib Dems have lost their most effective voice.

Letter: RCT’s Education Record.

I was appalled to read about how schools in RCT have been banded in the Welsh Government’s new branding system. Only two schools were placed in Band 1, and three schools were placed in Band 5. Futhermore, the GCSE attainment of schools in RCT is, generally, very low. In Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg, only 57% of children achieve 5 A* – C GCSEs – acceptable GCSEs. Even one of the only two schools that achieved Band 1, Aberdare Girls’ School, had a GCSE attainment of only 38%.

What’s even worse is the fact that this pattern exists right across Wales – yet the Government has its head buried deep in the sand. Whilst the Welsh Liberal Democrats are trying to improve educational attainment for the poorest in Wales, the Government publishes league tables in the hope that things will correct themselves.

It’s time RCT Labour and the Welsh Government took their heads out of the sand and took a good look at the big picture.

Rhys Taylor

RCT and Education. Best kept separated.

The issue of education and RCT is beginning to be a bit repetitive now. Having blogged about the farce Labour led RCT Council made over the restructuring of post-16 education in the county borough not so long ago, the Government’s new ‘banding system’ only highlights the failings of RCT on education.

Rhondda Cynon Taf CBC doesn’t seem to do all too well when it comes to education. It seems now, however, that we aren’t alone! Unfortunately.

The Welsh Government have now placed all secondary schools in Wales in a banding system of 1 to 5. The banding takes into account the assessment of the schools for the 2010-2011 academic year. All assessments followed the same criteria which was based on four broad categories;

• The percentage of pupils achieving five A* to Cs at GCSE including English or Welsh and mathematics

• The best eight GCSEs of pupils

• The performance of pupils at GCSE in English or Welsh and mathematics

• Attendance

The issue that has arisen from this ‘exercise’ has shown that less than a quarter of Welsh Secondary Schools have no schools in the top band of a system which is designed to identify the best and worst schools.  The Government and Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, deny that the banding system “names and shames schools” – but that is exactly what it is. Unless there is sufficient support for those schools at the bottom of the banding system, it serves little or no purpose.

A little closer to home, Rhondda Cynon Taf’s branding is nothing short of appalling. Only 2 RCT schools was placed in Band 1, whilst 3 schools were placed in  Band 2; 2 schools in Band 3; 9 in Band 4; 3 at Band 5. Of the three schools which only achieved lowest band, RCT’s centre for life-long learning, Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg – a topic which causes must discomfort for RCT Council – achieved a mere Band 5, with only 57% of children achieving 5 A* – C GCSEs.

What’s more worrying, however, is the fact that only 5 schools out of a total of 24 secondary schools, achieved the top bands. Even Aberdare Girls’ School, one of the two schools to achieve a Band 1, the number of children receiving 5 A* – C GCSEs was a mere 38%.

Whilst the Welsh Government’s Education Minister targets Welsh Universities and sends Education bodies post-card tuition fee policies, and attacks Wales’ examination body, Wales’ education attainment suffers. Leighton Andrews needs to stop pretending that everything is fine on the education front, and address the issues at the heart of the education system, which this banding system unfortunately will not do.

Battling the rhetoric over the Welsh Liberal Democrat’s deal with Welsh Government.

It seems that some Plaid Cymru and Welsh Conservative members are fairly unhappy that they were not the ones to secure a deal with the Welsh Government. I’ve seen many call it a “pathetic deal” and claim that, in the case of the Tories, that the party have “endorsed Labour’s savage cuts to the NHS” – probably a case of sore losers. This shows that the Welsh Liberal Democrats are the effective and responsible opposition that Wales needs, holding the Government to account and ensuring that it delivers for Wales.

The package secures one of the party’s key manifesto priorities - an extra £20m for a new Pupil Deprivation Grant; Wales’ version of the Pupil Premium. It also includes a £38.9m economic stimulus package to stimulate the economy and protect jobs, including extra resources for the young recruits and skills growth Wales programmes.

The Pupil Deprivation Grant will ensure that the Government can reduce the effect of poverty on educational attainment, something that is vital to secure if we are to see the future economy and skills base of Wales progress. Just 1 in 5 children on free school meals gets 5A*-C good GCSE’s – the policy will ensure that each child that receives free school meals will receive an extra £450 in funding. Securing £71,001 for Cardigan alone - £511,200 for Ceredigion – a fair sum of money for a relatively small county.

Teachers and a teaching union have welcomed the new policy.

People have attacked the Pupil Premium claiming that it is just a policy which re-distributes existing money – but the argument is that we can do more for less. We have to do more for less.  However, doing more  for less doesn’t have to carry the same negative connotations it usually would. By effectively targeting new or old money, we can have a real impact on the lives of individuals. We can’t continue throwing money at projects and policies – we need to be far more effective in how money is spent and distributed.

I believed that Welsh politics had moved on following the Referendum, but First Minister’s Questions and reports have often left me doubting Wales’ progression since May – the lack of government programmes, the constant references to Westminster on devolved issues – this policy however, and the manner in which the need to redraft the Welsh budget has been approached, allows me to believe that Wales has moved forward, and we can continue to do so.

Letter: Welsh Liberal Democrat and Welsh Government budget deal.

I was pleased to hear of the agreement that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have brokered with the Welsh Government, securing a budget that provides the help that the most deprived children in Wales need to break the link between poverty and educational attainment.

For every child that receives free school meals schools will receive an additional £450 in funding to help raise standards. This could be used to reduce class sizes, put in extra learning support, or to buy additional books or equipment.

The additional £38.9m economic stimulus package is also something that we can be proud of and which will bring real benefit to the people of Wales. A stimulus package that will protect jobs and target the skills gap that exists in Wales, to help our faltering economy, and to build for the future. If Wales is to compete in the future world economy we need a strong skill base and strong economic foundations.

These plans will not only help the economy short term but also build towards the future. The Yes Referendum in March proved that Wales was ready to make the big decisions, and this deal is a step in the right direction.

Rhys Taylor

Assembly brings back bilingual records.

As I blogged about before bilingual records of Assembly proceedings had been dropped some time ago, at a time when Plaid Cymru – a party which prides itself on their campaign to give the language the same legal status as the English language – were a part of the government.

The records will finally be bilingual with the proper equipment and professional translators to provide “high-quality record of plenary proceedings in an efficient and sustainable way.”

However, it’s unacceptable that bilingual records have to be reintroduced.

You can read the BBC article here.