Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

I just wanted to flag up a new campaign which was launched recently called ‘Who gets the tip?, which you might find of interest. The campaign’s aim being that businesses such as restaurants/pubs/cafes or other places where you tip, are more transparent with their staff and customers on how those tips are divided up.

If there’s no tipping policy displayed the campaign want consumers to start asking ‘Who gets the tip?’

This campaign can be followed on their  Facebook group and by following them on Twitter. They also have plenty of materials that might be of interest,  including research on tipping attitudes, a history of tipping timeline, quotes from celebrity chefs etc..

Interestingly, the research highlights some interesting comparisons between the nations:

the Welsh are most likely to leave a tip (91% compared to the overall figure of 79%), and are much swayed by service given;
the English are least likely to leave a tip in all types of establishments, apart from takeaways and deliveries, but are the most likely to ask the question ‘Who Gets the Tip?’ (22%);
the Scots are the most likely to tip all the time (45% compared to the overall figure of 30%), but are the least likely to have seen any information displayed about tipping policies (78%);

and the Northern Irish are the most likely to tip in cafes and restaurants (96% compared to the overall figure of 91%), but are the least likely to ask the question ‘Who Gets the Tip?’ (12%).

I SPOKE at three very inspiring International Women’s Day events yesterday. The first was for Chwarae Teg in Bridgend with co-speakers Charlotte Williams, Tessa Sanderson, Denise and Janet Hay, and Hayley Parsons from Go Compare.com. I spoke at a Bevan Foundation event in Merthyr Tydfil on a panel with other women in public life, and in Cwmafan as part of the YWCA’s celebrations.

Of course, all of these women are brilliant at what they do. I was in awe at their words, their successes, their drive and I was privileged to have been asked to speak at the events, and to seek to inspire others to be political and to push themselves forward in politics.

Nonetheless, driving back from the last event, I thought I’d reserve some personal thoughts for this blog, and why perhaps we still have a long way to go. Yes, International Women’s Day is important, but what’s more vital is that women feel supported and enthused every day of the year.

Being in politics at an early age and being a woman at that has been quite a roller coaster journey for me. Being elected by party members to stand as an AM was something to celebrate,  but it made life quite difficult as it was all change, and the spotlight  from the press and political commentators alike was on new candidates, new faces.

Many young women can offer something different to a different audience- an audience that are starting to get inspired. Slowly but surely, we are realising that young women can make a difference, and stand for election.

Looking back, standing for election was a challenging time, but I truly think that my confidence has grown since then. I still think that political parties need to recognise that young people, especially women are an asset to them. We can encourage people to join that would never have even blinked at a politician in the street, let alone talked to one. I hear on the grapevine that some other parties look to Plaid, and feel they should be emulating us in encouraging young politicians to become an AM. Yes, that is good, but when we join, when we become active, there must be an assurance that there are networks of people there to support us. It’s not like we are sparkly toys to put on show.

This is not to say that this is what happens all the time to all young female politicians, yet sometimes I truly believe that grassroots organisations, lobby groups and women outside politics can see our benefits a little bit more than party machines.

I often feel that because I am passionate and idealistic, it is seen as a flaw- I hear them think ‘ well, she’ll grow out of it’. However, today’s speeches and words of wisdom made me realise that this is often about the status quo trying to fit young politicians into neat boxes which are just not our shape or size. Energising young women to become politicians is not about creating a cardboard cut out, a yes person, a smiley face for TV. It’s about offering something new, unique, creative that wasn’t there before. Scratch the surface and young women have a lot to offer- when you don’t scratch the surface, they start to wonder how they can make a difference.

Women politicians need to look at themselves, and realise their self worth. We should, for example, encourage representatives of all political parties to come together more often, share ideas and feelings, so that we can realise that we are not alone and that we all have the same hurdles and problems as other women in society.

So yes, today was a great day to celebrate women. But we should mark it to raise awareness of what is not so perfect in our world, too. And yes – change it for the better!

This is a question I raised on Tuesday during business questions to Jane Hutt AM, regarding eating disorders:

Bethan Jenkins: As you know, it is Eating Disorders Awareness Week this week. This evening, a new charity, beat Cymru, will be launched in the Senedd. New research by Beaufort Research Ltd in Cardiff has recently been published. It contains shocking statistics, such as that one in five of the 1,000 people surveyed did not believe that an eating disorder was a mental illness. Many saw eating disorders as a lifestyle choice or a teenagers’ fad. Many of those views came from the elderly men who were interviewed, who saw it as a dieting problem gone wrong. In light of this research, will the Government commit to having an anti-stigma campaign in Wales with regard to mental illness? I know that Gofal Cymru supports that, but, in light of this new research in Wales, we need more education for people across the spectrum for them to be informed about how serious an illness an eating disorder is. I urge Members to attend the launch tonight.

Jane Hutt: The fact that our First Minister, Carwyn Jones, will attend the event, demonstrates the Government’s support, commitment and recognition. The Minister for Health and Social Services has also demonstrated her commitment by announcing last July new recurrent funding of £1 million to establish specialist tier 3 teams to improve diagnosis, care and support for people with eating disorders. A framework was issued to the service to inform the development of such teams. I was pleased to attend meetings of your cross-party group in my former capacity as Minister for Education Lifelong Learning and Skills to look at the broader issues. I am sure that you have served people well in raising awareness of this matter and I am sure that Assembly Members will attend the official launch if they can do so.

If you didn’t already know, I will tell you all that its eating disorders awareness week this week. I’ve written a blog for the feminist blog the f word about the launch of Beat Cymru, and the research they commissioned showing that many of the people surveyed in Wales thought that eating disorders were a lifestyle choice, and that 1 in 5 did not see it as a mental illness.

Here is the link to the article. I have just asked the business Minister if the Welsh Government will launch an anti stigma campaign following on from this shocking research, and I intend to follow this up with a letter to the Health Minister.

If you want to attend the launch of Beat Cymru, then please come to the Senedd at 6pm this evening.

WPS - didn’t get a chance to live blog at this year’s conference, I’m afraid to say. I sincerely meant to, but as usual, I was running around trying to be in 20 places at the same time. I had a good time, and gathered lots more work to get on with from the fringe meetings I was part of, especially the one on social workers. I think that everyone was in good humour at the conference, and there was a buzz about the place. It’s all go now though to the General election, and I hope to support the candidates in South Wales West as much as I can.

Bethan at the march in Port Talbot with Neath Port Talbot councillors Alun Llewelyn, Linet Purcell and, left, Rosalyn Davies

The protest in Port Talbot about plans to change the care home structure in the county, and against the potential 750 job cuts was really well attended by local people and Plaid councillors on Saturday morning. I managed to say a few words at the demo, specifically to clarify that the decision to create three super care homes in the area, which may be not-for-profit or a ‘business concern’ is a Labour cabinet decision, and not a council decision as was said at the beginning of the demo.

It’s fair to say that there’s a lot of opposition to the plans. I spoke at a public meeting last Friday in Glyn Neath about the potential closure of Trem y Glyn care home. Locals are passionate about the fact that it should remain open, especially given that the council has recently invested £0.4m on rewiring the place.

I’ve written to the council following the meeting with some key questions about the planned consultation on their ‘preferred option’ of three super care homes, and why David Lewis, the Cabinet member present there, said that even though this was a preferred option, that more care homes of a smaller size would not be ruled out. This runs contrary to what staff and family were told by the Director of Social Services at a previous meeting. It seems there is a lack of communication there somewhere…

Bethan with Plaid's Rosalyn and Linet on the steps of Neath Port Talbot council's offices

I won’t however hold out that I will be responded to in the very near future. It always takes some time for the Labour-controlled council to get back to me. No surprises there. But I don’t see what there is to gain by closing off information from some AMs. It is largely political, and partly due to the fact that councils keep the constituency AM informed rather than letting us all know what is happening in the borough.

Anyway, this issue will not go away and I’ll be involved in whichever way I can be alongside Plaid councillors and activists in the area.

I don’t think I’ll have time to blog tomorrow in between meetings etc, but I just wanted to do a quick blog about Plaid conference.

I’m looking forward to the two day event, and to the workshops and discussions that we will have as a party. It will help us develop policy and thinking for the future I am sure.

I am chairing a discussion on international issues, hosting a fringe meeting for the British Association of Social Workers of which I am a patron, and a fringe meeting on social media with the BBC.

The Conference will concentrate on the General election, without a doubt, and I am sure our candidates will be enthusiastic about the months ahead. If you want to attend the conference, go to Plaid’s website for more details. Of course, no conference would be the same without speeches, and I’m sure I’ll find some time to live blog them for you!

I won’t be at Conference on Saturday morning however, as Unison in Neath Port Talbot has called a rally in Port Talbot about the proposed job cuts by the Council. It starts at 10am from the railway station, and again, feel free to attend if you are local, and want to support front line public sector staff.

Another plug for Waleshome briefly here today.

Go there to read my article on the UK Border Agency office whistle blower that I have written for today’s society page on the website. Join the debate!

Over on the blog Wales home, David Melding the Tory AM with a regular column on the website, suggests that City Hall should be a royal residency in Wales. He says in the article that republicans like me are not his audience, but he has initiated a debate, I’ll give him that.

His idea is absurd, but then you would expect me to say that. Who is he targeting then, and for what purpose? It doesn’t seem to me that it is well thought out, or that the discussing is relevant. Anyhow, this is a quote that I gave to the Western Mail for a story in today’s paper. Thank you to the campaign group Republic for its tourism stats!

”As a Welsh republican, I can only say that I totally disagree with any suggestion that City Hall should be turned in to a royal palace. The monarchy is outdated, and opinion polls show that support for the royal family is low amongst our young people. As far as I am aware, there is no vacancy for a royal residency at City Hall. Where is the for sale sign?

City Hall is used on a regular basis for weddings, cultural events, council meetings, charity events and so forth. If a debate about its future is at the heart of the discussion here, then let’s ask the people of Cardiff, and the wider Welsh population if they have any creative ideas as to how to best develop City Hall.

This is a time of economic downturn, and proposing to create another residency for a family that already gets its fair share of public finances is absurd. Cardiff needs City Hall to encourage economic regeneration.

The suggestion that the monarchy promotes tourism is untrue. There is not a single shred of evidence to back it up. Of the top 20 tourist attractions in the UK only one royal residence makes it: Windsor Castle at number 17 (beaten comfortably by Windsor Legoland, in at number 7)

We have much more important issues to be debating at the moment than to provide more for the super rich. The Tories in Wales in the guise of David Melding are showing their true colours in this regard. I will be fighting to end child poverty and to encourage business development here in Wales, not on discussing an outdated and irrelevant royal family.’

I WAS present at the launch of Families need Fathers Swansea last night.

The organisation supports parents in helping to do the best for their child or children. It often supports non-resident parents in gaining access to their children via the family court system, as well as providing advice. It also campaigns on policy and legislative issues here in Wales, and is now extending that work to Swansea and other local areas.

I met with fathers at the meeting who are going through a very difficult time in seeking to gain access to their children, and are fighting against a system which seems to be set up to see them fail. Going through a long period of seeking access through court, to be told that the only access you can have with your child is to send them birthday and Christmas cards must be heartbreaking for any parent.

I can’t imagine the pain such parents must be going through. Nothing is black and white, yet from my short involvement with the organisation, it seems that the odds are stacked against the non-resident parent, who is more often than not the father.

There’s much that can be done to improve the lives of children, and to ensure that they have the love and care of both parents, extended family, and step parents here in Wales, and I will be very much involved in this process.

In the meantime, here is a link to the new group in Swansea, and a link to the National organisation.

 

 

 

 

This is a question that I asked during Business questions a few weeks ago in the Senedd. I hope to chase it up, as it is quite worrying if a company has been set up to take advantage of vulnerable people.

Bethan Jenkins:  My…concern relates to benefit entitlements. Cymorth Cymru has sent an e-mail to its stakeholders about a certain company that seems to have been set up without a proper address. It has a website called benefitanswers.co.uk. It has been seeking to represent people who are filling out their disability living allowance forms, and, in doing so, it claims as much as £1,500 from those stakeholders or clients that we acknowledge as being among the poorest in society. I seek a statement from the Government on regulation for companies that provide support for those who receive benefits, because this company appears to be quite questionable, as it only has a website and no address to which it can be tracked down.

Jane Hutt:… I am concerned about any kind of misleading and fraudulent information and advice with regard to benefit entitlement. I will bring this matter to the attention not only of our Minister for social justice, but UK Government Ministers.