Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

Here is a link to a blog that I wrote about the future of S4C for the Institute of Welsh Affairs blog, Click on Wales. Take a read and tell me what you think…

Dyma link i’r blog wnes i sgwennu am ddyfodol S4C ar gyfer blog Sefydliad Materion Cymreig, Click on Wales. Croeso i chi ddarllen y blog, a gadael i mi wbod eich barn……….

So it’s just over a month until the first hustings meeting for the South Wales West regional list. I’m enjoying the campaign and, having had a well-earned break, and am now out and about with my work as an AM in the region once again. The best parts of this job are attending local events, and speaking to local people- to hear about the issues that matter to them and how I can try and help them or – better still – help them to move things on or to campaign themselves. With regards the internal party reselection, of course, Plaid members have the same concerns as others in the region- the same concerns as their neighbours, friends and families- especially regarding the economy, jobs prospects in the area, and ongoing local campaigns that many Plaid members are leading on.

To this end, I’ve set up a facebook group that you can join to support me should you so wish over here and a youtube channel here. Of couse, I’m encouraging people to support me based on the work that I have done locally on campaigns such as Visteon, the care home campaign in Neath, work with Swansea University to retain the Hafod Copper works, and my ongoing work with the cross party group on eating disorders, and the cross party group on human rights. I’m passionate about following on with many of these campaigns as an AM in the future,  and will be asking people to support me on that basis. Of course, I couldn’t do much of the work without Plaid members and the team that I have around me in South Wales West.  Anyway, the campaign is ongoing with two hustings meetings taking place in October. In the meantime, here is a clip of an endorsement by my friend, the SNP MSP Aileen Campbell.

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Felly mae dros mis i fynd hyd nes bod y cyfarfod hysting cyntaf yn digwydd ar gyfer rhestr Plaid yng Nghorllewin De Cymru at etholiadau’r Cynulliad y flwyddyn nesaf. Dwi’n mwynhau’r ymgyrch ar ol i mi gael brec. Nawr dwi allan eto yn perfformio fy ngwaith fe AC yn yr ardal. Rhan gore’r swydd yw mynychu digwyddiadau lleol, a siarad gyda pobl lleol- i glywed am faterion sydd yn bwysig iddyn nhw, sut medraf eu helpu, a gwell fyth, eu helpu i ddatblygu ymgyrchoedd eu hun. Wrth drafod yr etholiad mewnol, wrth gwrs, mae aelodau Plaid yr ardal yn dangos diddordeb yn yr un fath o faterion a phawb arall yn y rhanbarth- yr un consyrn a’r pobl drws nesaf, ffrindiau a’u teuluoedd- yn enwedig pan yn trafod yr economi, gobaith o swyddi yn yr ardal yn y dyfodol, ac ymgyrchoedd sydd yn digwydd yn yr ardal yn barod y mae nifer o aelodau Plaid yn arwain.

I’r perwyl yma, dwi wedi sefydlu grwp Facebook er mwyn i bobl ymaelodi i fy nghefnogi, a sianel youtube yma. Wrth gwrs, rwy’n ennyn pobl i fy nghefnogi yn sgil y gwaith rwyf wedi gwneud gydag ymgyrchoedd lleol megis yr ymgyrch Visteon, tai gofal yng Nghastell Nedd, gwaith gyda Phrifysgol Abertawe i adfer safle copr Hafod, yn ogystal a fy nghwaith gyda’r grwpiau trawsbleidiol ar anhwylderau bwyta ac hawliau dynol. Rwyf yn awyddus iawn i barhau gyda’r ymgyrchoedd yma fel AC yn y dyfodol, ac yn gofyn i aelodau fy nghefnogi ar sail fy record. Wrth gwrs, byddai cyflawni’r gwaith yma yn amhosib heb aelodau Plaid yn yr ardal, ac heb gefnogaeth fy nhim yng Ngorllewin De Cymru. Ta waeth, mae’r ymgyrch yn mynd yn ei blaen, gyda hystingau yn digwydd  ym mis Hydref. Yn y cyfamser, dyma clip gan fy ffrind Aileen Campbell sydd yn Aelod o Senedd yr Alban dros yr SNP.

Danny Clark, a Plaid Cymru activist and community councillor in Llangynwyd near Maesteg has started a campaign against proposed shift changes for fire service staff in Wales. I have sought to support Danny’s work in highlighting the difficulties fire service staff will face if these changes are made. The South Wales Branch of the Fire Brigades Union balloted members for industrial action short of a strike over the proposals for a new duty system, and the union’s committee met recently to discuss roster plans for Maesteg, Penarth and Pontypool, where 50 jobs will be cut and the firefighters left will have to double their weekly working hours to 96 hours per week.

The proposed plan by the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service of an alternative crewing system at selected South Wales fire stations, aimed at maintaining existing response times and levels of service to the public will make, according to them, make net savings for the service. However, it will expect longer working hours from crews, while firemen and women will be expected to work to an older age. I do not think this is an acceptable way to treat fire officers and believe that it could lead to tired crews that may become a danger to themselves and to the public.

From the staff Danny and the Plaid team have spoken to in Maesteg, these changes are not positive for the workforce or for the service in general, and therefore an e-petition has been started to garner support for the campaign, and to support the FBU.

Here is the link to the petition. I have written to the FBU to request a meeting to discuss this matter further, and to offer Plaid Cymru’s support. The petition will be presented to the petitions committee at the beginning of the new Assembly term, and I urge people to support this campaign.