Minimum wage – What’s it worth?

Phillip Davies MP recently suggested that disabled people should be allowed to ‘opt out’ of the minimum wage in an effort to improve their employment prospects. Understandably, the subject dominated some blogs over the weekend. This is because…

A healthier nation, a healthier economy

Heart and circulatory disease is the biggest killer in Wales claiming more than 10,000 lives each year. Early deaths are disproportionately high in disadvantaged communities and particular ethnic groups. Yet the disease is largely preventable.

There’s much that individuals can do to reduce their risk of developing the disease, or…

A health service with public health at the core

The health problems of Wales “must be addressed by a broader public health strategy otherwise the NHS will become increasingly strained over the longer term.”

In an appropriate juxtaposition, given the host of this blog, I quote from a report by the Bevan Commission, ”2008-2011 NHS…

‘Big Society’ arrives in Wales

Forget the idea that ‘Big Society’ is a Cameron initiative that is firmly the other side of the English border – it’s here already.  Two of the 16 ’Your Square Mile’ pilots are…

Is government up for supporting blind and partially sighted people?

There are over 115,000 people in Wales with a significant sight loss, with this figure set to double in the next 25 years.  Sight loss has a huge impact upon independence and quality of life.  More than three quarters…

There’s no place for hate crime here

This Learning Disability Week (June 20th-25th), Mencap Cymru focussed on learning disability hate crime, something which can have a devastating impact on a person’s self-esteem and trust in others; to say anything can count as a hate crime, from…

Wales – the most politically unimportant part of the UK?

When WLGA invited me to discus the question ‘Wales: the most politically unimportant part of the UK” some time ago, my initial reaction was ‘of course it is’. 

When it’s possible to read every daily newspaper and…

Poor and vulnerable hit hardest

Today’s Justice Bill represents the single biggest attack on state-funded legal advice for the poor and vulnerable since the legal aid system was introduced as a vital part of the welfare state in the aftermath of the Second World War. Des Hudson,…

Message to Edwina

Our pamphlet published today on the fate of workers made redundant from Burberry ought to prompt a rethink of Welsh Government economic development policy.  For one of the most striking messages from the pamphlet is that the rise of flexible working, now widespread in the care, retail and…

Victim of Geography?

In the early days of devolution I went to a conference to present on changes to the NHS in Wales.  I remember clearly the comment from a participant from England that devolution would merely result in “changes at…