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In a question to the Minister for Health and Social Services today, Cllr Janet Finch-Saunders AM put pressure on the Welsh Government to improve provisions of specialist Parkinson’s nurses.

Janet said: “Of those suffering from Parkinson’s disease in Wales, 89% require primary and secondary care – this is around 5,340 people. The remaining 11% are also recommended access to a specialist nurse for advisory purposes.

“Four out of seven Health Boards in Wales have nurses with much higher caseloads than the recommended 300 patients per nurse. This is unacceptable.

“There have been concerns have been raised in the media recently over increased in ‘bed-blocking’ due to a lack of availability of specialist nurses in the community. The recent Royal College of Nursing’s Employment Survey for Wales has also highlighted the increasing stresses nurses in Wales are being placed under.

“I want to see the Welsh Government guarantee effective, personalised care for Parkinson’s patients, but they are cutting £1 billion in real terms from the NHS budget over the next three years, even when specialist nurses have such high caseloads.”

Party Activists raised a huge cheer at Venue Cymru as Janet Finch-Saunders won the Aberconwy Assembly Seat for the Welsh Conservative Party with a majority of over 1,000 votes.  In her acceptance speech Janet thanked all who had voted for her, supported her and worked for her victory.

Janet also expressed concern about some of the issues that had been raised with her on the doorstep whilst out campaigning and hi-lighted hospital waiting lists, protecting the future of Llandudno hospital and also her strong feelings about the local development plan.

Janet, the leader of the Conservative Group on Conwy Borough Council is an experienced and committed campaigner with passion and commmitment.  She spoke of her desire to bring a new style of politics to the area and said that she was "so honoured that the residents of Aberconwy have chosen to place their trust and confidence in me".

Guto Bebb MP said, "I am looking forward to working with Janet.  There are many issues facing the Constituency that will benefit from a strong joint approach.  Llongyfarchiadau Janet."

Association Chairman, Janet Howarth said, "This is a marvellous result for Aberconwy Conservatives and one our Association is very proud of.  We know that Janet will work with energy on behalf of the residents of this Constituency."

About Janet Finch-Saunders

Janet Finch-Saunders

Janet is a well known and popular local Councillor here in Aberconwy and has a reputation for getting thing's done. Many residents know her to be a straight talking politician and local business woman who is passionate and committed to serving the residents of Aberconwy with a strong voice. She was elected as a Llandudno Town Councillor in 1993, becoming the Mayor of Llandudno in 2004 and was elected as a Conwy County Borough Councillor as the Deputy Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group. A former Cabinet member with portfolio responsibilities to include Community Safety, Licensing, Animal Welfare, Food Safety, Building Control, Trading Standards, Equalities and Disability issues and this has given Janet a broad insight to the needs of the community. She has also held the brief for the Welsh language issues.

Janet will always fight to ensure:-

• No further downgrades to Llandudno Hospital.
• Increased support and funding for our local hospices, stroke services and E.M.I provision ( to include those suffering with Alzheimer's)
• Increased accessibility to much needed cancer treatments.
• Better recognition of support for our Carer's to include respite provision.
• There is help and support for those suffering with mental health issues.
• Our Tourism industry is at the heart of all Welsh Policy making.

Janet is well known throughout Aberconwy for her passion and commitment to ensuring that the residents in Aberconwy are represented in a strong and forthright manner. She is a seasoned campaigner on many important issues and is not afraid to expose what she considers to be inefficient and wasteful spending within the Labour / Plaid Cymru Welsh Assembly Government, Conwy County Borough Council and the other public authorities. She believes that for too often the residents are not involved or even consulted when it comes to the allocation of spend on important public services.

If you would like to contact Janet Finch-Saunders, please click here

Janet was elected as the Welsh Conservative Assembly Member for Aberconwy on 6th May 2011.

[Show as slideshow]

Guto Bebb – Member of Parliament for Aberconwy
Constituency Office – 1 Ashdown House. Riverside Business Park. Conwy. LL32 8UB
For details please phone: 01492 583094.
Or e-mail: office@gutobebbmp.co.uk

SURGERIES

By arrangement in Conwy – weekly.

Craig y Don Community Centre – Thursday, 7^th April 2011 5pm- 7pm 

Trefriw Village Hall - 11 April 2011,  4.30pm - 6.30pm

Penmaenmawr Community Centre - 12th April 2011, 4pm - 6pm

The Banner unfurled

Guto was delighted to be presented with a banner from two young members of Emmanuel Church in Llandudno, at a recent surgery in Glan Conwy - which will serve to remind him of the government's promise to remember the poor. Guto said that he was "delighted to accept the banner which was a very visual way of putting across a very serious point."

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend this dinner at the St. George’s Hotel in Llandudno on Friday night to honour those individuals and groups who work quietly but effectively to make life better for us as a society.

The event, sponsored by Trinity Mirror and Scottish Power, was excellent with an attention to detail which would not be found in many far grander televised award events. The St. George and their staff showed why we as a community should be proud of Llandudno as a tourism destination – I was incredibly pleased to see the way that Llandudno could rise to the occasion so effortlessly.

However, the real success of the evening was the quality and breadth of the award winners. These were people who had turned adversity into opportunity, tragedy into a chance to serve others and often, through sheer willpower, had managed to make a real difference to entire communities and the lives of numerous individuals.

It was humbling and gratifying to see the Aberconwy area walk away with no fewer than five awards. These were;

1. Abigail Williams, from Llandudno, in the Young Person of the Year Category
2. Friends of Queens Park, Craig y Don, in the Team Effort Category
3. Ysgol Nant y Coed, Llandudno Junction, in the School of the Year Category
4. James Singleton, Dwygyfylchi, in the Sporting Champion Category
5. Theresa Evans, Llandudno, in the Person of the Year Category

My sincere congratulations to all and to every other nominee in what was an inspiring evening. As the deputy editor of the Daily Post said;

“we often read about the bad things in society on the front pages of our newspapers but occasionally it pays to recognise and acknowledge the immense good work that is undertaken each and every day in our communities”

Guto

This announcement made during what was a very good week in Birmingham has caused quite a stir. I probably did not help things by responding to questions for Wales Today and S4C which were subsequently used by Newsnight. To ensure that everybody understands my position I will make a few things clear;

1. I do not support the principle of Universal Benefits. At a time of serious financial difficulties for this country it is not clear why high income families should be receiving state handouts.

2. The level of income which can be defined as 'high' is a difficult issue. It was remarkable how a vox pop on Radio Wales in Llanrwst found only one person concerned by the change whilst a similar survey for S4C in Cardiff found every mother expressing doubt about the policy. What this shows is that whilst £44,000 IS a very significant income in many parts of the UK it is not a king's ransom. However, I would be willing to accept a proposal that saw a gradual withdrawal of the benefit at £44,000 if it was based on the family income.

3. The issue of family income is the crux of the matter. As the proposal stands a family with one wage earner on £44,000 would lose every penny of the benefit whilst another family with two wage earners on £43,000 each would retain the benefit even with a family income of £86,000. I simply cannot see the fairness in such a proposal.

I have written to the Chancellor on this issue and the text of the letter is available below;

The Chancellor of the Exchequer

Guto

Update

Interesting view from the Daily Express!

http://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/204406

Blogging has been a little sparse over the last few months. Coping with the demands of a busy Constituency life and a Westminster life has been a considerable challenge for my family and me. However, I now have a full complement of staff in the Constituency office, a cycle of surgeries, an autumn season of public meetings and a parliamentary assistant in London. So there are no excuses now for not blogging regularly!

However, I will not have the time to administer the blog as I have done in the past and so for that reason I have decided to disable the comments section. However, I am always happy to engage in debate – details of public meetings are on the website or alternatively feel free to phone me or e-mail me.
My details are as follows;
London Office Number: 020 7219 7002
Constituency Office: 01492 583094
E-mail: guto.bebb.mp@parliament.uk.

Update

Well what a surprise! I have actually received quite a few e-mails stating that I should allow comments. As long as readers are happy to accept that my monitoring will be 2/3 time a week then why not!

This is a posting I thought I would never make. I have always felt that a politician, when saying positive things about the talents of young people in his or her constituency, have a tendency to sound less than sincere.

However, having thought about it for more than 24 hours I feel compelled to say that the Llandudno Youth Music Theatre production of ‘Billy Elliot, the Musical’ was simply excellent. It was committed, professional and a delight to the packed house that witnessed the performance on Friday night. I understand that the four shows were all sold out in advance and on the evidence of what I witnessed with my eight year old daughter I strongly suspect that everybody would have had an experience to remember.

The fact that a Youth Music Theatre company based in Llandudno could utilise the professional lighting and surroundings of Venue Cymru is also something which gives us pride in the fact that such an experience, of performing in a professional and challenging environment is an option available to our young people on their doorstep.

I extend my congratulations to all the performers and supporting volunteers from the Llandudno Youth Music Theatre and to the staff at Venue Cymru for what was an excellent evening of entertainment.

Diolch yn fawr!

Guto Bebb (Aberconwy) (Con): Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me to make my maiden speech. After sitting in the House for seven hours yesterday, I can say that there is only one thing more nerve-wracking than being called upon to make one's maiden speech-sitting on the Bench for seven hours and not being called to make one's maiden speech.
Before I pay tribute to my constituency, Aberconwy, I must say that I am proud to stand here as the first elected Member for the constituency, which is a new construct for this Parliament. My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House came up to Aberconwy during the election campaign to offer me support. I am sure that hon. Members from both sides of the House have had the experience of a senior politician coming to support them. We were walking along the promenade in Llandudno, which is the most beautiful promenade in Wales, and probably in Britain, and my right hon. Friend asked me about the arithmetic in the constituency. When I informed him that Aberconwy had 44,000 electors, he immediately said, "Oh well, your seat will be abolished, won't it?" That was before I had won the election. If that is how prominent politicians are supposed to help candidates, then I am not sure that was the case in that instance. He left me dumbfounded and went off on the cable car that takes people up from the promenade to the Great Orme, a visit that I would recommend to anyone.
Aberconwy is built upon two constituencies-the Conwy constituency and the former Meirionnydd Nant Conwy constituency. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my two predecessors in those constituencies. Mrs Betty Williams was the Member for Conwy and she served the constituency with distinction for 13 years. Even though I stood against her in 2005 and disagreed with her time after time, on every doorstep in Conwy I was told that if I was as good a constituency MP as Mrs Williams, I would do well. I will aspire to ensure that I do serve the area as well as Mrs Betty Williams did.
More importantly, Mrs Betty Williams has recently published her memoirs in Welsh, and, being a first language Welsh speaker, I have had the pleasure of reading them. What shines through is the fact that she embarked upon a political career for the right reasons. She was a quarryman's daughter, and she served local communities on district and county councils and stood for Parliament on four occasions before she won. Throughout, her commitment was for the right reasons. She wanted to serve her people and she wanted to make sure that her Labour party views were expressed in the House. For that, I respect her very much indeed, and I hope that I will be able to do as good a job on behalf of my constituents as she did.
The Meirionnydd Nant Conwy part of the constituency was extremely well served by the now hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Mr Llwyd). Despite the fact that we have had our disagreements-viewers of Welsh language
8 Jun 2010 : Column 228
television can attest to that-I would also like to pay tribute to him. When I canvassed in the Conwy valley, people said that Elfyn Llwyd was always approachable and always served his people very well, and, again, I would hope to do the same. I follow in the footsteps of two hard-working Members and I am aware of the responsibility and privilege that I have in serving.
Aberconwy is a diverse constituency. It is dependent on tourism, with Llandudno, which I have mentioned, the queen of Welsh resorts, in the centre of the constituency, and locations such as Conwy with the castle of Edward I, Llanfairfechan and Betws-y-Coed in the Snowdonia national park. There is no doubt that tourism is an important industry within the constituency. Agriculture, on the other hand, has seen a decline during the past 10 years. The agriculture industry, which is centred on the market town of Llanrwst in my constituency, is in need of support. While I am in the House, I will try to support the tourism industry and ensure that it is not seen as a Cinderella industry. In our part of Wales it is crucial to creating employment and retaining young people in the area. In the same way, we need to develop the food sector and the food industries by working with farmers and the agriculture sector. I would like to see the development of real opportunities for businesses to be created in the food sector in my constituency.
The other thing that I need to say about Aberconwy is that it is an historic constituency. I have already mentioned the castle in Conwy that was built by Edward I, but in many ways the history of Wales is apparent in Aberconwy by the fact that we have Conwy castle on the coast, but we also have the castle in Dolwyddelan, which was built by the Welsh princes. Those two castles are a snapshot of the history of Wales. One thing that causes me immense regret is that the history of the building of Conwy castle is well known to most people in the House, but the history of the Welsh princes and the castle at Dolwyddelan is not as well known. Our education system should deal with that, because it is important to know our history-British history and Welsh history.
The Welsh language is a living, breathing language in Aberconwy. Around 40% of my constituents are first language Welsh speakers, and the Welsh language still survives basically because of the work of two people who are associated with my constituency. The first is Bishop William Morgan, who was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I to translate the Bible into Welsh in 1588. He created a work of literature, which is much better than the recent Welsh Bible translation. I suspect that the fact that I prefer the old version shows that I am a natural conservative in many ways.
The other individual associated with my constituency is Wyn Roberts, now Lord Roberts, who served the Conwy constituency for 27 years. In his time in this House he played a huge part in ensuring that the Welsh language had the opportunity to survive into the 21st century. Wyn Roberts was in many ways responsible for ensuring that we have the fourth television channel in Wales, S4C. He was responsible for the Education Act 1986, which ensured that the Welsh language had a proper place in our education system, and, just as crucially, he was responsible for the Welsh Language Act 1993. He is a hard act to follow.
Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity to give my maiden speech.