The Welsh Government declined to "bail out" a struggling care home provider. Southern Cross, which runs 34 homes in Wales, looked to reduce rent bills across the UK after a £311million half-year loss. The Welsh Government said there needed to be a "commercial solution to a commercial problem."
Capital expenditure forecasts for 2011-12 showed that Welsh Police Authorities are reporting a 35% decrease in their capital budgets to £39million. Overall,...
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Thursday, 30 June 2011
Thursday, 23 June 2011
UK Government puts Charley to sleep
Mwrarawrwrararww
"Charley says his P45 is in the post"
The Central Office of Information (COI) is to close next year, with the loss of up to 400 jobs.
In the grand scheme of things, I guess such a move can be expected as it's low-hanging fruit for spending cuts. But believe it or not, this brings to close a long relationship...
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
NIMBYs - Holding Wales back?
First things first. We're all NIMBYs at heart. The only thing that differs is how we approach and argue against developments.
Take for example, a theoretical "second Tryweryn" somewhere in a remote part of Wales.
As a civic nationalist, I would oppose it from the standpoint of Wales taking an unfair burden of undesirable development to suit the needs of a distant, foreign government over which we have no sway.
Environmentalists, nearby residents,...
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Is that it!? - Labour's legislative programme aims low
I've always believed - to a certain extent - in the mantra "aim low and you'll never be disappointed". Some might say this is pessimistic, others might say realistic. When governments do this though, it takes on a whole new meaning.
Considering the high turnover in AMs, it's perfectly sensible to slow down the pace of the Assembly in the first few months when it comes to legislation. The Assembly shouldn't rush into making laws for the sake of...
Sunday, 5 June 2011
How can we solve the housing crisis?
The Home Builders Federation estimated earlier in the year that there are 100,000 Welsh families on waiting lists for housing, and that as much as £30,000 was required as deposit for a home.
People without adequate housing will become people without families who will eventually live in a society where dependents outnumber the working age population (Andrew Rawnsley going into more depth in The Observer today). The impact of artificially high house...
