William Powell Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Mid & West Wales and Jane Dodds have written to the Chief Executive of Openreach to complain about the standard of service constituents frequently receive from his company..

Jane Dodds and Kirsty Williams visit Oswestry Health Centre

Jane Dodds, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Candidate for Montgomeryshire visited the Oswestry Health Centre last week with party leader Kirsty Williams AM.

If elected in May, Jane’s priority as an Assembly Member will be to secure an Urgent Medical Centre for Montgomeryshire, on similar lines to the Oswestry Health Centre which provides a minor injuries unit and a whole range of other care facilities plus a GP practice and a dentist all under one roof.

Commenting Jane Dodds said: “I was really impressed with the Oswestry Health Centre. It’s a convenient one-stop shop for so many health issues. People in Montgomeryshire have very limited access to urgent, nonlife-threatening care, and often have to travel to Shrewsbury or Aberystwyth even to be seen for minor injuries.”

Jane added: “The population of Oswestry is roughly17,000 people whereas Montgomeryshire is home to more than 60,000. I have lost track of the number of heart-breaking stories that people have told me on the doorstep about their health needs but it underlines the fact that Mid Wales consistently gets a poor deal when it comes to health.”

Kirsty Williams, who is also the Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health, commented: “Rural health care has been neglected by the Welsh Assembly Government. An Urgent Care Centre in Montgomeryshire would cut down travel times for patients and reduce the pressure on services at Shrewsbury, Telford and Bronglais Hospitals. The Oswestry Health Centre is fantastic, and I fully support Jane’s campaign for an Urgent Care Centre in Montgomeryshire.”

William Powell AM for Mid & West Wales was delighted to find that elderly pacemaker patients from Montgomeryshire are able to have Pacemaker scanners at home after a constituent visiting the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling on the Welsh Government to make the Lloyd George Museum part of the National Museum of Wales to safeguard its future, following news that Gwynedd Council are deferring the decision whether to close it until 2017.

Jane Dodds, Welsh Assembly Candidate for the Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats has urged Deputy Minister for Farming, Rebecca AM to investigate and speed up the delays in Basic Payment Scheme payments to farmers who have been waiting since early December.

Liberal Democrat Assembly candidate Jane Dodds is calling on Powys County Council to reverse its proposal to slash funding for school breakfast clubs.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have made clear in the National Assembly today that the party will vote against the Local Government Settlement unless a better deal for rural authorities is put forward.

Yesterday, Powys' Lib Dems succeeded in driving through a motion at Full Council to improve transparency and public engagement within the Council.

 The motion called for the Council to explore options for introducing public participation in Council meetings and suggested a structured format at the start of meetings of the council and its committees for members of the public to address elected members.

 The motion was carried with 31 votes in favour and 24 against with 5 abstentions, supported by Lib Dem, Labour and Conservative councillors with the majority of independent councillors (who run the Council) voting against it.

Speaking ahead of a trip to the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais, Jane Dodds has called for Wales to become a ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ to support refugees displaced by conflict.

Jane, who arrives in Calais on Wednesday morning, will be staying at the camp and returning to the UK Thursday evening having volunteered for two full days. She has previously collected items for residents of the camp, and used to work for the Refugee Council.

A petition submitted to the National Assembly’s Petitions Committee by the RSPCA Cymru, which called for a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses in Wales, has been closed by the Committee this week as it was deemed to have “essentially achieved its purpose”.