Senior Lib Dem Kirsty Williams and Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood among assembly members criticising the raise as wrong in the face of public-sector cuts. The Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, Kirsty Williams, said: “At a time when public sector workers have seen their pay packets either frozen or rise only slightly, it is wrong to hand out such a huge hike in assembly members’ pay.”

The allocations of over £4.6million secured by the Welsh Liberal Democrats to support early years pupils in Wales from disadvantaged backgrounds have been announced.

 The Early Years Pupil Premium was secured by the Welsh Lib Dems in their budget agreement with the Welsh Government last year. It provides £300 for every child from a disadvantaged background in a maintained early years education setting to help tackle the attainment gap between richer and poorer pupils which develops from an early age.

This investment builds on the £282m already secured for the Pupil Premium by the Welsh Lib Dems, which from next April will be worth £1,150 for every child receiving free school meals.

The Assembly’s Health and Social Care Committee has unanimously endorsed the general principles of Kirsty Williams’ ‘More Nurses’ Bill.  The Committee has published its report on the Bill, which states that it is “supportive of the general principles of the Bill” and “believes that primary legislation on safe nurse staffing levels could be beneficial.”

A huge thank you to Montgomeryshire from Jane Dodds

A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for more nurses and better mental health services, Nick Clegg has said today on a visit to Montgomeryshire to support Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds.

Baroness Susan Kramer (Minister of State for Transport) visited Llanymynech last Saturday to discuss the cross border problems in delivering the Llanymynech / Pant bypass. This comes after a petition was handed into the National Assembly for Wales Petitions Committee Chaired by William Powell AM, by the Llanymynech and Pant bypass action group last month

Welsh Government funding for the Welsh Young Farmers’ Clubs has been saved following a strong campaign by the Welsh Liberal Democrats. 

The future of education across Montgomeryshire has been called into question again as Powys County Council launch its Secondary School Review. This happens with the backdrop of budget cuts, falling school roles and a poor Estyn report for Wales in general. There were only 3 Excellent Secondary schools in the whole of Wales last year.

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