Agenda

“This council objects to the decision made by Hywel Dda University Health board to cut the Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) at Prince Phillip Hospital in Llanelli from a 24/7 service to one that will only operate from 8am until 8pm for the next 6 months, starting from the 1st of November.

Having already lost its A&E service, a full-time MIU is the very least that the largest town in West Wales should expect in urgent care provision from Hywel Dda.

Also, the scaling back of this service could have a detrimental effect on urgent care waiting times for residents across Carmarthenshire, with residents of Llanelli and its wider area having to travel to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen over the coming months to access urgent care.

This council calls on Hywel Dda to urgently explore all options to fully staff the MIU at Prince Phillip Hospital and restore a 24/7 service. This council also calls on Welsh Government and the Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to intervene on behalf of the residents of Llanelli if necessary.”

‘Chancellor urged to put local council funding back on a firm foundation

Carmarthenshire County Council congratulates the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP on becoming the first woman to be appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK Government.

We can empathise with her on taking on this challenging role as local councils who’ve had to cope with a disproportionate share of spending cuts during 14 years of ruthless Conservative Govt austerity. Carmarthenshire CC alone, due to chronic government under-funding, is now £120m worse off, in real terms, than we were a decade ago.

This is an extremely worrying time for all councils and their staff, with many now teetering on the brink of financial disaster. UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea has warned that “countless essential services and very many vital jobs are at risk, with terrible consequences for communities across Britain.”

We urge the Chancellor in her forthcoming autumn budget to put local government funding back on a sustainable foundation, by drawing on the £10b available due to the Bank of England’s decision to slow down the pace of its quantitative tightening programme.

Urgent extra revenue funding (via the Barnett Formula for Wales) is needed for such essential services as:

Social Care – for a population which includes an increasing percentage of older people who need residential and community care

Children’s Services – facing unprecedented demand and critical financial pressures 

Schools – struggling, or failing, to live within allocated budgets, resulting in impact on staffing levels and curriculum delivery

Highways – deteriorating following a decade’s year-on-year cuts in maintenance budgets, as evidenced by the increasing number of potholes on our roads

We further urge the Chancellor to provide for inflationary pressures on local government budgets, and to ensure that pay settlements which are set centrally should be fully funded by central government.’

‘Regarding the original estimated Capital Spend on Heol Goffa which was originally set at £17 million pounds, £4.25 million being provided from the Carmarthenshire County Council’s Education Capital budget of £20.5 million and £12.75 million being provided by the Welsh Government to make up the difference, will this Administration still spend the ring fenced money of £4.25 million on projects to support High Dependency Need children in Education or will they use this money for other Capital Education projects that do not support our High Dependency Needs children.’

‘Can the Cabinet Member indicate whether he feels arrangements currently in place provide for fair and timely allocation of ‘spare seats’ on Carmarthenshire County Council School Transport for pupils that need them?’