John,
The Political Whirlwind Continues - But We Are Focused On Levelling Up Wales....
.................................................................

The political whirlwind continues to gust around Westminster and beyond so I hope this brief update (which follows that of 13 Jan) is helpful. 

Before I go into more details about the Sue Gray report, I hope you will permit a brief reference to this week's big announcement on levelling up and what this means for Wales. Michael Gove's white paper runs to 400 pages but I will keep my take a great deal shorter!

The underlying principal is really very simple. People's life chances should not be defined by where they are born. Talent, energy, innovation and ambition is spread evenly across the whole UK, yet opportunity is confined to areas like London or Manchester. This is wrong.

Our ambition is to identify opportunity and challenges across the whole country (especially in our case, Wales). We will encourage investment, job creation, innovation, education and training to correct this imbalance.
Meeting with Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove, to discuss investment plans in Wales.

What have we done so far?

In the first round of bidding Wales received £120m from the Levelling Up Fund for 10 major projects and a further £46m from the Community Renewal Fund. 

These bids include the new hub in Carmarthen, new road infrastructure in the Rhondda, the regeneration of Aberystwyth Quay and the rejuvenation of Haverfordwest castle. There are many more. The British Army is spending over £300m in Wales and we will see the return of another Welsh regiment – the Queens Dragoon Guards - to Caerwent in Newport. 

We have accelerated all £790 million worth of Wales' growth deals (which include £15m for Pembroke Dock) and increased Welsh Government funding by £2.5 billion per year for the next three years - the best settlement since devolution began.

And this week we also announced 500 more civil service jobs in Wales, adding to the 4,000 jobs we created in the new UK Government Hub in Cardiff.

As the next round of funding gets underway, and the new Shared Prosperity Fund replaces EU funding I will keep you posted. Wales is set to benefit significantly.

Withybush Hospital

I also want to mention the future of Withybush Hospital, which has seen much debate on these pages over the last few weeks.

It seems that after many years of speculation and dither, that Welsh Gov are planning to downgrade it in favour of a new "super hospital" somewhere between Narberth and St Clears.

All I can say is that myself, along with my Senedd colleagues Paul Davies and Samuel Kurtz, and my MP neighbour Stephen Crabb have been consistent opponents of this move for as long as any of us can remember.

We will continue this opposition, but residents who share our concerns should continue to lobby the Welsh Government, and especially Baroness Morgan (who has an office in Haverfordwest) who is the one making the ultimate decision.

 
At Home...
Saundersfoot & Amroth Meet & Greet.

An enjoyable Friday evening was spent with Samuel Kurtz MS and locals at the Wiseman's Bridge Inn. Topics for discussion included problems with doctor appointments, cost of living, post-covid planning, the No.10 controversy (read my thoughts below) and much more. I hope you will join us when we are in your area - look out for an invite in the post.
Slebech BDUK Gigabit Project - Approved  

The UK Government has approved funding for the latest PCC administered broadband upgrade project, in Wiston And Slebech. Register interest in your area HERE.
Away...
Tackling The Cost Of Living

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has outlined a three part plan to help with household fuel bills. It’s worth £350 per household in a total package of support worth £8.6 billion.

Three important points for Wales:

1) The UK Government is providing a £200 rebate on electricity costs in October. This applies to all households in Wales.

2) The £150 council tax rebate & £144 million discretionary funding for councils is a devolved responsibility of Welsh Government. We are providing £175 million of additional funding to Welsh Government to support households via local authorities in Wales.

3) We are also continuing with plans to increase the Warm Homes Discount and extending eligibility by one-third to 3 million vulnerable households worth another £150. This also applies to Wales.
Question Time

In January I appeared on the panel for the first Question Time of 2022, live from Shrewsbury. Watch HERE if you missed it.
Welsh Grand Committee

The first Welsh Grand Legislative Committee since 2018 was held in January, where the future of the Union - and Wales' place within it - was debated. WATCH HERE.
Finally...
 
The Downing Street allegations
 
I have promised to keep those who have contacted me via email and letter, but also on social media and via this newsletter, updated on the Downing Street party allegations pending the report of Sue Gray, the senior civil servant tasked with unearthing the truth.
 
She has now produced her interim report that you can read here. As she went to press, the Metropolitan Police also announced an investigation into some of the events covered in the Gray Report thus inevitably restricting her ability to publish the whole document, posing a frustration for all of us, including the PM.

It is a well observed protocol that we do not speculate on the possible outcomes or consequences of a live police inquiry. But this is not the end either as the Gray Report highlighted a number of failures and weaknesses which we all agree need urgent attention and which do not need to wait for the police decisions.
 
In his response to Parliament (here). The PM confirmed that he acknowledged that the responsibility for these failures ultimately lies with him, as does the need to implement the changes that are required. So he made a further apology and has started that process of correction. The Prime Minister and his office further committed to publish the updated Sue Gray Report once the legal process has been completed.
Finally, I reiterate comments I have made in earlier correspondence and elsewhere. I dearly wish that this situation had not arisen, as I know does the PM. 

Misjudgements were made and culpability accepted.

Whilst we can't turn the clock back, we can get things right in the future and I very much want to spend more time talking about the good things that we are doing, from levelling up to the vaccination programme, net zero, broadband roll out, and continuing to see our economy grow faster than anyone else in the G7. The fact that we have more people in work now than before the pandemic is being drowned out by "other news". I also want us to concentrate on the huge challenges ahead, whether that is the situation in Ukraine or the cost of living crisis also addressed by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Thursday.
  
I passionately believe that in politics, like anything else, we succeed or fail as a team. For my part I will continue to try and correct our failings and champion our successes.
 
With my very best wishes,
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