Praise For Learning Aid

Carl Sargeant AM Welcomes Free maps for 11Year olds
Carl Sargeant AM has welcomed news that the Ordinance Survey is repeating its scheme to provide every 11 year old with a free OS Explorer map.The scheme enables every Year 7 pupil through their school to access their very own maps and also the pupil’s School teacher will receive copies of Maps to aid teaching.In 2008 a total of 35,844 maps were issued to pupils across 332 schools in Wales, raising awareness of local geography and aspects of citizenship.All Schools in Wales with year 7 pupils are eligible to join the scheme.Carl Sargeant Assembly Member for Alyn & Deeside said,“ I am pleased to support the free maps for 11yr olds scheme, I’m certain that local school’s and pupils will find the maps to be a good learning aid.”

Calls For Traffic Solution

Carl Sargeant AM calls for a Deeside Bypass
Carl Sargeant Welsh Assembly Member for Alyn & Deeside has been conducting a resident survey into traffic congestion issues in the Deeside area. The survey is ongoing and to date the overwhelming results of the residents survey is that 81% of Deeside residents are calling for the traffic nightmare in Shotton to be resolved.
Carl Sargeant is calling upon Flintshire County Council to bring forward immediate plans for a Deeside bypass to end the traffic nightmare in Shotton. Possible solutions could include a coastal bypass from Garden City to Connah's Quay.
Carl Sargeant AM for Alyn & Deeside, speaking today said;
“It can take over half an hour to travel along the main road from Queensferry to Connah’s Quay via Shotton, the congestion is almost constant and whilst this causes misery for local businesses, commuters and residents alike, it is proving to be the biggest traffic concern in the area and Flintshire County Council have a duty to bring forward plans to resolve the situation, it is time for the Council to act.”

Notice Of Public Meeting In Mancot

Carl Sargeant AM Calls Public Meeting to protect Green Space
Alyn & Deeside Assembly Member, Carl Sargeant has called a public meeting in Mancot to fight against County Council plans to build houses on an important green space.
Flintshire County Council is currently undertaking a consultation on plans within the Council’s Unitary Development Plan to allocate land for housing in between Park Avenue and Ash Lane Mancot.
Carl Sargeant has objected to the Council on the grounds that the land is currently an important green space in what is other wise a built up area of Deeside.
The public meeting is to take place at 6PM on Thursday 24th of September in Mancot Village Hall.
Carl Sargeant is urging all concerned local residents to attend the meeting where helpful advice can be shared on how to oppose the housing plans.
Carl Sargeant AM said:“Many Mancot residents have approached me with real concerns about the detrimental effect these proposals will have on the infrastructure of the village the proposals are quite ridiculous and I urge Flintshire County Council to reject this plan.”
Mancot County Councillors Glenys and Alan Diskin will also be in attendance to advise residents.

CARL SARGEANT AM WELCOMES NEWS OF RECORD NUMBER OF FREE BUS PASSES
A RECORD number of concessionary bus passes have been snapped up by pensioners and disabled people during the past financial year in Wales and Alyn & Deeside, according to new data.
Figures released by the Assembly Labour Group showed 612,559 passes were issued across Wales during 2008–09 compared to 245,000 in 2001-02.
Labour AM, Carl Sargeant, who represents Alyn & Deeside, welcomed the news and challenged the Tories to back the scheme.
He said: “These latest figures show thousands of people are now enjoying free bus travel across Wales. This policy has transformed the way pensioners travel and has given a substantial boost to public transport in Wales. We are proud in Labour to be the party that implemented this scheme in Wales and we will continue to support it. “
Earlier this year, Welsh Tory Transport spokesman David Melding said he would like to see the scheme restricted to off peak times only.
He said: “The danger of the current policy is that it is eating up far too much of the transport budget and not allowing us to develop other public transport networks."
Carl Sargeant AM said: “Different Conservative politicians are saying different things on this policy. It seems that Mr Melding’s views are pretty clear cut and he is determined to take away full concessionary passes from pensioners who benefit from them."

AM Welcomes Smartcard

Carl Sargeant AM Welcomes new smartcard to transform public transport use in Alyn & Deeside
A new smartcard for concessionary bus pass holders has been rolled-out across Wales and is the first step in transforming the way people use pubic transport.
Welcoming the successful roll-out of 650,000 smart bus passes Carl Sargeant, Welsh Assembly Member for Alyn & Deeside said the technology will eventually be used for travel on all forms of public transport.
He said the new technology would reduce costs, improve efficiency and provide the basis for an all-Wales public transport card.
Carl Sargeant AM for Alyn & Deeside said,
“I’m delighted that this new system will now be in place for all users of the free bus pass in Alyn & Deeside and can be used throughout Wales, this demonstrates the Labour led Assembly’s ongoing commitment to free bus travel.”

Carl Sargeant AM Welcomes news that Welsh exports increase bucks UK trend
The latest figures released by HM Customs & Excise, show that Wales is outperforming the rest of the UK with an increase in the value of exports compared with the previous 12 months.
The latest Regional Trade Estimates show that Welsh exports for the four quarters up to June 2009 increased by 8.4 per cent on the previous four quarters - the biggest increase of all the devolved countries and English regions.Carl Sargeant Welsh Assembly Member for Alyn & Deeside said,“ At a time of economic uncertainty this is very welcome news, particularly as many local businesses within my constituency rely on export markets. Through my work in the Welsh Assembly I will continue to campaign for more measures to support our local industry ”.Whilst the total value of UK exports for the 12 months to June was down by 0.4 per cent on the previous year, the value of exports from Wales rose by £799 million.

Support For Nhs Workers

Carl Sargeant AM Welcomes Agreement signed toprotect NHS workers
The Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government has signed an agreement with the police which allows them to work more closely with the NHS in Wales in the investigation of allegations of violence towards NHS staff. This Memorandum of Understanding follows the signing of an agreement with the Crown Prosecution Service in March 2007, to ensure the effective prosecution of the perpetrators of violent attacks. The aim of the Memorandum is to promote the prosecution of violent offenders, which will help act as a deterrent to others. It includes:• New protocols on the investigation of incidents. • The referral of cases to the police. • Evidence gathering and the provision of statements. • Post incident reviews. • Support for victims when their case has progressed to court. Also, as a result of the forthcoming re-organisation of the NHS in Wales, the new Health Organisations will each be required to provide a greater focus on protecting staff and taking measures to ensure violence against NHS staff is prevented where possible.Carl Sargeant, Welsh Assembly Member for Alyn & Deeside, said;“Many of my constituents work within the NHS and provide an excellent service, but unfortunately they are subjected to acts of mindless aggression and in some cases violence, I will continue to support any measures aimed at protecting our valued NHS staff.”Latest figures show that there were 7,343 incidents of violence and aggression in the NHS in Wales in 2007/08.

Investing In The Future

£2.2m Eco-Friendly Learning Centre Opened at Deeside College
An innovative new learning centre based at the Connah’s Quay Campus of Deeside College is to be officially opened on 18th September 2009 by Carl Sargeant, Assembly Member for Alyn and Deeside.
The brand new centre, which has been funded through a £1.7m Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) grant and a £0.5m contribution from Deeside College, will be available for use by 14-19 year old students from High Schools in Flintshire and students from the college. The centre will provide the focus for the innovative curriculum developments and learning programmes co-ordinated by Flintshire County Council on behalf of the Flintshire 14 – 19 Learning Pathways.
The main aim of the centre is to promote extended learning opportunities to all students in schools and colleges across Flintshire. It will support the work that all educational settings in Flintshire are doing to ensure that 14 – 19 year olds have access to a wider variety of learning opportunities, which will aid their personal development and employability, in order to open up career options they may not have previously considered. Flintshire schools and colleges are working in partnership to offer new courses to students at the Learning Core Centre, including Digital Photography, Spanish, Business Administration, Principal Learning in Engineering and the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification.
The Flintshire Learning Core Centre will also promote shared training and professional development between schools and colleges, focussing on further improving the teaching and learning provision for 14 – 19 year olds across Flintshire. This will further enhance the collaboration which has been developed between Secondary Schools in Flintshire, private training providers and Deeside College. It is also anticipated that the centre will provide students with access to the shared Flintshire E-Learning Zone and other e-learning opportunities that could lead to interactive ways of delivering learning core subjects including Entrepreneurship and Basic Skills.
In line with Deeside College’s Environmental Policy, which is the only college in Wales to have achieved the highest possible Level 5 Green Dragon accreditation, the centre has been built with sustainable issues in mind. The building boasts a rainwater harvesting system and natural light has been maximised wherever possible.
Deeside College’s Principal and Chief Executive David Jones, said: “This is a unique project for Wales and highlights the collaboration between Flintshire County Council, local high schools, colleges and other training providers. It also demonstrates the partnership’s innovative approach to learning.”
Director of Lifelong Learning at Flintshire County Council, Ian Budd, said: “This is an exciting milestone in improving the facilities for young people’s learning in Flintshire. It is right that we celebrate the partnership working between all bodies involved in education in Flintshire.”

Praise For Staff

CARL SARGEANT AM VISITS STAFF AT DEESIDE AMBULANCE STATION
Carl Sargeant, Assembly Member for Alyn & Deeside, has today visited staff at Deeside Ambulance Station to discuss operations and to see how staff deal with incidents 24-7.
In May this year, Health Minister Edwina Hart announced that there had been a steady increase in the response rate of ambulance services across Wales and called the continuous improvement encouraging.
Following conversations with Ian Lang, Operations Manager for North East Wales Ambulance Services (photographed), Carl Sargeant AM praised the staff for their good work and commitment to improving service delivery in Wales.
He said: “The meeting today has strengthened my resolve that our ambulance staff do a great job in what are clearly very challenging circumstances. It is important that we listen to staff and work together so that we can build upon the very positive results that were announced in May. I note the pressures that staff are under and I am very keen to see that they feel safe in their job, attacks on emergency service personnel are on the increase and we must do everything we can to help them do their job”

Next Advice Surgey

Surgery Dates Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sargeant will be available on Friday 3rd September 2009 at 3.00 o'clock in Buckley Town Council Offices

Support For literacy Day

We need to do more to support Literacy Says Carl Sargeant AM
This coming Tuesday will mark International Literacy Day. On September 8, the nation and the world will celebrate International Literacy Day, a declaration first proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1965. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Despite many and varied efforts, literacy remains an elusive target: some 776 million adults lack minimum literacy skills which means that one in five adults is still not literate; 75 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out. International Literacy Day will put the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development. Literacy and Empowerment is the theme for the 2009-2010 biennium of the United Nations Literacy Decade. Carl Sargeant AM for Alyn & Deeside said “We must not underestimate the power of the ability to speak, read and write effectively. Some people find it difficult to access support for such things that most people take for granted. Across the world over 75 million children are out of school. We can all do a little to support the learning process.”