All Smiles

CARL SARGEANT AM WELCOMES DESIGNED TO SMILE PROGRAMME.
‘Designed to Smile’ to be extended across Wales
Alyn & Deeside Assembly Member Carl Sargeant welcomed the Welsh Assembly announced that the ‘Designed to Smile’ - the Oral Health Improvement Programme aimed at young children in Wales - is to be extended across Wales, following two successful pilot schemes in North and South Wales.
This announcement will see funding for the scheme double to £3.1 million for 2009/10 rising to over £3.8 million from 2010/11 and the rolling out of the scheme beyond the existing pilot areas to targeted Communities First schools in the rest of Wales. The additional funding will also allow the scheme to be extended within the pilot areas from three to five-year-olds to include six and seven year old and a nursery-based programme for the youngest children under the age of three.
Carl Sargeant AM said “Capturing good dental health at an early age is a priority for us and this programme will deliver a fantastic smile for our children for the future.”
Under the scheme, delivered by the Community Dental Service, dental health support workers deliver a supervised tooth-brushing programme in schools and provide toothbrushes and toothpaste to school children along with oral health advice. Part of this service is delivered via mobile dental health units that provide specialist preventive care and treatment to schools.

Are You Ready

CARL SARGEANT AM GIVES HELP ADVICE ON THE DIGITAL SWITCHOVER
Carl Sargeant AM for Alyn & Deeside has issued a reminder that help is at hand during the Digital Switchover programme that effects us all.
Most of us have heard about the digital switchover that’s happening in Wales right now. It started in the Swansea area on 12th August and it’s working its way around the country, finishing in the Cardiff and Newport area on 31st March 2010.
This area is mainly served by the Moel y Parc transmitter which begins to switch on 4th November and completes on the 3rd December. But how many of you know that there’s a special service called the Help Scheme which is available to some people to help them with the switch to digital TV?
The Switchover Help Scheme is run by the BBC, under an agreement with the UK Government, to offer practical help at switchover to older and disabled people who may face barriers in switching to digital TV.
The Help Scheme can convert one television per household. One of their engineers will call and sort out all the cabling and connections. They supply the equipment and install a new aerial if your existing one isn’t up to the job. There’s even a free-phone number to contact for up to a year afterwards for advice and support.
You are eligible if you:
are aged 75 or over before the end of April 2010; have lived in a care home for 6 months or more; receive or could receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance or mobility supplement; are registered blind or partially sighted.
The Help Scheme asks eligible people to contribute £40 towards the service. However, if as well as being eligible you receive one of the following:
pension credit income support employment support allowance income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, then the help is free. The Help Scheme writes directly to everyone who’s eligible. Letters have already been sent out in this area. When you get your letter fill in the application form and return it to the Help Scheme. If you haven’t received one and think you should or you know someone who’s eligible, call the Help Scheme on 0800 408 7654 or visit the website: www.helpscheme.co.uk.

AM Supports Projects

CARL SARGEANT AM BACKS ‘INVEST-TO-SAVE’ PROJECTS IN NORTH WALES
Carl Sargeant, Assembly Member for Alyn & Deeside, has given his support to the Welsh Assembly Government’s latest plans to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public services in Wales.
The announcement of ‘Invest-to-Save’ funded projects builds on and enhances the Making the Connections Improvement Fund. Funding is available on an investments basis and is allocated to public service bodies that can secure improvements in efficiency.
Amongst the first projects to be approved In North Wales are a single state-of-the-art CCTV control room and an integrated electronic NHS web-based expenses system.
The Alyn & Deeside AM said: “By bringing together existing CCTV control rooms into a single room, there will be significant efficiency savings from economies of scale - projections begin at £450,000 annually. More than this though, the effectiveness of the surveillance will also be improved, as the transition is a great opportunity to improve upon the current service. Also, by replacing the paper-based system in the NHS, the North Wales Business Support Partnership can help release savings of £98,000 a year. I am confident that both of these projects will show that improvements in efficiency can be made that also have a positive outcome on public service delivery.”

AM ' S Concerns

CARL SARGEANT AM RAISES CONCERNS THAT ‘FLINTSHIRE COUNCIL IS FAILING HOMELESS PEOPLE’


Flintshire County Council is taking too long to provide help and assistance to homeless people and the Council’s performance has worsened over the past year, Labour AM, Carl Sargeant has warned.
According to the latest Local Authority Performance Data, Flintshire Council takes on average 228 days to discharge its duty to a person declared as homeless in the past financial year. The average figure across Wales was 130 days.
Carl Sargeant, Assembly Member for Alyn and Deeside said: “I find it particularly alarming that Flintshire council’s performance has deteriorated so badly. During 2007-8 it took 121 days to provide service to homeless people? Why has it increased so much during the past financial year?
“Homeless people are a particularly vulnerable group in society so this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. These figures are completely unacceptable; Flintshire Council is failing homeless people.”

Disappointed At Council's Indecision

CARL SARGEANT AM DISAPPOINTED AT COUNCIL’S INDECISION ON SUNBEDS
Carl Sargeant, Assembly Member for Alyn & Deeside, has today expressed his disappointment with Flintshire County Council at the time it has taken for them to reach a decision on whether or not to ban the use of sunbeds in leisure centres.
Currently, there are five council-run sunbeds remaining in three leisure centres in Flintshire, including one in Deeside Leisure Centre in Mr Sargeant’s constituency. 21 of the 22 local authorities in Wales have already decided on the issue; however, the British Medical Association (BMA) has accused the last remaining council, Flintshire, of ‘dragging its feet’ and this criticism has today been echoed by the AM.
He said: “I am disappointed that it has taken this long for the Council to reach a decision on the use of sunbeds. The advice of the BMA is that they greatly increase the risk of cancer as well as skin and eye problems. As such, it seems clear to almost everyone that they should not be available in our local leisure centres. The only possible reason for a delayed decision is that the Council has been prioritising profit ahead of public health and this is something that I am not comfortable with.”