http://www.jennyranderson.com/articlearchive.php Recent Press Articles from Jenny Randerson AM en-GB Jenny Randerson AM http://www.jennyranderson.com/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Jenny Randerson AM 2008-05-13T11:04+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000020/the_end_of_the_line_for_cardiffs_post_offices.html This week, Post Office Ltd announced the results of their consultation into the proposed closure of 28 branches across the region, 6 of which were in Cardiff. 2008-01-24T11:36+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000019/more_than_an_ounce_of_prevention_is_vital_now.html While re-organisation and re-configuration seem to be the watchwords in Welsh health debate, it seems that prevention has become largely forgotten. 2007-11-26T01:00+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000018/budget_comment.html The Welsh Assembly Government recently unveiled its budget plans for the next three years and they make dismal reading, especially for local councils. 2007-11-15T03:03+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000017/post_office_closures_threaten_community_sprit.html Last Tuesday the Post Office announced their next round of closures. Across Wales 1 in 5 Post Offices will close including 6 in Cardiff. Not surprisingly, the plans have met with anger from local residents, not least because they follow a previous round of highly controversial closures. 2007-11-01T19:01+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000016/students_the_return.html Early September is always a bit like the calm before the storm. The "storm" is the return of the university students who make up about a quarter of the electorate in my constituency. 2007-09-13T01:00+01:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000015/relief_at_llanishen_news.html The campaign to save Llanishen and Lisvane reservoirs from development has won another victory. The developers WPD have lost their first Planning Appeal. The Independent Planning Inspector rejected their appeal on virtually every count. I have read many Inspector's Reports over the years but I can't remember one which has been so strong in rejecting all the main arguments put forward by the developers. 2007-08-30T00:00+01:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000013/101_must_stay.html Around 10 million 999 calls were made to the police in 2004, 70% of these were not for genuine emergencies. . The levels of calls were however understandable when local police numbers are difficult to remember and the police are often too busy to deal immediately with more minor issues. Many people call 999 because they don't know what else to do. We are lucky in Cardiff to have the excellent Connect 2 Cardiff Service to deal with a lot of the problems but other areas are not so lucky. 2007-06-21T12:00+01:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000012/a_sensible_and_stable_way_to_govern_wales.html The electorate presented us with quite a poser on 3rd May. No party has an overall majority in the Assembly, but we have to find a sensible and stable way to govern Wales for the next 4 years. Despite the Liberal Democrat/Labour Partnership Government from 2000-2003, we are not yet used to coalition government in Wales. 2007-05-24T08:58+01:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000010/welsh_liberal_democrats_believe_that_social_workers_will_have_to_play_an_increasingly_important_role_in_our_care_system.html Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that social workers will have to play an increasingly important role in our care system.An increasingly elderly population and increased expectations will create huge challenges. 2007-03-21T16:54+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000011/cardiff_council_listens.html Last time I wrote my column for the Cardiff Post, I used it to support proposals for Controlled Parking Zones in some of our inner-city areas, which would have provided more residents' parking and would have stopped commuters from parking all day outside local shops, thus making it impossible for shoppers to park. 2007-03-13T00:00+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000009/ambulances__one_crisis_after_another.html A couple of weeks ago, we had a well predicted snowfall and the health services in Cardiff seemed to go into paralysis. The most obvious symptom was that the Ambulance Service took several hours to respond to 999 calls. In one case, the patient died after 8 consecutive calls failed to get him an ambulance. The odd thing about this latest ambulance crisis, is that the snowfall was on Friday, but the crisis lasted until the following Monday, because far more people than normal were dialling 999. 2007-03-01T00:00+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000008/the_truth_about_controlled_parking_zones.html The attempt of Cardiff Council to introduce Controlled Parking Zones has received much publicity in recent weeks.Probably one of the most common complaints I receive from residents is parking. Unfortunately, the truth about modern life is that we have too many cars on too little roadways. Last week's gridlocks gave us an insight into what we can expect on a daily basis if we do not address this problem now. 2007-02-15T00:00+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000007/free_prescriptions_tantamount_to_free_beechams_powders_for_millionaires.html Free prescriptions for all in Wales are voted through this week. Sounds good on the surface doesn't it? But beneath the headlines for this ill advised policy there are problems. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have always thought there were better ways of spending precious NHS funds. 2007-01-25T15:27+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000005/funding_for_hospices.html In all the hue and cry about the Assembly Budget last week many readers may have missed another important decision the Assembly took. In a debate proposed by the Welsh Liberal Democrats we agreed to review the funding for hospices in Wales. We have been relying on hospices to provide the highest standards of care to patients with incurable illnesses, while the NHS only contributes a fraction of the cost of that care. In recent years we have provided just over 20% of hospice funding from the public purse and this is going down, not up. In the case of Children's hospices we provide only 4% of their costs. 2007-01-11T00:00+00:00 http://www.jennyranderson.com/articles/000006/gp_shadowing_in_north_wales.html Western Mail Article By Jenny Randerson AM 2006-12-18T00:00+00:00