Letter to the Editor-Welsh Labour's record of delivery

Dear Sir/Madam
 
We are proud of Welsh Labour’s record of delivery in Government despite huge cuts to the Wales budget by the Tories.

In 2011, we made a commitment to the people of Wales and Swansea and we have kept our promises.

We pledged to create a young people’s jobs and training fund and we have delivered 15,000 quality jobs through the Jobs Growth Wales programme; we pledged to improve access to GP surgeries and there are now 2,000 more GPs in our communities since 2004 and we are making record investment in the NHS; we pledged more frontline spending in schools and we have invested in our children’s education with millions being spent on making school buildings fit for the 21st Century. We are investing in flying start, and free breakfasts for primary school pupils.

We have protected EMA and shielded Welsh students from the £6000 a year tuition fee hike. And investing in our children is paying dividends in Swansea with GCSE results improving by 13.4% since 2008, while more than 80% of Swansea schools are now in the top category of schools.

We pledged to double the number of PCSOs in Wales and we have an extra 500 Community Support Officers on our streets; and we pledged to double the number of children benefitting from the Flying Start programme and we succeeded, seeing the number of children benefitting from the programme rise to 36,000 – nearly a quarter of all children aged 0-3.

We delivered on all of our pledges five years ago and did so while maintaining free prescriptions, free bus travel for pensioners and disabled people and their carers, free school breakfast for under 7s, and provided help for people made redundant by building on the ReAct programme.

We believe in creating a fairer, better Wales and despite the difficult economic climate, Welsh Labour continues to deliver for the people of Swansea and for all of Wales.
 
Signed by Julie James Swansea West AM, Mike Hedges Swansea East AM and Rebecca Evans AM, Labour Welsh Assembly candidate for Gower, Together for Swansea and Together for Wales.