Carwyn jones misleading plenary statements on 24/04/2018 regarding Trawscymru services and the workplace culture within the Welsh Government

copies   Welsh MPs at Westminster,  Welsh Assembly Members and

Ceredigion Council members

 

DEAR FIRST MINISTER ,

 

I would like to point out several misleading statements made by yourself during the plenary of 24/04/2018 on the subject of (1) Trawscymru services and (2) the workplace culture within the Welsh Government .

 

(1) TRAWSCYMRU SERVICES

 

IN RELATION TO QUESTION  OAQ52055 “”WILL THE FIRST MINISTER MAKE A STATEMENT ON THE WELSH GOVERNMENT’S INTENTION TO FURTHER EXPAND THE TRAWSCYMRU COACH SERVICE?”” MADE  BY SIAN GWENLIAN WHO WENT ON TO SAY “  SO, WILL THE GOVERNMENT COMMIT TO LOOKING TO ENHANCE AND EXPAND THIS SERVICE AND OFFER COACH SERVICES THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE IN MY CONSTITUENCY WHO WOULD WISH TO TRAVEL ON A COMFORTABLE COACH TO THE CAPITAL CITY””

 

The First Minister, in his reply, failed to mention that the Trawscymru T1C coach from Aberystwyth to Cardiff ,which was the subject of Sian Gwenlian’s question,  cannot be used by the constituents of Sian Gwenlian,  because the Trawscymru T2 from Dolgellau arrives in Aberystwyth at 9.30 at the same time as the T1C to Cardiff departs at 9.30.. (NB This may sound familiar to the last T2/T1 service of the day where the T2  arrived from Bangor at 18.40 in Aberystwyth and the T1 to Carmarthen departed at 18.40 and that problem was unsurmountable as on

15/01/2018 Trawscymru changed the T2 arrival time in Aberystwyth to

18.50).      The First Minister also failed to mention that the T1C

coach has no Northbound service from Cardiff to Aberystwyth..

Passengers who wish to travel from Cardiff to Bangor have to either a) wait to catch the return T1C  from Cardiff to Aberystwyth at 16.45 and then break their journey overnight in Aberystwyth to travel onward to Bangor the following day using the T2 or b) use 4 buses , the X10 (Cardiff to Swansea), T1S or X11 (Swansea to Carmarthen), T1 (Carmarthen to Aberystwyth), and T2 from Aberystwyth to Bangor.

 

Passengers leaving Bangor at 7.05 to travel to Cardiff by bus will take

8 hours 50 minutes to reach Cardiff,  if they are lucky.   If a 5 minute

delayed departure is  applied to the T2 in Dolgellau to wait for a late

T3 from Wrexham , (which is highly likely at that time of day) ,the connection to the T1 to Carmarthen in Aberystwyth will be missed and the

journey to Cardiff will take 12 hours 5 minutes.   A journey in the

opposite direction from Cardiff to Bangor starting at 11.15 via the X10,

X11,T1 and T2 services will take 10 hiurs 15 minutes arriving in Bangor at 21.30 with waits of 20 minutes in Swansea, 30 minutes in Carmarthen and 36 minutes in Aberystwyth. There is no connectivity in Aberystwyth on the strategic T2/T1 route North to South route and it is not acceptable that a journey between North and South Wales involves 4 buses and can take between 10 and 12 hours.

 

The First Minister also said _that “”Even in the days of the TrawsCambria, Cardiff to Aberystwyth and then on to Bangor existed, after an hour’s wait in Aberystwyth for those who then went on to Bangor””_.

 

This statement is misleading in that the First Minister infers that:-

 

1. a) a ”Cardiff to Aberystwyth and on to Bangor service” exists now when it does not (The T1C coach goes from Aberystwyth to Cardiff in the morning and back to Aberystwyth in the evening. There is no Cardiff to Aberystwyth service. )

 

1. b) that an hours wait in Aberystwyth for the T2  was true 10 years ago in the days of TrawsCambria,  but that is not the situation now, when in fact the situation in Aberystwyth now  is worse than 10 years ago.  Now passengers on  the T1 from Carmarthen  to Aberystwyth have to wait between 46 minutes and 1 hour 46 minutes  for the next T2 in Aberystwyth

.. Ken Skates has refused to answer the question _“”Could the Minister give the reason why there are no Northbound T1 services connecting to the T2 in Aberystwyth and why T1 passengers have to wait in Aberystwyth for between 46 minutes and 1 hour 46 minutes  for the next T2 ?””_ on the grounds that the question is ”vexatious”.

Since the Minister for Transport will not answer that question I shall provide the answer for him  . _THE REASON THAT THE T! AND T2  DO NOT CONNECT IN ABERYSTWYTH  IS BECAUSE THE 15 MINUTES OF CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE T2 AND T1 IN ABERYSTWYTH HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO BE TRANSFERRED TO DOLGELLAU WHEN THE T3 WREXHAM TO BARMOUTH  SERVICE WAS INTRODUCED._ The 15 minutes of connectivity was transferred  despite the Welsh Government Transport strategy to improve the T2/T1 route and the conclusion and recommendation of the Bevan Foundation Review of Trawscymru, which recommended that the T3 route should run from Wrexham to Aberystwyth instead of to Barmouth

 

The First Minister also said _“”We continue to enhance existing TrawsCymru services and introduce new routes where there are clear strategic benefits from offering new long-distance bus and coach services.  We are at present looking at new routes, namely Bangor to

Chirk and Oswestry, and also from Wrexham to Newtown.””    THIS

STATEMENT IS MISLEADING BECAUSE ON 14/11/2018 KEN SKATES COMMISSIONED A “HIGH LEVEL REVIEW” OF A T3 ROUTE FROM WREXHAM TO ABERYSTWYTH AS RECOMMENDED BY THE BEVAN FOUNDATION REVIEW WHICH WAS PUBLISHED  BEFORE

THE T3 WREXHAM TO BARMOUTH ROUTE WAS INTRODUCED.   _Unless the First

Minister has made a mistake and “Wrexham to Newtown” should read “Wrexham to Aberystwyth” , the “high level” review of a Wrexham to Aberystwyth route has still not been carried out 5 years after the

recommendation was made    Ken Skates refuses to answer questions on the

T3 Wrexham to Aberystwyth route as his Director for Transport (Simon

Jones) has said the questions were ”vexatious.  One  “enhancement”

of services , referred to by the First Minister,  was on 15/01/2018  to increase the number of T3 Wrexham to Barmouth services to 8 per day on this non strategic , short distance (58 miles) route and at the same time the stop time for the T2 strategic service (Bangor to Aberystwyth) in Dolgellau was increased from 5 minutes to 10 minutes to wait for the

non strategic T3 from Wrexham.   The “enhancement” of the T3 Wrexham

to Barmouth service on 15/01/2018 therefore gave a pointer to the fact that the Transport Minister had no intention whatsoever of  conducting a

“high level” review of a Wrexham to Aberystwyth route.    Wrexham to

Newtown is a reasonable route as it could link with the T4 from Newtown to Cardiff,  but Wrexham to Newtown is not a long distance route (43 miles via the constituency of South Clwyd) whereas Wrexham to Aberystwyth is a long distance route of 82 miles which would link to 2 services in Aberysatwyth (T1 to Carmarthen and T5 to Cardigan). The logic of Ken Skates may be that he can have a more frequent servive with more buses per day available to his constituents in South Clwyd if he misses out Newtown to Aberystwyth as part of the route.  The First Minister  also  failed to mention that  the Bangor to Chirk and Oswestry route goes via Wrexham, which means it therefore crosses the Transport Minister’s constituency of South Clwyd.  This route is bizarre in that Chirk and Oswestry are not strategic locations, there are also already train links from Chirk to Wrexham, the route runs North East from Oswestry to Wrexham and then makes an acute turn Westward to go across North Wales where there is already good bus and rail transport links  .

 

So the First Minister in his statements in the plenary of 24/04/2018 infers that he is happy with the fact that the strategic North-South

T2/T1 route between Bangor and Carmartnen (133 miles) has been destroyed for the benefit of one group of passengers from Wrexham and South Clwyd on the T3 route from Wrexham to Dolgellau (48 miles).  The First Minister infers he considers that the T2/T1 route is non strategic and

therefore does not require connectivity in Aberystwyth,   The T3 Wrexham

to Barmouth route is considered to be a highly strategic route and this route has been “enhanced” on 15/01/2018 with extra services (now 8 services per day) , while at the same time on 15/01/2018 T2 services on the T2/T1 route (which the Welsh Government consider to be non

strategic)  can be held back by an extra 5 minutes for the benefit of passengers from Wrexham and South Clwyd.  The Welsh Government consider a recommended T3 route from Wrexham to Aberystwyth is not a strategic route and the Welsh Government are therefore refusing to conduct a “high level” review into a recommended Wrexham to Aberystwyth route for the second time in 5 years . The existing T3 Wrexham to Barmouth route is so strategic that it requires 8 services per day, whilst  the Cardiff to Aberystwyth route is so unimportant that there are no services whatsoever,  although there was a Cardiff to Aberystwyth service 10 years ago in the days of Trawscambria .. Finally the First Minister infers that he is happy with a proposed Trawscymru route which includes a diversion from Chirk to Wrexham across the constituency of South Clwyd (which already has a rail route) and then on from Wrexham to Bangor (which already has good bus and rail services in place).

 

(2) The workplace culture within the Welsh Government

 

Question  OAQ52056 was made by Bethan Sayed regarding workplace culture within the Welsh Government. The First Minister said that _“”of course, as far as Welsh Government staff are concerned, that is a matter for the Permanent Secretary””. The First Minister went on to say “”I entirely agree that we should be open and professional, and that’s what we strive to do. It’s not something I’ve been directly involved with, as he can appreciate,””_

 

These statements are totally misleading in that I have made complaints about Welsh Government staff and those complaints were not dealt with by the Permanent Secretary and the First Minister WAS directly involved .

I have made numerous complaints, starting initially with complaints to the Cabinet Secretary For Economy and Infrastructure (Ken Skates), regarding behaviour of his officials (lies, altering the text of Freedom of Information Requests and ignoring questions in Freedom of Information

Requests).   Ken Skates did not deal with these complaints and even

passed complaints down to the same officials, who were the subject of the complaints, for them to deal with as a Freedom of Information Request..  Complaints of a breach of Ministerial Conduct by Ken Skates were then referred to the First Minister, who chose to not involve the Permanent Secretary and chose instead to obtain a response from one of Ken Skates own officials (Simon Jones  – Director for Transport within the Department for Economy and Infrastructure).  A complaint against a Minister should not be dealt with by an official from the Minister’s

own Department.   No investigation of the complaints was made despite

detailed evidence being supplied to the First Minister..

 

In relation to the statement _“”I entirely agree that we should be

open and professional””_   the behaviour of Simon Jones (Director

for Transport) completely contradicts that statement.    Simon Jones on

19/02/2018 issued an edict that all my Information requests on the subject of  “A T3 route from Wrexham to Aberystwyth”, “ The T2 Bangor to Aberystwyth timetable changes of 15/01/2018” and “A new Trawscymru route from Chirk to Bangor” were ”vexatious” and would not be answered.

 

The workplace culture within the Welsh Government is one of aggressive secretiveness , deceitfulness, dishonesty, self interest (the obsession with Wrexham to Barmouth being a strategic route and providing Trawscymru services through South Clwyd is baffling), and lack of discipline.  The Minister for Transport is more than happy for his officials to behave in an unproffessional way and is incapable of enforcing any level of discipline within his own Department. The First Minister has condoned this attitude and Welsh Government responses have been handed over to an official from the Minister’s own Department (Simon Jones  – Director for Transport)

 

In the case of Trawscymru services the Minister for Transport is allowing benefits to be provided for his own constituents at the expense of passengers throughout the rest of Wales.  Using his Government position to benefit his own constituents, failing to confront the poor behaviour of his officials, making incorrect statements to the Welsh Assembly regarding the Trawscymru network and making an incorrect statement to a Ceredigion Councillor (regarding Commissioning of a review of a Trawscymru Wrexham to Aberystwyth route) are all actions that have been taken by Ken Skates and all these actions breach the Welsh Government Ministerial Code.

 

_Finally I would like to say that I am pleased to see that you have done the right thing by announcing your imminent departure from the Labour leadership 4 days after James Hamilton published his report on

17/04/2018.   I have read James Hamilton’s report and I am sure James

Hamilton will have advised you on the right direction to go in .   I

would request that before you go you also do the right thing and have an “open and professional discussion”  with the Transport minister, Ken Skates, on the subject of the Trawscymru Network and whether Ken Skates support for Trawscymu routes through his constituency of South Clwyd is healthy for other passengers using the network throughout the rest of Wales . _

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Dr John McTighe