FORGET POLITICS LET'S TALK BUSINESS

FORGET POLITICS

LET'S TALK BUSINESS

We’ve all seen the effects of the recent economic crisis with our own eyes – and the toll it has taken on our town centres and other local business.

The facts show that hundreds of thousands of people are employed by small businesses and our government should be protecting those jobs during the economic crisis. Small business owners here are working hard to keep their staff on despite the incredibly difficult economic conditions they’re facing and they should be praised and offered assistance.

After unemployment hit a record high earlier this month, Plaid has called for action to protect jobs in small businesses. The party’s Small Business plan would directly help any business with a rateable value of up to £18,000. However, during recent negotiations to agree the Welsh Budget, Labour blocked the plans.

What’s Plaid’s Plan

• The vast majority of shops and local businesses and shops would be helped by Plaid’s plan.
• We would extend Business Rate support to businesses up to a rateable value of £18,000 – which is over 80% of businesses in Wales.
• This would help safeguard thousands of jobs in Wales and lend valuable support to businesses in the toughest of times.
• Small businesses collectively employ 477,700 people in Wales, but Labour’s refusal to support this scheme has put those jobs at risk.

We believe that despite the cuts, more can be done to protect jobs and help our local businesses communities. Plaid has a plan that really could make a difference to you, your family and your community.

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We would urge you to join us in saying that now is the time to make protecting jobs an absolute priority. Like you, we want a better future for Wales.

FORGET POLITICS LET'S TALK ABOUT JOBS

FORGET POLITICS

LET'S TALK ABOUT JOBS

Just like you, we believe that there is no issue more important in Wales today than creating and protecting jobs. 137,000 people in Wales are out of work and everyone agrees that the situation is going to get worse.

Now is the time for Wales to stand together and pledge to do whatever can be done in order to save jobs and to protect families.  Unlike the others we will not sit on our hands and let the Conservative and Lib Dem cuts take their toll in Wales in the worst possible way.  It’s time to put Wales first.

This is why we want to see this Welsh government shifting its money in order to;

• Invest in building projects which will help our construction industry. 
• Give greater help to small, local businesses
• Support the survival of our manufacturing sector
• Provide money for people to re-train if they lose their jobs
• Help companies so that they can avoid redundancies

We also want to see our councils treating their workers fairly – we want fairness for all those who work tirelessly everyday for our communities.  We would never treat our public sector workers in the way they have been treated by Labour councils.  Forcing through pay cuts and changing terms and conditions with minimum consultation is not the way to treat a workforce.  Our way is to invite workers to work with management in order to plan a way forward together.

Plaid exists not for its own sake, but for Wales.

We believe that despite the cuts, more can be done to protect jobs and communities. Plaid has a plan that really could make a difference to you, your family and your community. We would urge you to join us in saying that now is the time to make protecting jobs an absolute priority. Like you, we want a better future for Wales.  

Local communities: Our vision

What is Plaid's vision for our local communities?

Plaid will work to ensure that local government is more open and answerable to the public. We will also ensure that our local councils work effectively in partnership with other local councils and organisations for the benefit of our communities. We oppose the micro management of local councils by central government and are committed to ensuring that local councils have the freedom and funding to respond appropriately to local issues.

In the long term, Plaid will create an All-Wales Civil Service, with civil servants and officers able to move freely between the National Assembly for Wales, Local Government in Wales and The National Health Service in Wales. We believe that this model will encourage cooperation, the sharing of best practice, and will result in more joined-up thinking.

Plaid-run councils operate with robust scrutiny mechanisms so that decision-making power is not just concentrated in the hands of the executive board and senior local government officials. Plaid values the important work of town and community councils as they are a vital link in Welsh democracy. We will work to strengthen their role as we believe that they have the potential to play a fuller role in revitalising our communities.

We know that community involvement is vital to effective local government. We will make sure that voluntary groups, local businesses and individuals have every opportunity to share their views on decisions impacting their local community. We will support the campaign for participatory budgeting in our local authorities to ensure that local citizens have a voice in how money is spent.

Plaid is committed to a fairer voting system and will continue to campaign for the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote for every election in Wales including local authority elections. We will also continue to call for the right to vote at 16 as a way of encouraging young people to take part in the political process.

Plaid believes that we should abolish the unfair and outdated council tax system and introduce a local income tax. A local income tax would be based on the ability to pay, not on the value of property. It would be fairer and more efficient.

We know that Post Offices are often central to the vibrancy of communities, especially in our rural areas. Plaid has always been opposed to Post Office closures, and we have supported the strengthening of the Post Office network with a People's Bank. We believe that these community hubs have massive potential as information and advice centres.