Plaid Cymru’s Rural Affairs Spokespeople in the Welsh Assembly and UK Parliament have backed a campaign urging dog owners to keep their pets under control as the cost of dog attacks on livestock more than doubled in Wales last year.

Wales accounted for a quarter of the cost of livestock attacks in the UK in 2018 – the only UK nation to see a rise in the cost of such attacks.

It estimates that the total cost of livestock worrying to the UK farming industry exceeded £1.2m last year. In Wales there was a huge rise in the cost of attacks in 2018, resulting in a massive 113 per cent increase. The estimated total cost to Welsh agriculture was £285,000 last year.

Ben Lake MP and actor Stephen Mangan have joined forces this March to help Marie Curie provide care and support to more people living with a terminal illness.

Ben Lake and Marie Curie Ambassador Stephen were pictured together with Marie Curie Rapid Response Healthcare Assistant Patricia McDonnell at the parliamentary event to celebrate the launch of the Great Daffodil Appeal, Marie Curie’s biggest annual fundraising campaign, held every March.

Elin Jones – Assembly Member for Ceredigion since 1999, has been reselected to stand for Ceredigion in the National Assembly for Wales elections in 2021.

To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, local MP Ben Lake is offering young women in Ceredigion the chance to share their views and ideas in a ‘Real Talk’ workshop, as part of Young Women’s Trust’s campaign to ensure young women are involved in decision-making at all levels.

The aim of the ‘Real Talk’ workshop is to encourage young women to engage with political and social issues to bring about change in their lives and communities. Tackling issues such as living wage, period poverty, access to mental health services and the rural challenges facing young women, the workshop will give participants the opportunity to share experiences, ask questions, challenge the status quo and offer their ideas for a better future.

Local elected representatives have expressed their frustration following an announcement by Barclays that their Aberaeron branch would be closing.

Barclays has announced it is to close its branch on Sgwâr Alban, Aberaeron on 31 May 2019, citing a substantial fall in the number of in-branch transactions and increasing use of online and telephone banking.

The decision to close the branch will leave the town without a single bank branch – following the previous closure of NatWest and HSBC.

A launch event for the new parliamentary group was held at Westminster this week, in partnership with the NFU, and was attended by MPs from across the political spectrum, including the farming minister George Eustice.

During the launch event, MPs heard more about the significant contributions of hill and uplands farming in producing food, maintaining and enhancing the environment and driving the rural community.

The cross-party group presented the minister with a copy of ‘The Manifesto For The Uplands’ which calls for more funding to be made available for hill farming as well as calling on the Government to secure tariff-free access to the EU market.

Ceredigion MP, Ben Lake is encouraging local charities and good causes to apply for over £3 million of funding that has been raised by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Applications are open from 6 February until 20 February, where a whole host of good causes from social enterprises to voluntary groups and registered charities are eligible to apply for grants of between £500 and £20,000.

The UK Government’s Department for Education is currently consulting on proposals to allocate up to £910 million in additional funding to schools and colleges in England to cover higher teacher pension scheme costs in 2019-20, arising as a result of changes to the discount rate applied by the Treasury in valuations of public service pension schemes.

Although education is a responsibility of the Welsh Government, the changes to the employer liabilities under the Teachers’ Pension Scheme will impact on the budget of schools and colleges in Wales. As these changes to employer contributions are a result of decisions taken by the UK Government, it is crucial that the Treasury makes funding available to cover the increase in Wales as they intend to do in England.

Ben Lake, MP for Ceredigion, has called on the UK Government to clarify whether the funds allocated to cover the increased pension contributions in England will also be made available to schools and colleges in Wales.

Research by the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) has found that the severity of regional inequality within the UK would qualify it for more than £11 billion in EU regional development funding under the 2021-2027 cycle.

The current funding cycle runs from 2014-2020, during which time Wales is expected to have received £2.06 billion in support from the EU – or around 20% of total allocated to the UK.

The UK Government has suggested replacing EU investment with a new UK Shared Prosperity Fund after Brexit. However, despite promising to consult on the fund before the end of 2018, it has not published any substantial details as yet. It therefore remains unclear how much funding will be available, how it will be shared across the UK, and who will be responsible for handling the allocations.   

Ben Lake has met with NFU and FUW representatives and local farmers to discuss the implications leaving the EU without a deal would have for the sector.

Agriculture is key to wealth and job creation in Ceredigion. It is estimated that every £1 generated in agriculture translates into some £7.40 for the local economy through supply chains and spending, and that each job in farming supports 3.5 jobs in other sectors. Red meat exports, and lamb in particular, are the backbone of the agricultural industry in Wales. The single market is a vital export destination for Welsh food and drink in general. Over 80% of food and animal exports goes to the EU, and between 35% and 40% of all Welsh lamb produced.