To think wales is a huge problem that no one ever talks about?

[Cocklodger]

Right now Theresa May is cracking down on no win no fee solicitors
Mainly south Wales, in particular the valleys.
Back years ago when the mines were shut down rightfully there was nothing left to replace it. Nothing at all, it killed thousands of jobs, which was to be expected, but in exchange there was no new businesses, no back ups, nothing. And it's only gotten worse since, poverty is high, benefit claimants are quite common
Public transport is awful to say the least and if you can't commute to Cardiff by some means, you're screwed, most can't afford cars and if you're in a public transport black spot then you're severely limited to warehouse operative positions which have over 100 applicants in one to three days. Meanwhile house prices in Cardiff are rising, I think in 40 years we will have a new London.
In the valleys most looks grey, worn out and pretty dead to be honest. Where I live there are a few car dealerships and a train station, which is more like a bus stop with tracks next to it than an actual station and the nearest station with people actually manning the booths is pontypridd (45mins away by train) I spent years working as a volunteer for an agency that helps people with problems (poverty related) such as MH issues, finding work, food bank referrals and the like. I saw it every single day, people wanting to work but seldom getting anywhere.
There are articles and documentaries about it, but I never see them talked bout on here or elsewhere really, aibu to think that Wales is a big problem that no one really talks about?

Giddy I wonder how old your parents are? The handful of my parents' friends who went to Uni mostly came back; the valley was a nicer place then. My generation is post miners' strike though. We went and never came back.

A nurse on band 5 gets paid the same all over the country.

That's what I thought.

I do feel that a lot of professional roles are automatically concentrated in large English cities. I live very close to Cardiff and I have a degree in Graphic Design. Sadly every job that ever comes up has about 50 applicants. All media jobs seem to be concentrated heavily around London. So I set my own buisiness up which is now a company. It's shame people have to do this though.

I'm from Llanelli originally and that town has been redeveloped so much it's unbelievable. You have parc y trostre and lots of lovely waterfront homes and nice restaraunts. On the opposite end of the scale you have a huge drug problem. Lots of unemployed and lots of houses containing multiple Eastern European workers (scary quantities in each house) so each town has its ups and downs

Access to good broadband connections would make a huge difference in Wales. Then smaller firms would be able to set up shop there.

tinkley - as someone with relatives near the area you are talking about i would support what you say as being perceptive and accurate.

Years ago, when i moaned about going back to work after maternity leave, the general consensus from the relatives with young kids was 'well go sick'.

Yes, NHS staff and teaching staff follow the same pay scales. I was referring to civil service organisations and local authorities. The DVLA won't pay the same as the Assembly - they might not even have the same grades of posts (many depts have moved from the AA, AO, EO, HEO, SEO, G7, G6, SCS model). Within the NHS posts may be advertised at a higher band to attract staff which distorts things somewhat too.

Tinkly my parents are in their 70s. My dad refuses to countenance any situation in which he would have gone to work underground though. He found the valley claustrophobic and because every second person was a relative, interfering. His degree took him away anyway. We ended up in a different bit of Wales.

Interestingly, there are some differences in pay throughout the UK, particularly between the lower bands in the NHS.

e.g. Band 1 starting pay:

Scotland - £15,358
England - £15,100
Wales - £14,437
N Ireland - £14,294

That's a hell of a difference between Scotland and NI. It's not as if Scotland is necessarily the most expensive place to live.

Scotland pays the highest rates followed by England, then Wales and finally NI.

www.rcn.org.uk/employment-and-pay/nhs-pay-scales-2015-16

I thought academies didn't have to stick to national pay scales and conditions? Where I live, most secondary schools are academies now.

Similarly, I doubt whether there are many workers still directly employed by local authorities as roles have been transferred to the private or charity sectors where national pay scales won't apply.

I don't know about NHS.

No academies in Wales. But yes, they set their own pay and t+cs

Ah yes, sorry I forgot education system in Wales can be different

Ooh Giddy, your parents were quite the adventurers then. Mine are the same age, met at school and live within a couple of miles from where they were born. Their friends are still the people they grew up with.

And yes everyone in the valley still knows my business (via my Mam).

My DSis married someone from the next valley (a couple of miles over the mountain) and was considered to have married quite exotically "because they're a bit strange over there".

When they are telling me a story about someone they have to first give me a full genealogical rundown so I can "place" them. I never have a clue who they are on about. My Mam and my sister know everyone's full history and family tree.

You could be describing DH's family there (they're hundreds of miles from the Welsh valleys in the wilds of Yorkshire).

Haha! Exactly that. Worst thing is it's flipping genetic and I'm obsessed with it too

Ooooh you've probably got it from your Auntie May Giddy, married that boy Jones, his father owned the cobblers on the main road, his sister died young and her son married Tudor Jenkins boy, Dinko they used to call him, no not Dinko Davies, that was his brother, Dinko Moon, because once, when he was twelve......

Tinkly that's just a rural thing surely? English Westcountry here -

'Susan, you know Susan, a Maxwell really but her mum married one of the Greens, David Greens' youngest brother, Roberts dad....'
"But isn't Sarah Susan's daughter? Are Sarah and Robert related then?"
'Oh yes that why it was such a scandal when Tracy Green remarried and married Alex Maxwell, I mean technically they aren't blood but, well...'
"Oooo well I never knew that. Cup of tea mum?"

"What were you going to tell me about Susan?"

Ha that's interesting Batteries. I have only lived in cities since I grew up, well I live in a village now but there are lots of new houses and there aren't many locals whose families have always lived here.

That's right Tinkly lives next door but one to Clem who worked in the Co-Op.

Come on Giddy surely she worked in the Cwop?

I think we may be belonging.

Tidy!
You're right it was the Cwop. I'd never thought of writing it down as it was said

I have to agree I have been visiting Wales, specifically a town in the Rhonda valley for decades as I have family there. The town has benefited from investment from the EU and has some impressive new school, hospital and municipal buildings projects recently. But that does not make up for the lack of aspirations and jobs in the area. My nephews and nieces will have to leave if they want a real career and opportunities.

I have found the beautiful countryside is a stark backdrop for the depressingly rundown streets and burned out cars that I see. I would not want to live there but I still love to visit. There is potential for so much beauty, opportunity and creative projects to regenerate the valleys, but no political will or proper long term investment.

While I agree with you that poverty in Wales is very worrying OP I can't agree with what you think are the causes of it (or at least not exlusively) - most of the top ten deprived places as per your link aren't particularly rural, and have comparatively good transport links.

I would understand if 9 out of 10 of the deprived areas were in rural Powys, where you don't have many jobs that aren't farming, and the road & bus links are rubbish and train services non existent. But Splott is one of the closest residential areas (i.e. well within walking distance, and if not there's lots of buses) both to Cardiff Central, and all the industrial/retail units in both ocean way and the bay/docks. There can't be many places in Wales where it could be easier to get to a job, or have as much variety of available jobs. Same with the two Caerphilly areas - both close enough to Caerphilly train station to commute to Cardiff within 20 mins as is Caerau in Bridgend. Merthyr and & the two RCT areas are also commutable within much less than an hour, and Wrexham is close to both Wrexham itself and near enough to Manchester & Liverpool.

Not that I'm saying commuting into Cardiff is the ideal solution - if that continues we will just end up having a microcosm of London, where all the jobs are in one city, in a few years. It just shows that it's not as straightforward as if all the areas were in a rural location - then you could draw inferences and start to hopefully implement solutions. It suggests that there are different reasons for poverty in different areas (in the same way that poverty in inner Liverpool might be due to different reasons that poverty in Cornwall), and therefore it's not a 'Wales' specific issue, or one that can be sorted as easily as saying 'well let's stick a few more buses on then.'

I know it won't solve everything, but moving a few more governmental departments outside London and into all the regions, would be a good start. The DVLA has shown it can be run as successfully in Swansea as it can in London, and probably for a huge reduction in rent, utility and staff costs. As more and more work is done online and via conference call rather than face to face, if more public bodies showed that having their HQs outside London can work well, then hopefully private companies would follow suit, and there would be a fairer distribution of job availability.

anotheronebitthedust Just to take up your point about Wrexham - it may be easy to commute to Liverpool if you have a car but trains to Liverpool are expensive and woefully unreliable. Most people in NE Wales who commute to merseyside do so for professional type jobs. A low paid job would be eaten by travel costs.

The DVLA is completely self funding, but only because of the type of work they do. Ditto the Patent Office.