Making Sense of Merthyr's Maladies

I await tonight’s Panorama with a mixture of interest and dread. The programme will be turning a spotlight on the jobs and benefits nexus, with Merthyr as the focus for their ‘investigation’. We have been down this route before in the broadcast media, and often we are presented with a programme which merely rehearses those same myths which the Bevan Foundation so rightly exploded in its report last week. I hope therefore that Panorama’s investigative journalism will be more incisive than some of the stereotype-ridden rubbish we’ve been exposed to before about my home town.

That said, everyone other than those in terminal denial knows that there is a serious problem here which remains to be addressed. The people of Merthyr and the wider Valleys most of all. The idea that Labour has done nothing to combat this problem over the last ten years is wrong, the idea that we could be doing much more is surely right however – and I will come on to that.

Benefit reform is coming. There is no alternative. The shift from benefits to work for thousands of people, particularly in the Northern Valleys area is the aim of that reform and that should be welcomed. The other side of the coin will be ‘Jobmatch’ and similar programmes, aiming to enable people to make the transition through personalised support.

These changes must come, but they must be properly introduced. To have this shift badly managed will only exacerbate the problem and fuel public cynicism.

There exists amongst some people who are seriously unwell or disabled a fear that the Government is “coming after them” – sometimes understandable given some poor experiences people have encountered in making genuine claims. These fears must be addressed at every turn, and it must be made clear that by getting those who can work into work, we can afford to better support those people with the most severe disabilities and challenges.

The Assembly Government must also dig deep to turn around the fortunes of those on benefits, their families and the wider community. We need to create an environment which suggests success – and not stagnation.

That means urgent commitments on strategic projects like the University Town promise for Merthyr (key to boosting the skills profile of the area). We need the dualling of the Heads of the Valleys Road to be timetabled and properly funded – we still await the recently promised announcement on this. We need a primary care hospital and mental health provision fit for the 21st century. We have been waiting 8 years for these promises to be fulfilled.

And there are other solutions too, which go right to the heart of the problems being identified by Panorama – cognitive behavioural therapy – or “talking therapies” must to be available to all who want it – not just the few.

“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” – now Marx isn’t often quoted by politicians these days, but this is exactly the philosophy that must guide us through this difficult process. We must remember that this is about people, not numbers. But those at the sharp end must also realise that the community deserves a contribution from them, concomitant with their ability to work.

Change must come – for sure we cannot go on like this. Finger pointing by the media cures nothing. But neither does the ‘I feel your pain’ hand wringing of those who would let the situation lie.

The Assembly Government has miles to go in following up on its promises for this area; it is to be hoped that these changes to the benefit system act as a spur for those commitments to be realised.