At the last Cardiff Council meeting I raised the recent inspection into Cardiff Youth Justice Service by HM Inspectorate of Probation. The 2020 inspection scored 0 out of 36 (see walesonline.co.uk/news/polit…), whilst it was 11/36 in 2022. I wait to see this inspection report, but was pleased to hear the Cabinet Member indicate there has been progress. #cdfcouncil

I have formally submitted my 10,000 word proposal for my PhD. A few stressful weeks before I find out the results to see if I move on to year two. Massive thanks to my amazing tutors @cardiffmet for their support and encouragement during one of the very worst years of my life.

Weather permitting, tomorrow night 28th Oct there are resurfacing works at the Pantmawr Road/Northern Avenue junction between 8pm-5am. Please try to use an alternative route whilst the works are underway. #Rhiwbina #Whitchurch #NorthCardiff

At the #Cardiff Council meeting I asked a written q about the Welsh Building Safety Developer Loan Scheme. I was surprised by the answer that no loans have been requested from CCC - but it appears many developers intended to fund the works themselves, which then raises the question why Welsh Gvt let the Council hold onto the £20million for all this time? #cdfcouncil walesonline.co.uk/news/wales…

Off to full Council in County Hall today. Looking forward to leading a Notice of Motion where I’ll be calling on Welsh Government to rule out a land value tax.

Please see below message from Waste Management regarding Garden Waste Collections in #Rhiwbina. Please keep your bins out - the crews are working across the weekend to catch up. Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Message from the Council' I am sorry to have to report that we are once again experiencing operational delays to garden waste collections within Rhiwbina. I appreciate that this is the second collection cycle where I have had to contact you regarding service disruption, and I understand the frustration this may cause yourselves and residents. Unfortunately, a combination of staffing shortages and vehicle issues this week has affected our operational capacity and has required us to prioritise other waste streams to ensure that statutory collection services were maintained. Please be assured that we are taking steps to recover the missed collections as quickly as possible. Crews will be working over the weekend to catch up, and I would be grateful if residents with uncollected bins could be advised to leave them presented for collection. I apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your understanding while we work to restore the service'.

It was good to be at @RhiwbinaMH for RATS' performance of Strangers on a Train. This drama has psychological twists and turns, and was really well performed (and the whole dialogue was line perfect!) It's on tonight and tomorrow - well worth going to see it. #Rhiwbina

Please find below message from the Council regarding Garden Waste Collections in #Rhiwbina. 'I am writing to let you know that we are unfortunately running behind schedule with garden waste collections in Rhiwbina. We have faced a number of operational challenges throughout the week, including staffing pressures and some impacts from increased traffic congestion around our disposal facilities, although this is by no means the only contributing factor. We have teams working over the weekend and into Monday to catch up on the outstanding collections. I would be grateful if you could advise your constituents to leave any uncollected garden waste bins out for collection and pass on our apologies for the delay and any inconvenience caused. I appreciate that we have enjoyed some of the last good weather of the season over the past week or so, and recognise that the delay is far from ideal. Please be assured that teams are working hard to recover the service as quickly as possible, and we are grateful for everyone’s patience and understanding while we do so'.

I am at the #cdfcouncil meeting this afternoon. I presented a petition on behalf of a constituent on horn nuisance on the #Coryton line. As the budget spokesman, I also spoke on two financial reports. I'll be posting videos over the next few days of the contributions and would welcome feedback on the issues raised.

RT @JayneCowan: Good luck to the lovely @melwalters01 on #strictly tonight. @Adrian1Robson and I met Melanie at #Cardiff Singer of the Wo…

Rhiwbina residents! The waste stream is changing to separate soft plastics out. This initially affects the majority of properties in #Rhiwbina and #Pantmawr, but I know they hope to roll it out to all properties eventually. The Council will send out information if it affects you. See more details in Jayne Cowan's post below 👇

Sending my condolences to Andy Burnham and his family on the loss of his father today, after his long battle with #dementia. It is such a cruel and hateful disease. Nothing prepares you for watching someone change in front of your eyes. Doing that in public life, with all the pressure and expectation that comes with it, makes it so much harder. Wishing him and his family strength, and the space and time they need to grieve and process this sad loss.

Just posting this update regarding the level crossing at Caedelyn Park - Pen y Dre. This update is from @tfwrail This morning, we were notified that the hinge securing the gate to the main post of the crossing had failed and become detached. As the crossing provides access over a live railway, the issue has been escalated through our safety processes and the gate has had to be temporarily locked out of use to ensure public safety. Our engineering teams are currently assessing the most appropriate repair solution. Depending on the work required, the crossing may need to remain closed for the remainder of today, although we are hopeful that a repair can be completed and the gate returned to full operation tomorrow. In the meantime, we have asked our operational colleagues to attend the site as soon as possible to assist members of the public with crossing where it is safe and practical to do so. Whilst the level crossing itself is not a public right of way, Pen-y-Dre provides access to the crossing, and we wanted to make local residents, users and the Council aware of the temporary closure and arrangements in place.

I really enjoyed attending the #ElectHer session tonight where I was in conversation with Yvonne Murphy. I enjoyed talking about my role as a Councillor representing #Rhiwbina for more than 26 years. I am proud to be the longest serving female Councillor on @cardiffcouncil with continuous service. @GoodwayCardiff is the longest serving male Councillor who has served for nearly 50 years a Councillor on various Councils. Great questions from the zoom room from women who want to potentially stand for office across #Wales. It was inspiring to learn about the work which goes on in communities the length and breath of Wales. Thank you Elect Her for the invitation.

I have been asked for some information about the Cardiff and Vale Out-of-Hours Service, which provides urgent medical care when a health problem cannot safely wait until your own GP practice reopens. The service supports around 500,000 people across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. In addition, pharmacists can offer free advice and treatment for a range of conditions under the Common Ailments Service. Some qualified prescribing pharmacists can also prescribe antibiotics when clinically appropriate. The Out-of-Hours Service operates: 6.30pm–8am on weekdays From 6.30pm on Friday until 8am on Monday 24 hours a day on bank holidays The service can become extremely busy, so the advice is to only use it for an urgent health problem that cannot wait until your GP practice reopens. Patients are assessed according to clinical need. If you need to be seen, you may be offered an appointment at one of the Primary Care Centres in #Cardiff or #Barry. Not all centres are open at the same time, so you will be directed to the most appropriate available location. The service also provides access to emergency dental care for problems such as severe dental pain, swelling, injury or excessive bleeding. A clinician will assess you initially by telephone. Here’s how to get help: Urgent medical or GP out-of-hours care: call 111 Emergency dental care in Cardiff and the Vale: call 0300 10 20 247 For a life-threatening emergency: call 999 Please share. This information may help someone access the right care when their GP practice is closed.

I found out something interesting and helpful today which I hope will be of interest to my constituents and the wider population of Cardiff. If you call your doctors surgery in #Cardiff and they can't see you, you can now be referred to the Urgent Primary Care Centre (UPPC) which is based at Cardiff Royal Infirmary. This Centre provides additional same-day GP appointments when local surgeries are full. Your GP practice assesses your symptoms and, if they are suitable for the service, books you an appointment at the UPCC. It is not a walk-in clinic. It is extra GP capacity shared between practices. The centre commonly deals with urgent but non-emergency problems such as: Chest infections and persistent coughs Tonsillitis Skin infections Acute back pain Other conditions that need attention that day but do not require A&E. The weekday UPCC service generally operates Monday to Friday, 8.30am–6pm. Cardiff Royal Infirmary also hosts a separate GP Out-of-Hours service, accessed through NHS 111 when practices are closed. I received a really prompt and helpful service today. Thank you @CV_UHB.

Happy anniversary to my wonderful wife @JayneCowan. I won't pretend that (since April) this year has been easy - it hasn't - with the passing of both our mothers within 3 weeks of each other, redundancy, the kitchen ceiling falling in and a few other things. But when life gets difficult it is your nearest and dearest you can rely on and I could not have got through it if Jayne was not by my side. This year so far has given us a lot to reflect on and told us who we can rely on in difficult times.

Good luck if you are getting your GCSE results today! #resultsday