Offa's Dyke Must Not Be Barrier to Excellent Services

12.00.00am GMT Mon 3rd Mar 2008

People in Wales should have access to excellent local services without travelling the length of Wales - that's the message from Welsh Liberal Democrats this week.

The party is challenging the ruling Labour-Plaid government to ensure that people living either side of the Wales-England border retain the ability to receive services on the other side.

Mike German said: "No-one is more passionate than me about Wales making its own decisions - about Wales making its own political choices. But Welsh Liberal Democrats want to empower local communities too.

"That means that people living near the border should still be able to use local services, whichever side of the line they live. So if people in Knighton use Hereford hospital - that's OK. And if people in Lydney want to use services in Chepstow, that's OK too.

"Offa's Dyke must not be a barrier to receiving excellent local services. Where it is more convenient to use services in the other country, we should not be putting obstacles in the way.

"Some of the One Wales government's rhetoric and thinking has been alarming. The proposals to send North Wales neuro-surgery patients to Swansea, rather than Liverpool is the most high profile example. But as policy differences open up between Wales and England we must be mindful not to build Offa's Dyke in to a dividing wall.

"Walls between nations are never a sign of successful relationships. It was true in Berlin, it's true in the Middle East today. Our debate will urge the government to build bridges, not walls, so that the people of Wales get the best possible public services."

Notes:

Welsh Liberal Democrat motion for debate on Wednesday.

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1 Believes that the needs of the service-user should be paramount when assessing how public services are delivered

2 Recognises that, in some areas of both England and Wales, access to services on the other side of the border is beneficial to service users.

3 Calls on the Welsh Assembly Government to take better account of the need for cross-border provision when developing new public service strategies.