Altaf Hussain (Welsh politician)

As an Assembly Member, Hussain has campaigned on a number of local and national issues.

He has worked with St John Cymru Wales to further their goal of having a 'first aider on every street', running community first responder training sessions in Swansea[9] as well as working to help bring their cycle responder unit project that has been successfully piloted in Cardiff further west to Swansea and Bridgend.[10] He has also campaigned for all schools in Wales to have defibrillators.[11]

Hussain has been a strong proponent of improving town centres and reducing unoccupancy rates, speaking out about problems with the road layout of Swansea's Kingsway prior to the council making changes.[12] He has argued in the local press for lower business rates, better parking facilities and against the closure of public toilet facilities. In February 2016 Hussain was criticised by Swansea City Council for calling for the county's education budget to be protected in the latest budget.[13]

He has also taken a close interest on the impact of energy policy on local communities and presented evidence to the public inquiry into the proposed land exchange deal that would allow for the construction of a wind farm at the Mynydd-y-Gwair site near Felindre in the north of Swansea, to which he had formally objected.[14] He has also sought clarity from the Welsh Government on its policy on underground coal bed gasification[15] and has supported local campaigns against exploratory drilling.[16] Hussain has been a supporter of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon proposal[17] but has argued that an appropriate strike price must be agreed first and the project should not be rushed.[18]

Hussain regularly speaks on matters related to health and social care, campaigning for pro-active 'stay at home assessments' to be offered to anyone so wanting one upon reaching retirement age which he argues will reduce delays in the transfer of patient care from the hospital to the home care setting and will enable older people to remain for longer in their own homes.[19] He has chaired a number of seminars relating to Health and Social Care policy with the Institute of Welsh Affairs and Policy Forum for Wales, of which he is a patron.[20] In March 2016 Hussain announced the new Welsh Conservative policy of capping care home costs and protecting a minimum level of assets for anyone needing residential care at the party's annual conference as part of an integrated approach to Health and Social Care policy by the party.[21]

In January 2016 he was asked to apologise by the First Minister[22] for suggesting that poor standards in Welsh schools were acting as a deterrent to doctors considering moving to Wales[23] but refused, saying that this was a concerned highlighted by bodies representing senior doctors and demanding instead an apology from the First Minister for his government 'taking its eye off the ball' in what became a heated row. He also called for the new system of measuring ambulance response times in Wales to be scrapped, arguing that they produce incomplete data.[24]

Hussain has spoken out to highlight his opposition to the proposed 'sugar tax'[25] and as to whether locum doctors' earnings in Wales should be subject to a cap.[26] He has also expressed his concern about the high levels of anti-depressant prescription by GPs in Wales and called for improved access to talking therapies.[27]

Having written a detailed article about winter pressures in the Welsh NHS in December 2016 for South Wales Evening Post.[28] The newspaper cited his article in calling for a mature and evidence-driven debate on health as one of '20 things we want to see in Swansea in 2016'.[29]

He campaigned against the closure of more hospital beds in the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board area.[30]

His other campaigns have included ensuring that communities in Porthcawl are properly protected by the Welsh Government's proposed Shoreline Management Plan,[31] calling for improved classroom access to services for children with autism and moderate learning difficulties[32] and facilitating more frequent bus services to communities in Gower.[33]

Hussain has argued that the committee structure of the Welsh Assembly should be strengthened to make the Welsh Government more accountable to AMs as well as for greater media coverage of proceedings in the Chamber.[34]

Following the announcement in March 2016 that Tata Steel was to sell its UK operation, Hussain was amongst a number of elected politicians who argued that the UK government would be right to take a partial stake in the Port Talbot plant in order to ensure its survival.[35]

In June 2016, Hussain organised a public debate on the forthcoming EU Referendum along with former Aberavon Welsh Assembly candidate David Jenkins, inviting speakers from both sides to present their arguments at Swansea University.[36]