WITH one week to go until the General Election Preseli Pembrokeshire Parliamentary candidates answer questions for constituents.

1. What are the biggest issues facing Pembrokeshire at the moment?

2. What can be done to boost the economy and jobs locally?

3. Despite being a devolved issue what can you do to improve health provision in Pembrokeshire?

4. What can be done to improve the prospects for young people in the area?

5. What are your key objectives if elected?

Western Telegraph:

Stephen Crabb, Conservatives

1.The number one issue on the doorsteps of Pembrokeshire is the future of Withybush Hospital and concern about health services. People feel angry about the removal of services and want them restored. We also have thousands of people in our County waiting far too long for operations. How we improve the local economy and create new jobs with better pay is the central issue for maintaining Pembrokeshire as a great place for families. Unemployment had been falling steadily in Pembrokeshire until the Murco bombshell. To recover in the long-term we need major improvements to our infrastructure and the top priority must be dualling of the A40. The future of local education, especially A Level provision, is also high on the agenda right now with the Council’s plans raising alarm among many parents about a fundamental shift in education policy that signals an end to the County’s sixth forms.

2. The economy is growing again and unemployment is lower than it was in 2010 but there are big long-term challenges to address. In terms of attracting new investment into Pembrokeshire, improving our transport connections is key. There are a number of major Welsh projects in the pipeline which Pembrokeshire could benefit from and we need a team approach to help secure these. We have improved Broadband coverage significantly in the last five years and that has helped many businesses locally. We will continue this as well as fixing the big gaps in mobile phone coverage which is a frustration for many firms and a barrier to investment. We have cut red tape and business taxes to boost small businesses but we desperately need a major review of business rates by Welsh Government to rescue our town centres and level the playing field with big retail parks.

3. The most important thing an MP can do to improve health services is be part of a government that delivers secure and adequate funding to the NHS. Westminster government protected the NHS budget from cuts since 2010. This delivered extra money for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to protect their NHS budgets. Only Welsh Labour Government chose not to spend that money on Health. We will continue to protect NHS spending and Welsh Government needs to use its share of the money to improve health in Wales not divert to other projects like Cardiff Airport. Locally, Pembrokeshire needs its MPs to continue being part of the campaign to defend Withybush and work with local AMs and campaigners to challenge the decisions of Welsh Government in Cardiff. The MP also needs to work closely with the Health Board and local medical staff on behalf of individual patients who require assistance getting access to treatment.

4. The most pressing issue for young people at the moment is the proposed education changes in Pembrokeshire. While the Council does need a plan to improve education for our young people, this is not the right way to go about it. We also need to provide spaces and activities for the social lives of our young people. I have been involved with the Haverfordwest Skatepark since it was first suggested and that is one great example of how we can provide for young people locally.

It’s also really important that there are good quality local jobs which allow the next generation to take a step on the career ladder in Pembrokeshire. I am a big believer in apprenticeships – 2 million have been created across the UK since 2010 and I want to see more here to give students an opportunity to learn skills that will help them to get to where they want to be.

5. We face some challenges but I believe we have a strong future ahead. My reason for being in politics is to do whatever I can to keep Pembrokeshire a great place for families and businesses. In the last ten years my promise has always been to put Pembrokeshire first. If I have the privilege of being re-elected on May 7 I will continue doing exactly that.

Withybush will remain the top priority and I will continue working with local campaigners and Paul Davies AM to defend health services in Pembrokeshire. It is good news that the economy is now recovering but I want to see Pembrokeshire share fully in that. I will continue fighting for inward investment, local jobs and small businesses, which are the engine of job creation in our County.

Western Telegraph:

Paul Miller, Labour

1. I’ve spent 2 years knocking on doors and talking to people in Pembrokeshire and the 15,000 conversations I’ve had, about the importance of jobs, healthcare, and cleaning up the County’s politics, have all helped me develop a Plan for Pembrokeshire (www.paulmillerpembrokeshire.com) – we need to get Pembrokeshire back on the right path. We can do that together. I have been and will be beating the drum for Pembrokeshire, doing whatever it takes to bring jobs and industry back. Working with the clinical advisory group I established (12 local healthcare professionals) I’ve been working to try and ensure the return of overnight paediatric care to Withybush. I put a lot into fighting with the people of Pembrokeshire to remove the Council Chief Executive, that was just the start. We need to return trust to Pembrokeshire’s politics as that affects everything from the best start for our children, to re-energising our town centres.

2. It’s been really tough in Pembrokeshire in recent years. I’m determined to do all I can to support the next generation of industry into the county; industry like assembling turbines for the Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay project which the Port Authority has bid for. And I know small businesses have had it just as tough. They’re so important to Pembrokeshire and I’m determined to get a locally focused peer to peer lending platform off the ground, to provide them with access to real cash support. There’s money in Pembrokeshire, large reserve funds in our public institutions as well as private wealth, we can get this money working harder for Pembrokeshire at the same time as improving returns for investors. We need to sell Pembrokeshire as a destination for innovation, business expansion and growth. Getting the building blocks in place is key and my Plan for Pembrokeshire is focussed on doing just that.

3. It might be a devolved issue in terms of delivery, but not in terms of the amount of money Wales receives - a 10% cut under the Conservatives. I don’t accept it when our elected politicians sit back and say nothing can be done because it’s devolved. I got involved in politics in Pembrokeshire because I wanted to make a difference. I’ve been working with my clinical advisory group (local consultants, doctors and nurses) and we’ve come up with a real, workable plan, which I’ve put to the Chief Executive of Hywel Dda Health Board, all about securing the return of overnight paediatric care to Withybush. Better care in the community is also key and I’ve done a lot of work with carers and care providers in Pembrokeshire to develop our Time to Care charter. Ensuring our elderly residents are properly supported and cared for in their own homes is vital.

4. Pembrokeshire will always be a great place to visit but it has to be a great place to live and work too. I’m 27. When I left school in Haverfordwest and went on to study economics at university, I was determined to return and make Pembrokeshire my home. It’s been a battle – the jobs and opportunities are not currently here – and a huge proportion of the people I went to school with have to live away. Delivering the next generation of jobs and opportunities is key to ensuring our young people have a future here and that’s why I’ll be beating the drum for Pembrokeshire, doing whatever it takes to bring jobs and industry back here. Not just any jobs. Jobs that pay a decent wage. As well as raising the minimum wage, Labour plans to give tax breaks to companies that sign up to pay a living wage.

5. My Plan for Pembrokeshire is all about providing the vision and leadership thousands of Pembrokeshire people have told me we need: the best healthcare for our families, with care close to home; a job that pays, in an industry to be proud of; returning trust to Pembrokeshire’s politics; the best start for our children; re-energising our town centres. If I’m elected on 7th May, I’ll be fighting to do things differently so that they work for Pembrokeshire. I’ll be working as Preseli Pembrokeshire’s MP on national issues that matter to Pembrokeshire. I’ll be using my influence as an MP with the Welsh Assembly to stand up on devolved issues that matter to Pembrokeshire. I’ll be staying on as a councillor (but I won’t take a Council salary) to continue the fight for issues that matter to us locally. Pembrokeshire will always remain my focus.

Western Telegraph:

John Osmond, Plaid Cymru

1.The biggest issues facing Pembrokeshire arise from the austerity programme and spending cuts being pursued by both Conservatives and Labour at Westminster. These are leading directly to pressures on Withybush hospital and decisions by the county council to run down our secondary schools by centralising Sixth form provision at Pembrokeshire College. Only Plaid Cymru, in alliance with the SNP and Greens offers an alternative to reducing the cuts by tackling the deficit over a longer time period. We would vote against the renewal of Trident, thereby saving £100 billion. There are no circumstances in which we would support the Conservatives at Westminster who have reduced taxes for the better off while aiming to save another £12 billion by cuts to benefits. We would support Labour in government at Westminster on a vote-by-vote basis, pressing them to follow our priorities of reducing spending cuts and increasing taxes on the most wealthy.

2. The backbone of Pembrokeshire’s economy is small businesses. Plaid Cymru’s policy for abolishing business rates for firms with rateable values below £15,000 will help about 2,000 struggling small businesses across the county, especially in our town centres. The county council should use its planning powers to restrict out-of-town development. Giving public contracts to local firms across the county would create 1,000 jobs. Plaid will create a Welsh Development Bank and a Renewable Development Agency to create jobs. We need to upgrade the A40 and introduce an hourly train service to Milford and Fishguard. Plaid will press for 1% extra of UK funding to pay for such projects, making an extra £800 million a year available for Wales. The most effective way to get more people into work is to reduce National Insurance which helps the lowest paid most and encourages employers to take on more staff.

3. In Pembrokeshire improving the NHS means resisting the downgrading of Withybush hospital. We must ensure this does not continue and that key emergency services, such as consultant-led maternity care, are restored. There is only one way for this to be guaranteed. And that is for Plaid Cymru to improve its position in this election and then win enough seats in the Assembly election next year so that it forms part of a new coalition government in Cardiff Bay. We achieved that when I stood in the Assembly election in 2007. Plaid’s strong result led directly to the party’s participation in government in Cardiff Bay and a halt to the downgrading of Withybush and other hospitals across Wales. We need to repeat that outcome in this election and next year if Withybush is to be saved.

4. The immediate priority for improving the prospects of young people in Pembrokeshire is to ensure that sixth forms are included in the secondary school reorganisation in Haverfordwest. We should also meet the demand of parents for a new Welsh-medium secondary school in the town together with sustaining Ysgol Dewi Sant in St David’s, including its sixth form. Plaid will provide a subsidy to College students resident in Wales who wish to study in Wales. Young people studying subjects vital to the Welsh economy, such as science, engineering and technology, together with students from challenging backgrounds, will pay no fees. Plaid is pledged to a living wage and abolishing zero hour contracts; providing affordable first homes as part of all new housing developments; and extending the HomeBuy scheme to allow first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.

5. • Keep 24 hour A&E cover at Withybush and restore consultant-led maternity and 24-hour paediatrician services. Plaid opposes Tory privatisation of the NHS and the Welsh Labour government’s policies of centralising health services away from hospitals in rural Wales.

• Campaign for an extra £1.2 billion for the National Assembly each year to put its funding on an equal footing with Scotland. This would ensure the equivalent of £400 a year for every man, woman and child in Wales to spend on our NHS and schools.

• Ensure Wales stays in the EU – leaving would damage Pembrokeshire’s farmers and the wider economy. Pembrokeshire has gained substantially from European funding, for example, for example £20m towards the £37m cost of the A40 by-pass around Robeston Wathen, and £5m towards Pembrokeshire County Council’s recycling programme.

Western Telegraph:

Chris Overton, Independent Save Withybush, Save Lives

1. Healthcare is the biggest issue in Pembrokeshire and it needs protecting from the austerity planned by both Conservatives and Labour at Westminster and the maladministration of the Welsh Labour Government. The people of Preseli have a once in a lifetime chance to show the two main parties that enough is enough at the forthcoming election.

Unwelcome change to our sixth forms against the will of the school governors and pupils for no good reason is very worrying. My children attended Ysgol Dewi Sant because I believe that small is beautiful. In smaller schools pupils are individuals and every teacher knows every pupil. There is a more caring attitude because there is more time in smaller schools. There is a structure to smaller schools which means that sixth form pupils are inspirational to younger pupils sharing important life skills but also learning new skills whilst supervising and guiding younger students.

2.Our natural environment leads to tourism, high levels of self employment and good deep water access for shipping attracting the energy sector. A highly skilled workforce must be the focus if we are to improve our standard of living in Pembrokeshire. Education is key to developing people with the required skills. Projects need to be developed around Science and Technology, Engineering, Maths, Leadership and Management skills.

People wanting to start small/medium sized businesses need help and support. This should start with opportunities in schools and colleges for young people to start their own businesses. The use of community benefit clauses in public sector contracts should be enhanced. Support for the food, tourism and agricultural areas of Pembrokeshire and new and existing social enterprises, the development of our towns and village centres and port, marina and cruise developments is required. Improved access to superfast broadband is essential.

3.The people of Preseli have a once in a lifetime chance to show the two main parties, who have run down our NHS over the last 25 years and made it ripe for more and more privatisation, that enough is enough. Vote for Dr Chris Overton on 7th May and I will endeavour to bring back your essential services and protect the ones that remain but for how long if you vote for the other parties?

If elected I will lobby to be a member of the very powerful Health Select Committee and I will press for the Re-Nationalisation of the Health service and the winding up of all private contracts in order to return the NHS back to a wholly public organisation free at the point of need for all just as it was always meant to be when it was introduced in 1948.

What can be done to improve the prospects for young people in the area?

There have been recent announcements of additional funds being released to increase the number and availability of apprenticeships across the UK and in Wales. This should be an opportunity for more young people in Pembrokeshire to learn a lifelong trade. Small businesses are the lifeblood for jobs in Pembrokeshire and there should be tax incentives introduced for them to take more young people into the work place to help them to acquire employment skills and to help them feel valued. Young entrepreneurs should be encouraged in schools to develop their small business models and supported to carry it through with more support when difficulties arise to stop fledgling businesses from folding. Public transport needs to be significantly improved across the county. One of the biggest employers in Pembrokeshire is the NHS. It is therefore imperative that Withybush remains a District General Hospital with the services that have been removed returned.

4.I will become a member of the very powerful Health Select Committee and I will press for the Re-Nationalisation of the Health service and the winding up of all private contracts in order to return the NHS back to a wholly public organisation free at the point of need for all. I will join with the members of the National Health Action party who are elected, and all the parties who are likeminded about the NHS, and oppose further privatisation by Labour or the Conservatives.

I will also spend every minute of every day lobbying the Welsh Health Minister and Welsh Government from a position of relative influence as an “equal”, a politician, in order to press for the return of services and the maintenance of existing services at Withybush.

You have the chance of a lifetime to save the NHS and Withybush. Please take it and vote Chris Overton.

Western Telegraph:

Rodney Maile, New Society of Worth

1. Sustaining RADIATION from Cell Phone Masts which interfere with Processes and Systems in our bodies, leading to harm and suffering and early deaths to all living creatures including the unborn. A defiant government Policy by both Labour and Conservatives that totally ignores the European Parliament and its constant requests to reduce Radiation from masts and making WHITE ZONES in all Hospitals, Medical Centres, Schools etc. whilst in turn continues to support Smart Meters to being installed in every household in the U.K. and which in turn will produce more Radiation.

2. Entrepreneurs should be engaged in creating people who have skills, to offer to companies.

3. Return all Services to Withybush Hospital.

4. Entrepreneurs and grants should be given to those who can devise powered electrical devices which do not need petrol or diesel to make them work.

5. I advise all those to read the manifesto on the web site ”The New Society of Worth” .com and the 16 points especially no 1.

Western Telegraph:

Nick Tregoning, Liberal Democrat

1. I think that there are three crucial issues. The first is jobs, the second is health provision. Education too, is of major importance. Obviously, the last two are dealt with entirely by the Welsh Government, but that doesn’t mean that Westminster candidates shouldn’t have a view on what needs to be done.

On jobs too, it is the Welsh Government that has primary responsibility, but UK Government actions like the Lib Dems ensuring year after year – in the teeth of Tory resistance every time - that the tax threshold rose until as of this April the first £10500 earned should be tax-free; will have a huge impact, freeing up more income that will be spent in local businesses. We propose to raise it to £12500. In addition, Welsh Lib Dems want to see tourism VAT reduced to 5%.

2. The major item would be the dualling of the A 40. One of the main obstacles that prevents businesses from re-locating to Pembrokeshire is the available transport infrastructure. We only have to look at the Cornish experience after the expansion of dualling on the A 30 to see the effect on jobs and the local economy there. The same would be true here. The other major area that would boost our chances of attracting investment would be the improving of broadband access.

3. The Liberal Democrats are the only party which has committed to giving the NHS the money that experts say it needs. This would bring an extra £450 million more into Wales to spend on tackling mental health discrimination and ensuring enough staff in Welsh wards. The Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Kirsty Williams is proposing a bill in the Assembly that would set legal levels for the number of nursing staff on a ward. This would mean a proper nurse/patient ratio that would allow time for nurses to do the job that they want, and are trained to do. The emphasis on mental health provision is long overdue. One in four of us will experience a level of mental health difficulty at some point in our lives. One in seven will require some kind of medical intervention. It’s high time we recognised this in the way we direct NHS funding.

4. From September 2015, young people in Wales aged 16-18 will benefit from a national concessionary scheme to help those struggling with the cost of transport. £14.75million has been secured for the two year scheme thanks to the Welsh Lib Dem budget deal. The Welsh Lib Dems have secured more than £282 million for schools in Wales from 2012-2017 to benefit the most disadvantaged children. As of April 1st, over 12,500 nursery pupils across Wales will benefit from new early years funding secured by the Welsh Liberal Democrats, worth £300 per pupil from a disadvantaged background.

5. Dealing appropriately, and sympathetically with the problems over which people will seek advice, support infrastructure projects that will help attract inward investment to the area, champion the building of affordable homes, campaign for a 5% VAT rate for tourism, campaign for a £250 respite bonus every year for full time carers who have been caring for more than a year, make sure that the Lib Dem ‘triple lock’ guarantee which we got past the Tories, and means that 17,500 pensioners in Preseli Pembrokeshire will now receive £950 more in their pension than in 2010 is passed into law.

Western Telegraph:

Frances Bryant, Green Party

1. The biggest issues facing Pembrokeshire are all a consequence of it's location on the far West of the UK and its very rural nature. The devolved government is downgrading services at Withybush Hospital so that patients are forced to travel for over an hour to access treatment and visit loved ones. The centralisation of services does not work here. Quality jobs are also hard to come by for our young people which means that many are forced to leave the area for work. Schools are also being threatened with closure, especially the sixth forms which keep life and vitality in the locality.

2. We have great potential for quality green jobs here in Pembrokeshire. We have skilled workers, recently made redundant in Milford Haven, who could be retrained in manufacturing and servicing the infrastructure of a whole new system of renewable energy technology. Many thousands of jobs have been created in Scotland by doing this. The Green Party also believe that small businesses should not have to pay Employers National Insurance which would provide incentives to employ more workers. We would also ensure that no business with a rateable value of £15,000 per annum or less would have to pay business rates. This policy would free around 40,000 businesses from this cost in Wales alone.

3.Pembrokeshire needs to be treated as a special case in health care, as do many rural areas in Wales. A serious commitment needs to be taken to provide adequate funding for our local hospital. It is a question of priorities and the political will to fight against the ideological austerity agenda emanating from Westminster. A 'one size fits all ' approach is completely inappropriate for our county. The Green Party place great emphasis on localism and believe it is vital to have services which can be easily accessed. We would also integrate health with social care, provided free for the over 65s, which would streamline the running of the health service. We believe that there is no place for private profiteering in the health sector. It is vital that this issue is taken seriously by Westminster and the devolved government.

4. Surveys taken locally amongst local school children present a worrying trend in that so many believe that there is no future for them in Pembrokeshire. Education is, of course a key issue. Standards must be adequate to provide our young people with all the tools to enable them to take their place in society when they leave education. Measures mentioned above in improving conditions for local businesses and bringing exciting new renewable energy jobs into the area will help a great deal. We want young people to feel that they don't have to leave the area to access good employment, excellent health care and decent housing. A program of social house building would help considerably in this instance.

5. My key objectives would be to promote a fair and decent environment and society for the people of Pembrokeshire. I would work to reverse the austerity cuts which have fallen hardest on the disabled and the poorest in society. I would vote against the bedroom tax. I would work to make food banks unnecessary in the sixth richest country in the world. I would push for adequate funding for health and education in our community. I would promote renewable energy and fight against recent legislation which allows the dumping of nuclear waste in rural areas and gives locals no right to oppose it. I would fight against GM crops. I would oppose the badger culls and proposed repeal of the ban on Fox hunting. I would work for the common good, and attempt to promote policies which give everyone an equal chance to participate fully in the life of the county.

Western Telegraph:

Howard Lillyman, UKIP

1. Pembrokeshire’s biggest problem is what makes it attractive to others is its location as a beautiful county out on the end of a peninsular into the Atlantic. The biggest issues facing the county today are the lack of jobs for many of the young leaving school and University. We are not attracting enough quality business into Pembrokeshire large and small. All ages are struggling to find quality jobs on more than minimum wage. We do not have enough decent manufacturing jobs that tend to pay more than even the living wage. Housing here like many areas in Britain is inadequate in numbers and far too expensive bearing in mind the low wages that are being paid. Transport and roads are not up to the necessary standard and needs to be upgraded. We must make sure the Oil and gas industry here in the Haven is encouraged to stay and prosper

2. We must use the counties natural resources to the maximum for them to be harnessed Tourism and agriculture are our two biggest attractions; we must get more visitors to come to our beautiful county, improving the main road the A40 by making it a dual carriageway from St Clears to Haverfordwest . The rail line from Cardiff need improving with more regular services and better trains and electrifying the line will make it a speedier service. Light industry needs to be attracted with tax breaks or some financial incentives from central government. We should be attracting small to medium boat/ship building into the Haven an Ideal venue. More Hydroelectric turbine manufacturing and use of the massive tidal range around our coastline to generate power this can be relied on and predicted. We should not be giving huge subsidies though to business that take money from bill payers and give it to venture capitalist companies.

3. Health provision will not be improved in Pembrokeshire until the Assembly elections next year when a new administration in Cardiff can give more money to the Welsh NHS. We have seen a cut by £400 million to health care from the Labour controlled assembly. I hope that I could tackle the Assembly ministers and try to put pressure on them to release more funds to the Welsh Health service. It does revolve around money that is why we are seeing cuts to services in Withybush hospital the only one in the county. We need a very loud voice shouting for our county and putting it first. I would also be bringing up our health shortfall weekly in Westminster and be a thorough pain in the neck to government ministers. As a party we will spend £3billion per year more on the health service and cut down on health Tourism saving another £2billion.

4. We believe in an education system that works for every child, regardless of their social background or academic ability. We want to bring back Grammar schools and support a range of secondary schools including vocational, technical and specialist schools. My party wants to waive tuition fees for science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) subjects at University. This will encourage more young taking on courses that we need as a nation. I want more apprenticeships and vocational training and believe all companies should take on more trainees in their businesses. I personally believe any company with more than five employees should have at least one young trainee learning the skills that that company needs, ready to help or take over a job if someone leaves or moves on. My party wants to restrict immigration for unskilled jobs for a five year period to re-balance our work economy this will help with the shortage of available Jobs.

5. My Party believes in low taxation, enterprise and fairness. Our economic policy and spending commitments are rooted in the savings we will make from leaving the European Union, making reasonable cuts to the overseas aid budget, reviewing the unfair Barnett formula and cancelling HS2.My key objectives are to fight for more jobs and employment for all, by encouraging businesses to move here with funded tax breaks from central government. Improve the transport infrastructure by getting the funds to upgrade the main road into the county, and improve the rail service that is unacceptable to Pembrokeshire. I also want to back farmers who are vitally important in feeding us by freeing them up with us leaving the EU and the common agricultural policy and excessive regulations; we will be able to introduce a fairer, simpler ways to support this important industry. I believe these policies will help to improve the lives of Pembrokeshire residents.