IT'S been a busy month in the Senedd since I was proudly re-elected as Labour’s assembly member for Torfaen.

Carwyn Jones continues as first minister, and I plan to work with the new cabinet secretaries to deliver the pledges I made for Torfaen as a matter of priority.

On the doorstep, local people raised the Cwmbran-based Specialist Critical Care Centre with me frequently.

I’ve campaigned tirelessly for the £500m hospital since its origins and I welcomed it’s inclusion in the Welsh Government’s capital budget.

I’ll be requesting urgent meetings with the Health Board and Health Minister to update on timescales, ensuring that we deliver this first class hospital for the Valleys as soon as possible.

Secondly, my focus on jobs is paramount - to safeguard, support and sustain local companies and workers. I’ll continue working with management and trade unions to boost our local area, as I’ve done with companies like Meritor. My immediate priority is manufacturing, and I’ve set up meetings in the coming weeks to discuss national policy and direction of travel.

Thirdly, I was delighted to see the Additional Learning Needs Bill, which I campaigned for during the last Assembly, in the Welsh Government’s legislative programme. I included this in my pledges because of almost 3000 Torfaen pupils with Special Education Needs, and the great deal of casework I’ve dealt with. I’ll be closely scrutinising the draft Bill to ensure it delivers appropriate support for pupils.

Fourthly, I want to explore alternatives to opencast mining at Varteg. I’ve attended public meetings and organised a surgery of my own, where meeting residents for and against the proposal has highlighted a community divide thanks to 14 years of uncertainty by the developers.

Finally, despite a Labour government in Wales, the Tories are still in power at Westminster.

Throughout this assembly term, like I did in the last, I’ll be standing up for local people against the cuts and austerity agenda that threatens our most vulnerable residents.

I look forward to the honour and challenge of another Assembly term representing Torfaen.

These are just five of my priorities, which also include working with PCS and staff at Big Pitt to resolve their industrial dispute with National Museums Wales, and securing real answers for workers of the former Griffin Place Communications.

Please get in touch on Lynne.Neagle@assembly.wales or 01495 740022.