PEOPLE have suffered a dramatic fall in their living standards since the recession with power, food and fuel bills rising while wages have been held down.

It is those who are at the bottom of the income table that have suffered the most while people at the top continue to enjoy rich pickings.

With the UK General Election less than a year away, Plaid Cymru is calling for a pay rise for more than 250,000 Welsh workers – including many thousands in Gwent – who are paid below the Living Wage.

The National Minimum Wage for adults will be £6.50 from October 1 while the Living Wage is currently £7.65. Plaid Cymru wants to see the gap between the Minimum Wage and Living Wage closed before the end of the next Parliament.

Improving living standards would help create jobs and aid local communities because people would have more money in their pockets to spend.

Many organisations and businesses have decided voluntarily to pay the Living Wage and, I hope, more public and private sector organisations will follow their lead. It leads to a more motivated workforce.

Plaid Cymru, which had a debate on the Living Wage in the Senedd this week, also believes more resources need to go into identifying those businesses that continue to flout Minimum Wage legislation and prosecute those found to be doing so and not just get them to pay the money owing to their workers.

Plaid Cymru is pressing for the Wales and the Marches franchise – which is currently run by Arriva Trains – to be turned over to an arms length not-for-profit company in which money is ploughed back into railway improvements rather than the pockets of shareholders. The franchise is due to come up for renewal later this decade.

The importance of this happening was emphasised when it was reported that the Tory-led Government in Westminster was pressing ahead with plans to privatise the East Coast rail service which made a profit of £225m in the last year. The State took over when private operator National Express pulled out due to financial difficulties.

It seems completely daft that for purely ideological reasons the Conservatives are seeking to hand a profitable operation back to a private company.

The proposed closure of the University of South Wales’ Caerleon campus after 100 years will be felt by many people and I’m particularly concerned about the threat to jobs. Also, what are the future plans for the site? People need to be told.