Lyn Ackerman

Candidate for Torfaen

Tell us about yourself

A mother of two children and a working class woman. Born in Pontypool and lived in the valleys all my life.

What is the most important thing you think the Senedd should do in the next five years?

If elected I would focus on increasing our NHS capabilities.  Torfaen has welcomed the Grange and it is important to have the correct staffing available. Plaid Cymru has been calling to make sure that there would be an adequate number of staff since 2016. It became apparent during the last year that staff levels were struggling. It’s only Plaid Cymru with a concrete plan to locally train and retain staff, including 4000 nurses, 1000 allied health professionals, and 1000 extra doctors throughout Wales.

What will you do for Torfaen if elected?

The effects of Covid have been felt throughout Torfaen - not just in terms of our health, but also in our long-term job prospects. In Torfaen, our highstreets and the jobs based here have been hard-hit by multi-national companies scaling back on their presence. So much has been spent investing in regeneration, but it is now time for people to benefit in terms of jobs. We need to see the use of our highstreets re-thought, whether that’s supporting smaller independent businesses to make use of these empty spaces, or in looking at potential for housing.

We need to make sure that our young people also have the best opportunities to learn, work and live here. One way of making long-term employment in Torfaen is to make our area a world class visitor attraction that it can – we have some of the best visitor attractions and fantastic scenery in south Wales. I will support every opportunity to develop this.