Senedd Watch - March 2012

• The First Minister used his St David's Day message to promote tourism off the back of the 2012 Olympic Games, Wales Tourism Week and the imminent completion of the All-Wales Coastal Footpath. Bethan Jenkins AM (Plaid, South Wales West) repeated calls for St David's Day to become a national holiday. In London, Prime Minister David Cameron hosted a celebratory event at 10 Downing Street attended by Welsh celebrities and dignitaries.
• The BBC/ICM St David's Day poll showed a clear majority in favour of partial or complete fiscal powers for the National Assembly, but only 7% supporting independence, rising to 12% should Scotland secede. 77% of respondents also opposed NHS reforms in Wales similar to those happening in England.
• In the same poll by BBC Wales, 63% of respondents supported the Welsh Government's proposed organ donation "opt out" legislation. 64% also supported the 5p single use bag charge. However there were more mixed results on education, with a fairly even spread of responses to whether education in Wales has improved, stayed the same or got worse.
• The Welsh Liberal Democrats held their spring conference in Cardiff. Leader Kirsty Williams criticised Labour for not using the law-making powers from the 2011 referendum to it's fullest. Leader of Cardiff City Council, Rodney Berman also said that he hopes the Lib Dems will keep control of several major urban Welsh local authorities after the local elections in May.
• Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM (Plaid, Carmarthen East & Dinefwr)  called for the establishment of a dedicated Welsh Charity Commission to prevent future funding scandals like AWEMA. The Wales Office opposed the suggestion saying that it could lead to "inconsistency and confusion".
• The Welsh Government launched a consultation into possible improvements to the M4 around Newport, including the possibility of widened Brynglas tunnels – estimated to cost up to £550million. The First Minister has suggested that borrowing powers may be required to fund the project if chosen as the solution.
• Education Minister Leighton Andrews (Lab, Rhondda)  announced that Band 4 and 5 secondary schools in Wales will be eligible for an extra £10,000 if they submit an action plan for improvement.
• South East Wales Transport Alliance (SEWTA) called for the electrification of the Valley lines in south Wales. It calls for Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan and the Welsh Government to put the case to the UK Government to fund it. Electrification of both the south Wales mainline and the Valley lines enjoys cross-party support.
• Chair of Plaid Cymru, former-AM Helen Mary Jones, said that the party should consider all-women shortlists for UK Parliament elections to increase the number of women represented by Welsh constituencies.
• The Welsh Government and Chief Scientific Adviser have launched a new science initiative that is hoped will attract “scientific talent” to Wales. Ser Cymru (Stars Wales) is a fund of up to £50million that will be focused on three areas of research: life sciences, low carbon technologies and advanced manufacturing.
• In addition, a scheme to pump £100million of joint public-private investment into the Welsh life sciences sector has been unveiled by Business Minister Edwina Hart (Lab, Gower) and biotechnology entrepreneur Christopher Evans.
• Environment Agency Wales warned against complacency about water levels in Wales, after drought threatens the south and east of England.
• Deputy Minister for Social Services Gwenda Thomas (Lab, Neath)  launched a consultation on the Social Services (Wales) Bill that aims to speed up the adoption process, provide more transparency and encourage professionalism, regulation and consolidation of social services across Wales.
• New EU figures suggest that the West Wales & The Valleys region has fallen even further behind EU economic averages – falling to 68.4%, while East Wales was at just under 100%. The Welsh Government claimed that the figures were out of date and that other indicators, such as wage increases, showed good progress.
• First Minister Carwyn Jones criticised the operators of Cardiff Airport, saying they need to “run it properly or sell it”, describing the airport as “giving a bad first impression of Wales”. He was criticised by Eluned Parrot AM (Lib Dem, South Wales Central) for “talking the city's airport down.”
• Cancer charity Tenovus called for debate on a complete smoking ban in Wales on the day smoking on hospital grounds was banned in all but one of Wales's local health board areas.
• Unemployment in Wales rose slightly by 1,000 in the three months to the end of January, with the unemployment rate remaining unchanged at 9.1%.
• St Asaph, Denbighshire, has been awarded city-status as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
• Leanne Wood AM (Plaid, South Wales Central) was elected Plaid Cymru leader on March 15^th, with 55% of the vote, after Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM was eliminated in the first round of voting. Elin Jones AM came second with 41% of the vote.
• SEWTA - a transport conglomerate of 10 Welsh local authorities - have agreed in principle the establishment of a metro system in south east Wales. However, they say that electrification of the Valley Lines is a key element of the proposals. A cross-party team from the Assembly travelled to London to make the case for electrification of the Valley Lines to the UK Department of Transport.
• The Welsh Government honoured the Welsh national rugby team's successful Six Nations Championship win by staging a special reception on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff.
• Plans for a badger cull to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis have been abandoned by Environment Minister John Griffiths (Lab, Newport East). Instead a vaccination programme will be carried out. The Farmers Union of Wales has reacted angrily, calling the decision a “cowardly betrayal.” The previous Welsh Government announced plans for a cull in 2008, but the plans were put on review by the new Welsh Government in 2011.
• All four Welsh political parties have reacted strongly against plans by the UK Government to introduce regional rates of pay for public sector workers. Finance Minister, Jane Hutt (Lab, Vale of Glamorgan), called the plans divisive, while Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood called for cross-party unity to oppose the plans.
• As a result of the UK Chancellor's budget on March 21^st, Cardiff will receive £12million towards fast broadband improvements, the Welsh Government will receive an extra £11.7million over the next three years and the Deeside enterprise zone will be able to write off the costs of plant and machinery.
• Cardiff's Millennium Stadium will host the opening ceremony of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, organisers of the tournament have confirmed.
• The Welsh Government welcomed the UK Government's decision to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol (40p per unit) in EnglandandWales, saying that they have consistently said that they would support it's introduction despite it being a non-devolved issue.
• Plaid Cymru held their spring conference at Ffos Las Racecourse in Carmarthenshire. Leanne Wood gave her first speech to the party as leader, saying that Wales, “shouldn't accept poverty as inevitable.” Party chair Helen Mary Jones said that she expected local elections in May to be “tough” but that Plaid should “hold their ground.”
• The Welsh Conservatives held a rally in St Asaph, Denbighshire. Leader Andrew Davies appealed to “alienated” Plaid Cymru voters, who might believe that the election of Leanne Wood as leader would shift the party to the left.
• The Welsh Government has launched a 12-week consultation into the creation of a separate legal jurisdiction for Wales. Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan has called the move a “surprising priority” and that the current system has “served Wales well for centuries.”
• The Welsh Liberal Democrats have criticised dental services in Wales, finding via a survey that only 37% of dentists are accepting new NHS patients, as well as criticising the length of waiting lists. The Welsh Government acknowledged that NHS dental services were “difficult in some areas” but that “improvements have been made.”
• The First Minister has reiterated a call for borrowing powers, suggesting that Wales might miss out on big infrastructure projects without them. He's also called for a written constitution that's “fit for the 21^st Century.”

Projects announced in March include an £11million boost to the "invest to save" public sector efficiency drive, £15million improvements to orthopaedic and emergency units at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, a £36million improvement of the railway between Wrexham and Chester, a joint Carmarthenshire Council-Welsh Government project to replace Llanelli Leisure Centre, grants worth £25million and £11million for local public transport schemes across Wales.