Senedd Watch - September 2012

• Squatting became a criminal offence in EnglandandWales on September 1^st, with a penalty of up to 6 months in prison, or a £5,000 fine. Squatting was already illegal in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• Peter Black AM (Lib Dem, South Wales West) claimed that Swansea was becoming “the poor relation to Cardiff”, after £19million previously ring-fenced for a marina scheme in the city, was redistributed elsewhere by the Welsh Government.
• Australian journalist, Natalie Bennett, was elected leader of the Green Party of EnglandandWales on September 3^rd. Leader of the semi-autonomous Wales Green Party, Pippa Bartolotti, placed last.
• Education Minister, Leighton Andrews (Lab, Rhondda), unveiled plans to “harmonise” school holiday dates throughout Wales. Teaching unions have welcomed the proposals. The minister also unveiled a consultation on monitoring “home schooled” children, the numbers of which have risen from 896 in 2010-11 to 986 in 2011-12.
• An academic report from Sheffield Hallam University suggested that unemployment in Wales is much higher than official figures. An estimated 195,000 people in Wales are unemployed, the equivalent of 10.3% of the workforce, compared to a UK figure of 8.8%. Opposition parties in the Assembly called for varying changes in economic policy, while the Welsh Government pointed that it was a “UK-wide report” and that “key economic levers remain with the UK Government.”
• David Jones MP replaced Cheryl Gillan as Welsh Secretary, following a reshuffle of the UK Cabinet on September 4^th. Cheryl Gillan served as Welsh Secretary from 2010-2012, and Shadow Welsh Secretary from 2005-2010.
• Byron Davies AM (Con, South Wales West) referred land sales involving an arms-length Welsh Government body to the Auditor General. £20.6million worth of public land was sold to a firm based in low-tax Guernsey. There were hints that some of the land, especially around Cardiff, was speculatively bought just weeks before the price rose following Cardiff Council's decision to plan for 40,000+ new homes by 2026.
• Environment Minister, John Griffiths (Lab, Newport East), revealed that the Welsh Government's proposed planning overhaul, due in October, will “put an emphasis on the economy.” WWF Cymru and Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales have both expressed concerns about the proposals, accusing the Welsh Government of “weakening their commitment to sustainable development.”
• Teachers in EnglandandWales have voted for industrial action, to protest against “erosion of their pay and working conditions.”
• The Royal College of Nurses have expressed concerns that acute health services in Wales will reach “breaking point” if there were unprecedented demand in the lead up to winter. Several local health boards in Wales have announced savings and spending cuts to meet Welsh Government budget guidelines.
• The First Minister has said that Welsh companies “lack cash, not ideas” for a BBC Wales programme on the Welsh economy. He said that the banking sector needed to lend more to Welsh businesses, and that he believes in government intervention “where the economy is bumping along the floor.” Admiral CEO Henry Engelhardt said that businesses in Wales and the UK were “over-regulated” but added that he was concerned that Wales was still stereotyped as being full of declining industries.
• Leighton Andrews ordered the WJEC to re-grade the English language grades of Welsh pupils. The WJEC says that they had been placed “in a difficult and unexpected position.” He launched an attack on the CEO of OFQUAL, Glenys Stacey, suggesting she had been influenced by the UK Government to put pressure on the WJEC, and that her answers to his enquiries were unsatisfactory.
• As a result of the row, Simon Thomas AM (Plaid, Mid & West Wales), called for the Assembly's education committee to reconvene ahead of the start of the new Assembly term.
• Unemployment in Wales rose slightly by 1,000 in the three months to July 2012, though the number of people age 18-24 out of work for longer than a year rose by more than 3,000 between August 2011 and August 2012.
• The Assembly's Children & Young Person's Committee have suggested that 80 new nurses are needed at Wales' 13 neonatal units to meet recommended staff to patient ratios. They also recommended a round the clock neonatal transport service.
• Mike Hedges AM (Lab, Swansea East) outlined his opposition to devolving tax varying powers to the Assembly, suggesting that the current block grant “provided certainty of income” to Wales. He also raised concerns about higher-rate taxpayers leaving Wales, and that possible cuts to corporation tax to attract businesses, could lead to shortfalls in revenues to spend on services.
• The Welsh Government announced that tuition fees in Wales will be capped at £9,000 for the next three years. Welsh-domiciled students will continue to pay £3,500 per year, with the difference made up by the Welsh Government.
• At Plaid Cymru's annual conference in Brecon, Leanne Wood put forward plans for a “Green New Deal”, saying that “economic underdevelopment is the single biggest hurdle to our progress as a nation.” Proposals included the creation of a “Glas Cymru” for energy, reduced reliance on oil and tax breaks for pension funds that invest in Wales. Plaid members also supported motions for police officers who covered up the 1989 Hillsborough disaster to be brought to justice, the voting age to be lowered to 16 and called for the devolution of criminal justice powers.
• A reception was held at the Senedd for Welsh Olympic and Paralympic athletes on September 14^th. It was revealed by BBC Wales that plans - drawn up by the First Minister and Welsh National Opera - for a “land of song” pageant, before the first event in Cardiff, were dropped by Olympic officials due to funding concerns.
• The Older People's Commissioner, Sarah Rochira, has said that public bodies are risking legal action if they continue to “fail older people”. The Commissioner announced 50 “action points” which could lead to improvements in services.
• The Welsh Government have been criticised for not revealing their own corporate risk registers, despite making Local Health Boards reveal theirs. Darren Millar AM (Con, Clwyd West) said it “smacked of double standards” and urged the Welsh Government to change their position.
• John Bufton, UKIP MEP for Wales, denied that they are a “single issue party” in the build up to the party's conference in Birmingham. He said that UKIP had “a whole manifesto of policies” but that plans for the Welsh Assembly were a “work in progress.”
• Former Whitehall and Assembly civil servant, Derek Jones, has been appointed the new Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Government, succeeding Gillian Morgan.
• Mark Drakeford AM (Lab, Cardiff West) called for the Assembly committees to have the power to confirm the appointment of “Quango” chairs, citing mooted reforms for the House of Commons in 2007 that would “enhance the legitimacy (of appointments) and provide greater scrutiny.”
• Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams, warned that the party faces “difficult times” at their annual conference in Brighton. However, she was more upbeat about future prospects, saying that when they “put forward proposals to help....hard-working families....the party will see a reflection in the polls.” UK Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, also accused the Welsh Government of “interfering” in the GCSE regrades row.
• 54,000 operations have been cancelled by the Welsh NHS since 2010, with 400,000 people waiting to start treatment in July 2012. Elin Jones AM (Plaid, Ceredigion) said that this “showed that centralising services doesn't solve all your problems.” Health Minister, Lesley Griffiths (Lab, Wrexham), hit back by saying that Plaid Cymru were “over-simplifying and distorting” the facts to “score cheap political points.”
• The National Assembly reconvened from its summer recess on September 24^th.
• The First Minister said during a business summit that exports were a vital economic priority for his government, saying that Wales needed a greater presence via UK Trade & Industry, but adding that there was no need to permanent Welsh offices abroad.
• Deputy Llywydd, David Melding (Con, South Wales Central) has defended the Assembly spending £10,000 on training sessions for Assembly Members in how to ask questions in committees, where to sit at the table and how to dress. He said that the training “was good standard practice”. Nick Ramsey AM (Con, Monmouth) and former Conservative AM Rod Richards both criticised the spending.
• Education Minister, Leighton Andrews, has launched the National Numeracy Programme, which is part of a National Literacy and Numeracy Plan aimed at improving performance in under-14s.
• Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, has heaped praise on Welsh Government attempts to reduce unemployment at the party's annual conference in Manchester. He said that Welsh Labour “provided an alternative” and that Carwyn Jones was the “right man to stand up for Wales.”
• Keith Davies AM (Lab, Llanelli) was taken “seriously ill” on September 28^th , prompting messages of support from across the Assembly. He's still undergoing treatment at University Hospital, Cardiff, where's he's described as being in a “stable condition.”
• A study by Bangor University showed that a majority of people polled would not support paying more for cancer drugs over treatments for equally serious conditions. The Welsh Conservatives, who support the creation of a Cancer Drugs Fund, remain convinced that such a scheme still has public support.
• Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood, received a verbal apology from BBC Wales, after erroneous claims that the party would be officially opposed to Wylfa B in next year's delayed local elections on Anglesey. The local branch of Plaid can, in fact, “make up their own minds on the issue”, and Plaid are “committed to securing local jobs on the island”.

Projects announced in September 2012 include : A new biomass power plant at Chirk, Wrexham county (decision granting planning permission postponed), a £40million regeneration of the Penrhys estate in Rhondda Cynon Taf, a £20million care home and retail complex in Swansea's waterfront and expansion of the “Meic” children's advocacy service.