(Pic : Wales Online)
Time for my usual end
of year break. Having blogged for what feels like non-stop for 12 months it's
come at the right tim...
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Sunday, 13 December 2015
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
Welsh Budget 2016-17
It's the most wonderful time of the year : numbers, graphs and spin galore.
(Pic : Welsh Government)
The budget process for
2016-17 has been delayed by a few months due to George Osborne's
personal definition of "autumn", but a draft Welsh budget –
the last of the Fourth Assembly – was tabled yesterday by Finance
Minister,...
Thursday, 3 December 2015
Assembly Calls for Steel Industry Support
(Pic : South Wales Argus)
The latest topical
Members' Debate in the Senedd takes place amidst growing concerns
about a slow down in the global steel market and the influx of cheap,
low-grade steel from Chin...
Wednesday, 2 December 2015
AMs Criticise Rugby Rail Scrum
A short inquiry was held into serious problems getting away from recent
Rugby World Cup matches in Cardiff - with some queues lasting four hours.
(Pic : ITV Wales)
Earlier today, the
National Assembly's Enterprise & Business Committee published a
report into their short, one-day inquiry on serious crowd
congestion...
Monday, 30 November 2015
Senedd Watch - November 2015
Welsh
Language Commissioner, Meri Huws, backed calls by the Assembly's
Communities & Local Government Committee to protect historical
place names in the Historic Environment Bill, following several
high-profile name changes to listed buildings from Welsh to English.
Deputy Minister for Culture, Ken Skates (Lab, Clwyd...
Thursday, 26 November 2015
Returning Your Deposits
(Pic : buzzfeed.com)
Yesterday, the
Conservatives held a debate on something that blights all
communities, and likely to be a perennial issue on the doorstep :
littering, fly-tipping, graffiti and dog shi...
Monday, 16 November 2015
Groundhog Day : Auditing the Welsh Media
(Pic : BBC Wales)
Last week, the
Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) published a thorough review of the state of the media in
Wales....and it makes typically grim reading.The IWA's online
organ, Click on Wales, released drafts of the report's sections
throughout October, but the full and final report is now available at around...
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Seeing through the Senedd
You can see through it, but how much can you see on the other side?
(Pic : tripadvisor.co.uk)
The
ongoing discussion and debate over of transparency and
openness within both the Welsh Government and National Assembly shows no signs of abatin...
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Election 2016 : Six Months To Go
The most exciting thing to happen at the Senedd since....
(Pic : Wales Online)
The thoughts of sitting
and prospective AMs will start turning towards the 2016 National
Assembly election with only six months remaining until polling day - as indicted by the countdown clock I've added to the top righ...
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Senedd debates draft Wales Bill
Following the stronger words said on the draft Wales Bill over the last
fortnight it was rightly time for more measured discussion on the issues it raises.
(Pic : BBC Wales)
Yesterday, following
the suspension of standing orders, the National Assembly held an
extraordinary debate on the controversial draft Wales Bill....
Saturday, 31 October 2015
Senedd Watch - October 2015
A
ban on smoking in cars whilst in the presence of under-18s came into
force on October 1st
in Wales. Those who break the law will be liable to a £50 fine.
Pro-smoking campaigners said the ban is unenforceable, though police
forces said they would take an “educational and non-confrontational
approach”.
A new colour-coded...
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
The Draft Wales Bill (Number Two)
(Pic : ITV Wales)
Yesterday, the Welsh
Secretary, Stephen Crabb MP (Con, Preseli Pembs.) introduced the
draft Wales Bill to the UK Parliament on behalf of the UK Government
– you can read it here (pdf...
Monday, 19 October 2015
Cesspool on the Taff?
Pollution in Cardiff Bay isn't just confined to the air and the water.
(Pic : Wales Online)
To paraphrase a famous episode of The Simpsons, what we now call Cardiff Bay used to be a
stagnant swamp, and very little has changed. It stank then, and it
stinks no...
Thursday, 15 October 2015
AMs take swipe at Trade Union Bill
The post-devolution "partnership working" between unions, employers and employees
in Wales looks set to be threatened by the UK Government's draconian Trade Union Bill.
(Pic : Wales Online)
Shwmae. Yesterday, the
Assembly held another backbench members debate, this time related to
one of the most controversial laws introduced...
Tuesday, 13 October 2015
A Comprehensive Review of Welsh Law-Making
We voted to give AMs law-making powers in 2011, so how has the process been handled since?
(Pic : National Assembly of Wales)
Making new laws is the
National Assembly's most important function, though it's a role that
– apart from a few high-profile cases like the Human Transplantation Act 2013 – draws little in the way...
Thursday, 8 October 2015
Minister updates Senedd on refugee response
(Pic : Al-Jazeera)
The Syrian refugee
crisis has slipped off the front pages in the last fortnight due to
Russian military intervention in the conflict, the latest catastrophic
brain fart from the US Air Force and party conference
seaso...
Saturday, 3 October 2015
Armed Forces School Visits Debated
(Pic : Education Business Partnership West Berkshire)
In June, the Assembly's
Petitions Committee published a report (pdf) into armed forces
recruitment, following a petition from Cymdeithas y Cymod – which
garnered more than 1,000 signatures – calling for the military to
be banned from visiting schools for recruitment...
Thursday, 1 October 2015
Local Government Bill edges towards statute book
As the law outlining how councils can voluntarily merger reaches its
conclusion, opposition AMs tabled important amendments.
(Pic : Wales Online)
The Local Government Bill outlines how the 22 local authorities can merge voluntarily in
light of the new proposed map for local government which has been
formed as part of the...
Wednesday, 30 September 2015
Senedd Watch - September 2015
UKIP
leader, Nigel Farage, backed calls to scrap Severn Bridge tolls in
2018, saying they penalised "those coming in....on one of
the most direct routes from England". He suggested it would be
paid for by building a cheaper Newport bypass. Peter Black AM (Lib
Dem, South Wales West) accused him of being "financially
illiterate"...
Monday, 28 September 2015
The Coming Constitutional Crisis
Just when you thought the issue of Wales' law-making powers had been settled....
(Pic : The Guardian)
The next Wales Bill
is due to be introduced this autumn and will, as
announced earlier this year (A St Davids Day Deposit), include
additional powers for the National Assembl...
Tuesday, 22 September 2015
Hear No Evil, See No Evil....
(Pic : thezooom.com)
A significant story
broke today - courtesy of ITV Wales and Friends of the Earth Cymru -
that the trust that manages pensions for Assembly Members have been
investing in what many would consider ethically dubious
companies.UPDATE : 23/09/15 - The director of FoE Cymru, Gareth Clubb, has provided more...
