Senedd Watch - June 2011

• The Welsh Government declined to "bail out" a struggling care home provider. Southern Cross, which runs 34 homes in Wales, looked to reduce rent bills across the UK after a £311million half-year loss. The Welsh Government said there needed to be a "commercial solution to a commercial problem."
• Capital expenditure forecasts for 2011-12 showed that Welsh Police Authorities are reporting a 35% decrease in their capital budgets to £39million. Overall, there's a 2% decrease in capital spending by local authorities to just over £1.06billion, which include local councils, national parks, police and fire authorities.
• Office of National Statistics data showed that 1.3% of Welsh households have nobody who has ever worked - the lowest rate of all the home nations. England had 1.7%, Scotland 1.9% and Northern Ireland 2.1%.
• Huw Jones was appointed S4C chair by UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. He was previously chief executive of S4C between 1994 and 2005.
• Angela Burns AM (Con, Carms. West & South Pembs.), said that finding the cause of an explosion at the Chevron Oil Refinery in Pembroke Dock was "crucial" and that she was "very uncomfortable" with some of the rumours about the incident. 4 people were killed in the explosion, with a fifth person in a critical but stable condition.
• The Queen officially opened the 4^th National Assembly of Wales on June 7^th, saying that the institution had "coped admirably" with the growth in its powers. Carwyn Jones said his government would work "night and day" to improve public services and make Wales "healthier and more prosperous".
• Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones has been criticised for not attending the opening of the 4^th Assembly due to a pre-planned holiday. He responded by saying that he "put his family first".
• Figures obtained by BBC Wales, show that hospitals in Wales are becoming routinely overcrowded, leading to concerns about patient safety and cancelled operations. At some hospitals - such as University Hospital, Cardiff - the bed occupancy rate was 93%, while the Royal College of Surgeons suggests a maximum occupancy rate of 82%.
• A former Lib Dem AM, Elenor Burnham, described leader Kirsty Williams' handling of the disqualification of two list AMs as a "shambles" and that it "looks like a farce". On June 23^rd it was announced that they would not face criminal charges.
• The First Minister refused to say whether a planned badger cull will go ahead. The previous Welsh Government pledged to carry out a cull, that was subsequently put on hold. Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Alun Davies (Lab, Blaenau Gwent) is a supporter of a cull. On June 21^st the cull was put on hold, pending an independent review of the science.
• The Welsh Government temporarily reopened the ProAct scheme to companies affected by the Tohoku earthquake, which  disrupted production in Japan. £4million has been made available.
• Unemployment in Wales fell by 9,000 in the three months to April, to stand at 7.9%, slightly above the UK average of 7.7%. There was also a fall of 10,000 in the number of people categorised as economically inactive.
• The value of exports from Wales rose sharply by 30% in the first quarter of 2011 to £3.18billion. During the 12 month period, Wales experienced the largest increase in exports of all the nations and regions of the UK.
• The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) rejected plans by Welsh universities to charge the maximum £9000 a year tuition fees, because they failed to meet certain requirements such as equal access and improving student experience.
• The Welsh Government announced that in future, planning guidelines for wind farms will be regarded as an "upper limit". This comes in response to a protest by Montgomeryshire residents against wind farms in their area. Carwyn Jones also called for the devolution of large energy projects to the Welsh Assembly. The UK Government has denied that there were any moves to devolve the powers, a situation described as a "slap in the face for Wales".
• Plaid Cymru have appointed former Welsh Government special advisor Rhuanedd Richards as their new chief executive. She said that Plaid needed to "broaden its appeal" but that there was "no sense of crisis" in the party.
• Joyce Watson AM (Lab, Mid & West Wales)  said that the "stigma" of receiving free schools meals should be ended by a system of cashless payments.
• From the end of this month, all payments over £25,000 will be listed on a monthly basis by the Welsh Government. The First Minister said "we are constantly looking to publish information that is of most use to the people of Wales to whom we are accountable".
• A new National Literacy & Numeracy Framework for 5-14 year old was announced by Education Minister Leighton Andrews (Lab, Rhondda). It will help inform teachers of how to apply literacy and numeracy across the curriculum and monitor pupil progress. It is due to be rolled out across Wales by 2013.
• ONS mid-year population estimates for Wales in 2010 show that the resident population crossed the 3million mark for the first time to stand at 3,006,400.
• Projects announced this month include £21.5million to reduce orthopaedic waiting times, the £150million Gilwern-Brynmawr phase of A465 duelling (due to start in 2014), the granting of a licence for a £1billion gas-fired power station in Pembrokeshire and a £36million reorganisation of primary schools in Powys.

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UK Government puts Charley to sleep

Mwrarawrwrararww
"Charley says his P45 is in the post"

The Central Office of Information (COI) is to close next year, with the loss of up to 400 jobs.

In the grand scheme of things, I guess such a move can be expected as it's low-hanging fruit for spending cuts. But believe it or not, this brings to close a long relationship between government and the public. A relationship that most of us don't know is there but certainly remember.

What I'm referring to of course, are public information films.

"Nanny state" to some. Life savers to others.

How many lives have been saved by Charley the cat's "advice" down the years? Or the Green Cross Code man? Perhaps Donald Pleasance's most important career role was to warn children to stay away from stagnant bodies of water.

Modern public information films are a far more polished, expensive and audience-savvy exercise and I doubt they will disappear all together. However, in a climate where attacking the "big state" is a popular thing to do - and sometimes the right thing - we should remember that even though it's not very glamorous sounding, the COI might've helped us all at some point.

Whether it's taking extra care with chip pans, or making sure you don't accidentally on purpose get hit by a train. It was comforting to know that the state actually cared enough about you to warn you of these things - even if it came across as incessant nagging.

I don't think anyone will believe me when I say we owe the COI a debt of gratitude, but younger versions of ourselves probably do.

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Is that it!? - Labour's legislative programme aims low

I've always believed - to a certain extent - in the mantra "aim low and you'll never be disappointed". Some might say this is pessimistic, others might say realistic. When governments do this though, it takes on a whole new meaning.

Considering the high turnover in AMs, it's perfectly sensible to slow down the pace of the Assembly in the first few months when it comes to legislation. The Assembly shouldn't rush into making laws for the sake of it, Geraint Talfan Davies explores that in more detail here.

However, when looking at Labour's legislative proposals, one thing stands out and is becoming depressingly familiar - a complete lack of ambition.

• Two proposed Bills could easily be described as "tidying up" previous measures: Children's Rights and Social Care Regulations.
• One is important, but should've been largely unnecessary : the Education Bill. A funding body for Higher Education already exists!
• Four proposed bills are structural changes and about "efficiency". These could just as easily be dealt with through policy delivery and don't need to be on the statute book. This includes the Cycling Bill and Heritage Protection Bill.
• Three are what I would personally consider "proper" laws, including the Sustainable Development Bill, (long overdue) changes to planning laws and the Organ Donation Bill.

Please excuse me while I try to contain my excitement.

One of the valid criticisms of the Assembly and Welsh Government since devolution is an obsession with procedure, managerialism and micro-management. I don't want to see this creep into our laws. I'd rather have five good bills than ten mediocre ones.

I hope the opposition parties push hard to ensure these "tinkering, tidying up and efficiency bills" are given a lot more meat.

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