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" for confusing where responsibilities for bridge maintenance and bypass budgets lie.
• Nigel Farage later told BBC Wales that UKIP's Welsh branch will “help pick” candidates at the 2016 National Assembly election, after reports emerged that senior personalities – such as disgraced former MP Neil Hamilton and centrally-appointed Wales election coordinator Mark Reckless – were considering seeking Assembly seats.
• The UK Government accepted a recommendation from the Electoral Commission to change the wording and answer of the future EU membership referendum to "remain" or "leave" instead of "yes" or "no". It follows claims the original question was biased.
• The First Minister called for the UK Government to "show leadership" after a refugee crisis in eastern and central Europe intensified. He said "Wales stands ready to play its part", saying Labour would accept 10,000 refugees in the UK. This follows criticism from Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood (Plaid, South Wales Central), that the Welsh Government hadn't "stepped up to the mark".
• The Prime Minister said the UK would take up to 20,000 Syrian refugees from camps surrounding Syria between now and 2020. The Welsh Refugee Council said Wales could accommodate up to 1,600 refugees – 8% of the proposed UK total.
• An all-Wales summit on the crisis was held on September 17^th. A task force of relevant agencies was established, with Wales "preparing the ground" for a response. In the National Assembly a few day earlier, the First Minister described the UK Government's response as "laggardly".
• The WLGA said local authorities were "willing to play their part", but the cost of housing refugees should not be met from existing council budgets. Wales was home to over 2,300 asylum-seekers at the end of June 2015, or 7.6% of the UK total.
• A review of the 5p single-use carrier bag charge, introduced in 2011, showed use of the bags fell by 71%, with the levy raising between £17-22million for good causes. Natural Resources Minister, Carl Sargeant (Lab, Alyn & Deeside) said, "I am pleased that almost four years on from the introduction of the charge in Wales consumer habits appear to be changing.”
• New Year 10 pupils were the first to start Wales-only GCSEs in English, Maths and Welsh as part of a overhaul of qualifications. Teaching unions expressed worries about overcrowded timetables, while Shadow Education Minister, Angela Burns (Con, Carms. W & S. Pembs.) said, “Our over-riding concern with these new qualifications is that they will lack credibility and may not be recognisable around the world.”
• Plaid Cymru launched a policy consultation - A Road Map for Wales - ahead of the 2016 National Assembly election, saying Labour had “wasted 16 years of devolution”, pointing towards failings in health and education. Labour hit back by saying they were “tired attacks”.
• A Bevan Foundation forecast on the state of Wales in 2020 suggested the unskilled workforce would rise and would result in increased competition for unskilled jobs. Also, people working in the public sector and on benefits will be worse off and there would be rising demand for treatments for long-term health conditions on the NHS.
• A leaked letter revealed the UK Government believe two commercial loans provided to Cardiff Airport by the Welsh Government, worth a combined £23million, could have breached EU state aid rules. The Welsh Government denied the accusation, saying the leak was “politically motivated” adding that the report used to support the state aid accusation was out of date.
• Veteran left-wing MP, Jeremy Corbyn, was elected leader of the UK Labour party and Leader of the Opposition on September 12^th with almost 60% of the vote in the first round. Welsh Labour figures called for the party to unite behind the new leader, while the First Minister described the result as “impressive”. Llanelli MP, Nia Griffith, was appointed Shadow Welsh Secretary, replacing Owen Smith, who was reassigned as Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary.
• Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Andrew Davies (Con, South Wales Central), said Carwyn Jones and Jeremy Corbyn were “the two most dangerous men for Wales' future” posing “the greatest risk to economic growth that our country has ever seen”. Labour dismissed it as a “laughable rant”.
• A Welsh Institute of Health and Social Care report into end-of-life care for children criticised standards, saying services needed “strategic attention” and that lessons had not been learned from previous reports. Around 1,000 children require palliative care in Wales each year.
• BBC Wales revealed that 54 insolvent companies awarded grants by the Welsh Government owed £11million. Economist Gerald Holtham said the Welsh Government should issues loans instead of grants, while the Federation of Small Businesses criticised grants as a way to create short-term jobs.
• Chinese vice-premier, Liu Yangdong, visited Wales as part of a UK tour. The Welsh and Chinese governments signed a memorandum of understanding on cultural issues. The First Minister said, “Strengthening links with China, one of the world's most powerful economies, has been a long-standing aim of the Welsh Government”.
• At the Lib Dem annual conference in Bournemouth, key figures in the Welsh branch acknowledged the “huge challenge” facing their party in the 2016 National Assembly election, saying they would "re-establish and re-define the Liberal narrative" to make it clear what their party stands for after humiliating results at the 2015 UK House of Commons election.
• A report published by Save the Children found 67% of youngsters from poorer backgrounds were likely to score below average in vocabulary tests at age 5 compared to 34% amongst those with no experience of poverty. The Welsh Government said, "Raising literacy is a major....priority and we have introduced a range of policies, including our Literacy and Numeracy Framework and annual reading tests to help achieve this”.
• Legal & General announced a £400million investment in property developments within Cardiff's Central Square, which should enable projects to be brought forward. It was described as the largest property deal in Welsh history, with a predicted 10,000 jobs set to be created.
• Friends of the Earth Cymru research discovered that more than £1million of the Assembly Members' pension fund had been invested in tobacco, gambling and fossil fuel companies. FoE Cymru director, Gareth Clubb, said it was “morally indefensible” and “hypocritical” after the Assembly had passed legislation to protect future generations.
• Leading academics warned that plans to create a reserved powers model for Welsh devolution were “not thought through” after the UK Government proposed reserving both civil and criminal law. The Wales Governance Centre described current proposals as “unclear, highly-complex and unstable”.
• The Welsh Conservatives criticised an estimated £100million of redundancy payments to council employees since 2012. Shadow Local Government Minister, Janet Finch-Saunders (Con, Aberconwy) said, “taxpayers will be furious to learn that their bumper council tax bills are being used to fund golden handshakes for council staff.” The WLGA hit back by accusing the Conservatives of victim-blaming.
• The Local Government Bill – which outlines the process for voluntary mergers between local authorities by 2018 – passed Stage 3 on September 29^th. Amendments from opposition parties on ensuring promotion of economic development and the Welsh language, local referendums on mergers and the introduction of single transferable vote were rejected.
• Before the debate, the Welsh Lib Dems criticised the Williams Commission process, describing its £130,000 cost as a “colossal waste of money” after the findings were widely ignored by the Welsh Government.
• There was criticism from opposition politicians and Welsh civil society following a Welsh Government announcement that they would stop publishing ministerial decision reports, which outline evidence used by Welsh Ministers to make decisions. Leading Cardiff Bay lobbyist, Daran Hill, described it as “an information shut down”, while the First Minister was likened to controversial FIFA President Sepp Blatter in the National Assembly.

Projects announced in September include : The launch of (another) public consultation on proposals for a £1billion M4 bypass of Newport; an extra £17million to attract top scientists to Welsh universities; £6.7million to purchase 44 new ambulances; plans for £200million of road improvements on Deeside; a £115million innovation fund over the next seven years and a £16million brain injury rehabilitation unit in Cardiff.