Although the National Assembly doesn't officially dissolve until April 6th, as this week is the last sitting week the election campaign will soon ratchet up a gear or two.
Over the course of this week I'm going to give AMs the send-off they deserve (ha) by reflecting on what they have done, haven't done, or haven't done properly over the last five years, starting with the good news - in no particular order.
Food Hygiene Ratings Act 2013
The Fourth Assembly was supposed to usher in a new era of law-making, and this particular law was relatively minor but has had a big impact on food hygiene standards.
Figures from the end of 2015 suggests the compulsory display of a food business's hygiene score (aka. "scores on the doors") has driven up standards in a relatively short space of time. 60.8% of food-related businesses are now awarded the highest score of 5 (compared to just 45% before the law came into force), while only 5.6% of businesses have a rating below 2, and just 0.2% of all food businesses scoring zero.
It's unambitious, but if it saves someone being hospitalised or treated for food poisoning, or shames businesses into cleaning up their act, then it's a pretty bang-for-buck law.
Human Transplantation Act 2013
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| (Pic : Wales Online) |
The creation of a "soft opt out" organ donation system made headlines around the UK and this will probably be the law the Fourth Assembly is remembered for. It was handled sensitively by AMs – both those who support the law as well as those who opposed it – and marked a coming of age moment for the legislature as it was probably the most significant Welsh law passed in hundreds of years.
Although it won't, in itself, prevent people from dying whilst waiting on donor lists, it'll go someway to improving the quality of life for many of the people who still wait for new organs.
Social Services & Wellbeing Act 2014
If the above is likely to be the most-remembered law, this one was the most significant in terms of the content and the range of the reforms it outlined. It was an incredibly complex piece of legislation which, amongst other things, changed the eligibility criteria for access to social services, paved the way for the creation of the National Adoptions Service, introduced more safeguarding and advocacy measures and also attempted to prevent serious social problems developing.
Its full range of measures will begin to be implemented from next month but, it has to be said, the law itself was overshadowed somewhat by arguments over the proposed outlawing of "smacking" as a legal defence for assaulting children – an issue that could appear again during either the Fifth Assembly or the election campaign.
Progress on A465 Dualling
(See also : Road to Somewhere?)
To some AMs it's a road paved with gold, and the upgrade that will being unparallelled prosperity to some of the more economically-depressed parts of the country. It's not going to be that, but it's a major development, particularly because it makes use of an innovative and successful replacement for the dreaded PFI funding model.
Reports and studies are currently being undertaken on the final two sections between Merthyr Tydfil and Hirwaun. It suggests that although the A465 project won't be completed by its original deadline of 2020, it could be completed by the end of 2020. When you consider the difficult geography and geology involved that's no small achievement, and once it's finished - apart from some gaps near Resolven – there'll be a near motorway standard road running from Abergavenny to Neath and, ultimately, Swansea.
Response to the 2012-13 Measles Epidemic
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| (Pic : The Guardian) |
(See also : The Welsh measles epidemic – How did this happen?)
Between November 2012 and July 2013, some 1,200 cases of measles were reported in Wales, focused on the Swansea Bay area. The destructive lie that the MMR vaccine was linked to autism - which prompted a misguided campaign by the South Wales Evening Post in the 1990s - had finally come back to haunt parents.
In responding to the epidemic, there was no scaremongering, no panic, no politicians going in front of the cameras demanding "action". Although the sight of parents and children lining up for vaccines might've seemed over the top and reminiscent of the developing world, it was ultimately handled in a very level-headed manner by the Welsh Government, National Assembly and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg LHB. Hopefully it'll lead to the end of the toxic idiocy – that's what it is, idiocy – of American-inspired anti-vaccination campaigns, and we should all count ourselves lucky only one person died.
The Donaldson Review
(See also : Detention for Donaldson?)
Even if it's essentially a copy and paste of the same review Prof. Donaldson led in Scotland, it presents a bold and ambitious vision for the Welsh classrooms of the future. It promises some big changes such as the scrapping of Key Stages, the creation of six core learning themes and the ambition to create "ethical, informed citizens" and "healthy, confident individuals".
It's going to take a long time for all of these changes to filter through into the school system, but with teachers giving it a cautious welcome and (hopefully) being granted a bit more freedom to teach - alongside a greater emphasis on teacher-led assessment - it could mark a major turning point in the history of education in Wales. Whether it will actually deliver or not is for the future to decide.
Jobs Growth Wales
One of the flagship economic policies of the Fourth Assembly and, on the surface of it, it's produced results. The scheme – which is designed to fund job placements for the long-term young unemployed – exceeded its targets and arguably became a victim of its own success. Youth unemployment has been a major issue throughout the term, but the scheme eased it somewhat.
However, there was some guarded criticism (Does Jobs Growth work for Wales?) that many of the placements and jobs funded by the scheme would've been created anyway, are in low-paid, low-skilled sectors and resulted in money being redirected from apprenticeship schemes.
Regeneration of Newport & Ebbw Vale
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| (Pic : Queensberry Real Estate) |
While regeneration projects elsewhere in Wales have been screwed up by the RIFW scandal, or underfunded as part of Vibrant and Viable Places, the Newport Unlimited model has clearly brought some dividends for Wales' often overlooked third city, resulting in the development of a new university campus (which is set to expand), the Friar's Walk development, a new base for Admiral Insurance and transformation of the riverside area.
It's not perfect because Newport city centre is suffering like many others, while there are ongoing issues with the M4 - but you can certainly argue that the vision set out by Newport Unlimited has been seen through and it's a model that should perhaps be replicated elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the Ebbw Vale Works scheme might not have as much commercial/private enterprise emphasis as it should have, but the scheme itself is well-suited to the area. It'll hopefully provide a bit more civic pride for a town that's been dealt multiple economic blows down the years and become synonymous with the worst stereotypes of the south Wales valleys.
The South Wales Metro Project
Granted, not much has happened yet, but it's hard to fault the vision that's been laid out for an integrated transport system in the Cardiff city region. It has the potential to be transformative as long as the commitment remains with whoever succeeds Edwina Hart.
The whole project might be moving a bit too slowly for my tastes, but it'll hopefully break the psychological barrier between the growing Cardiff area and the Valleys – the latter of which is in real danger of being left behind as working patterns and lifestyles change. The days of big foreign-owned factories plonking themselves on WDA land are over as companies want to base themselves close to, or in, well-connected cities. Likewise, the Valleys have more to offer Cardiff than they're given credit for, particularly in affordable housing, short commutes and an ever improving natural environment.
Towns like Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd, Aberdare and Ebbw Vale are potentially great places to live and raise a family (in some cases they are already), as long as the obsession with turning them into economic powerhouses is dropped and priorities realigned - the Metro's key to seeing that through.
The Silk Commission
We're all going to disagree on the wet outcome – I'm not praising either one of the Wales Bills or the St Davids Day Agreement, more the Commission's work itself. In short, they did precisely what was asked of them. Although the recommendations of the first report seem unambitious but practical, the second report was a decent enough compromise between devo-max and the damp squib we ended up with in the Wales Bill.
Unfortunately, the Commission's work was ruined by backroom deals and politician vetoes. AMs and MPs (particularly Labour and Conservative) can point fingers at each other all they want but none of them have explained the reasons why they rejected large parts of the report. The result will, with some inevitability, be another constitutional argument in the next 5-10 years, probably over devolution of the criminal justice system and expansion of devolved tax powers.
Tomorrow - as I'm sure you'll be more eager to read - I look at some (but not all) of the screw-ups and missed opportunities.
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