Senedd Watch - May 2016

• Labour remained the largest party following the election, holding 29 seats. However, former Public Services and Education Minister Leighton Andrews lost his Rhondda seat to Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood.
  
• Plaid Cymru became the official opposition in the Assembly, winning 12 seats (+1 on 2011). They failed to win key target seats (other than Rhondda) such as Llanelli and Aberconwy but increased their national share of the vote by 1.3% in constituencies and 3% on the regional lists. On May 26^th it was announced that all Plaid Cymru AMs would take shadow ministerial responsibilities.
• The Conservatives slipped to third place, with 11 seats (-3 on 2011). They also failed to win key target seats, but suffered in particular on the regional lists. The Assembly group “unanimously backed” Andrew Davies' leadership following speculation he could resign.
• 7 seats were won by UKIP across five regional lists with 16-17% of the popular vote. Neil Hamilton AM (UKIP, Mid & West Wales) was elected leader of the Assembly group on May 10^th. As a result, six members of the UKIP campaign team were told they would not be re-employed.
• Nathan Gill AM (UKIP, North Wales) hit out at Caroline Jones AM (UKIP, South Wales West) for withdrawing her support for his leadership bid saying, “Ever since Neil Hamilton came to Wales there have been two camps. I have done my best to build up support for the party in Wales."
• Kirsty Williams AM (Lib Dem, Brecon & Radnor) remained the sole representative of her party in after 4 colleagues lost their seats. Eluned Parrott also failed to win Cardiff Central from Labour in a close election. Kirsty stood down as Welsh Lib Dem leader on May 6^th. Mark Williams MP was named leader on May 7^th.
• Plaid Cymru and Labour each won two of Wales's four Police & Crime Commissioner elections. Labour retained South Wales, while former AM, Jeff Cuthbert, won Gwent. Plaid Cymru's Dafydd Llywelyn and Arfon Jones won Dyfed-Powys and North Wales respectively.

• Protesters established a camp at the Ffos-y-Fran opencast mine in Merthyr Tydfil to campaign against expansion of opencasting in south Wales and to support a moratorium on new opencast sites. The operators of the site, Miller Argent, said the mine supports 230 jobs and provides locally-sourced coal for both the steel industry and energy generation.
• Seven bids were submitted for Tata's UK steel portfolio. They include Indian steel company JSW, steel-recycling company Liberty House and a management buy-out named Exalibur Steel UK. There was also believed to be interest from Chinese and American companies. All major parties in the Assembly said they would back the Excalibur bid except the Conservatives who said it was too early to back one bid over another.
• On May 26^th, Tata executives in Mumbai failed to shortlist the bidders and would continue negotiations with all seven bidders. The First Minister, who travelled to India, said there was no final date for a sale.
• The UK Government said they would consider changing pension laws to reduce benefits to steelworkers in order to reduce potential liabilities for buyers. Caution was urged that such changes could create loopholes that would be exploited by other companies. It's estimated the steelworkers pension has a £485million deficit but those figures are disputed.
• At the first plenary session of the Fifth Assembly on May 11^th, Elin Jones AM (Plaid, Ceredigion) was elected Llywydd/Presiding Officer by 34 votes to 25 ahead of Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM (Plaid, Dwyfor Meirionnydd). Elin praised former Llywydd, Dame Rosemary Butler, for work on women's representation. Ann Jones AM (Lab, Vale of Clwyd) was elected Deputy Llywydd by 30 votes to 29.
• At the same meeting, nominations for First Minister were tied at 29-29 between Leanne Wood and Carwyn Jones. Plaid Cymru, Conservatives and UKIP backed Leanne Wood, while Kirsty Williams voted for Carwyn Jones. Both Labour and Plaid traded accusations of “arrogance”.
• After several days of talks, an agreement was reached between Labour and Plaid Cymru on May 17^th. Carwyn Jones was re-confirmed as First Minister unopposed on May 18^th. The agreement included a review of Assembly scrutiny and committee procedures, a review of health and social care and joint liaison committees on finance, legislation and the constitution.
• After being sworn into office, the First Minister unveiled the new cabinet on May 19^th. Ken Skates AM (Lab, Clwyd South) and Vaughan Gething AM (Lab, Cardiff S. & Penarth) were promoted to Economy Secretary and Health Secretary respectively. The Lib Dem's Kirsty Williams AM was appointed Education Secretary – confirmed by a vote by party members on May 21^st - saying it was an opportunity “to work with other progressives”.
• UK Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale, revealed a White Paper on the BBC's new royal charter on May 12^th. Measures relevant to Wales include a Welsh member on the BBC Board, more Ofcom scrutiny of the BBC's Welsh services, a continuation of the BBC-S4C partnership and encouraging more programme-making outside London.
• UK Employment Minister, Priti Patel, said on a visit to Cardiff that EU funding would not be guaranteed for Wales beyond 2020 even if the UK voted to remain in the EU. The leave campaigner added that the EU Commission had sought to make large cuts to structural funding in the past.
• A report on behalf of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) urged caution in raising expectations of economic growth resulting from the South Wales Metro. The report suggests the project could have a negative impact on local economies outside Cardiff and benefit middle class commuters at the expense of the low-paid.
• The First Minister officially ruled out any restrictions on e-cigarette use in public. The Public Health Bill – which was controversially rejected at the end of the Fourth Assembly – will be reintroduced. He told BBC Wales, “clearly, there is no point including the provisions on e-cigs when....they are not going to get through.”
• The First Minister and Leader of the Opposition, Leanne Wood (Plaid, Rhondda), issued a joint appeal for voters to vote to remain in the EU in June's referendum, saying : “Leaving the EU would risk our hard-won gains including rights at the workplace, access for businesses to the single market.” It comes as the UK Treasury estimated a UK withdrawal would cost Wales 20,000 jobs and the Welsh economy £2billion by 2018.
• Former leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr. Russell Goodway, urged the Welsh Government to let local government decide future reorganisation for itself, after the First Minister suggested the proposed map – which would see the number of councils reduced to 8 or 9 – was unlikely to proceed.
• Natural Resources Wales lobbied an official objection to the M4 Newport bypass “Black Route” - the favoured option of the Welsh Government – due to the impact on nature sites and habitats of protected species. They were also critical of tidal flooding management.
• A study by the Wales Governance Centre showed that Wales was a net recipient of EU funding of between £180-245million a year, the equivalent of up to £79 per person. It was estimated the Welsh share of UK contribution to the EU budget was £414million. Leave campaigners in the EU referendum said the money would be better spent locally, while remain campaigners said the report proved the EU provided value for money.
• A BBC Wales Week In, Week Out investigation claimed the recently-introduced Welsh language standards could cost public bodies up to £200million. It was also revealed the standards had been challenged by public bodies – including the Welsh Government – more than 270 times.
• BBC Wales later admitted the data used for the programme wasn't suitably robust. Several complaints were also made to Ofcom after claims the programme failed to adequately explore other perspectives or provide balance.
• A third of secondary school teacher training places went unfilled at the start of the 2015-16 academic year. Teaching union, UCAC, blamed the figures on workloads making the profession unattractive. The Welsh Government said teaching vacancies were are record lows and they would continue to encourage graduates into teaching.