Senedd Watch - June 2016

• Plaid Cymru warned Welsh produce could lose its geographically protected status if the UK voted to leave the EU. Simon Thomas AM (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) said, “These special designations mean....producers don't have to compete with cheap imitations.” Leave campaigners said the UK could “strike a new deal”.
• The Welsh Health Survey 2015 found that 60% of adults were either overweight or obese, which was described as a “public health timebomb”. The survey also showed a record low percentage of the population were smoking (19%) and falls in binge drinking.
• Jenny Rathbone AM (Lab, Cardiff Central) called for a ban on the sale of energy drinks to children. A BBC Wales survey found a third of Welsh schools had banned the drinks over concerns they affect pupils' behaviour. The British Soft Drinks Association said a ban would be “draconian”.
• Leave campaigners claimed the Welsh NHS would face a £246million cost by 2030 as a result of immigration if the UK remained a member of the EU. Remain campaigners said about 9% of doctors come from other EU countries.
• Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Fifth Assembly session on June 7^th. She praised the National Assembly's outreach and engagement programmes and wished AMs well in their duties ahead of further constitutional change, particularly tax-varying powers.
• UK Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns MP (Con, Vale of Glamorgan), published a revised draft of the Wales Bill. The new Bill replaced proposed necessity tests for Welsh laws with an impact assessment, grants extra powers over street trading, coal licensing and heritage railways and reduced the number of areas reserved to Westminster.
• Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething (Lab, Cardiff S. & Penarth), said challenges remain at Betsi Cadwaladr local health board after a year of being placed into special measures. He was “impressed by the commitment” of staff and signs of progress were “encouraging”.
• In an online article, Mike Hedges AM (Lab, Swansea East), believed Labour lost voters to UKIP in the National Assembly election as the party had become “irrelevant to their lives”. He added that traditional Labour voters saw the Assembly as a “distant establishment” while he criticised the dominance of the “metropolitan multicultural left” in speaking for the party.
• A consultation was launched on changes to the Tata Steel pension scheme to reduce liabilities to potential buyers. Analysis showed current pensioners could lose up to 25% of their pensions and benefits. Unions later expressed “serious concerns” about the sales process.
• Opposition parties in the National Assembly said Tata shouldn't be allowed to walk away from its pension obligations. Shadow Economy Secretary, Adam Price AM (Plaid, Carms. E & Dinefwr), described it as a “moral hazard” that could set a precedent for other companies.
• The First Minister launched an attack on EU withdrawal saying it was a “dangerous fantasy” that Wales would receive compensatory payments to replace EU structural funding. Leave campaigner and Conservative leader, Andrew Davies AM (Con, South Wales Central), said the first Minister was “reaching straight for the Project Fear handbook”.
• Janet Finch-Saunders AM (Con, Aberconwy) announced she would support the Leave campaign having been convinced by Vote Leave's “positive case” and her belief in localism. She believed a Leave vote would “provide a shot in the arm” for democracy.
• Finance and Local Government Secretary, Mark Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West), confirmed that plans for local government reorganisation would be redrafted. The original proposal was to reduce the number of councils to 8 or 9. The announcement was broadly welcomed by Welsh local government officials who hoped for “new solutions”.
• Ten environmental charities wrote an open letter to the Welsh Government saying the proposed £1billion “Black Route” M4 bypass of Newport would cause “ecological destruction on an unprecedented scale”. Economy and Infrastructure Secretary, Ken Skates (Lab, Clwyd South), said the government were still committed to the project but would listen to alternative views in a public inquiry, which would be launched this autumn.
• A vigil was held outside the Senedd building for 49 people killed in an Islamist-inspired homophobic terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida on June 12. Adam Price AM told the crowd, “We are still hurting, but we shouldn't be silent or invisible.” A Statement of Opinion calling for an end to sexuality-based discrimination drew support from across the Assembly.
• A number of key Leave campaigners signed an open letter saying that current EU funding to Wales would be maintained until 2020, or the lifespan of existing EU programmes, if the UK voted to leave the EU. They say they would run the schemes “more efficiently”.
• A Bevan Foundation report suggested several taxes the Welsh Government could introduce to help make Wales “greener, healthier and better off”. The proposals include taxes on the use of sunbeds, polystyrene food packaging, a land value tax and a tourism levy. UKIP said it would make Wales “a more miserable place” while the Welsh Conservatives said the report was “nanny statism”.
• The National Assembly approved a backbench motion calling for Wales to remain in the EU by 44 votes to 9 on June 15^th. UKIP and some Conservative AMs argued that leaving the EU would provide more funding for projects in Wales, while pro-EU AMs said Wales was comfortable with multiple identities and EU membership had generated real benefits in regeneration and training.
• Westminster's Welsh Affairs Select Committee called for the BBC to invest more in programming for Wales, saying English language output had been “eroded” and there was a danger of creating an “ill-informed population”. It comes as AMs signed a letter calling for guarantees on funding for BBC services in Wales.
• The Assembly's Business Committee confirmed Assembly committee chairs would be elected by secret ballot. Llywydd, Elin Jones (Plaid, Ceredigion), said it upholds commitments to pursue procedural reform in the Fifth Assembly after long-standing complaints that parties were too heavily involved in appointing chairs.
• The National Assembly held committee chair elections on June 28^th. There was criticism that Mark Reckless AM (UKIP, South Wales East) was elected to chair the Environment Committee, as his party had a policy position of climate change denial. UKIP said the committee was allocated to them without consultation. 7 chairs were elected unopposed.
• The EU referendum campaign was temporarily suspended after the Labour MP for Bately and Spen in Yorkshire, Jo Cox, was assassinated by a far-right terrorist on June 16^th. A BBC Wales debate on the referendum was postponed and tributes were paid from across the political spectrum.
• UK Minister for Farming, Food & Marine Environment, George Eustice, said support for farmers would not change if the UK withdrew from the EU, and that a Leave vote would deliver an opportunity to deliver new schemes. Environment & Rural Affairs Secretary, Lesley Griffiths (Lab, Wrexham), said the Leave campaign were in no position to guarantee any promises.
• Mick Antoniw AM (Lab, Pontypridd) was appointed Counsel General – the Welsh Government's chief legal adviser. The First Minister said, “This is a critically important position, especially as we embark upon a new five year term with a steadily increasing body of Welsh law."
• The UK voted to leave the European Union on June 23^rd by 51.9% to 48.1%. David Cameron announced he would stand down as UK Prime Minister, with a new leader elected in September 2016. EU leaders demanded exit negotiations begin immediately, but the Prime Minister said he would delay starting the process by putting off activating Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
• UK Work & Pensions Secretary, Stephen Crabb MP (Con, Preseli Pembs.), launched a leadership bid on June 29^th.
• Wales voted to leave the EU by 52.5% to 47.5%. Only five local authorities voted to remain. The First Minister regretted the decision, but expected funding for Wales to be secured and for Wales to play a full part in exit negotiations. He later told the National Assembly that exit negotiations should start “as soon as possible”.
• Scotland, Greater London and Northern Ireland voted in favour of Remain, with Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, saying a second independence referendum was “on the table”. Later she said the Scottish Parliament could veto EU withdrawal by refusing to give legislative consent to disapplying EU law.

Projects announced in June include : A joint training programme between Aberystwyth University and the Royal Veterinary College as the first step towards a Welsh veterinary school.