FMQs: Norway, Steel & Bird Flu

It may be a new year, but one of the constants in the world is getting the same old stuff from the Senedd. Even if this site isn't considered good enough anymore, my thankless gruntwork continues for now (as promised) – though regular readers will notice I'm going to pull back the throttle over these next/final few months.

As everyone's persistently whinging that Assembly proceedings are dull, I've decided to liven things up a bit by providing a relevant "invigorating soundtrack" in lieu of Senedd TV. 😈

FMQs, 10^th January 2017

Party Leaders

Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood (Plaid, Rhondda) called back to September (Mindfulness, Tourism & Winter is Coming), where she asked the First Minister about Child & Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) waiting times. He told her resources had been put in and waiting times will reduce. Leanne pointed to statistics saying the numbers waiting 16 weeks+ got slightly worse over the year, and the threshold to receive treatment was too high, resulting in patients being turned away. When could people expect improvements?

The First Minister told her the number of CAMHS admissions has stayed steady, with new money expected to make a difference. He stood by his view that children are being added to waiting lists without cause; CAMHS is an acute service, he wouldn't expect children to be referred to it automatically - they should/would go to a GP first.

Conservative leader, Andrew Davies (Con, South Wales Central), highlighted the considerable speculation over merits of the Tata Steel deal (here) – subject to a union ballot this month. It was important to understand the gravity of the situation as workers are being asked to give up something (pensions will be changed) in return for job security.

Before Christmas the First Minister said it was, “a deal (we) can endorse”; is that still his opinion? What would the consequences be if the deal were rejected (as suggested by Plaid Cymru)?

Carwyn was aware of members' concerns on pensions (raised in an earlier question), but there's "no Plan B", admitting (with unusual frankness) that,“it's this plan or no plan”. Other consortia interested in taking over Tata's operations were as concerned about pensions too. He was, however, disappointed the UK Government haven't taken as keen an interest in steel since Theresa May came to power.

UKIP leader, Neil Hamilton (UKIP, Mid & West Wales), asked what conclusions the First Minister drew from his recent fact-finding trip to Norway, particularly with regard free-movement? The reality is 508 million Europeans have a right to move to the UK and EEA membership would mean the same. He suggested a visit to South Korea, where they've agreed an EU free trade agreement without the burden of free movement.

The First Minister accepted Norway may not support EU membership but does support EEA membership (see more: What sort of Brexit suits Wales?). The rules are applied in Norway to allow freedom of movement for labour/workers – something he believes the UK public may support as a reasonable option.

Free trade agreements take years to negotiate, and officials he's spoken to find a two year timetable for a UK-EU free trade agreement “laughable”.

Backbenchers

Sian Gwenllian AM (Plaid, Arfon) asked how regional economic policies will sit alongside the ambition to have a million Welsh-speakers by 2050? Social and economic opportunities are essential, and national/public institutions (she suggested the Welsh Revenue Authority) should be established in Welsh-speaking areas.

The Welsh Government have consulted on the draft vision, with a finalised document discussing the relationship between economic development and the Welsh language. The First Minister asked officials to consider basing public bodies outside Cardiff, including the Caernarfon area or elsewhere in Wales.

Adam Price AM (Plaid, Carms. E. & Dinefwr) asked what plans the Welsh Government had to promote Welsh goods/produce to Welsh consumers? Many countries have an official “country of origin” brand for consumers. Can we have a strong brand for Wales to withstand the “economic lunacy of Westminster”?

The Welsh Government have taken a a number of actions, including working alongside the National Procurement Services to increase Welsh produce in the public sector. Welsh produce now has far better label than 15 years ago, and a “Brand Wales” may be advantageous to some companies but not to others. Carwyn stressed the importance of not having tarrifs applied to Welsh food and drink exports to the EU.

Joyce Watson AM (Lab, Mid & West Wales) asked for an update on the recent confirmed outbreak of avian flu in Wales. She praised the actions of Llanelli Wetland Centre for closing its doors to the public when the virus was detected to prevent its spread.

The First Minister described it as a matter of serious concern, with work undertaken with other governments to co-ordinate action. The Welsh Government's advice is updated continuously, and he called for those who work with birds to check it regularly.

Urgent Questions

Rhun ap Iorwerth AM (Plaid, Ynys Môn) asked for a statement on the Royal College of Emergency Medicine comments that emergency care in Wales was in a “state of crisis”. Figures from November 2016 showed only 77% of A&E patients were seen in 4 hours, and this was likely to get worse. Didn't the Health Secretary think it was an embarrassing situation for Labour colleagues in Westminster trying to attack Jeremy Hunt over recent bad headlines?

Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething (Lab, Cardiff S. & Penarth), praised staff, who always face pressure in winter and who he didn't want to see demoralised. He rejected any idea there was a “crisis”, but accepted there were very real pressures.

We all need to think sensibly and be accurate in our language about where we are in Wales; England runs different systems and Wales has avoided the headline-grabbing comments from the Red Cross and hasn't seen as harsh cuts in care budgets. Objectively-speaking we're in a better position than we were last year.

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What type of Brexit suits Wales?

Soft Brexit vs Hard Brexit - the same process but different end results.
(Pic : buzzfeed.com)

I said I wouldn't return to Brexit until something concrete happens. Now that we have a timetable for the activation of Article 50 , a recent ministerial meeting involving the devolved administrations and hints at what sort of Brexit the UK Government will pursue, it's worth coming back to it again.

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EU Referendum : The IWA Debate

We still don't know when the referendum will be held on the UK's membership of the European Union but, to much fanfare, the first Welsh debate was hosted last night in Cardiff by the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) and Cardiff University, with the First Minister lining up against UKIP leader, Nigel Farage MEP.

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Saving the Welsh press

(Owen: I have to say my heart isn't in it to write new blogs at the moment, but due to some of the content I have to make it clear that this was written before Sunday's news.)

I've been critical of the Western Mail in the past, but it's still the best source of detailed Welsh political and economic news. It's closure or "downgrade" would be a sad loss to Welsh civic life.

However, the print media as a whole is in decline and it's an even worse situation for (so-called) "regional" and local titles. Even the Scottish print press - which Wales has often looked enviously at - has seen significant circulation falls. News is now instant and online. Consumers no longer have the patience to make do with a single source produced once a day - and in many cases - don't want to pay for it either.

Many may point the finger at blogs, but all bloggers do is provide commentary on what the "old media" report. Blogs are no substitute for quality journalism. I don't believe bloggers are trying to muscle in on that territory, or plagiarise journalists work, just provide alternative viewpoints, analysis and - ideally - provide extra exposure for journalists stories.

In Wales the situation is typically grim. Wales has always lacked a proper "national" media unlike Scotland, and attempts to create such usually end in failure for a number of reasons. Sometimes commercial, like losing the independent ITV licence or job cuts at Media Wales. Sometimes political and cultural, like a national media that is largely Welsh medium in focus and people simply voting with their wallets.

News on Welsh NHS changes might be important to the Welsh public, but you can't beat a two page spread of Kim Kardashian's arse in the Daily Mail to turn heads. The only way you can get Welsh news high up in the "British" press is either a human tragedy, a story along the lines of "those wacky Welsh and their foreign ways" or something far more banal.

Andrew RT Davies growing a dodgy mullet, Kirsty Williams getting flesh tube earrings or a Labour backbencher grinning through the stages of putrefaction at a really bad Carwyn Jones quip and nobody noticing until the following Tuesday. That sort of thing.

What can we do about it?

Bethan Jenkins AM (Plaid, South Wales West) - who's a member of the Assembly's task and finish group on the future of the Welsh media - suggested on Wales Home a few days ago that one possible "radical" solution would be to take Media Wales into public ownership, before handing it over to a not-for-profit journalist co-op.

A not-for-profit/co-op model for Media Wales? A good idea that's definitely worthy of investigation. However, evidence submitted to the group showed that Media Wales was making a tidy profit for Trinity Mirror despite the plunging circulation. A co-op type model is usually wheeled out only when a business is commercially unsustainable or unviable. But in this case, it might be a necessity.

Some sort of state subsidy is also worthy of discussing. I'll look at that further down.

Public ownership of a newspaper? No. No. No.

I don't want to go off on a tangent, but this is a perfect illustration of the Plaid Paradox. A perfectly reasonable solution to a problem becomes overshadowed by a suggestion that sounds "radical" but in reality is ill thought through. Electable, then unelectable, at the same time.

Wales might be left-leaning, but if a certain tendency within Plaid think that we want to live like The Smurfs, they need to loosen the keffiyah, put down the bong and Zillah Eisenstein and actually take a look around.

We like buying pointless crap. We generally like choice. We're some of the worst when it comes to conspicuous consumption. We're fine with publicly owned services, but I think most of us will draw the line at a publicly owned newspaper – even if it's temporary.

Surely it's easy to understand why a suggestion that the main newspaper holding the Welsh Government to account should be owned by the Welsh Government isn't going down too well.

At least Bethan Jenkins has stood up and said something about the market failing the Welsh media and prompted some debate. Perhaps good can come out of it after all.

The state can help – but how?

I might not - personally - believe that the state should be within bargepole distance of the print media, but there are certainly ways the state can help without needing to take over newspapers.

Norway is ranked joint number 1 in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index, yet it operates a form of subsidy for its press managed by the Norwegian Media Authority. It was introduced in the 1960s after fears the Norwegian press was going through such a decline that freedom of speech and institutional accountability were at risk. Subsidy is given to newspapers that don't have the largest circulation in their respective areas, but also for press research and minority languages like Sami.

Technically the Welsh Government already does something similar to this.

Suzy Davies AM (Con, South Wales West) asked a question to Housing and Heritage Minister Huw Lewis (Lab, Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney) a few weeks ago about Golwg 360.

Golwg360 is an online Welsh language "newspaper" subsidised indirectly via the Welsh Books Council to the tune of £200,000. It's attracting approximately 1million page visits a year. Golwg 360 is owned by private company Golwg Newydd - its sister company producing the Golwg magazine.

Some ideas for strengthening the Welsh press

General:

• Use the Welsh Books Council as a conduit for government press support. It would be independent of government interference and could have a new remit similar to that of the Norwegian Media Authority.
• Use subsidy (via the "beefed up" Welsh Books Council) to increase the plurality of Welsh media online and via mobile devices – including the creation of new English-language and bilingual "online newspapers".
• Start a round of "bidding" , and grant subsidy to (for arguments sake, an initial four) bids with the best case – the criteria can be decided independently by a panel of media experts. These new outlets should be expected to be run on a commercial basis and wean themselves off the subsidy as much as possible.
• The Welsh Government can help with publicity, but that should be the extent of their involvement. For example, giving these new "publications" preferential access to ministers, AMs and news briefings.
• Make new media and social media a key part of the curriculum at Cardiff School of Journalism.

Specifically relating to Media Wales and other existing print media:

• Encourage a new model of ownership for Media Wales. Options on the table should include cooperative and not-for-profit status to ensure Media Wales can survive as a stand-alone business.
• Work with Media Wales and Trinity Mirror to massively overhaul and update their online and mobile presence. The Walesonline website is incredibly dated and difficult to navigate for example.
• The Western Mail and Wales on Sunday should become a high-quality "broadsheets", perhaps justifying a very high quality – on a par with the Observer or The Times - weekly edition.
• Media Wales should consider launching a national free-sheet or national tabloid perhaps based on the South Wales Echo or Daily Post "brands".
• At least one of the bigger non-Trinity Mirror owned Welsh publications (i.e. The Western Telegraph, South Wales Evening Post, South Wales Argus) should be encouraged to "go national" – either online or in print form (see general ideas above) to encourage competition and plurality.

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