One Step further

The trigger vote to start the referendum was passed in the National Assembly for Wales by 53 cross party votes with no abstentions and no votes against – it’s a boost for the Yes Campaign (when it gets going) and a good result for the new First Minister Carwyn Jones and his deputy Ieuan Wyn Jones in managing to deliver a key pledge of the One Wales Agreement and keep their parties happy. It also means baring nuclear meltdown the Coalition Government is secure until the next Assembly elections.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing in the debate yesterday afternoon a few AM’s couldn’t resist scoring some cheap points, but the debate overall was positive with interesting contributions and it’s good to know that many of the concerns that have been raised by bloggers and commentators about the referendum campaign are understood by Assembly Members of all parties so they can avoid the mistakes made previously and the traps set by opponents.

The action now turns to Westminster where the reaction from Welsh Secretary Peter Hain and Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan was more muted they both accepted the vote albeit through gritted teeth, it will be interesting to see which one of them ends up responding the Carwyn’s letter to formally start the process and what part both will play in the campaign.

However i’m still not convicted that the trigger vote was taken because it’s the best option for the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh governance more generally, rather than what’s best for the Welsh Labour Party (why else would Don Touhig keep out of no camp with his track record on devolution), but things are moving forward and that is a good thing.

Priorities and Scrutiny

The stories over Lib Dem AM Mick Bates and former Auditor General Jeremy Coleman have certainly caused a stir over the past few days, but they raise questions about levels of scrutiny and the priorities of our politicians and the media yet again.

The Mick Bates affair concerns me for a few reasons, if the allegations are as serious as they are reported in the media, then why did it take until last weekend at the Lib Dem Conference, where the Wales on Sunday knew it would cause problems to become public knowledge when the incident occurred on 19th January and why are the paramedics only coming forward and deciding to press charges now? Its strikes me as odd to say the least.

On the Jeremy Coleman affair and the alleged pornography on his work laptop, he’s been arrested and released on bail and if he’s guilty he should be prosecuted. What i do find strange is that in Welsh political terms this is the bigger story with wider consequences than Mick Bates lashing out, because it moves the story of the culture of bullying at the Wales Audit Office that has been hanging over it for years and the need for accountability in Welsh public life that is so lacking. If i can see this why can't others?

The Wales Audit Office is the body that audits the public accounts and is supposed to keep the Welsh Public Sector on its toes and to do that it needs to be free from internal conflict to do its job. It needs sorting out urgently and highlights the failings of the Welsh Assembly Government for not taking action sooner and the Opposition and media for not keeping up the pressure?

And last but not least, what does it say when the BBC’s Political Editor Nick Robinson who probably has limited knowledge or interest in Welsh politics writes in part of his blog post about the concerns of many voters in terms of job worries and Welsh economic woes today, when his colleagues in BBC Wales have been going hard on the Mick Bates Story?

Creating a Post Office Bank would lift almost a million out of financial exclusion

We have heard lots about new rules for banks and financial institutions which affect those at the top but not much about new rules to help those at the bottom, so research carried out by Consumer Focus last month found that almost one million of the poorest people in the UK could be lifted out of financial exclusion if a new, simple-to-use bank account was created by the Post Office network is worth highlighting.

Seven out of ten (71%) of the financially excluded – those with no bank account or just a Post Office Card Account (POCA) – said that a new, easy to use, convenient to access bank account would suit them better than their current arrangements.

A similar number said they would consider opening such an account if it was available at any of the Post Office's 11,500 branches and half of the 1,100 adults questioned said they did not trust high street banks to look after their money, with many reporting problems meeting identification rules when trying to open an account.

Andy Burrows a postal expert at Consumer Focus, said: ‘Millions of consumers miss out on even the most basic banking services and face daily hardship as a result. Many on low incomes feel poorly served by the banks, but trust the Post Office. 'This is a golden opportunity for the Government to lift thousands out of financial exclusion.

The Post Office network is well placed to offer, not just this targeted account, but a range of neighbourhood banking products with wider appeal. They are calling for the Post Office to introduce a similar product to the blueprint banking product designed in the consumer champion’s research. The product should have functions not offered by the Post Office Current Account, such as the ability to receive payments such as wages, universal ATM access and debit card capabilities.

The Government has launched a consultation on plans to extend the range of banking services offered through the Post Office which closes at the end of February following groups including the Communication Workers Union and the National Federation of SubPostmasters have been pressing for a Post Bank to be established.

Is the next Government, Labour or Conservative likely to implement these changes and give those at the bottom a chance at escaping the financial exclusion they currently find themselves in as a result of banks that refuse their custom?

Current settlement is leading to ‘Executive Dominance’

Interesting snippet at the bottom of BBC Wales piece on yesterday’s evidence to the current Welsh Affairs Select Committee on the relationship between the Government in Westminster and Cardiff Bay from Dr Richard Wyn Jones of the Wales Governance Centre, he said that the current Government of Wales settlement is leading to a very powerful executive in Cardiff Bay, which is not tightly regulated.

He also claimed the main reason for this is AM’s failure to scrutinise the assembly government adequately was leading to "executive dominance". That won’t come as a surprise to those who follow Welsh politics. WAG is very bad at dealing with criticism even the constructive kind.

One of the reasons for the poor standard of Opposition scrutiny is simply down to numbers, the current Assembly Government is made up of the two largest parties, so there are numerous of occasion of AM's are leaving Committee’s to go to another before the meeting is finished. This of course was addressed in the Richard Commission report saying there should be 80 AM's in Cardiff Bay to deal with scrutiny.

However I agree with Richard Wyn Jones that the Opposition could still do better with the opportunities they have, take First Minister Questions, I mean what does it say that its Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams landing the telling blows instead of the official leader of the Opposition Nick Bourne who is more often than not missing in action for the main opportunity to hold the First Minister to account every week.

And the lack of scrutiny is a wider problem that just in the day to day workings of the Assembly and Assembly Government; it’s an issue that goes to the heart of democracy in Wales and an issue that needs to be addressed asap because without it Welsh politics and the National Assembly will continue to suffer from a lack of credibility.

Wales’s public sector will account 69% of the Welsh economy in 2010/11

Wales will be second only to Northern Ireland in terms of the size if its public sector this year as these figures calculated by the Centre for Economics and Business Research using UK Treasury data show, and one of the main reasons Wales remains at the bottom of the economic pile and why without major changes in political thinking this pattern will continue.

Public spending as a share of the London and South East of England economies went up to around 40 per cent of regional gross value added (GVA) from 33 per cent three years ago it remain a private sector-dominated economy.

But the picture is very different everywhere else: in Northern Ireland, the state will account for an astonishing 69.2 per cent of GVA in 2010-11; in Wales it will be 69.1 per cent, rivalling the levels of state spending seen in the old Warsaw Pact countries. Scotland’s state spending will hit 57.7 per cent of GVA, more than Sweden and almost as much as Finland and Denmark.

You’re probably not surprised by those figures, I’m certainly not and it blows a hole in the argument that Wales’s public sector isn't too big and smothers private sector development. It also highlights the short-termism that has dominated Labour and Conservative Governments economic thinking on Wales for decades.

It also puts the jobs losses at Anglesey Aluminum, Hoover, Bosch and the thousands of others lost over the past few years into a much starker focus and further highlights the pitiful situation of only 22% of WAG’s Business Support for this year has being spent.

A change of thinking is long overdue, but do we have the leaders with the courage and vision to change the dynamics or is Wales destined for the same old fate?

A No in the referendum more likely if Labour don’t engage

As someone who was hoping that a change of First Minister would bring some much needed energy and drive to Welsh politics, it’s been disappointing to watch Carwyn Jones first few weeks in charge in Cardiff Bay to say the least, being called Rhodri light would be an improvement.

But the next few weeks will tell us a lot about our new First Minister and where his priorities really lie; either with the Welsh public or with the Labour Party.

Whether the debate on the referendum for further law making power is a trigger vote next week is important, but the issue no one seems to be talking about is whether Carwyn can persuade enough Welsh Labour members to engage with the YES vote.

After all many of those opposed to more powers are going to be free to speak their minds in a few months time and if Carwyn can't persuade his Labour colleagues then a win for the NO Campaign would be more likely despite the opinion polls and he will loose a lot of credibility. (If you don’t believe it can happen think back to the 1998 referendum with massive polls leads for the YES Campaign that turned into a win of just a few thousand votes).

The NO Campaign is headed by True Wales’s whose distortions and half truths are resonating with voters fed up with the MP’s expenses scandal, the large scale job loss, the state of the economy and the poor performance of the Welsh Assembly Government and so far those in favour of more powers have laid few telling blows on Rachel Banner and her colleagues.

Who knows what will happen in the coming weeks but the anti devolution and more powers camp seem to be making the most noise at the moment. It makes you wonder if the YES Camp aren’t that confident or sure of their strength of their arguments or even worse are hoping that people will vote YES without a YES campaign.

Have your say on the Welsh Media part 2

Following on from the first post I wrote on this issue, I have found the website for the ITV Wales News bid and you can leave comments on their site about what you would like to see from the news as well, it’s called Taliesin News.

I can’t find anything on the Tinopolis bid, but there is an interesting article from them on the viability of the news franchise saying that the new service will still need public money to be able stand on their own two feet.

If you want to comment on the pilots directly to the people running the process according BBC Wales Richard Hooper, chair of the IFNC selection panel, has said the meeting will be an opportunity for local people to have they say about local news on television, radio, local newspapers and the web.

He also wants local people to be able to question the bidders about their proposals to deliver a new, innovative, local and regional news service across multiple platforms in Wales.

The meeting takes place from 1500 to 1600 GMT on Wednesday, 3 February at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay.

Anyone who wants to attend must reply to ifncpilots@culture.gsi.gov.uk by midday on Tuesday, 2 February.