Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones has rightly been making headlines this week for his full on assault of the First Minister Carwyn Jones and Welsh Government over the economy, but there was another equally newsworthy event this week’s with the decision of the three opposition parties to stand firm over changing the draft budget to better reflect voters concerns in their opinion. Conventional wisdom says one party will eventually do a deal, but could one of the main beneficiaries from the new tactic be one of the other opposition leaders Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies?.
When Andrew RT Davies was elected leader it was said by many political commentators, media types and bloggers that he would find it difficult to make alliances with Plaid Cymru and Lib Dems unlike his predecessor Nick Bourne and this would play into Labour hands causing rifts between the opposition parties and giving the Welsh Government a free ride for the next 5 years.
As things stand its First Minister Carwyn Jones who is the one under pressure as negotiations over the draft budget seem to be making little progress and deadlines loom and the opposition prove harder to buy off than in previous years, not the leader of the opposition who has had his critics inside and outside the Tory Party since he got the leaders job but the opposition amendment is a smart move and all three party leaders can take some credit.
It is of course early days and opposing a self interested Labour budget is at the easier end of the co-operation scale, but it shows that Andrew RT Davies is not as one dimensional as portrayed and after a shaky start has proven he can work constructively with Ieuan Wyn Jones and Lib Dem leader Kristy Williams which can only board well for holding Labour to account in the current Assembly term.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Plaid Cymru’s economic attack, FMQ’s and media shock
I’m not sure whether it’s amusing or rather depressing to see the shock expressed by the Political Editor’s of BBC Wales and Wales Online about Ieuan Wyn Jones questions in the Chamber at FMQ’s claiming Labour is letting the worst of the UK’s economic policies bite while doing nothing to mitigate the damaging effects and claiming the political credit.
But in the cosseted world of Cardiff Bay politics a senior politician saying what the majority of people inside and outside Welsh politics believe is the Welsh Government strategy counts as big news it seems, whether it changes anything is of course a different matter but it’s been said and I doubt either side will row back from it.
The Welsh Government can’t do everything to stop the effects of public sector cuts and benefit changes, but where the attack is most potent is that Labour Ministers are dragging their heels over what they can do, even some in the Labour Party are getting fed up with the First Ministers lack of action and visibility over the problems facing Wales.
No surprise Labour is dismissive of Plaid’s attack claiming that Plaid Cymru is bitter and not adjusting to being in Opposition behind the Tories, as well as becoming irrelevant to the new two party consensus that is emerging (see Adrian Masters latest blog for more). But the response was telling Carwyn was more engaged and animated than normal.
However it must be said for all Plaid Cymru’s righteous fury their claims do ring a little hollow as they were in Coalition in the One Wales Government holding the economic portfolio up until May this year and will making such bold statements in public rule them out of being serious players in current budget negotiations that are in the balance with just 4 week left to strike a deal.
And for all the fuss generated at First Minister Questions on Tuesday and it was good to see Tory leader Andrew RT Davies landing telling blows on the NHS as well, this was a rarity, too many FMQ’s that go by where more heat than light is generated and Labour Ministers are let off the hook over failed polices and delivery as well as their claims of standing up for Wales.
For the Assembly to grow and gain respect this type of pressure needs to be administered by Ieuan, Andrew and Kristy week in week and then amplified by the Welsh media so us voters can believe that democracy is working, the Government is being properly held to account and it’s all worth the effort of supporting devolution in the face of growing apathy and indifference.
But in the cosseted world of Cardiff Bay politics a senior politician saying what the majority of people inside and outside Welsh politics believe is the Welsh Government strategy counts as big news it seems, whether it changes anything is of course a different matter but it’s been said and I doubt either side will row back from it.
The Welsh Government can’t do everything to stop the effects of public sector cuts and benefit changes, but where the attack is most potent is that Labour Ministers are dragging their heels over what they can do, even some in the Labour Party are getting fed up with the First Ministers lack of action and visibility over the problems facing Wales.
No surprise Labour is dismissive of Plaid’s attack claiming that Plaid Cymru is bitter and not adjusting to being in Opposition behind the Tories, as well as becoming irrelevant to the new two party consensus that is emerging (see Adrian Masters latest blog for more). But the response was telling Carwyn was more engaged and animated than normal.
However it must be said for all Plaid Cymru’s righteous fury their claims do ring a little hollow as they were in Coalition in the One Wales Government holding the economic portfolio up until May this year and will making such bold statements in public rule them out of being serious players in current budget negotiations that are in the balance with just 4 week left to strike a deal.
And for all the fuss generated at First Minister Questions on Tuesday and it was good to see Tory leader Andrew RT Davies landing telling blows on the NHS as well, this was a rarity, too many FMQ’s that go by where more heat than light is generated and Labour Ministers are let off the hook over failed polices and delivery as well as their claims of standing up for Wales.
For the Assembly to grow and gain respect this type of pressure needs to be administered by Ieuan, Andrew and Kristy week in week and then amplified by the Welsh media so us voters can believe that democracy is working, the Government is being properly held to account and it’s all worth the effort of supporting devolution in the face of growing apathy and indifference.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Finance Committee’s Budget Recommendations
As one of the few Committees in the Assembly the Welsh Government takes notice of, it’s good to see the cross party Finance committee carrying on where it left off last term and highlighting the true nature of the Budget process and adding pressure to Labour Ministers to up their game over transparency, NHS funding, lack of targets, the need for a equality impact assessment and more.
The 10 recommendations they made are below and the full report is here
Recommendation 1. We recommend that the Welsh Government continues to work towards ensuring that the intended outcomes of public expenditure- and mechanisms for monitoring such- are consistently identified and published in a timely way that enables effective scrutiny of the sufficiency and value for money of the Welsh Government‘s budgetary proposals.
Recommendation 2. We recommend that in presenting future draft budgets, the Welsh Government provides detail of year-on-year proposed budgetary changes (using the figures from the previous financial year‘s most recent budget as a baseline).
Recommendation 3. We recommend that in presenting future draft budgets, the Welsh Government seeks to make all relevant and requested information on proposed budgetary allocations (including detail of proposed budgetary allocations within departments, such as BELs) available to National Assembly for Wales Committees, providing a sufficient level of detail for scrutiny in a consistent and co-ordinated manner, at the time of the draft budget‘s publication, or as close to it as reasonably possible.
Recommendation 4. We recommend that the Minister for Finance responds to the concerns of the Committees of the National Assembly for Wales, and takes on board the views of stakeholders, in order to improve the timeliness and level of detail published in the draft budget proposals, to enable more effective scrutiny of the budget proposals in relation to specific areas.
Recommendation 5. We recommend that the Welsh Government works expeditiously towards developing a strategic approach towards the utilisation of its capital resources, providing quarterly reports to the Finance Committee on its progress. We recommend that this should provide clarity on which elements of the Welsh Government‘s planned capital expenditure, and how it will be administered and monitored, are included within the National Infrastructure Plan, to enable scrutiny of such.
Recommendation 6. We recommend that the Welsh Government continues to explore all avenues for increasing and maximising capital funding opportunities and maximising the benefits for Wales. We anticipate this would include a robust analysis of both the short and long-term consequences for Wales of such mechanisms for increasing capital funding. We anticipate the Welsh Government would also provide us with quarterly reports on the matters raised in these recommendations.
Recommendation 7. We recommend that a full equality impact assessment is carried out for all proposed allocations within the Welsh Government‘s final budget. We anticipate this would be accompanied by an assessment of the budget‘s impact on the development of the Welsh Language.
Recommendation 8. We recommend that a full Sustainability Impact Assessment is carried out for all proposed allocations within the Welsh Government‘s final budget.
Recommendation 9. We recommend that the Welsh Government engages in dialogue with Local Health Boards to ensure that their service plans are finalised and made publically available as soon as possible, and that the Minister then reports on whether the funding available to Local Health Boards will be sufficient to deliver such plans
Recommendation 10. We recommend that the Welsh Government clarifies the role of its delivery unit in ensuring the delivery of the outcomes intended to be enabled by the draft budget. We anticipate this would include clarity of the role of the delivery unit in both monitoring the delivery of outcomes, and enabling appropriate action to be taken where outcomes are in danger of not being realised.
The 10 recommendations they made are below and the full report is here
Recommendation 1. We recommend that the Welsh Government continues to work towards ensuring that the intended outcomes of public expenditure- and mechanisms for monitoring such- are consistently identified and published in a timely way that enables effective scrutiny of the sufficiency and value for money of the Welsh Government‘s budgetary proposals.
Recommendation 2. We recommend that in presenting future draft budgets, the Welsh Government provides detail of year-on-year proposed budgetary changes (using the figures from the previous financial year‘s most recent budget as a baseline).
Recommendation 3. We recommend that in presenting future draft budgets, the Welsh Government seeks to make all relevant and requested information on proposed budgetary allocations (including detail of proposed budgetary allocations within departments, such as BELs) available to National Assembly for Wales Committees, providing a sufficient level of detail for scrutiny in a consistent and co-ordinated manner, at the time of the draft budget‘s publication, or as close to it as reasonably possible.
Recommendation 4. We recommend that the Minister for Finance responds to the concerns of the Committees of the National Assembly for Wales, and takes on board the views of stakeholders, in order to improve the timeliness and level of detail published in the draft budget proposals, to enable more effective scrutiny of the budget proposals in relation to specific areas.
Recommendation 5. We recommend that the Welsh Government works expeditiously towards developing a strategic approach towards the utilisation of its capital resources, providing quarterly reports to the Finance Committee on its progress. We recommend that this should provide clarity on which elements of the Welsh Government‘s planned capital expenditure, and how it will be administered and monitored, are included within the National Infrastructure Plan, to enable scrutiny of such.
Recommendation 6. We recommend that the Welsh Government continues to explore all avenues for increasing and maximising capital funding opportunities and maximising the benefits for Wales. We anticipate this would include a robust analysis of both the short and long-term consequences for Wales of such mechanisms for increasing capital funding. We anticipate the Welsh Government would also provide us with quarterly reports on the matters raised in these recommendations.
Recommendation 7. We recommend that a full equality impact assessment is carried out for all proposed allocations within the Welsh Government‘s final budget. We anticipate this would be accompanied by an assessment of the budget‘s impact on the development of the Welsh Language.
Recommendation 8. We recommend that a full Sustainability Impact Assessment is carried out for all proposed allocations within the Welsh Government‘s final budget.
Recommendation 9. We recommend that the Welsh Government engages in dialogue with Local Health Boards to ensure that their service plans are finalised and made publically available as soon as possible, and that the Minister then reports on whether the funding available to Local Health Boards will be sufficient to deliver such plans
Recommendation 10. We recommend that the Welsh Government clarifies the role of its delivery unit in ensuring the delivery of the outcomes intended to be enabled by the draft budget. We anticipate this would include clarity of the role of the delivery unit in both monitoring the delivery of outcomes, and enabling appropriate action to be taken where outcomes are in danger of not being realised.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Signs of Change?
I have spent a lot of time criticizing our new Business Minister Edwina Hart given her track record in other Welsh Government departments and I still have my doubts knowing her style whether she will be a force for good for Welsh Business, but two things have happened in the last few days that might give pause for thought at the very least and perhaps signals a change in attitude in the Business Department.
The first was the appointment of Professor Brian Morgan last week to head an inquiry into the Impact of Business Rates in Wales on behalf of the Business Minister and the second was a meeting today (7th Nov) between Edwina and Professor Dylan Jones Evans and some of the Fast Growth 50 winners from this year to discuss what both sides can do for the other.
Both Brian and Dylan have been heavily critical of the Welsh Government’s economic policies over the years as well as offering alternatives that have been ignored by successive Ministers, so it’s an interesting and welcome sight to see the new Welsh Business Minister turning to them for help and calling on their expertise to revive the Welsh economy.
It could of course be a ruse to keep them off the Welsh Governments back for a while as economic data gets steadily worse, but if both sides can see a benefit from working together then long term Wales will benefit and in these grim economic times it’s something we should all be grateful for.
The first was the appointment of Professor Brian Morgan last week to head an inquiry into the Impact of Business Rates in Wales on behalf of the Business Minister and the second was a meeting today (7th Nov) between Edwina and Professor Dylan Jones Evans and some of the Fast Growth 50 winners from this year to discuss what both sides can do for the other.
Both Brian and Dylan have been heavily critical of the Welsh Government’s economic policies over the years as well as offering alternatives that have been ignored by successive Ministers, so it’s an interesting and welcome sight to see the new Welsh Business Minister turning to them for help and calling on their expertise to revive the Welsh economy.
It could of course be a ruse to keep them off the Welsh Governments back for a while as economic data gets steadily worse, but if both sides can see a benefit from working together then long term Wales will benefit and in these grim economic times it’s something we should all be grateful for.
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