Freedom Central » Carwyn Jones

Welsh Government to open full time office in London

Freedom Central — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:25:32 +0000

The BBC report that the Welsh government is preparing to open its first full time office in London in order to deal directly with foreign embassies and investors.

They say that officials are looking for a suitable site in Westminster to base a team of civil servants. This is despite the fact that Ministers from Cardiff Bay already have use of facilities at Gwydyr House, home of the UK government’s Wales Office:

BBC Wales understands the Welsh government is searching for suitable premises of around three thousand square feet in Westminster.

A Welsh government spokesman said: “We have always had a presence in London.

“We currently have access to a small office in Gwydyr House which houses the Wales Office, together with a small office elsewhere in central London.

“We are currently looking for suitable and appropriate accommodation in the Westminster area in order to consolidate and provide more flexible accommodation which meet our needs.”

The office at Gwydyr House is currently leased to the Welsh government at a peppercorn rent, although the Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan told the Welsh Affairs Committee earlier in December that she didn’t know how often it was used.

She told MPs that it was “a very nicely appointed office” and that Welsh government ministers were “always welcome”.

A Whitehall source said: “They seem to be seeking separation between Wales and Westminster just for the sake of it.

“Here’s another example of the Welsh government choosing not to cooperate but to plough their own furrow for the sake of it – and to the detriment of Wales.”

They add that commercial property consultants say the Welsh government could expect to pay around £50 per square foot for office space in the Westminster area, meaning the annual rent for the planned office could be around £150,000.

Trouble at home

Freedom Central — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:54:17 +0000

BBC Wales highlights a growing row in the backyard of First Minister, Carwyn Jones, this morning. They say that Labour run Bridgend Council’s attempt to pay men and women fairly for doing the same type of jobs means that some staff face losing up to half their basic pay.

This is happening in local authorities across Wales of course where job evaluations are underway, but Unison leaders say Bridgend council’s approach is particularly brutal:

More than 5,500 staff at Bridgend council are affected by job evaluation with consultation on the plans continuing.

Unison leaders told the BBC’s Politics Show Wales that one teaching assistant currently paid a basic salary of just under £23,000 a year could expect to be paid just over £11,000.

A manager on about £33,500 a year would go down to just over £26,000, while a more junior officer’s basic pay would fall from around £25,500 to just under £18,000.

Steve Belcher, Unison regional organiser, said he agreed with the principle of job evaluation to ensure equal pay but there needed to be “meaningful consultation”.

He said councils must treat the issue “with the seriousness it deserves”.

“They [Bridgend council] are not offering to protect those who are at detriment,” he said.

“They’re not offering any back pay and perhaps worst of all, they’re proposing to remove all of the terms and conditions such as unsocial hours, weekend working and things like that.”

Bridgend council estimates most staff will see their pay rise or stay the same but union leaders say the rises are sometimes as little as a few pounds a year.

The record of Labour-run Councils on this issue across Wales is particularly poor with Rhondda Cynon Taf in particular effectively sacking all its staff and reemploying them on new terms and conditions so as to force through changes. No wonder the First Minister is uneasy at what his Labour colleagues are up to in his own area.

No targets for success sign of a failing government

Kirsty Williams — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:56:31 +0000

Today the First Minister published his Programme for Government and made a statement to the Assembly.

We’ve waited 145 days for this programme of government and we hoped for a very clear roadmap of what the government hoped to deliver. Instead, we get a vague and unambitious programme without measurable indicators of success where we can clearly see delivery in the economy, in our health system and in our schools.

It has taken 145 days for someone to work out how to find the cut and paste function on the computer from a vague Labour manifesto. This is not good enough from a government who has been entrusted with more powers by the people of Wales.

I had hoped that today we would have a picture of what delivery looks like or what success looks like by 2016 so that Assembly Members and the people of Wales could scrutinise the Welsh Government if they didn’t meet those targets. Without measurable targets with comparative figures, the Labour Government’s Programme for Government is not worth the paper it’s written on.

Ministers’ gifts revealed

Freedom Central — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 04:28:31 +0000

The BBC have published a list of some of the gifts Welsh Ministers have received over the past decade.

They say that the list, released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows the vast majority of gifts have an estimated value of less than £50. Ministers are allowed to keep any gift with a value of less than £260:

Many choose to distribute smaller gifts such as food and drink among their private office staff – the civil servants who keep their diaries and answer correspondence.

During his last year as First Minister, Rhodri Morgan received dozens of gifts, including a ceremonial embroidered shawl, a carpet from Azerbaijan and an iPod Touch.

He also received four apple trees and a watering can.

In fact, Mr Morgan accumulated so many gifts during his near-decade as first minister that his office in Cardiff Bay was said by some visitors to resemble a grotto.

Former Agriculture Minister Elin Jones received several gifts of food and drink during her time in office.

Other presents given to ministers range from the generous to the bizarre, and all are meticulously noted by the civil service in a register.

Current First Minister Carwyn Jones is recorded as receiving a “Silver (not actual silver) engraved plate” with an estimated value of £10.

He also received a crystal menorah (a traditional Jewish candle holder) in 2009-10 and another menorah in 2010-11.

Star billing goes to the new deputy minister for agriculture, Alun Davies, who is recorded as receiving a sea bass, with an estimated value of £10. Mr. Davies likes to style himself as the Minister for Food and Drink but on this occasion he allegedly did not get to eat the fish.

Welsh Government to remain highly centralised and opaque

Peter Black — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 07:48:58 +0000

The Western Mail reports that ethe Welsh Government has indicated it has no plans to follow the UK Government in releasing more data on schools and hospitals.

They point out that David Cameron has indicated that the UK Government will publish data on clinical outcomes and prescribing for GPs practices, as well as NHS hospital complaints by the year’s end. He also plans to bring together school spending data, school performance and Ofsted judgements in a parent- friendly portal, which will be searchable by postcode.

The intention is that the data will help people find the right doctor for their needs or the best teacher for their child.

However, a Welsh Government spokesman said: “For the past 10 years, we have made available the minutes of Cabinet meetings and Cabinet sub-committees as well as publishing all decisions taken by ministers.”

How they think that this is comparable is difficult to fathom. Welsh Labour in Government have already shown themselves to be centralising and controlling, now they have confirmed their reputation as secretive and opaque as well.

Spoke put in cycle path plan

Freedom Central — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:48:05 +0000

The Western Mail reports that Welsh Government plans to introduce a new law compelling local authorities to create new cycle routes have been ridiculed by a former council leader:

Jeff Jones, the former Labour leader of Bridgend council, said research published this month suggested that most people would not contemplate cycling as a means of transport.

He pointed out that an author of the report, Dave Horton of Lancaster University, said: “Most people barely recognise the bicycle as a legitimate form of transport. It is either a toy for children or a vehicle fit for the poor and or strange. For them cycling is a bit embarrassing.”

Mr Jones also referred to statistics which suggest that only 2% of journeys are made by bicycle in the UK compared to 25% in Holland. He said: “If this is to improve we need to spend millions building dedicated cycle lanes at a cost of £800,000 a kilometre in our cities according to the Lancaster University study.

“On the other hand this could be yet again one of those examples of gesture politics to show that Wales is leading the way. Either way, it will probably only prove to Joe Public that the Assembly has a weird sense of priorities given the problems facing most people.”

Labour’s Lagging government

Kirsty Williams — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 04:07:59 +0000

We are six weeks from the elections and the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Government are getting on with the job they were elected to do – governing and legislating. The Scottish Government is demanding more fiscal powers and they are rocking the constitutional boat. Whether you agree with the SNP’s policies or not, they are doing something. The story in Wales is different.

The first major government announcement in Wales came on Tuesday when the First Minister rose to his feet to outline his Welsh equivalent of the Queen’s Speech. This should have been a momentous occasion since the people of Wales gave us the thumbs up to more law-making powers in the March referendum, but as we were sat there in the Chamber it went off like a damp squib.

There was no mention of how they were going to boost the economy or get to grips with the enormous amount of money wasted in the Welsh NHS. There was no ambition for our country in his legislative priorities. What we heard instead were his priorities for cycle paths and allotment spaces. While I fully agree with those intentions, there are certainly more pressing issues.

Four years ago, the former Labour First Minister rose to his feet to give his legislative priorities. They were numerous, substantial and detailed pieces of legislation concerning child poverty, environmental protection, education, home care and the Welsh language.

At the time, Rhodri Morgan was leading a minority Labour administration, soon to be superseded by the One Wales coalition government with Plaid Cymru. This was five weeks after the election – a very busy period.

Back to 2011, six weeks after the election and it has taken this Labour Government all this time to come up with these few priorities. The Welsh Assembly Government or WAG as it was previously known, is now called the Welsh Government.

Some have suggested that it should be called the Labour Assembly Government or rather more crudely LAG. It has been said that Welsh Labour only want to be in government for the sake of being in government and not make any real difference in government. The events (or lack of) of the past five weeks have proved that Welsh Labour is lagging behind.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Members continue to put pressure on the Labour Government to come up with legislation and policies to get to grips with our struggling economy, failing NHS and underperforming education system.

Welsh Liberal Democrat peer throws his weight behind wind farm protestors

Freedom Central — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 04:51:27 +0000

News Wales reports that Welsh Liberal Democrat peer and former Montgomeryshire MP, Lord Carlile of Berriew, has condemned the “shocking” attitude of the “Cardiff-centric” Welsh Assembly Government towards protesters campaigning against a network of pylons, wires and wind farms across Mid Wales:

A Deputy High Court judge and QC, Lord Carlile is angry that First Minister Carwyn Jones and John Griffiths, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, have so far ignored all requests for a meeting with the protesters.He has warned that if Mr Jones, who has taken personal responsibility for the Welsh Government’s energy policy, does not agree to meet the protesters in Mid Wales, they will be forced to travel to his Bridgend constituency to talk to him.

Lord Carlile has offered to chair a public meeting or a “wind energy and landscape summit” at a neutral venue in Mid Wales, at which Mr Jones will be invited to speak alongside representatives of Renewable UK, National Grid and the protest movement.

“The Welsh Assembly Government’s attitude is really shocking,” said Lord Carlile.“They are behaving much worse than the government before devolution. This is Cardiff-centric government at its worst.

“The First Minister should make himself available for a meeting: otherwise the protestors will have no choice but to visit his surgeries.”

They say that Environment Minister, John Griffiths declined to meet a delegation from the protesters on the day 2,000 people attended a protest rally outside the Senedd in Cardiff on May 24 and that two days after the rally, Mr Jones told the Renewables UK Cymru’s conference that the next 10 years must be “Wales’s energy decade” and he has refused requests to review TAN 8.

They add that Lord Carlile has pledged his full support to campaigners opposing controversial proposals to cover the uplands of Montgomeryshire with windfarms, which will then be connected to the National Grid via a 19-acre substation either near Abermule or Cefn Coch and high powered cables carried by 26 metre and 46 metre pylons.

He says the Tan 8 document, which identifies Montgomeryshire as a prime location for windfarms, has failed to take into account the impact of the turbines on the beautiful landscape and should be reviewed.

Labour’s misleading propaganda on legislation

Freedom Central — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:26:40 +0000

On several occasions over the last few days the First Minister has claimed that Labour were the only party to have put a legislative programme in front of the Welsh electorate during the last Assembly elections. As this post proves, he is wrong.

In fact the Welsh Liberal Democrats proposed a number of Welsh Bills during the election campaign, in programme far more radical and comprehensive than anything the Labour Government has announced so far.

These include:

· A Local Economies Bill to help drive the economic recovery and create jobs.

· A Teaching Standards Bill to put in place new streamlined structures for the training and development of teachers.

· A Health Spending Bill to establish an independent waste watchdog to examine the way money in the health service is spent.

· A Public Transport Bill to create Joint Transport Authorities and re-regulate bus services.

· A Community Bill of Rights and Localism Bill to strengthen the powers the ability of local authorities to deliver public services by giving them a power of general competence and introduce fair votes for local elections.

We are not expecting an apology from Carwyn Jones.

Welsh Liberal Democrats’ Legislative Priorities

Kirsty Williams — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:35:39 +0000

Yesterday’s Ministerial statement on the Government’s legislative priorities is the Welsh equivalent of the Queen’s Speech. Wales now has direct law-making powers and this is the opportunity for the First Minister to set out a comprehensive programme of new laws.

We should not legislate for the sake of it but neither should we be afraid of using the new powers that we have where necessary.

I was looking to the First Minister to show how he will legislate to improve the training and quality of teaching and to create a health spending watch dog to root out waste in our NHS.

I wanted to see him announcing proposals so we can transfer powers back to local communities and to improve public transport provision in rural and urban Wales.

Most importantly, the First Minister should have set out proposals that can drive the economic recovery, creating jobs and developing local economies by allowing councils to fund regeneration projects from future business rate income and by creating Enterprise Zones.

This statement was supposed to be the Labour Government’s legislative priorities for the next five years yet it was worryingly lacking in detail and did not even mention measures to stimulate the Welsh economy – one of the biggest issues facing the people of Wales at the moment.

There are many areas of the Labour Government’s proposed legislation where the Welsh Liberal Democrats can support and we will work cooperatively with the government provided that they draft good legislation that will make a difference to the lives of the people of Wales.

We have previously welcomed the First Minister’s willingness to work constructively with other parties, however sensible and costed policies from opposition parties have fallen on deaf ears in the past. We hope that the Labour Government will be ready to listen and work with other parties in the interest of the people of Wales.

These are the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ priorities:

· A Local Economies Bill to help drive the economic recovery and create jobs.

· A Teaching Standards Bill to put in place new streamlined structures for the training and development of teachers.

· A Health Spending Bill to establish an independent waste watchdog to examine the way money in the health service is spent.

· A Public Transport Bill to create Joint Transport Authorities and re-regulate bus services.