Remembering Jane

A blast from the past while I read my emails. It's good to return from a family holiday, having survived.

Thanks for the photo, Mr Anonymous.

A Welshman's home is his castle, and a last chance for Dr Gibbons to prove some worth

"et domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium"

The Western Mail reports that a 76-YEAR-OLD man has been on hunger strike at the doors of the National Assembly for 15 days and vows to remain until he wins an inquiry into his planning dispute.

This is the latest protest by Iorwerth Jones, from Llandovery, who was found not guilty of causing £30,000 of damage to council offices in Llandeilo during a rooftop protest in 2007.

He has been locked in conflict with the council since 1979 when a lorry park was sited near the home he was building. This has been replaced with a pet food factory and he claims his house has been devalued.

Carmarthenshire County Council said it was “beyond belief” last year when a jury at Swansea Crown Court found him not guilty of breaking roof tiles with a hammer.

He met Jane Davidson, Assembly Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, last week but was not satisfied with her response.

Mr Jones said: “I had an hour with her. It seems she is trying to push it aside.”
“I want an inquiry. I want the truth to come out. As long as she keeps on saying she is not going to do anything I’ll be here.”

A spokesman for the minister said: “Ms Davidson met Mr Jones with his constituency AM Mr Rhodri Glyn Thomas and Welsh Assembly Government officials out of concern for his health. During the meeting Ms Davidson listened to Mr Jones’s issues but made it clear that her statutory role in the planning process meant she could not intervene in an individual planning issue.

“Ms Davidson’s private office staff continue to discuss Mr Jones’ health and welfare with officials from the National Assembly for Wales (very noble but impractical - why not send in the resident GP), who are responsible for the T Hywel building where Mr Jones is protesting.”

The Assembly Government argues no evidence so far suggests the local planning authority acted in such a way to justify an inquiry.

The Assembly Government can hold a public inquiry into a planning issue if it believes the original decision was “grossly wrong” and the public interest is at stake.

Mr Jones’s case has been referred to the local government ombudsman on four separate occasions but a basis for an investigation has never been found. However, Mr Jones is adamant he suffered an injustice.

Chris Burns, assistant chief executive of Carmarthenshire County Council, said: “All his complaints have been dealt with in the proper manner and in line with the appropriate rules and regulations.

“The council’s offer to purchase his property was flatly rejected by Mr Jones.”

Let's hope that his health doesn't take a turn for the worse and that he's given a proper meal in the heavily subsidised staff restaurant. One thing's for sure, he's in the wrong place for snacks.

Slow Rejuvenation for Welsh Labour?

With the recent announcement of Local Government and Social Justice Minister Dr Brian Gibbons standing down as an assembly member at the next election, is Welsh Labour looking for new blood to rejuvenate its fortunes?

To date, Cardiff West; Cardiff South and Penarth; Pontypridd; and Aberavon will all be 'fresh' Assembly Members from 2011.


The First Minister has said he is likely to step down around the time of his 70th birthday in September, however, he has been urged to stay on for the sake of the Labour party (apparently he's popular, and a man of the people - suppose it depends what people you ask). He is likely to not seek re-election in 2011 in order to join his wife in retirement from main political activity.

1. Rhodri Morgan (to retire and join his wife at home)


2. Lorraine Barrett (to become a humanist celebrant)


3. Jane Davidson (to move onto a new challenge for the rest of her working life)


4. Brian Gibbons (to return to GP practice)

To be continued...

What if...

Following on from Senedd Whip's earlier post speculating on Eluned Morgan MEP's gap two-years, my mind started to wonder or even wander over a glass or two of wine.

What if... Welsh Labour have designs on Eluned Morgan becoming leader in Wales. She is a woman and we all know that they prefer equal representation in Welsh democracy (and even in the civil service, moving on to Dame Gillian Morgan from Sir Jon Shortridge).

What if... Jane Davidson AM was persuaded to 'resign' her seat in the National Assembly, after all, it could be for personal reasons and she hasn't got to disclose them if she leaves sooner than expected. No scandal over an unnecessary by-election. She's already forewarned us about her intention to stand down in 2011.

What if... First Minister Rhodri Morgan considers it a good idea to prolong the leadership contest, after all he's feeling better and healthier than he has done for years; and is known for supporting Labour-friends above and beyond the call of duty, as seen with Ministers Jane and Jane.

What if... a by-election was called in Pontypridd before 2011 and a certain leading figure in Welsh Labour and constituent friend of Rhodri's was 'convinced' to stand for the good of the party, and won.

What if... the leadership contest of the Welsh Labour party was then held after a reasonable and respectable amount of time post by-election, and certain 'said constituency friend' of Rhodri Morgan had the backing of the man himself, the Welsh Labour party, and the unions.

This would - of course - annoy quite a few members in the process.

They say that 'What if...' is a game for scholars, of which I am not... but... what if...

Eluned Morgan MEP: Open parachute

The plane is flying over from Brussels and the cargo door is clearly open. Everything depends on how good the pilot's skills are, and the need to take into account his vision. The parachute is also visible and open. It's all down to how safely she can land in either Cardiff West or Pontypridd.

Born in 1967, she was educated at Atlantic College and the University of Hull. Eluned formerly worked as a researcher for S4C, and the BBC, and in 1990 worked as a Stagiaire in the European Parliament. She was the youngest MEP when she took up her seat in 1994 as the Labour member for Mid & West Wales and was subsequently re-elected in 1999 and 2004 as MEP for Wales.

Update:

In her letter to the Labour party on standing down to spend time with her family, Ms Morgan correctly refers to the party in saying "The Labour Party is my family" and remembered to thank the unions, "I would also like to thank the trade unions with whom I have cooperated with over the years to ensure that the voice of the worker has been heard in the corridors of Brussels where more has been done to further social rights than anywhere else."

In the bag, just not in time to take the leadership as well... unless....

Just saying!

The wrong Jane is leaving government

Betsan Powys of the BBC provides up with a quick bit of news before she heads off to conference:

Jane Davidson, thought of at one time as a possible Labour leadership candidate, has told her party in Pontypridd that she's standing down at the next Assembly election. She made it clear last year that she wouldn't be going for the leadership but told a meeting last night that she won't fight the seat in 2011.

Jane Hutt on the other hand will also be leaving the government in 2011 by other means.

'Clean, lean and green'...and away with the fairies?

The One Wales agreement called climate change ‘the greatest threat facing humanity’. To tackle this threat it promised (surprise, surprise) some strategies: an energy strategy to deal with renewable energy and an energy route map. Today the environment minister Jane Davidson announced a mix of the two, a renewable energy route map that will show how we can develop a Wales that is ‘lean, clean and green’.

The press release accompanying the route map consultation followed Assembly Government house style by once again proclaiming Wales to be the first to do something (a subject Miss Wagstaff has mentioned before). With sparing and environmentally-friendly use of modesty the press release said: ‘Just as we led the world in energy development during the 19th century when our coal powered the industrial revolution, we again have a great opportunity to lead in the battle against climate change.’

Towards the end of the release, just before we all burst into a spontaneous rendition of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, the press release says: “With the images of the end of one era – the closure of the last deep mine in Wales at Tower Colliery – still fresh in our memories we must now look to the future.” This passage will sound a little strange to residents living uncomfortably close to the Ffos-y-Fran open cast mine near Merthyr Tydfil. The last era is still alive and well at Ffos-y-Fran and elsewhere across Wales in coal, gas and woodchip burning plants.

The press release calls the route map ‘an ambitious programme’. Unfortunately for the Assembly Government a lot of the programme is hostage to decisions in Whitehall. It is deemed too important an issue for Westminster to leave to the Senedd. This is not to say that the renewable energy route map does not set out some good aims. But renewable energy, according to the Welsh Assembly Government’s own calculations in 2005, accounted for just 2.6% of electricity generation in Wales. Unless there is a serious commitment to realising the programme it will remain a (non-carbon neutral) pipe-dream.

Education: When do we start to point the finger?

The BBC reported today on a worldwide survey that has revealed teenagers in Wales are falling behind other countries in basic education.

The 15-year-olds scored below average in maths and reading and average in science, said the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The UK as a whole fared worse than in previous years, but Welsh students came bottom of the "home" nations. The Education Minister welcomed the report as a "snapshot" of where Wales stands on the international stage.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) performance tables are based on tests taken by 15-year-olds and involved 400,000 15-year-olds from 57 countries. The results are published every three years, but the UK did not participate in the last round of tests, taken in 2003.

In what was the first year Wales has been considered separately from England, Welsh students fared significantly worse than their peers in their neighbouring country. They tested below average in maths and reading, but average in science. In maths, the mean score of students in England and Scotland was "significantly higher" than in Wales. And while reading performance in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland was similar, in Wales the average score was lower. Performance in science across all four parts of the UK was similar. But the report adds that the average score of students in Wales was significantly lower than in England.

David Reynolds, professor of education at Plymouth university described the survey results for Wales as "shocking":

We are round about countries like Azerbaijan and Croatia and this should be some kind of joke but it is not... There are two hints as to why this is happening. We don't seem to have enough able pupils. We always in Wales were told that our problem was the lower achieving pupils. But we have not got a high enough proportion of pupils doing well and so overall our scores are down. The other hint is that it is money. Over time the assembly probably has not spent on education what it should.

Professor Reynolds called for the creation of a cross party commission to investigate the findings. Pisa researchers said they attempted to discover how well pupils could apply knowledge, rather than simply regurgitate facts and figures. Their results marked a sharp fall for Britain overall from where it stood in 2000. It fell from eighth to 24th for maths, with some pupils in China scoring top marks in the subject. In reading, the UK fell from seventh to 17th, placing it below countries including Estonia and Poland.

Even more shocking are Education Minister, Jane Hutt's dismissive remarks that were reported by the press:

...priority was to secure better outcomes for learners, not just to score highly in Pisa rankings... Not that we do not recognise the importance of Pisa as a yardstick against which we can measure our progress. The real benefits of the Pisa assessments will come not from the headline figures and league table rankings, but from the detailed analysis of strengths and weaknesses and what more we can learn from the best and most effective practice internationally.

Welsh Labour have been in power in a devolved government since 1999. Since then we have seen four Ministers in charge of education in Wales. Although I don't generally like the idea of a blame culture, when do we start pointing the finger, and at who? Jane Hutt's performance has always been lacklustre and her reputation precedes her at Health. Hutt should be listening to the opinion of eminent people - that's what they're there for - and if appropriate, offering a review of current policy in order to address a serious issue in one of Wales' few important areas of devolution.

We have a responsibility to ensure that our children receive the best education possible. The government should accept that it's their responsibility to take the lead and assist us in being able to achieve this.

Christine Gwyther: Success after rejection is always possible

The Minister for Environment, Sustainability & Housing, Jane Davidson AM, recently announced the appointment of three Members to the Welsh National Park Authorities, one in Brecon Beacons and two in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authorities.

Following an open selection exercise, the Minister has decided to appoint Mrs Catriona Graham to the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority and Ms Christine Gwyther and Mr Richard Howells to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority. Mrs Graham and Ms Gwyther will be serving their first terms of appointment on the Park Authorities, Mr Howells will be serving his third term having been a member of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority since 2001. The appointments are for a period of 4 years.

Ms Christine Gwyther

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Christine Gwyther was born in Pembroke, attended Pembroke School and then University College Cardiff. She worked for some years for Pembrokeshire County Council in their economic development division before her election to the Welsh Assembly in 1999. She was a member for 8 years and for the first year and a half had responsibility for sustainable development in the Welsh Assembly Government. For most of her time at the Assembly, she was chair of the economic development and transport committee. She counts social inclusion and the countryside among her main interests, along with a passion for Pembrokeshire’s coastline.

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Notes:

Welsh Assembly Government appointees are selected for their personal qualities and experience and not as representatives of particular organisations or groups. Two thirds of the members of the National Park Authorities are appointed by constituent local authorities, with the remaining one third appointed by Welsh Assembly Government Ministers.

This is the first instance I can think of where a National Park has become a National Perk for a former Labour Government Minister. This has also helped enormously with a post that I will be publishing at the end of the week.