Taking one step closer to a new Welsh Assembly Government

Turnout in the ballot for the new Welsh Liberal Democrat leader is expected to exceed that of the party's other recent leadership elections across the UK.

Not only will the National Assembly have its first female leader but can we expect a new Welsh Assembly Government to be formed in the not too distant future? After all, new leaders come equipped with new bridges and opportunities.

The ballot to replace Mike German closes at noon and the winner will be announced later today.

A total of 62% of ballots had already been returned to the party's Wales HQ in Cardiff Bay by Friday afternoon.

The two candidates are Cardiff Central AM Jenny Randerson and Kirsty Williams, Brecon and Radnorshire AM.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats 'outgoing leader' Mr German welcomed the arrival of a female successor, saying: “I believe it will be very significant and should bring a change of character to the Assembly.”

Liberal Democrats are thankful for small mercies

In a one-liner, "Gossip mag Opik loses presidential bid".

The vote though might well be remembered more for who lost, than for who won.

In the running were two relative unknowns and one all-too-well-known.

The winner was Baroness Ros Scott, the former group leader of Suffolk County Council.

Businessman Chandila Fernando promised to modernise the party's machinery. And the most recognised name of the three, Lembit Opik, offered a presidency painted in "primary colours".

The party leader, Nick Clegg, will be sighing with relief.

It was widely thought that Baroness Scott was his preferred candidate. In fact, the deputy leader Vince Cable officially endorsed her.

The result:

Ros Scott: 20,736 votes (72%)

Lembit Opik: 6247 votes (22%)

Chandila Fernando 1799 votes (6%)

One thing's for sure - Randerson won't be sleeping soundly tonight.

Mike German takes a bow

The BBC have reported that the Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Mike German is to step down at his party's autumn conference later.

Mr German, 63, who was a former deputy first minister, has been at the helm of his party in Cardiff Bay since the assembly was set up in 1999. He has also been leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats for the last year.

Mr German will warn there is a danger of the Welsh Assembly being left behind by the devolution movement in his speech at Clydach, near Swansea. He will warn that while Wales is grappling with the question of law-making powers, Scotland is racing ahead by pushing for more financial autonomy.

Ahead of the speech, aides said Mr German will declare unionism "dead" and say that in the future the devolution debate will be between supporters of a federal Britain and independence.

Party activists will discuss a long list of amendments to the party's constitution at the two-day conference. These include changes to the way candidates to succeed Mr German, who has vowed to keep out of the contest for next leader, are nominated.

Immediately after the assembly elections in May 2007, Liberal Democrat AM Peter Black called for Mr German to go. He said the party needed a leader with a "fresh mandate".

Fellow assembly member Kirsty Williams has already declared her candidacy for the job and is supported by Peter Black.

Two colleagues in Cardiff Bay, Jenny Randerson and Eleanor Burnham, are deciding whether to stand against Ms Williams.

The BBC asked back in March 2007... Has anyone else at this conference noticed the striking similarity between the Liberal Democrats' assembly member for Brecon & Radnor, Kirsty Williams, and the socialist French presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal? Or is it just that they happen to share the same burning ambition for leadership?

Kirsty will be hoping that she doesn't suffer the same fate.

First Minister proved wrong within 72 hours

As if by magic, a comprehensive example has been given in today's media which inadvertantly responds to a previous post of mine, and point the finger firmly in the direction of Rhodri Morgan's Welsh Assembly Government.

Just days ago, First Minister Rhodri Morgan was quoted as saying "If you look at our record I have led a government without any scandals" Reacting to an accusation from Mr Bourne that he had "squandered" public money, Mr Morgan said the assembly government had consistently been given a clean bill of health by auditors.

An official report by the Wales Audit Office [note the word AUDIT Mr Morgan] now reports that the £13.5m bail-out of the Wales Millennium Centre followed "severe deficiencies" by assembly officials and ministers. A "Wholly inadequate record-keeping" by the assembly government added to its lack of understanding of the venue's finances.

Former Labour Culture Minister Alun Pugh claims he inherited a "flawed" plan from his Lib Dem predecessor, which has been rebutted by Peter Black in a post earlier today:

What was equally bizarre was the performance of the former Culture Minister, Alun Pugh on the radio this morning. As far as he is concerned it was all the fault of his predecessor, Welsh Liberal Democrat AM, Jenny Randerson. He pointed out quite correctly that the centre's original business plan underestimated the cost of running the facility.

Putting aside the issues of collective responsibility which makes the Labour Ministers at the time as equally culpable for this business plan, any proper examination of the facts reveal that Mr. Pugh is being fairly conservative in his choice of facts.

The Centre opened in November 2004, over a year and a half after Jenny Randerson had ceased to be Culture Minister. Alun Pugh had had ample time to get his feet under the table by then and sort out any problems he may have inherited. According to the auditor's report he clearly failed to do so. Instead he has tried to pass the buck, something that does him no credit at all.

The Auditor General's report on the Wales Millennium Centre reveals some very major weaknesses in the way that the Assembly Government has managed its huge investment in the facility. In particular, Ministers and officials failed to keep an eye on the business risks once it opened:

Auditor General Jeremy Colman reported:

The Wales Millennium Centre was a high-risk, complex project, and although the public bodies funding it followed good practice in many areas, particularly through joint monitoring, there were some fundamental weaknesses. The project would have been better served if the Welsh Assembly Government had paid equal attention to addressing the risks involved in funding a successful business as they did to addressing the risks in funding the construction.

He said the Assembly Government had failed to keep up-to-date records on the WMC’s performance. He added: “The civil servants took a view the material they would otherwise have to hold was commercially sensitive and therefore was at risk of having to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act if anyone asked for it.“Well, we think that is an extremely bad reason for not keeping proper records; an extremely bad reason for not carrying out effective monitoring.

Conservative culture spokesman Paul Davies said:

This is a damning report that highlights in no uncertain terms the failings of the assembly government. The report clearly states the assembly government did carry out detailed reviews of the WMC's business plans, plans which highlighted several key risks. But crucially, it then stopped short of assessing and addressing these problems. This beggars belief.

He said the assembly government "effectively washed their hands" of the centre once it had been built, and added: "The assembly government have now got some very difficult questions to answer."

An assembly government spokesperson said:

The Minister for Heritage [Alun Ffred Jones] will consider the Wales Audit Office report on the Wales Millennium Centre, and the recommendations made, and will respond in due course.

Peter Black AM goes on to question on his blog:

This report states: “Although officials told us that they could access records held at the WMC on request, we have seen no evidence that they did so.”

The fact that officials failed to keep proper records because they were afraid of the Freedom of Information Act is just bizarre. How many other projects are they taking the same approach to? We need some answers.

Mr Morgan. The Welsh public will need you to greatly improve, not only in areas of policy proposals, competence and delivery, but also in the area of excuse making.

Health Service: Judge, Jury and Executioner

The Minister for Health, Edwina Hart AM has been accused of a "personal takeover" in her latest reform announcement of the NHS. She had intended the organisations would be in place by April next year.

Mrs Hart is to to chair a new NHS Wales advisory board despite suggestions in consultation that an "arms length" body would be more appropriate. She said the board would meet in public and "the buck stops" with her.

SUMMARY OF NHS PROPOSALS:

• A National Advisory Board, chaired by the health minister, will be established
• A separate delivery board will also be created, chaired by the NHS Wales chief executive, responsible for the day-to-day operational performance of the seven new NHS local bodies
• Further work will be undertaken on whether the seven new bodies will be allocated some of the responsibilities of Health Commission Wales, the specialist commissioning body
• A unified public health organisation will be formed, with executive responsibility for public health being vested with the seven NHS local bodies and at a national level.
• A strengthened public health presence within local government

Conservative health spokesman Jonathan Morgan warned the advisory board would mean the "the politicisation of the health service in a way that I never thought possible".

"I do not understand why a government minister needs to be so involved in the day to day delivery of services,"

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Jenny Randerson said she completely rejected what she branded a "socialist model of the NHS".

Ms Randerson said the minister had "undermined the whole process of consultation by ignoring the wishes of those who responded to the consultation" by calling for a body that was a step away from politicians.

She accused Ms Hart of "going through the motions" and producing "the most centralising announcement in the assembly's history".

"I have immense regard for Edwina's energy and abilities but that does not stop me worrying hugely about the scale of this personal takeover," she said.

Health gimmick taken up in millions

As the BBC and Western Mail have reported, the Welsh Assembly Gimmick Government's main gimmick - in order to make it stand out from Westminster - isn't quite going to plan.

The number of prescription items dispensed in Wales rose by 2.9m in the first year of free prescriptions, official figures show.

The number of dispensed items rose 5% from 59.1m in 2006/7 to 62m in 2007/8, the
equivalent to 20 items per person.

The chief medical officer said it showed there was more preventative work and more cancer drugs prescribed. But the Lib Dems said the figures proved their concerns of introducing free
prescriptions.

The figures follow a five-year general trend of an increase in items dispensed.

The National Statistics on GP prescribing showed the net cost of the prescribed items was £584m - an increase of 1% on the previous year - and equivalent to £188.90 per head.

Wales' £3 prescription charge was abolished in April last year by the Labour and Plaid Cymru run assembly government.

Wales' Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Jewell said:

We know that in Wales we have more people with long term illnesses than England. These figures reflect the fact that more preventative work is being undertaken, with GPs prescribing medicines which are helping people manage their chronic conditions and keeping them out of hospital, reducing the cost and pressure on the NHS.

We are also issuing more medicines used to treat cancers, as cancer therapy has improved to a point where, for a number of patients, it is now a chronic condition, plus GPs are helping more patients with diabetes manage their condition under the new enhanced contract.

The figures also show we are increasing access while reducing costs. The net cost per prescription item decreased from £9.80 to £9.42.

But Welsh Lib Dem health spokesperson Jenny Randerson said:

We warned the (assembly) government that giving free prescriptions for all would be disastrous and today's figures have vindicated our position. A 5% increase (in items claimed) is disastrous when the (assembly) government is refusing to fund vital lifesaving drugs. The cost of this gimmick will be with Welsh patients for generations.

While millionaires claim their free paracetamol, the health service will continue to be to stretched to provide life saving services.

Shadow Health Minister Jonathan Morgan, Tory AM, said the figures showed people in Wales were becoming increasingly reliant on prescribed medicine:

The number of prescriptions being issued for cardiovascular problems for example has risen by 141.5% and these are often for the largest, most expensive items. Rather than micro-managing the NHS, the assembly government should be looking at improving the nation's health. Only then, as we become a healthier country, will costs fall.

Opposition politicians immediately said the figures were evidence that the Welsh Assembly Government’s flagship £30m-a-year policy had been a disaster. But doctors said the 2007-08 increases were in line with previous year-on-year rises in prescriptions in Wales and reflected the ongoing poor health of the nation.

AMs Question Internal Inquiry by the Civil Service

Following on from Miss Wagstaff's post on internal investigations carried out by the Welsh Assembly Government, it is now reported that two Assembly Members are questioning the decision of the senior staff of the Welsh Assembly Government to hold such an internal inquiry in the first place.

A court this week decided that Graham Evans, 54, of Penpedairheol, Caerphilly, had made lewd comments to a female colleague and assaulted her outside a pub toilet. He currently works as a highways chief for the Welsh Assembly Government and is also a respected soccer referee for more than 20 years.

The Western Mail reports:

Cardiff Central AM Jenny Randerson said the court’s decision threw up questions on how the Assembly had previously conducted its own investigation into the matter:

This must have put Mr Evans’ job in serious doubt. My concern is that this story was related to sexual harassment and that there had been an internal investigation carried out by the Assembly and no action had been taken. That must now be looked into. It was stated there had been no evidence, but there was obviously enough evidence in the court case. This must also call into question the Assembly human resources procedures.

The court case has also left Mr Evans’ role as a referee [football] in an awkward position as he takes charge of women’s games and also acts as referees’ instructor for up-and-coming officials.

Plaid Cymru South Wales Central AM Chris Franks said:

This case has potential for further legal and disciplinary actions. I haven’t had any prior knowledge of the issue. These matters are dealt with by senior civil servants and AMs tend not to be involved. Senior civil servants would have been responsible for investigating the initial complaint and we must hope the matter has been fully and properly investigated. Senior civil servants must insist that all staff are properly treated in their professional lives.

Judge Patrick Curran QC, who decided the case, found Mr Evans to be neither a “straightforward” or “careful” witness. And he pointed out the transport chief even tried to backtrack on his own statement which he originally swore was true.

The revelations pile yet more pressure on the troubled civil servant.

In his written judgement, Judge Curran said:

He was and still is an established team leader with a great deal to lose if he had been caught engaging in misconduct of the type alleged. He sought, on a detail of considerable importance to one aspect of his case, to depart from a statement made in a witness statement in respect of which he had signed a statement of truth.

The Welsh Assembly Government has since refused to comment on the case. The stance has been matched by the Football Association of Wales.