Gun to the head blows "bits and pieces"

Following on from Monday, the Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas has said the Assembly Commission had agreed to all the report's proposals.

The commission, which includes representatives from all four parties, took the decision on behalf of AMs.

Sir Roger Jones's report, Getting it Right for Wales, followed a 10-month investigation of the pay and expenses of AMs.

The report's implementation will mean

• After the next assembly election in 2011, AMs will no longer be able to claim mortgage interest on second homes.
• Some 25 of them will, however, be able to rent accommodation within five miles of the assembly in Cardiff Bay, half the number of AMs currently entitled to a second home allowance.
• AMs will not be able to employ family members in future but any existing arrangements will continue.
• The current link between AMs' pay and MPs' salaries will also be broken.
• AMs' salaries will be increased in line with inflation next year and in future be linked to changes in average earnings in Wales.
• The current "daily allowance" of £30.65 for members on assembly business to spend on meals will also be scrapped "as soon as possible".
  

Lord Elis-Thomas said work would begin "immediately" on implementing the changes.

That these changes have been endorsed during the year in which we mark the tenth anniversary of devolution is a testament to the assembly's maturity and is a signal that the assembly is committed to operating in ways that are right for Wales.

[The report] addresses the contentious issues of remuneration and financial support - issues which have been such a stumbling block to people truly engaging in the democratic process.

But of equal importance, it places a strong emphasis on ensuring the capacity of the assembly and Members to undertake our work - to represent the interests of Wales and its people, make laws for Wales and hold the Welsh government to account.

Earlier, Conservative AM and commission member William Graham told the BBC Wales am.pm that the plans "were agreed with ease" at a meeting on Tuesday evening.

Labour commissioner Lorraine Barrett said there were "bits and pieces" in the report that not all AMs would like, but "you can't unpick it".

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time

While some dead wood, for which the Assembly has found little use, will be cast adrift at the next Assembly in 2011, Labour has wasted little time in fighting wood rot.

As part of its slow rejuvenation, Welsh Labour have chosen an impressive figure as candidate for Cardiff South and Penarth at the next Assembly election.

Vaughan Gething, a Cardiff solicitor, was Wales TUC's first black president and at 34 was also the youngest. Vaughan Gething lives in Cardiff, is a member of the GMB and a partner at Thompsons Solicitors.

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...

Members' Restaurant Launch

OFFICIAL INVITATION

Do you find yourself at a loose-end this evening?

Perhaps you are unemployed; cannot be bothered to cook; or simply feeling the pinch at home at the thought of Council Tax rising next year, and this is making you feel unwell.

....Why not attend a respectable function at the National Assembly.

As Assembly Member and Assembly Commissioner Lorraine Barrett AM respectfully reminds us:

Don't forget to come along to the opening of the new restaurant on the first floor tonight at 6.30pm. Click on the XXX below for more details which were sent to you by Charlton House.

Regards,
Lorraine

Lorraine Barrett AM
Cardiff South & Penarth
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff CF99 1NA

Thank you to Lorraine for the invitation, but I'll be dining with my partner this evening. We do however share something in common - Like yourself, I'll be getting a freebie as he's paying.

Hat Tip to the Anonymous