All it takes is a picket fence to hold up a not-so-rosy Government of Wales

An assembly debate is due to go ahead in the Senedd building later - in the absence of both government parties and has left this photograph as a lasting image of Welsh Assembly Government, and sadly casts a shadow over Welsh politics and devolved government in the UK.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said Labour and Plaid members "would be very concerned" about crossing picket lines of striking PCS union members.

The decision not to attend has been criticised as "silly posturing".

The Tories called it "absurd" and will debate a motion with the Lib Dems that the assembly government's programme is not delivering for Wales.

All assembly government business was moved to Tuesday's plenary session.

Civil and public servants across Wales plan to walk out for a third day of strike action on Wednesday in an ongoing dispute over cuts to redundancy terms.

Labour and Plaid refused to cross the picket line:

The strike, called by the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), follows a two day strike earlier in March which led to a plenary meeting being postponed. It will again involve jobcentre staff, tax workers, courts staff, driving examiners and Welsh Assembly Government staff among others.

First Minister Mr Jones said:

The whole Labour group and indeed the Plaid Cymru group... would be very concerned about crossing a picket line.

Speaking as far as the Labour party is concerned, its something that is ingrained in party thinking, that you don't cross a picket line.

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said Plaid's AMs supported the right of the PCS union to withdraw labour during this dispute and would not be crossing their picket lines.

He said the Plaid group would write to Gordon Brown's UK government urging an immediate return to negotiations with the union.

'One Wales' debate

In the assembly government's absence Conservative and Liberal Democrats will debate a wide-ranging motion that the Labour-Plaid administration's 'One Wales' agreement "is not delivering for the people of Wales."

Welsh Conservative Leader Nick Bourne criticised the first minister's stance, accusing him of "silly posturing", and said for his group it would be "business as usual".

He's pushed himself into a ridiculous corner... it's absurd. It looks like he's afraid of coming in as first minister...

We weren't elected to start skulking around the Bay carrying out business from cafes. I think it's farcical but I think they're making themselves look silly and if they want to do that it's up to them.

Labour and Plaid members aren't expected to attend the Weds March 24th plenary session.
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams called for all Labour and Plaid members who refuse to cross a picket line to disclose whether they have asked the fees office to deduct sums from their pay as a result.

It is easy for Labour and Plaid Cymru AMs to cancel assembly business but people will rightly expect that as a matter of principle, if they refuse to cross the picket line to work, they should forgo part of their salary in proportion to the amount of time they spent not working, just like everyone else who was on strike.

And Then There Were Thirteen: Plaid AM defects to Conservatives

Plaid Cymru AM Mohammad Asghar has crossed the floor to join the Conservatives in the Welsh assembly.

The defection was announced by Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne and Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan.

Mr Asghar, the assembly's only ethnic minority AM, said he felt "out of tune" with Plaid policies, in particular its desire for an independent Wales.

Plaid Cymru said his decision was a "shock" and called for him to be "honourable" and resign his seat.

It is the first time an AM has left one party to join another, although others have sat as independents after resigning or being expelled from their own parties.

Mr Asghar was elected as a regional AM for South Wales East in 2007.

Joined by the Conservative group at a news conference, he said he had "felt out of tune with the views and policies of Plaid Cymru" and "believed in the royal family and one United Kingdom".

"My politics are very much in line with wanting a stronger Wales within a successful United Kingdom," he said.

"I believe that the Welsh Conservative Party in the national assembly, led by Nick Bourne, reflects my beliefs.

"I am also attracted by the caring Conservatism and policies for change put forward by David Cameron and the Conservative Party at Westminster.

"I very much look forward to playing an important role in the shadow team in the national assembly and to helping to shape the policies for the Assembly elections in 2011," said Mr Asghar.

Asked why he had stood for Plaid Cymru when he was opposed to independence for Wales, he said his voice had been that of "a little parrot in a jungle", with little chance of changing Plaid's stance on the issue.

Mr Asghar was originally seen as a political tool by Plaid Cymru:

"We were very proud of the fact that in campaigning hard for Mohammad Asghar's election in 2007 that Plaid Cymru ensured the first ever assembly member from the black minority ethnic community."

... Now there appears to be sour grapes:

"It is has come as a shock that he has now decided that he shares the same values as those held by the Conservative and Unionist party." Plaid Cymru assembly group chair Dai Lloyd said it would be wrong for Mr Asghar to remain in the assembly as a Conservative. "We now call on Mohammad Asghar to take the honourable decision to resign his seat as a Plaid Cymru AM," Mr Lloyd said. "The people of the South Wales (East) region did not want a second Tory AM to represent the area - they elected a Plaid Cymru AM. "Mr Asghar does not have the political mandate to sit in the assembly as a Conservative member..."

Hat-tip to the Welsh Conservatives and Mr Asghar for pulling that one out of the hat, and on the day that Rhodri Morgan tenders his resignation as First Minister.

Quote of the Week

Expenses probe will cost £129,000

A review, by auditors KPMG, followed revelations in July that officials flew first class and charged nearly £750,000 to corporate credit cards in a year.

Mr Bourne said he was "astonished" Mr Morgan was spending a "six figure sum" to "review spending in one of his own government departments".

This is typical of the assembly government - mounting an expensive investigation into why one of its own departments is spending so much.

Dead tree press can't see the wood for the trees

At this time of the year we're in need of a good story that not only demonstrates the inconsistency of those running the WAG machine, but also an example of the civil service not getting their own way and promoting one of their own numbers from within.

This story also makes a refreshing change from the media ignoring what other AMs have claimed in expenses. Instead, they choose to turn the rack on the Conservative leader Nick Bourne over a piddling iPod in a desperate attempt to make the story run and run until his resignation as group leader. Hoping then to happily turn the story into a column stocking filler by running another series of leadership election stories that saves them from having to examine and attack the policies and politics of the Welsh Assembly Government.

More effort should be placed on looking into the National Assembly rules and regulations on expenses that allows what may seem by the general public to be inappropriate claims being made by elected politicians. We need to remember that no politician has broken the rules of the Assembly as laid down by Assembly Commission staff.

Have the Western Mail also gone soft on the Assembly Government since coalition? Fear appears to have set in when it comes to taking on the Labour establishment and particularly since forming a coalition with Plaid Cymru. This needs to change.

The Western Mail's latest column filler - iPodGate - should go a long way to guarantee Nick Bourne's short term survival as leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the National Assembly. Welsh politics and political parties are not led by small Welsh media outlets, and no one is going to have the stomach to oust a leader just because a campaign is being run by a Welsh newspaper.

The Welsh Conservative party and group in the Assembly shouldn't follow the Western Mail's lead. It wouldn't be good for party politics in Wales whatever party you support.

Anyway. Enough of my rant before Christmas and back to the other Welsh politics story in the Western Mail that isn't classed as 'iPodGate' or 'a soapbox for Adam Price MP'.

This story of Christmas cheer can be read in the next blog.

Switzerland is known for chocolate, cheese, taxation, and banking

In light of the Icelandic issue, Nick Bourne AM recalls a question from a recent meeting of the Assembly Finance Committee that was raised by Labour AM Huw Lewis.

"Astoundingly, though money tends to be drawn down from Whitehall, neither the minister nor his officials did not know in response to questions from Huw Lewis where WAG banked nor how much was held in the accounts - reassuring isn’t it?"

This has unexpectedly prompted Rhodri Morgan to take action, and could it be the reason why he's taken a trip to Switzerland days before an All-Wales economic summit meeting? After all, he doesn't seem to be there for the joyous singing of hymns.

What's that pin number again?

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.

Define "I have led a government without any scandals"

Scandal:

Offense caused or experienced; reproach or reprobation called forth by what is regarded as wrong, criminal, heinous, or flagrant: opprobrium or disgrace.

Speaking on BBC Radio Cymru discussion programme Wythnos Gwilym Owen, Rhodri Morgan said he had not heard the comments [The 39-page document, ‘Rhodri Morgan: Leadership Without Purpose’] himself but he had "heard from some sources that there is some really unpleasant political stuff going on and you just have to accept that".

"I've chosen to ignore them [the comments] completely," he said.

When pressed to respond to the criticisms, Morgan said his administration compared well with others throughout Europe.

"If you look at our record I have led a government without any scandals," he said.

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.

I suggest the following for starters. I'm sure that others can think of more:

• Morgan speaks out on school buses [Wales urged to pave the way on school bus safety]
• Commissioner fears old people widely abused
• Wales going backwards over affordable housing
• End ‘confusion’ plea over first-time buyer scheme

This is only a conservative [small c] estimate of headlines over the last month. Just don't get me started on Culture, Economy, Education, Environment, Equal Opportunities, Finance, Freebies, Health, Heritage, Housing, Local Government, Policy Performance, Poverty, Quango, and Transport.

What nasty attack?

The Conservatives were accused of being “the nasty party” after marking Rhodri Morgan’s 69th birthday tomorrow by publishing a highly personal attack on every aspect of his leadership – right down to his dress sense and hairstyle [join the queue].

What nasty attack? Rhodri Morgan and his government have never liked criticism, not even constructive criticism, but who does? The Welsh Conservatives are simply describing something as it really is!

The 39-page document, ‘Rhodri Morgan: Leadership Without Purpose’ rakes through the Labour leader’s career, laying into everything including: his stewardship of the economy; unique dress sense and hairstyle; erratic and unusual behaviour; claims he had “undermined the role of First Minister and embarrassed the National Assembly and Wales"; and the fact he once posed for a picture with TV presenter Timmy Mallett.

.

[which was posted HERE orginally and republished above]

A spokeswoman for the First Minister said:

What a shocking state the Welsh Conservatives must be in if they have to stoop to this level to gain attention during what should be the party’s showcase week.

Resorting to petty personal attack, rather than putting forward their policy ideas, seems to suggest that, true to form, they have very little to offer the people of Wales other than negative campaigning.

We recently delivered the most momentous change to early years education in Wales since devolution, with the Foundation Phase, a radical new vision to ensure our youngsters get the very best start to learning. But where were the Tories during this process? Offering support to help make it work?

No, carping from the sidelines as usual.

Talking about the speculation Mr Morgan may stay on after next year, the spokeswoman said:

Perhaps Nick and his colleagues ought to spend less time gossiping in the Bay and more time talking to the people they represent. Perhaps then they might come
up with some serious proposals for Wales’ future. Theresa May, when she was Chairwoman of the Conservative Party, said that they needed to shed their image
as the ‘nasty party’. Nick Bourne has undermined all the good work by his party leader David Cameron since then, by proving that they are, after all, still the nasty party.

The document draws attention to many of Mr Morgan’s gaffes, describing him as the “Clown Prince of Wales”.

It says: “In the last eight years the behaviour and comments of Rhodri Morgan have become increasingly erratic and unusual. “They have added fuel to the fire of critics, both within and outside the Labour Party, who believe he is not up to the job of First Minister”.

It includes his failure to attend the D-Day celebrations in 2004 in favour of a golf tournament and the two occasions he has turned up late to meet the Queen.

It also attacks him for his “unique dress sense and hairstyle” – drawing attention to an occasion four years ago when he failed to take the right shoes to the Labour Conference in Brighton – and for posing for a picture alongside “zany TV entertainer Timmy Mallett”.

And the document single-handedly blames Mr Morgan for Wales’ economic woes in the past nine years, saying the wealth gap between Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom had widened under his leadership and manufacturing jobs were being lost at a faster rate than under the last Conservative government.

Mr Bourne said:

Rhodri Morgan’s time in office has underlined the need for a long-term vision not short-term opportunism to lead us through uncertain times.

His leadership without purpose has held Wales back, and left our country ill-prepared for future challenges.

We have had no big ideas, no vision, and no delivery. What we have had is giveaways, gimmicks and gaffes.

Long after he’s gone people will still be paying the price for his freebie culture. Instead of preparing for the future Rhodri Morgan has looked to the past.

Instead of long-term investment he has squandered record levels of funding for short-term gain. Instead of admitting his own short-comings he has repeatedly blamed others.

What we have seen is a leader storing up trouble for the future, for his successors, and for Wales.

As he celebrates his 69th birthday tomorrow it’s time for Rhodri Morgan to tell us about his plans for the future.

This endless speculation about his future is damaging and destabilising. For the sake of our country he needs to recognise that before it’s too late.

One surprising response was the Welsh Labour spokesperson admitting that David Cameron had turned things around for the Conservative party by making mention of all the good work that they've done.

Whatever happened to Quid Pro Quo?

Matt Withers has reported on the first day back this week for the Assembly. There weren’t even any good jokes from First Minister Rhodri Morgan, although he did manage an aside at Conservative leader Nick Bourne, who – following an incident with a Croatian shower – turned up in the chamber with a black eye and a large plaster on his head.

I thought it was the Deputy First Minister who was meant to meet Muhammad Ali last week, not you, but I hope you make a full recovery,” said Mr Morgan.

Hardly a great gesture on the floor of the world's greatest democracy. Perhaps Mr Morgan needs reminding of how generous opposition leaders were at a time when it suited him. Hardly comparable, but I seem to recall even Mr Morgan making mention of it at every opportunity for months afterwards.

For heart scare and life threatening/changing moment, read normal procedure that many go through on a daily basis in UK hospitals - but not as quickly arranged as some.

Damn those waiting lists.

The forever failing campaign for equal opportunities in the Assembly Government

Back in November 2007 this blog's second post drew attention to the Welsh Assembly Government's poor performance in relation to equal opportunities.

Back then, an assembly government spokesperson said that applicants from ethnic minority groups had risen from 2.1% in 2005-06 to 3.7% in 2006-07. This reflected work that had been done to raise awareness of the assembly government as an employer among ethnic minority groups, the spokesperson added.

It seems that little has been done in terms of improvement.

The Western Mail has recently reported on the issue:

The Welsh Assembly Government was attacked yesterday for failing to put people from ethnic minorities in leadership positions.

The latest figures for April 2007 show just two high-ranking officials come from such backgrounds – the equivalent of 1.4% of senior management.

This is a fall on 2006, when 2.6% of such staff were in this category.

In this time the total number of ethnic minority staff working across the Assembly Government has increased by just one, from 181 to 182.

The information was revealed by First Minister Rhodri Morgan in response to requests by Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne.

Mark Isherwood, Tory Shadow Minister for Social Justice and Equality, called on ministers to launch a new drive to recruit more government staff from ethnic minorities.

Ron Davies, former Welsh Secretary and director of the Valleys Race Equality Council, described the findings as “very, very disappointing”.

He said that a high number of ethnic minorities live near Assembly Government headquarters but this is not reflected in staff numbers.

An Assembly Government spokesman said:

We actively pursue an equality agenda, and we are determined that everyone in Wales regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation or disability are given every opportunity to succeed.

Why do I get the impression that the Head of Human Resources is still meeting all his targets?

Wales' biggest winners: Criticism of bonuses awarded to top civil servants in Wales

Joining in with the criticism of Senior Civil Servant bonuses on this blog, the Welsh Conservatives have criticised bonuses awarded to the Assembly's top civil servants.

Miss Wagstaff Presents:

• Civil Service v Politicians: That old question of pay 2nd July 2008
• Education Director Optimistic on Results 18th January 2008
• Education: When do we get down to business? 16th January 2008
• Assembly Government Spin Doctors Costing Taxpayers £438k 11th January 2008
• Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Assembly Government 1st January 2008
• Pay and pension can be a lottery 19th November 2007
  

The BBC have reported (also covered in the Western Mail) that bonuses to top civil servants in Wales have risen 154% in the past five years, according to figures obtained by the Conservatives. They show senior assembly government staff received more than £686,000 last year, compared to £270,000 in 2003/04.

The Tories said it showed a "money for nothing culture" in Cardiff Bay.

But the assembly government said it did not decide bonuses. The First Division Association union said only staff who achieve their objectives received them. Meanwhile, the assembly government defended spending more than £48,000 on office plants, saying they helped to "lower employee turnover rates" and improve air quality.

Conservatives called for a review of senior staff salaries after their written questions revealed details of the highest earners among administration senior staff.

The figures show overall assembly government staffing costs for 2006/7 were just over £224m, with staffing levels of 6,230 at 31 January this year.

The latest official statistics show that in 2005-06 the average (mean) pre-tax income in Wales was just £20,000.

The Conservatives calculate that out of a total Assembly Government staff of 6,230, 28 earn in excess of £100,000, 23 between £80,000 and £90,000, 51 between £70,000 and £80,000, 171 between £60,000 and £70,000, and 499 between £50,000 and £60,000.

The bonuses were defended by the FDA, the union for senior civil servants.

Opposition leader Nick Bourne said:

I find it incredible that the Labour-Plaid government has the brass neck to award staff such whopping bonuses when it has been failing on so many fronts over the last 12 months. Year after year Rhodri Morgan has spent more taxpayers' money on spin, presentation, advisers, and bureaucracy. This is money which should go on health, education and local government, not to fund an administration whose policies suffocate choice, enterprise and innovation.

Alun Cairns AM said:

Families across Wales who are struggling to make ends meet with stagnant earnings and rising living costs will be appalled by these figures. Massive amounts of public money are being used to swell the bank accounts of senior civil servants at a time when the Government is urging pay restraint.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokersperson said:

These very senior staff form part of the senior civil service and their pay and bonus policies are determined by the Treasury and Cabinet Office, not by the assembly government or other devolved administrations. To attract and retain high calibre staff we need to reflect market values. But recent senior staff review board findings show that senior civil service salaries have fallen behind those in other areas of the public sector, notably NHS and local government.

Bonus payments are not permanent and are non-pensionable. In effect, base pay is being held down in favour of one-off payments that do not affect future levels of pay or pension. *

Paul Neilson, First Division Association's national officer for Wales, said:

Far from being a 'money for nothing culture', those who do not achieve their objectives will not get any pay increases.

* That doesn't cause too much discomfort when they earn in excess of £50,000 per annum, without bonuses.

Poverty and housing laws planned: Anyone can make a statement!

First Minister Rhodri Morgan has outlined plans for new Welsh laws on child poverty, affordable housing and home care charging over the next year.

The assembly government's plans also include laws to help children with learning needs and to suspend the right to buy council homes in some areas.

He said he wanted "to make a practical difference to the people of Wales".

But Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne accused ministers of "failing to match ambition with delivery":

long on rhetoric, short on substance, and lacking in timescale. While there are some positives to consider in this legislative statement, there is little to give us confidence that the assembly government can deliver it.

I have to agree with this. Anyone can make a statement. I plan on becoming a millionaire over the next year. There!... I've made one! Somehow I don't think my ambition will match delivery.

Rhodri Morgan's "Year of delivery"

Rhodri Morgan has hailed a “year of delivery” following Welsh Labour’s special conference decision to back the One Wales coalition deal with Plaid Cymru.

True to form, the First Minister has blurted out his usual defence:

“Tough choices had to be made this time last year: the choice between forming a coalition with Plaid Cymru or letting the Tories into government in Wales, with the resultant lurch in policy direction that would have been very adverse to the interests of Labour supporters all over Wales.

“I believe we made the right tough choices, voting with our heads not with our hearts, a decision based on the desire to honour Labour’s election pledges and deliver for the people of Wales to the maximum degree possible.”

Mr Morgan’s list of the items delivered during the past 12 months included:

1. New hospitals on their way in Porthmadog, Rhondda, Cynon Valley, Merthyr, Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney Valley; two opened this year in Pembroke Dock and Holywell;
   26 weeks from referral to treatment –– on course to delivering that target by the end of 2009;
2. more than £1bn investment in NHS infrastructure over the next three years;
   free car-parking in NHS hospitals;
3. £91m extra funding for social care, helping people live independent lives in their own homes;
4. a new £92m single investment fund for business;
5. £8m extra funding for Flying Start childcare;
6. £7.5m funding for Airbus R&D into composite wing technology;
7. £150m JEREMIE investment fund for small and medium-size firms being negotiated with the European Union;
8. new Foundation Phase, a pioneering roll-out across Wales of “learn through play”, backed by £30m of investment this year;
9. new law introduced giving 14 to 19-year-olds more choice in their studies;
10. £6.6m new funding for Appetite for Life improvements in school meals;
11. more than £7.5m for early years and schools in Wales to improve basic skill levels;
12. new social partnership agreed between trade unions and government to build world-class public services built on co-operation;
13. council tax rises kept to an average of 3.8%;
14. £9m extra funding for Community Safety Partnerships to help tackle crime;
15. free entry for pensioners and children to Assembly-funded heritage sites;
16. new law to modernise right-to-buy to increase social housing in rural Wales;
17. new £25m fund for the next phase of Communities First;
18. new law placing a duty on public authorities to tackle child poverty;
19. Wales becomes the world’s first Fairtrade nation;
20. a tree planted for every new baby born in Wales;
21. re-opening the Ebbw Valley rail line;
22. free rail travel for pensioners extended;
23. new law introduced to make school buses safer.

I'm positive that each and every individual in Wales has their own individual opinion on what has been a success, and their own distinguishing differences between the measurement of success and failure. Here's what the opposition parties say...

Welsh Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne said:

The Labour-Plaid government has been big on targets and low on achievements. It’s hard to judge performance when so little has been achieved and so many policies aren’t scheduled to be implemented for two or more years.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Mike German claimed:

...the coalition’s greatest success had been preserving the status quo: Keeping Labour hands on the levers of power in Wales; keeping the powers of the Assembly so limited and stifling initiatives to such a degree that no AM applied to make a law when given the opportunity to do so in the June ballot.

Hainless transition

Guess who said this: “If both Welsh living standards and the economic competitiveness which underpins our prosperity is to grow as we all want, the private sector needs to grow very significantly, and at a relatively much faster rate.” No, it wasn’t Nick Bourne, but Peter Hain (reported in the Western Mail today).

If this analysis is true then it will represent a challenge to the Labour-Plaid coalition government which has, so far, not deviated markedly from previous Labour Assembly Government policy besides talk about referendums and conventions, which will die down if Paul Murphy has his way.

Besides more obvious 'unionist' objections one reason Murphy is keen to dampen referendum fever is to refocus Welsh Labour on its self-styled calling as effective public service managers. Welsh Labour’s 2011 appeal will be built on the idea that it is the most responsible service manager, making savings and delivering services efficiently. Plaid, on the other hand, has allowed Labour to get on with this, styling itself as a responsible alternative which will be ready for government on its own at a later date.

This strategy has brought criticism from Plaid’s stronger elements, who are concerned about key Plaid policy areas being ‘watered down’, e.g. not funding Y Byd. The problem brought by Plaid’s approach is that a party building itself as a party of government cannot be seen to in the thrall of any particular minority group, no matter how large that minority is.

Whether any of this will make a difference is still to be seen. Today’s ICM poll results show that around 60% don’t know who runs the Welsh Assembly Government. Curiously, 49% of the survey respondents said they would vote ‘yes’ in a referendum on full powers. These results might show the perils of sample-based surveys rather than reflecting the real views of the Welsh electorate. We can only hope.

Early trouble at Mill: What happened to 'love is power'?

We’ve all seen or read stories about young love, where coalitions in their early years [months] experience romance so powerful that it blinds them to the rest of the world. The sometimes reckless abandon of young love is well known, as is evident in the many warnings from more experienced elders to young lovers who are just discovering the world of coalition romance.

The BBC has reported today on a little 'tiff' that is brewing between coalition partners, Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru.

Plaid Cymru's coalition partnership with Labour has suffered a Valentine's Day "lovers' tiff" over a new website. Plaid launched the site to help trades unionists opt out of subscriptions to Labour, saying some did not know they were "bank-rolling" the party.

Meanwhile, Graham Smith, secretary of the Labour affiliated unions association, Tulo, rubbished the website:

Nobody should forget Labour's roots within the trade union movement...This is Plaid showing their true colours.

But Plaid Cymru AM, Leanne Wood (famous for boycotting the Queen; calling Her Majesty 'Mrs Windsor'; and not accepting a Facebook friendship request from Miss Wagstaff), has insisted that the website is helping union members tackle a real issue:

Plaid has a long history of supporting trade unionism and workers' struggles in Wales. In the last decade, many of those struggles have been against the Labour Government. Trade unions bankroll the Labour Party; over the last six years unions have contributed £60m and many members are not aware that their money is going to the Labour Party. Plaid is launching a website today which will simplify what can be a difficult process.

The website named "Stop subsidising Labour" lets users click a link to a dozen of the UK's most prominent trade unions, bringing up a form to opt-out of political contributions.

A Labour spokesman said:

This is a particularly weak stunt from a tired party machine. Trade union members around Wales will be asking themselves where Plaid Cymru MPs were when the minimum wage was voted on in Parliament. The answer is, in bed.

Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne added:

If this is sort of Valentine's Day present Plaid Cymru is giving to Labour, the coalition partners are clearly in need of some serious relationship counselling. I'd hate to see what they send if they ever do fall out of love with each other. Somehow I doubt we'll have long to wait.

Looks like the two camps are unsettled before we even arrive at the local government election in May 2008.