PM urges reform of Welsh services

12 July 2011 Last updated at 15:16 GMT David Cameron urged the assembly to modernise public services, but left the chamber in silence

David Cameron has urged members of the Welsh assembly to modernise public services.

He said Wales's devolved administration should follow the UK government's attempt to end a "state monopoly" over public services.

The prime minister said "more open public services" could improve lives in Wales, as they would in England.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said the call was "not the wisest" part of Mr Cameron's speech to the assembly.

Speaking in the Senedd's chamber on Tuesday, Mr Cameron said the direct law-making powers won by the assembly in a referendum in March had given the institution "immense responsibility" to improve people's lives.

Bureaucracy

But Mr Cameron added that some public services in Wales were "too bureaucratic to deliver those improvements".

He said: "Let me be clear: it is not my intention to interfere in decisions over devolved matters.

"But it is my duty to give my opinion where I feel it could benefit the Welsh people."

The prime minister's appeal for reform is unlikely to be taken up by Welsh Labour which has declined to follow a number of public service policies pursued by the Westminster coalition and the previous UK Labour government.

"I believe now is the time to modernise our public services - and in England, that is what we're doing," he said.

Mr Cameron said the UK government was opening services to new providers, offering more choice over schools and hospitals, and making the system more transparent - reforms that would "revolutionise public services in England and improve lives", he said.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg met Carwyn Jones at the Senedd

"I also believe that more open public services could do the same in Wales," he added.

His speech provided few details about a commission into the way the Welsh Government is funded, promised as part of the coalition deal between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

He appealed to all political parties to seek consensus on the matter.

The Welsh Government wants the formula that sets its budget - currently about ?15bn - to be reformed, along with powers to borrow money and control over some taxes.

It is braced for a real-terms cut in its capital budget of 40% over the next four years.

'Lecture'

Asked about the passage of Mr Cameron's speech that dealt with public services, Mr Jones said: "I think that was not the wisest part of the speech. It would be the equivalent of me going and lecturing the UK cabinet on where they are going wrong.

"He and I will disagree on a number of things of course, that's democracy.

"I welcomed the element in his speech that talked about setting up a commission. It's important now that work is carried on at the Whitehall end to make sure that commission begins as soon as possible in the autumn."

Mr Jones hailed a "very good meeting" with Mr Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in Cardiff Bay earlier in the day.

The UK cabinet then met at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant where Mr Cameron denied the UK government was dragging its feet on any announcement about the commission.

Plaid Cymru said details of the UK government's commission were overdue.

Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said: "The Tory-Lib Dem coalition has been in government in Westminster for over a year but we still don't have any more clarity on this issue."

A Tory AM accused Labour and Plaid of giving Mr Cameron a frosty reception.

Janet Finch-Saunders said the "heckling" of some Plaid members and a lack of applause from the Labour benches was "immature" and "embarrassing".

"I was appalled at the rude behaviour by some assembly members during - and following - the prime minister's address," she said.

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Education reform law-making plans

12 July 2011 Last updated at 16:58 GMT First Minister Carwyn Jones rejected David Cameron's call for public sector reform as he unveiled Welsh Labour's plans.

Two bills on the education system will be published by the Welsh Government, First Minister Carwyn Jones has said.

He outlined Labour's five-year legislative programme to Welsh assembly members on Tuesday.

Bills on the organ donation system and allotments were also among 21 pieces of legislation announced.

Mr Jones said a bill would be offered for consultation on making sure parents consent to their children getting piercings.

More than a quarter of people who have piercings experience complications, he told AMs in the Senedd chamber.

The Schools and Standards (Wales) Bill - the first of two education bills - will be published early next year.

Mr Jones said it would "put in place actions to drive up school improvement" and change the process of reorganising schools.

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This legislative programme provides new powers, duties and institutional capacity to advance our goals of building a sustainable Wales”

End Quote Carwyn Jones First Minister A second education bill will include provisions for teachers, including performance management and continuing professional development. It will also make legal changes to reform the higher education sector.

Labour will press on with the plans of the previous assembly government to introduce an opt-out system of organ donation. A white paper will be published before the end of the year.

A shortage of organs for transplant was causing preventable deaths and suffering, the First Minister said.

A bill on food hygiene rating will be published for consultation at the end of the year.

It will allow the Welsh Government to make mandatory arrangements for giving customers easy-to-read information on hygiene standards at businesses.

The first minister said the 2005 E.coli outbreak in south Wales, which killed five-year-old school boy Mason Jones, showed the importance of food safety.

'Finding consensus'

Labour lacks an overall majority in Cardiff Bay, taking power after winning half the assembly's seats in May's election.

Mr Jones said: "It is inevitable and proper that the opposition will seek to hold this government to account.

"But it should not be about political point scoring, but about working together and finding consensus where possible, in developing distinctive Welsh policies for the betterment of the communities we each represent."

He added: "This legislative programme provides new powers, duties and institutional capacity to advance our goals of building a sustainable Wales."

Legislation will put a duty on local authorities to provide cycle paths in "key areas" and an Environment Bill will be used to try to meet increasing demand for allotments.

New laws will reform the way the Wales Audit Office is run. It follows the controversial handling of the spending watchdog by former Auditor General Jeremy Colman.

A Local Government Bill will require councils to consider making joint appointments for senior posts.

But Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams said that if the local government minister thought the current structure of local authorities was not fit for purpose he "should front up what he truly believes, that he wants a reorganisation and he should publish a white paper and consult on it properly rather than bringing forward pieces of legislation such as this".

Welsh Conservative assembly leader Paul Davies said the first minister's statement lacked a strategy to stimulate the economy.

"Given Welsh Labour's failures over the past 12 years, we need to see a dramatic improvement in public services and the Welsh economy over the next five years," he said.

Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said the fact that the first minister could list so many bills showed the campaign to secure direct law-making powers at the referendum in March was worthwhile.

"It's another issue of course as to the content of the bills," he said.

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