New First Minister for Wales reshuffles Cabinet

Carwyn Jones, Wales' new First Minister has announced the following Cabinet:

Ministers:
Carwyn Jones AM (labour) - First Minister
Ieuan Wyn Jones AM (Plaid Cymru) - Deputy First Minister, Economy and Transport
Jane Hutt AM (Labour) - Business and Budget
Edwina Hart AM (Labour) - Health and Social Services
Jane Davidson AM (Labour) - Environment, Sustainability and Housing
Leighton Andrews AM (Labour) - Children, Education and Lifelong Learning
Carl Sargeant AM (Labour) - Social Justice and Local Government
Elin Jones AM (Plaid Cymru) - Rural Affairs
Alun Ffred Jones AM (Plaid Cymru) - Heritage

Deputies:
Lesley Griffiths AM (Labour) - Skills, Innovation and Science
Jocelyn Davies AM (Plaid Cymru) - Housing and Regeneration
Gwenda Thomas AM (Labour) - Social Services
Huw Lewis AM (Labour) - Children
John Griffiths AM (Labour) - Counsel General and Leader of the Legislative Programme

Janice Gregory AM (Labour) - Chief Whip

Cabinet Statement: Social Partnership in Wales

Andrew Davies, Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery, has issued a written Cabinet Statement on Social Partnership in Wales.

The statement defines Social Partnership in Wales as "the co-operation between representatives of the main participants in the economy and society of Wales in identifying, brokering agreement on, and implementing policies and practices that maximize the economic and social benefits for the people who live in Wales."

The statement outlines 6 recommendations developed by a scoping group that included the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, Wales Local Government Association, Welsh Assembly Government, Wales Social Partnership Unit, Wales Trades Unions Congress, Welsh NHS Confederation and Business Wales.

WSPU on Twitter

WSPU is now also providing updates via Twitter. Follow us at: www.twitter.com/wspu_update.

Welsh Language Order 2009 reaches House of Commons

The Welsh Language Order 2009 will be debated in the House of COmmons on Tuesday 15 December 2009 (pm).

The Welsh Office press release relating to this can be read here.

Further information about the progress of this LCO is available here.

S4C2 no longer broadcasting National Assembly proceedings

S4C2 is no longer broadcasting proceedings of the National Assembly for Wales as it has done previously.

BBC2's AM/PM programme will broadcast First Minister's Questions with additional political news from Wales every Tuesday 2pm - 3pm. This programme will be in English only.

Committee meetings and Plenary sessions can be viewed online at Senedd.tv. The BBC is to launch an online website including the proceedings of UK political institutions.

New planning rules make micro-generation in Wales easier

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has issued a press release noting that new planning rules that will make it easier for people to install micro-generation equipment such as solar panels in their homes are to be introduced in Wales.

WAG states that the aim of the latest planning changes is to remove certain types of micro-generation equipment from requiring planning permission, making it easier for individuals and local communities install equipment that will contribute to tackling climate change and lower energy bills. There will be no requirement to pay planning fees, reducing the financial burden to homeowners.

The full press release can be read here.

House of Lords Committee recommends that the use of the Barnett formula be discontinued

The House of Lords Select Committee on the Barnett Formula has issued its report, which is available at the following link.

Select Committee Report on the Barnett Formula

The report includes the following points in its recommendations:

1) the Treasury should publish its statistics for the workings of the Barnett formula, or its successor, in a single coherent and consistent publication

2) an independent body, such as the Commonwealth Grants Commission in Australia, should be established to recommend the allocation of public monies based on population and through a new needs-based formula

3) future grants should be payable directly from the United Kingdom Government to the consolidated fund of each devolved administration

4) devolution funding should be based on relative need

5) any needs assessment should take into account, the age structure of the population, low income, ill-health and disability and economic weakness.

Barriers to Procurement

The Welsh Assembly Government has published a research report on the Barriers to Procurement faced by small and medium sized businesses. The primary aims of the research were to review the present supplier pre-qualification practices used across the Welsh public sector, consider barriers to engagement and examples of good practice; seek to establish a clear legal view and to produce a framework of good practice which will be adopted by the public sector in Wales.

The report makes sixteen recommendations in the following areas:

1) Standardization of the PQQ

2) Transparency

3) Training and Education

4) Accountability

5) Supporting Systems

The full report is available at the following link:

Barriers to Procurement Opportunity Research

EU Governments could face fines for late payments

Late payment is a major drain on the European economy and the cause of 1 in 4 bankruptcies, wiping out an estimated 450 000 jobs every year. Small businesses are most vulnerable because they depend on timely receipts to maintain cash flows, especially now banks are reluctant to issue loans.

The European Commission has drafted legislation introducing tougher penalties against late payments.

Under the proposed directive, authorities – and publicly funded bodies – would face a 5% fine for bills that aren’t paid within 30 days. They would also have to pay interest on the amount due and compensate businesses for costs incurred trying to collect late payments.

Full details are available from the press release here.

Use of Public-Private Partnerships for initiatives in the European Economic Recovery Plan

The European Commission has published a press release regarding the implementation of the research elements of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for the "Factories of the Future", "Energy-efficient Buildings" and "Green Cars" initiatives included in the European Economic Recovery Plan.

The press release outlines the following advantages that it is believed the PPP approach will lead to:

“In the PPP approach, we see the following advantages:

• a leading role for industry in the definition of the strategic priorities and the implementation of the research;
• a multi-annual integrated work programme with a pre-defined budget, ensuring continuity and allowing industry to make long-term investment plans,
• a cross-thematic approach going from basic and applied research through to validation and large-scale demonstration, with an increased emphasis on impact and exploitation; and
• increased opportunities to support innovation in SMEs.”

The full press release is available here.

Barnett Formula

The Members' Research Service of the National Assembly for Wales has produced a paper that provides an overview of the Barnett formula, how it operates and its effects on public expenditure in the UK.


The paper is available via this link: The Barnett Formula: funding the devolved administrations

PFI/PPP

The following discussion relating to the use of PFI/PPP in Wales took place during the NAW Plenary Session held on 10 March 2009. (Full transcript available here).

The Private Finance Initiative

Leanne Wood AM (Plaid): What recent discussions has the First Minister had regarding Welsh PFI projects?

The First Minister: I have frequent discussions about the largest PFI project set up for Wales, namely the defence technical academy at St Athan. I am pleased to confirm that recent progress has been made in closing the project’s financing gap following the appointment of a new equity partner, Sudexho, replacing the former partner, the much smaller Land Securities Trillium.

Leanne Wood: Today has seen the publication of a report by the National Assembly’s Finance Committee in which it argues for more use to be made of public-private partnerships. I am sure that you are already aware of the concerns expressed by the trade unions about that. Are you minded to accept the committee’s recommendations?

The First Minister: I am not aware as yet of the content of the Finance Committee’s report. I do not have time to read everything. People keep throwing things at me that have come out in the past 24 hours or whenever, and which I should have read, but I am sorry to say that I have not.

The broad thrust of where we are going with private finance initiatives is that we are aware of the big ones that are in Wales but are not generated by us, such as that at St Athan that I referred to, and local authorities are not discouraged at all from bringing forward such projects for new schools. Indeed, sometimes they do so. Such schemes are not as attractive now as they were, since the change introduced by the International Accounting Standards Board, which means that you have to put the up-front costs in the balance sheet in year 1, as though you were spending all the money that year, even though you may be paying for it over 20 years. It does not make any difference now, following the Government’s acceptance of the International Accounting Standards Board’s recommendation that it is all put under year 1 as though you were spending all the money in year 1.

Nick Ramsay AM (Conservative): I welcome the First Minister’s answer. That question was timely given that it came in the wake of the highly successful launch of the Finance Committee’s report on public-private partnerships this morning. It is a report that recognises some of the advantages of using private finance for public sector delivery. The report was launched at Nightingale House, the highly successful flagship hostel for vulnerable people. Will the First Minister agree that the reality is that that hostel could not have gone ahead were it not for the use of private money, and that we should therefore not shut the door on any avenues open to us for funding such projects in Wales?

The First Minister: As I noted in my answer to Eleanor Burnham, we have said that waste management and transport may well be quite promising fields for the use of PFI. We have said that we do not want to see any PFI projects from henceforth in the health service, but we have not told local authorities that we would deny them the PFI credits that we have provided in the past for school construction. However, as I said to Leanne, PFI is not as attractive as it used to be. You can no longer simply add on the interest payments for every year in the year in which they occur, following the acceptance by the Office for National Statistics—and I said earlier that it was by the Government, but it was not, and the ONS is not really a part of the UK Government—that PFI projects would be treated as though all the money was spent upfront. There is no longer the same financial advantage as there was from the mid 1990s to the earlier part of this decade. It is not as attractive as it was, but people will still find it attractive in certain circumstances, certainly in waste management, and we anticipate that being the case with some of the energy from residual waste projects that are being talked about.

Jenny Randerson AM (Liberal Democrat): I am pleased to hear that you and your Government are looking rather more positively at PFI in light of the Finance Committee’s report, on which I know it laboured for many months and took the issues seriously. Are you considering PPP or other models, perhaps akin to those used in Scotland or Sweden, for school buildings?

I was concerned to hear that the school buildings improvement grants will not be announced until April, which indicates that the Government is having problems finding the money for it this year and is taking a more central-control approach to it. Can you confirm whether you are considering PPP for school buildings and what the issues and concerns are in relation to the school buildings improvement grants?

The First Minister: To correct you, rather apologetically, I was not commending what is said in the Finance Committee report; I am totally neutral on it because I have not yet had the opportunity to read it. On whether school buildings can be built through PFI schemes, I have said it twice already that we do not deny local authorities the opportunity to consider whether they want to use PFI. We have approved PFI schemes that are under development. I have opened PFI schools and seen that they are very successful and provide an excellent learning environment. Some of them do not look particularly good on the outside; some do. There are some problems with low-maintenance buildings, which are not quite as attractive as those built by traditional methods. That criticism is sometimes made. I have made the point that PFI is less attractive than it was for reasons relating to the International Accounting Standards Board, but we are certainly not denying local authorities the opportunities to consider it.

On the school buildings improvement grant, we have provided that scheme to local authorities so that they do not have to go down the road of PFI. As far as I am aware, there has been cross-party support for the fact that the PFI should not be necessary simply because there was no other way of getting hold of the £20 million or £24 million that it would cost to build a new secondary school. Sometimes an authority will go down the PFI route and sometimes it will go down the route of using good old-fashioned taxpayers’ money through the SBIG.

European Gender Pay Gap Campaign

The European Commission has, today, (3 March 2009) launched an information campaign in all EU countries about the gender pay gap.

The gender pay gap is 17.4% across Europe. There has been little progress in reducing it in recent years. In fact, in some Member States the gap is even widening.

The EU states that the pay gap is linked to a number of complex causes which are frequently interrelated: the undervaluing of women’s work, segregation in the labour market, traditions and stereotypes, and problems in balancing work and private life. The gender pay gap is the consequence of all these factors and inequalities in the labour market. The campaign aims to raise public awareness of the gender pay gap and to explain how it can be tackled.

More information about the European gender pay gap campaign can be found here.

CiLT National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working

Yesterday (26 February) was the Welsh launch of the new CiLT National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working.

Background

The Standards describe best practice for intercultural working. They are intended as a quality benchmark.

They have been developed in response to a business need for these skills and were partly inspired by information in the CBI Education and Skills Survey 2008.

The standards are best practice guidelines. There is no intention for there to be any compulsion involved in the use and application of these.

The Standards

The standards are intended to be cross-sector. The six units can be used as individual stand-alone units or combined as relevant.

Unit 1: Core unit intended for anybody, from any country or culture, who is working with people from another country or culture

Unit 2: Building working relationships – useful for networking and partnership working in a cross-cultural/international context

Unit 3: HR issues – recruitment, promotion, etc. Intended to be helpful in strengthening diversity and equality policies and procedures

Unit 4: Managing a multicultural team

Unit 5: Managing delivery of a service to people from different countries or diverse cultures

Unit 6: Developing new markets with different countries or diverse cultures – deals with identifying the cultural and product/service expectations of people in new markets

Template Unit: Intended for use mainly by Sector Skills Councils to enable units to be combined with/embedded in other sector standards.

The Benefits

§ better communication between people of diverse cultures or different countries

§ mutually respectful and supportive working relations

§ more productive workforces

§ improved customer service

§ more effective international trade

§ strengthened diversity and equality policies and procedures

§ greater community cohesion

Next steps

The standards are reviewed every three years with a wide consultation process.

National Occupational Standards are used by awarding bodies as the basis for vocational qualifications. CiLT is now developing training and qualifications based on these standards.

Useful links

National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working
National Occupational Standards for Languages
National Occupational Standards for Translation
National Occupational Standards for Interpretation

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[1] CiLT, the National Centre for Languages, is the national centre for expertise and the government-approved UK Standards Setting Body for languages and intercultural skills. CiLT Cymru was established in 2002 as part of the CILT network.

Welsh Assembly Government: Consultation on a Bioenergy Action Plan for Wales

The Welsh Assembly Government has issued a consultation on a Bioenergy Action Plan for Wales. The aim of the Action Plan is to secure the annual generation in Wales of at least 5 TwH of electricity and 2.5 TwH of usable heat energy from renewable biomass by 2020. Details of the consultation are available here.

Comments on the consultation should be sent to:

Alun James

Sustainable Energy & Industry Wales

Cathays Park

Cardiff

CF10 3NQ

or by e-mail to: energy@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Petition: Severn Bridge Tolls

A petition calling upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the UK Government to do everything in its power to abolish the Severn Bridge tolls closes on 28th February 2009

More details on the petition are available here.

EU Monthly Labour Market Monitoring

The EU has today launched the first in a new series of monthly analyses to monitor the EU employment situation. It aims to present an update of the labour market situation and restructuring trends, set against a background of economic and sectoral developments.

This month's Monitor provides a special focus on developments in the larger Member States as well as an in-depth analysis of the automotive industry.

The EU press release giving more details is available here.

The monitoring reports are available here.

Disabled Access to Railways

A Statement of Opinion has been raised by representatives of all four political parties at the National Assembly for Wales calling upon the Welsh Assembly Government to work with Arriva Trains Wales to improve the accessibility of railway stations to disabled people.

The Statement of Opinion, raised by Jenny Randerson AM (Liberal Democrat), David Melding AM (Conservative), Anne Jones AM (Labour) and Bethan Jenkins AM (Plaid Cymru) notes that only 45% of railway stations in Wales have access for people in wheelchairs. It also notes that 83% of railway stations are unstaffed and that many disabled people are reluctant to use the railways for fear of being stranded at a station.

The full text of the Statement of Opinion is available here.

National Assembly for Wales calls for reduction in VAT on building repairs

After debating the Welsh Assembly Government consultation on Sustainable Homes: A National Housing Strategy for Wales, in Plenary session on Tuesday February 10th 2009, the National Assembly for Wales passed a motion that welcomed the consultation and called ".. on the Welsh Assembly Government to make representations to the UK government to reduce the rate of VAT on building repairs and improvement work to existing buildings".

Several bodies, including the Federation of Master Builders and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, have argued that lowering the rate of VAT on repairs and improvement work would have several benefits in terms of improved housing and stimulation of the economy.

End of local business tax in France

Last Thursday (5 February) President Nicolas Sarkozy of France defended his handling of the economic crisis in France in a televised interview. He announced a pledge to scrap the French local business tax (taxe professionnelle) in 2010 in a bid to 'keep French firms competitive'.

The taxe professionnelle is a type of local business tax collected by departmental and regional councils in France. It is used to pay for local services, including Chambers of Commerce. Although the tax has no exact equivalent elsewhere in Europe, in the UK it can best be compared to non-domestic rates and is paid by all businesses whether or not they are subject to corporation tax. The tax has two bases: the rented value of property on the one hand, and equipment and movable assets, dedicated to production, on the other.

For some time a working party has been considering reform of the taxe professionnelle as a result of the disproportionate burden falling on certain sectors, particularly manufacturing. However, French local government is said to derive 45% of its income from the tax and often sees this as a guarantee of some independence from Paris. Many commentators suggest that without the taxe professionnelle, domestic rates in France are likely to be much higher. Medef, the Employers' Federation in France has welcomed the move, whilst the association of mayors and local councillors have called for immediate negotiations with the government to urgently redress the resulting shortfall for local authorities. President Sarkozy has evoked carbon tax as one possible solution in meeting this.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Wales

The Members' Reseach Service of the National Assembly for Wales has produced an update of its 2006 paper Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Wales. Together with a short synopsis on climate change and consideration of the policy framework the paper compares Welsh carbon dioxide emissions with other countries and provides information on per capita carbon dioxide emissions for each local authority in Wales.

The paper is available here.

Legislative Statement on the Proposed Welsh Language LCO

In yesterday's NAW Plenary Session, a statement was made on the Proposed Welsh Language Legislative Competence Order.

The full transcript of the session is now available here (link to NAW website)

Bilingualism in Business

During Wednesday's NAW (National Assembly for Wales) Plenary session (28 January) the Minister for Heritage answered a question on Bilingualism in Business. The question/answer were as follows*:

Nerys Evans AM (Plaid, Mid & West Wales): Will the Minister make a statement regarding the importance of promoting bilingualism in business in Wales? OAQ(3)0600(HER)

Alun Ffred Jones AM (Minister for Heritage): It is encouraging to see more and more companies offering Welsh-language services and to see an increase in the use of the Welsh language. The Welsh Language Board continues to promote the benefits of operating bilingually to businesses across Wales.

Nerys Evans AM: A number of large global companies have secured their presence in the new shopping centre currently being built in Carmarthen. These include Starbucks, which has 17,000 outlets throughout the world and is a company that made a profit of $110 million during the first three months of 2008. The company is very familiar with the idea of bilingualism, given that it has fully bilingual branches in China and Japan.

Cwlwm, Carmarthen’s community Welsh-language monthly paper, has a campaign to ask these new companies kindly to provide bilingual signage. Should we not be discussing these issues in legal terms rather than depending on the goodwill of volunteers to campaign with each individual shop? Will you confirm that it is important to include large and global companies, which are familiar with the idea of bilingualism, in the Assembly’s language Measures in future?
Alun Ffred Jones: With reference to the situation in Carmarthen, the Welsh Language Board’s private sector team is in contact with Carmarthenshire County Council, which is a partner in the development. The board has given the council its guide on bilingual retailing and that guidance addresses the use of the Welsh language in business.

The current view is that it is better to achieve our aims with large companies through co-operation and encouragement. International companies such as Tesco, BT and other retailers have demonstrated their sensitivity and willingness to co-operate, and that is a success. I believe that great strides are being taken but, if we see, over time, that progress is not adequate, there may be an opportunity to review the situation. However, at the moment, I believe that the best way forward is through co-operation and encouragement.

Paul Davies AM (Conservative, Preseli Pembrokeshire): As we know, you will make a statement next week about the legislative competence Order on the Welsh language, and I take it for granted that it will outline your plans for the private sector. I do not expect you to make a statement on that today, but can you confirm, whatever your plans may be, that you as a Government will ensure that adequate resources are available for private businesses to be able to meet your demands?

Alun Ffred Jones AM: As you said, you do not expect me to make a statement about that LCO today, and I have no intention of doing so. You will get to see the LCO on Tuesday, and we will then have a discussion about its contents and its implications for any sector.

The full transcript of Wednesday's Plenary session is available here.

*NB: quoted from English-language translation of Record - original exchange in Welsh (see transcript).

Legislative Ballot: Proposed Major Development Travel Plans Legislative Competence Order

An NAW* Legislative Ballot was held on Wednesday 28 January 2009.

The winner of the ballot was Jenny Randerson AM (Lib Dem) with a Proposed Major Development Travel Plans Legislative Competence Order (LCO).

The LCO "seeks the powers to introduce a requirement that all new, major land use developments over a certain size publish and implement a travel plan as a condition of planning permission." The full Explanatory Memorandum may be read here.


[Legislative Competence Orders are a type of secondary (or ‘subordinate’) legislation which transfer specific powers from Parliament to the Assembly. More information about the Legislative Process may be found on the NAW website here.]

Live List of LCO Proposals
Live List of Measure Proposals

* National Assembly for Wales

Welsh Language LCO

The Minister for Heritage, Alun Ffred Jones AM, is scheduled to make a Legislative Statement on the Proposed Welsh Language Legislative Competence Order on Tuesday 3rd February in the National Assembly for Wales' Plenary Session.

The Plenary Session can be viewed online at http://www.senedd.tv/, via S4C2 digital, or can be attended in person (see http://www.assemblywales.org/gethome/get-visits/get-visits-plenary.htm ).

Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study - Consultation

The UK Government's Department of Energy and Climate Change has issued a consultation document seeking views on:

1) a recommended shortlist of schemes for more detailed analysis this year;
2) the scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment that is being carried out within the feasibility study;
3) the issues the feasibility study is considering and how these are being approached.

Further details about the consultation are available via this link: Severn Tidal Power consultation

Report and statistics published

The National Assembly for Wales' Enterprising and Learning Committee has published its interim report on the economic contribution of higher education in Wales. The report is available via this link: Interim Report on the Economic Contribution of Higher Education in Wales

Statistics for Wales has published Key Economic Statistics for January 2009. The statistics are available via this link: Economic Statistics Monthly - January 2009

Uniform Business Rate in Wales to be increased by 4.94% for 2009//10

The Welsh Assembly Government, in a decision report issued on 14th January 2009, has stated that the Non-Domestic Rate Multiplier (Uniform Business Rate) for 2009/10 will be 0.489, an increase of 4.94% over the Non-Domestic Rate Multiplier for 2008/09.

The decision report is available at http://new.wales.gov.uk/publications/accessinfo/drnewhomepage/economicdrs/economicsdrs2009/nondomrates09-10/?lang=en

Severn Tidal Power public consultation

The Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing is scheduled to make a Statement in the National Assembly for Wales Plenary Session on Tuesday 27th January 2009 on the Severn Tidal Power public consultation. Information on the study presently being carried out is available at http://wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/energy/severntidal/?lang=en.

The Plenary Session can be viewed online at www.senedd.tv, via S4C2 digital, or can be attended in person (see http://www.assemblywales.org/gethome/get-visits/get-visits-plenary.htm ).

Child Budgeting Inquiry

The Children and Young People Committee (NAW*) met on 13 January 2009 to agree their Forward Work Programme for Spring 2009.

This is to include a Child Budgeting Inquiry. Draft terms of reference and further information on the inquiry were tabled to the Committee in December 2008 in a paper available here. Children's budgeting is defined in the paper as follows:

• "Children’s budgeting is about examining the resources government allocates to polices, programmes and services that benefit children, and about whether these adequately reflect the needs of children and young people.
• It would make budgetary decisions affecting children and young people more visible and transparent and make government more accountable.
• It will help decision-makers to be aware of the impact of policies on children and young people."

The Committee aims to take evidence from:

• Professor David Reynolds (27 Jan)
• Save the Children (10 Feb)
• Institute for Democracy in South Africa [IDASA] (3 March - via video conference, to be confirmed)
• Funky Dragon (3 March, to be confirmed)
• Welsh Local Government Associatin [WLGA] (17 March, to be confirmed)
• Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (31 March)

The Committee also intends to hold an informal meeting with parent groups, facilitated by Children in Wales on 25 February.

Committees can be viewed online at www.senedd.tv, via S4C2 digital or can be attended in person (see details here).

* NAW - National Assembly for Wales

Welsh Language LCO: Question to First Minister

As noted earlier this week, a question was put to the First Minister during yesterday's NAW (National Assembly for Wales) Plenary session (13 January) regarding the progress of the Welsh Language LCO. The question/answer were as follows*:

"Eleanor Burnham AM [Lib Dem, North Wales]: Will the First Minister make a statement on the progress of the Welsh language LCO?

The First Minister: We are working closely with colleagues in the Westminster Government to publish the Order as soon as possible and deliver on our 'One Wales’ commitments on the Welsh language.

Eleanor Burnham: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. I am sure that we would all appreciate some kind of development since we were all concerned about the fact that Paul Murphy said, when he came here before Christmas, that he had been looking at the matter for over a month, if I remember correctly. In addition, it would be useful to have an explanation of the timetable for the process, because the Welsh Language Society held a rally on 10 January to coincide with an announcement by the Minister for Heritage.

The First Minister: I do not know anything about the arrangements to which you have referred. We hope, and we have been working closely with the Wales Office and the Secretary of State for Wales, to make an announcement as soon as possible. That is all that I can say.

Nerys Evans AM [Plaid, Mid & West Wales]: Can you confirm whether each department of the Westminster Government has approved the draft Order?

The First Minister: A process of learning and developing skills is under way in our administration, and the relevant Westminster departments are also familiarising themselves with the system of Legislative Competence Orders. I do not think that it is appropriate to start detailing where these discussions have taken place by naming departments in London. All that we can say is that we believe that we are drawing to the conclusion of the process and that we will be able to make an announcement before long.

Paul Davies AM [Conservative, Preseli]: You have confirmed in this place that you as a Government will establish a Language Commissioner after you have been granted the powers to do so. Under the circumstances, can you say in your opinion what powers and responsibilities will be attached to that post?

The First Minister: Subject to the legislation reaching the end of the process without many amendments to it—and that could happen, of course—the present proposals would establish a Commissioner at arm’s length from the Government. To a great extent, the Commissioner will be similar to the Children’s Commissioner and the Commissioner for Older People, and will be part of a redress system in order to help people to get justice if they feel that they were not given justice regarding Welsh-language services."

The full transcript of yesterday's Plenary session is available here.

Details of the Welsh Assembly Government's One Wales commitments on the Welsh Language can be found on their website.

*NB: quoted from English-language translation of Record - original exchange in Welsh (see transcript).

Equal Pay: Scrutiny Session on Implementation

On Thursday 15 January, the Health, Wellbeing & Local Government committee of the National Assembly for Wales (NAW) will be holding a scrutiny session into the implementation of Equal Pay.

The agenda for the meeting is available here.

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) paper to this committee notes the following:

"The latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data was released on 14^th November 2008. This showed that female hourly full-time earnings (excluding overtime) in Wales for 2008 were 87.3 per cent of male hourly full-time earnings (excluding overtime). This represents a widening of the gender pay gap in Wales to 12.7 per cent in 2008 from 10.7 per cent in 2007."

WAG has agreed to support the Wales TUC and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in Wales for the next phase of the Close the Pay Gap Campaign. Three elements of this are:

1. Business Benefits Project: EHRC has begun work on a project to measure the benefits of settling equal pay in a Welsh local authority.

2. Equal Pay Event: WAG will host a Close the Pay Gap event on 11 March, aimed at chief executives of local authorities, council leaders and equality leads as well as decision makers in other statutory bodies.

3. Employer and Trade Union events: The Wales TUC is hosting a series of four geographically-based events taking place in January and February 2009 and intends to be present at party conferences during the 2009 Welsh party conference season.

Planning Acts 2008 and their effect on Wales

The Planning Act 2008 and the Planning and Energy Act 2008 both received Royal Assent in November 2008. The National Assembly for Wales' Members' Research Service has prepared a short paper to outline the implications of the Acts for Wales. The paper is available at http://www.assemblywales.org/09-001.pdf

Plenary question on Welsh Language LCO

An oral question has been tabled for answer by the First Minister during Plenary on Tuesday 13 January 2009 regarding the Welsh Language LCO.

Eleanor Burnham AM, (Lib Dem - North Wales) will ask "Will the First Minister make a statement on the progress of the Welsh Language LCO".

The Plenary session will start at 1.30pm and First Minister's Questions are the first agenda item. The session can be viewed online at: http://www.senedd.tv or via S4C2 digital.

NAW Finance Committee to consider Strategic Road Building

On 14th January 2009 the Finance Committee of the National Assembly for Wales will discuss the Terms of Reference and Work Programme for an Inquiry into Strategic Road Building. The importance of improving major road links in Wales as a means of improving the economy has been identified by many in the business community in Wales. There is a divergence of views as to whether better north-south links, to improve communications within Wales, or better east-west links, to enhance existing commercial links, are the more important. There are also environmental concerns about investing more money in roads as opposed to other forms of transport.

Anyone who has suggestions for the Terms of Reference and the Work Programme for the Inquiry may wish to contact the Committee Chair or the Committee Clerk, contact details available at http://www.assemblywales.org/bus-home/bus-committees/bus-committees-third1/bus-committees-third-fin-home/bus-committees-third-fin-mem.htm .

Welsh Assembly Government speeds up payments to Local Authorities

To assist local authorities in meeting the extra working capital requirement resulting from paying suppliers in 10 days rather than in 30 days, the Welsh Assembly Government has brought forward its monthly funding of local authorities in January, February and March 2009 from the second Monday of the month to the third working day of the month.

Welcome

Welcome to the new Wales Social Partners Unit blog.

We aim to use this site to keep you up-to-date with policy and political news from around Wales and beyond, which we hope will be of interest and use to you.

If you already use a newsreader/feedreader on your computer, you can 'subscribe' to this blog by clicking the relevant button in the right-hand toolbar. This means that everytime a post is added to the blog, you'll receive it straight into your 'reader' software. If you haven't used a newsreader before, then you might like to try Google Reader or Feedreader. (For more information about feedreaders, see this Wikipedia article).

Alternatively, you could set this page as your browser homepage or simply dip into the blog when you have time.

Full information about WSPU and all of our summaries/information are still available on the main website, of course, at www.wspu.co.uk