Welsh Assembly Government's Forward Work Programme

Llywydd, I am grateful for this opportunity to set out, at the very start of this new session, the programme of the Welsh Assembly Government.  

Since the election in May, we have put in place a new strategic agenda for Wales which gives expression to the ambitions which we, as a Government, intend to pursue for our country, and which translates those ambitions into a set of practical policies and actions.  In particular, the new document, Wales: A Better Country, which I am publishing today, sets out a clear agenda for creating a future with social justice at its heart, and embodying the principles of sustainability. It offers a vision and explains how it all fits together to improve life for people in Wales.  

The Welsh Assembly Government will work with others to turn the vision into reality, and is setting out its strategy in this manner so that our partners throughout Welsh society can see clearly what we are seeking to achieve together.  It is intended that this strategy will be discussed at the Partnerships Councils with local government, the voluntary sector and the business sector.

One of the key purposes of the strategic agenda document is to set out our timetable for implementation of the specific Manifesto commitments made during the election. That manifesto presented a vision for a future Wales in which our commitment to social justice proves to be the foundation for our development and prosperity. The promises that we will deliver were supported because they could be seen to be part of a strategic vision in which:
 more and more people have the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from the Welsh economy;
 people enjoy better health and
 we build on the strength of Welsh communities.

We live in an era when it has become fashionable to suggest that Manifestos are somehow a thing of the past – outdated, ignored by voters, and out of tune with a fast-moving, media-dominated age.  During the Assembly election campaign, this Government set out very deliberately to challenge these  trendy new orthodoxies.  We made our Manifesto the centrepiece of the message we took to the people of Wales.  We published not only our main manifesto document, but a series of more detailed documents too, aimed at particular groups in the population and particular parts of Wales.  

Time and again during that campaign, I emphasised that the Manifesto on which we stood represented an agenda for a four year Assembly term.

A good deal of nonsense was spoken in the weeks immediately after the 1st May, which suggested that a Manifesto was somehow a document which lasted little longer than the life-cycle of a May-fly – to be implemented in short order and then forgotten.  

What you have in front of you today is a document, which shows the distinction between the gesture politics of debate and the real-world business of making a sustained difference in people’s lives.  

Here are just a few examples of the programme, which we set out, and the way in which it will be reflected in the business, which the Government intends to bring before this Assembly during the autumn.

Next week, in Plenary, we shall debate a Government motion, which reaffirms our commitment to the abolition of all prescription charges in Wales before the next Assembly elections.  Prescription charges are already some 5% lower, in real terms, since the Assembly came into being in 1999.  In comparison with England, Welsh patients already pay more than 3% less for each item prescribed.  Now we are ready for the next move forward and the Health Minister will set this out during the debate.

One of our high profile pledges, during the election, was to secure access for patients to a member of the primary care team within 24 hours. Detailed negotiations about the practical ways of securing that pledge have continued during the summer. I am now confident that we will be able to announce early implementation of this Manifesto commitment within a matter of weeks.  Swift access to primary care is an essential part of the Wanless agenda, because early access has to be a key to preventing unnecessary admission to the acute sector. In Wales we are setting the standard in this area, and doing it within six months of the election.

Early in this autumn session, the Education and Lifelong Learning Minister will bring to this Assembly a plan to implement the offer of free breakfasts in all primary schools in Wales.  By the time we meet again this time next year, the scheme will already be in operation in all such schools in Communities First areas, with a role-out to the rest of Wales thereafter.

Work is already underway to secure early implementation of a series of other commitments.  The Government will find time, between now and Christmas, to bring to the Assembly policy development in relation to the proposal to establish a knowledge-bank and an older persons’ commissioner, together with implementation plans in relation to free swimming for older people and free home care for the disabled.

Of course, Llywydd a strategy for Government is more than the sum of individual initiatives and policies. There is the on-going business of policy-making and implementation, which will come before you during the autumn.

The Finance Minister will conduct the budget process, according to our normal timetable.  

The Health and Social Services Minister will report the Wanless Action Plan to Committee and to Plenary.  

The Social Justice Minister will engage the Assembly in the review of the voluntary sector partnership scheme as required by statute following each Assembly election.

The Economic Development Minister will lead an Assembly debate on Business Support, the Innovation Action Plan and Entrepreneurship.

The Rural Affairs Minister will report on the CAP Reform negotiations which are so vital for Wales and engage the Assembly in consultation which will take place to up-date and re-shape of our Sustainable Development Scheme.

Llywydd, that is a strategy for action. We know where we are going. We have the mandate from the people of Wales.  We will give this Assembly one of the most substantial workloads with which it has had to engage during any of our previous sessions.  It will demand a different level of discipline from those parties and members who are genuinely interested in the bread and butter business of using our devolved powers to create a healthier, wealthier and better educated country: a transformed Wales that continues to be rooted in Welsh values of fairness and social justice and one which puts a creation of sustainable prosperity at the heart of our policy making.

This Government has set out our agenda for the creation of Wales: A Better Country.  To live in that country, we first have to create the conditions for it.  We are ready for that responsibility and this Assembly, too, will be measured against its ability to rise to the challenges, which lie ahead. We will not let the people of Wales down.