Oral - Welsh Assembly Government

Each Assembly Member will be aware that there has been a development in terms of forming a new administration since the Assembly last met in Plenary.

The new administration has been formed from a coalition of the 26 Members of the Labour Assembly group and the 15 Members of the Plaid Cymru group. As First Minister of this new administration, I have appointed a new Cabinet and, in accordance with the commitments that I made before last May’s election, I now inform the Assembly of these appointments.

As First Minister, my responsibilities include policy co-ordination and development, the execution of Cabinet duties, the relationship between the Assembly Government and the rest of the United Kingdom and Europe, Wales abroad, science, civil service staffing and other matters. Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru, becomes Deputy First Minister and Minister for Economy and Transport.

Jane Davidson is the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, including responsibility for climate change, sustainable development, the environment, energy and planning. Andrew Davies becomes the Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery, including responsibility for the spatial and strategic plans. Dr Brian Gibbons has assumed the duties of Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, including responsibility for child poverty and community safety. Edwina Hart remains the Minister for Health and Social Services. Jane Hutt is the Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills. Elin Jones has been appointed Minister for Rural Affairs. Rhodri Glyn Thomas becomes Minister for Heritage, covering the Welsh language, culture, sport and tourism.

My nomination of Carwyn Jones as the Assembly Government’s first ever Counsel General has been agreed in this afternoon’s vote. This will proceed to Her Majesty for the appointment process. Carwyn will also take responsibility for the Government’s business programme, using the title Leader of the House. Carl Sargeant is the Government’s Chief Whip and will attend Cabinet.

The Government of Wales Act 2006 also allows for the appointment of Deputy Ministers with particular responsibilities to assist Cabinet Ministers in the discharge of their duties. Accordingly, Leighton Andrews has been appointed Deputy Minister for Regeneration, working to Ieuan Wyn Jones and Brian Gibbons. Jocelyn Davies becomes Deputy Minister for Housing. John Griffiths remains Deputy Minister for Skills, and Gwenda Thomas remains Deputy Minister for Social Services.

The team of Ministers outlined has come together to implement a progressive programme of government for Wales, and to provide our country with a stable administration that reflects the preferences expressed by Welsh voters as they cast their votes in May’s elections. However, as this is the first occasion on which we have met as an Assembly since the programme was published, I want to highlight some key elements in the policies that we intend to pursue, which, together with our legislative programme, will form the basis of Government business in the Assembly over the months ahead.

The ‘One Wales’ agreement, which established this administration, is based on the Welsh radical tradition. It is an ambitious, progressive, four-year programme that reaches out to all sectors of society across Wales. It follows that not everything will be delivered in year 1, or even year 2 of this Assembly. However, Ministers are actively engaged in budget discussions, which have just commenced, and which I am confident will see a substantial part of the ‘One Wales’ programme put into practice at the earliest practical opportunity.

We begin with a determination to make the maximum use of EU structural funds. We are already ahead of the rest of the UK and most of Europe in gaining approval for our programme. Together with a re-evaluation of our business support programme, including extra help with business rates, we intend to tackle long-term economic inactivity, particularly in some of our most deprived communities. The scourge of long-term unemployment and its substantial reduction have quite rightly been the focus of the Assembly’s attention since 1999. We will now turn our attention, with renewed vigour, to economic inactivity.
Making a success of European cohesion funding will depend on a good deal more than government itself. Work has already begun on supporting those areas of the economy that can benefit the most from the research and development dimension of European funding. The contribution of our higher education institutions to the future economy of Wales will be vital, and we will take steps everywhere in Wales to ensure that those institutions are fit for that purpose.

We will take early action to implement those parts of the programme that will have an impact on disadvantage and underachievement. Tackling child poverty remains at the core of what this administration is all about. We will press ahead with the Flying Start programme and with the foundation phase in education. We will make a reality of the Welsh addition to the child trust fund.

We will ensure that credit union membership is available to every secondary school student. In the coming weeks, we will move to appoint the first ever older person’s commissioner for Wales, as we strive to improve the lives of our older population. For families with children, this administration will bring substantial new investment and a new approach to the supply of affordable housing, which is the foundation of a decent life for parents and a proper start in life for their children.

Sustainability will be one of the key watchwords for this third Assembly Government - from improving rail travel and journey times to action to help to tackle climate change. Only the efforts of the whole community can make this happen. Therefore, we will put sustainability at the heart of Government procurement, and will extend our principles into our work with others. Environmentalism, like most things in life, brings some hard choices, such as in waste management and in energy policy, but we will not shy away from them.

They cannot be avoided in health, either. Edwina Hart, the Minister, has already accelerated changes that were emerging in the reconfiguration of trusts in Wales. She will bring forward a rural health plan to ensure that new ways of working developed by nurses, pharmacists and doctors are fully deployed to meet the particular needs of rural communities. We will abolish the last vestiges of the internal market in Wales, and continue to drive down waiting times so that we can achieve our target of a combined maximum wait of 26 weeks by the end of 2009. We will work closely with local communities to give them the confidence that change in the health service - the change that has been in every one of the 60 years since the health service was inaugurated in 1948 - is designed to provide a better service, not a lesser one.

This is a Government that now represents a large majority of political opinion in Wales. However, as we move forward with our legislative and policy programme, whether for the Welsh language or the youth service, I am determined that we see the widest possible support for what we do, going beyond the Labour and Plaid Cymru side of politics, because that is how we will secure the widest possible support for devolved government in Wales. The intention to have an independent commission on funding and finance has already been announced, and further details will be provided during the autumn term. We will come forward with detailed proposals for a convention, under an independent chair, to prepare the way for a successful referendum on Part 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

Llywydd, any administration that is supported by a large majority - that is, two thirds of the Chamber - must have at its core an ambition to secure a similar level of support in the world of Wales outside. I have outlined today the team of Ministers that will be responsible for taking this forward and the progressive policy programme that we will bring before the people of Wales. I commend it to you, and to the people of Wales.