Assembly Bwletin Cynulliad

Issue 23

The Energy March 2010 Questions over referendum timing Revolution in Environment Minister On the agenda this month: Secretary of State for Jane Davidson AM Wales, Peter Hain MP, has said that Wales refused to comment earlier this month on could generate twice • The long-awaited Welsh Lan- its energy needs the timing of a referen- guage Measure from renewable dum on further law- sources within the making powers for the next 15 years. It was National Assembly for announced that 40% • The Welsh Energy Revolution Wales. of this would come from marine technol- ogy and a third from • John Osmond’s take on First Min- In the final session of Welsh Questions wind power. Ms before the UK General Election, Shadow ister ’ first 100 days Davidson com- Welsh Secretary, Cheryl Gillan MP, said mented: “The poten- in office that the Labour Party were “clearly at log- tial is truly inspiring gerheads over the timing of a referen- and I am confident dum.” In response, Mr. Hain said: “Work is that our Low Carbon • Peter Davies, the Sustainable continuing among my officials in response Revolution will pro- Development Commissioner for to the First Minister’s request under the vide the right frame- Wales and his views from ‘down Act to take this process forward so that a work to realise this under’ referendum can be called”. potential.”

Assembly Bwletin Cynulliad is a joint initiative between Grayling and the Institute of Welsh Affairs Every month we aim to bring you the ABC of Welsh politics For information on ABC, please contact [email protected] or [email protected] Legislation Comes a Step Closer

On 4 March the long-awaited Welsh Language Measure was published. The Pro- posed Measure, which will give equal status to English and Welsh and will create the position of a Welsh Language Commissioner, was hailed by leader, AM, as a “significant milestone” in the history of the lan- guage. The Proposed Measure may also give rights for Welsh speakers to re- ceive key services in Welsh, and it is anticipated that this could include some pri- vate companies such as utilities providers as well as public bodies.

In a legislative statement in the National Assembly, Plaid Cymru Heritage Minister AM announced that the proposed Measure will address the three pledges in the coalition document. This long awaited piece of legislation confirms; the official status of Welsh language, the establishment of a Welsh language commis- sioner and will give the Commissioner the power to investigate complaints made against those named under the Measure.

However, the Welsh Assembly Government has been criticised for not going far enough with the Measure. Eleanor Burnham AM, Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Communities, Culture and Equality, commented: "As far as I can see, there is no clear statement in the measure that seeks to make the Welsh language one of the official lan- guages of Wales”. The Measure received a cautious welcome from the , with their Welsh lan- guage spokesman AM saying that the proposed Measure required “detailed study”. He commented, "we are determined to ensure this new legislation does not erect barriers to businesses in Wales which would dam- age investment and competitiveness.”

Compiled by Grayling Plaid Cymru and the SNP form a new Celtic Bloc

The leaders of the and Plaid Cymru, MSP and Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, have announced their intentions in the event of a hung parliament in Westminster. In a joint press conference the parties launched their ‘4 Wales, 4 Scotland’ agreement, which would ally the two parties in a bid to secure a better deal for the people of Scotland and Wales should the UK General Election not result in an overall majority. Mr Salmond MSP remarked that "both Labour and the Tories are threatening deep, harsh cuts which will endanger the Scottish and Welsh recoveries." The four point plan of the joint agreement will address issues of fair funding for Wales and Scot- land, protecting local services and the most vulnerable, providing action to help the green economy, and support for business growth.

However, the announcement was met with a certain de- gree of scepticism and critique; AM, leader of the , said that Plaid Cymru “must explain how their promise of ‘fair funding’ will work in reality because if the current funding formula were changed, their Scottish counterparts could lose billions of pounds in funding.” ’s Llanelli MP, Nia Grif- fith, slammed the day’s event as “a rather a sad spectacle, with Ieuan Wyn Jones clinging desperately to the coat-tails of Alex Salmond.”

Writing on her blog, Betsan Powys, the BBC Wales Politi- cal Editor, said that both Plaid Cymru and the Scottish Na- tional Party had finally found an answer to the question “why anyone would bother voting for them in a General Election they can't possibly win” - in the case of a hung parliament “they could pocket big concessions for Scotland and for Wales”. It remains to be seen on which votes either Plaid Cymru and the SNP would collaborate with any of the UK parties, and it is clear that “they've calculated that it's more profitable to work on an a la carte basis”.

Compiled by Grayling Carwyn Jones’ First 100 Days in Office

All anniversaries are to some extent artificial, and in politics 100 days may be more artificial than most. Nonetheless, First Minister Carwyn Jones is making the most of his first 100 days in office with an upbeat message. He highlights the following as among his main achievements so far:

• Representing Wales at the Climate Change summit in Copenhagen. • Assembly Members backing plans for a referendum on further powers. • The appointment of Wales’ first Chief Scientific Adviser. • Chairing the first ever Public Services Summit • Meeting the new European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn, who has responsibility for managing European funding programmes.

All this is relatively uncontroversial. But the First Minister is proving himself a pretty shrewd operator: an achievement he doesn’t list is his expert avoidance of political bear traps. There was a moment’s hesitation ahead of the vote on extending the Assembly’s powers and a crevasse opened up between him Plaid Cymru. However, he swiftly moved to close it. In the process he closed down the Secretary of State's plans to kick the whole process into the long grass, and certainly until after the forthcoming UK General Election. Carwyn’s big test will come in the aftermath of that election. Much is out of his control. It all depends on whether Labour remains in power, is out of office or in coali- tion at Westminster. A secondary, but important consideration is how well Labour does in Wales. Both factors will influence the depth and timing of public spending cuts, and the politics around the timing and organisation of the ref- erendum. Compiled by the IWA Sustainable Development ‘down under’

As a Sustainable Development Commissioner my annual trips down under, with their obvious impact on my carbon footprint, are a source of guilt. I am fortunate, though, that I can offset some of that guilt through supporting an impor- tant sustainable business initiative sponsored by the Australian Federal Government. This provides plenty of inspira- tion for what might be possible in Wales. Promoting sustainable business means combining prosperity with environ- mental and social benefits.

This is the third year of the project, which aims to support responsible business practices throughout the Australian economy. It was launched before the global financial crisis and is seen as one part of securing a responsible, trusted business and financial community, which can gain long term competitive advantage.

Its activities have included, most ambitiously, a Good Business Register. This pro- vides SMEs with the opportunity to generate sustainability reports, which can then be used as part of their communications and as a ‘passport’ into large company and public sector sustainable procurement practices. It is early days but there is significant support from major small business networks, large companies and gov- ernment.

My key learning points to take back into the cold Welsh winter include:

• The potential to align the brand values of a country and brand values of companies – the ‘Made in Australia’ brand has seen a 26 per cent increase in sales values in the last year. • The key role of Government in enabling this process and investing in the development of responsible business practice. • The importance of the partnership between government and industry on innovation to create more sustainable products and services.

They say the further away from home you are the more of an expert you are seen to be. I, however, return having learnt much more than I was able to share and with a clearer perspective on how we might move to a more resilient, sustainable economy. Compiled by the IWA Upcoming IWA events

Dave Hoare Monday 24 May 2010 Grayling Food in the City 2 Caspian Point 9.00am-4.00pm, Conference, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff Caspian Way This conference will highlight the importance of plac- Cardiff ing the production of and access to healthy food at the CF10 4DQ heart of urban regeneration planning for sustainable 029 2046 2507 development and will chart the development of sus- tainable food policy within Wales.

Starting Tuesday 13 April 2010 Free Evening Coffee Shop Debates 6.30-7.30pm, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff Speakers include Wiard Sterk, Director of public art Kirsty Davies consultancy Safle (13 April), and Chris Corcoran, co- IWA median and presenter (11 May). 4 Cathedral Road Cardiff For more information, please see www.iwa.org.uk CF11 9IJ 029 2069 2898

From a new Welsh Labour leader to the UK General Election’

Grayling’s latest monitoring service provides weekly updates from the news, blogs and social media websites on the rumours, facts and gossip that make up political comment in the run-up to a UK General Election.

In addition to a breakdown of all the Welsh constituencies with declared candidates from the four major parties in Wales, Grayling will also provide subscribers to the service with pre and post-Election briefing materials and our take on what the new UK Government could mean for Wales.

To subscribe to this service or find out more about any of the other monitoring services that Grayling provides, please contact Dave Hoare at [email protected]

Assembly Bwletin Cynulliad is a joint initiative between Grayling and the Institute of Welsh Affairs, bringing you the ABC of Welsh politics every month.