Policy Development
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Nations and Regions: The Dynamics of Devolution Quarterly Monitoring Programme Wales Quarterly Report August 2001 The monitoring programme is jointly funded by the ESRC and the Leverhulme Trust A PERIOD OF DE-STABILISATION MONITORING Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru The National Assembly for Wales MAY TO AUGUST 2001 Edited By John Osmond In association with: August 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. THE ADMINISTRATION....................................................................................................................... 2 JOHN OSMOND AND NIA RICHARDSON, IWA (I) THE FUTURE OF THE COALITION ........................................................................................................ 2 (II) DEALING WITH THE FOOT-AND-MOUTH OUTBREAK ....................................................................... 5 (III) THE WELSH LANGUAGE AND IN-MIGRATION .................................................................................. 9 (IV) NEW ASSEMBLY CHAMBER PLACED ON HOLD............................................................................... 11 (V) STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN THE WELSH HEALTH SERVICE............................................................... 13 (VII) ‘PLAN FOR WALES 2001’................................................................................................................ 15 (VIII) PUBLICATION OF CABINET PAPERS .............................................................................................. 19 2. THE ASSEMBLY................................................................................................................................... 21 JOHN OSMOND AND NIA RICHARDSON, IWA (I) VAL FELD............................................................................................................................................ 21 (II) ALISON HALFORD ............................................................................................................................. 21 (III) THE QUEEN’S SPEECH ..................................................................................................................... 22 (IV) ASSEMBLY REVIEW OF PROCEDURE ............................................................................................... 24 (V) ‘THE DAFYDD GLYN JONES AFFAIR’ ............................................................................................... 32 (VI) PAY AND ALLOWANCES. .................................................................................................................. 38 3. POLICY DEVELOPMENT................................................................................................................... 40 NIA RICHARDSON, IWA (I) AGRICULTURE .................................................................................................................................... 40 (II) CULTURE ........................................................................................................................................... 41 (III) EDUCATION ...................................................................................................................................... 42 (IV) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................................. 44 (V) HEALTH ............................................................................................................................................. 46 (VI) LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HOUSING ............................................................................................. 47 (VII) ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND PLANNING................................................................................ 48 (VIII) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 49 4. FINANCE ................................................................................................................................................ 51 ADRIAN KAY, UNIVERSITY OF GLAMORGAN 5. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS .......................................................................................................... 54 JANE JONES, UNIVERSITY OF WALES, SWANSEA (I) SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION ............................................................................................................. 54 (II) ASSEMBLY GENERAL SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION ........................................................................ 55 (III) STANDING ORDER 29 – “PRIVATE MEMBER’S SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION” ............................. 57 (IV) STANDING ORDER 30 ....................................................................................................................... 58 (V) PRIMARY LEGISLATION – WALES PROVISIONS IN WESTMINSTER BILLS ...................................... 58 (VI) DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY............................................................................................................. 60 6. RELATIONS WITH WESTMINSTER AND WHITEHALL............................................................ 61 MARK LANG, WELSH GOVERNANCE CENTRE, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY (I) THE QUEEN’S SPEECH........................................................................................................................ 61 (II) THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WALES.......................................................................................... 61 (III) HOUSING FINANCE POLICY ............................................................................................................. 62 7. RELATIONS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION................................................................................ 64 MARK LANG, WELSH GOVERNANCE CENTRE, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY (I) WORKING GROUP ON EU ENLARGEMENT........................................................................................ 64 (II) ASSEMBLY’S INVOLVEMENT WITH EUROPE-WIDE ORGANISATIONS ............................................. 64 (III) LEADER+ INITIATIVE.................................................................................................................... 66 8. RELATIONS WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ................................................................................. 68 ALYS THOMAS, MARTIN LAFFIN AND GERALD TAYLOR, UNIVERSITY OF GLAMORGAN (I) REPORT ON COUNCILLORS’ ALLOWANCES ...................................................................................... 68 (II) REVIEW OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP SCHEME............................................................ 71 (III) TESTING PARTNERSHIP – A) EDUCATION ....................................................................................... 73 (IV) TESTING PARTNERSHIP – B) HOUSING............................................................................................ 75 9. THE GENERAL ELECTION AND THE POLITICAL PARTIES................................................... 78 JOHN OSMOND, IWA 10. PUBLIC ATTITUDES ......................................................................................................................... 82 DENIS BALSOM, WELSH GOVERNANCE CENTRE, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY 11. PRESS AND MEDIA............................................................................................................................ 86 NIA RICHARDSON, IWA.............................................................................................................................. (I) THE DEBATE OVER IN-MIGRATION .................................................................................................. 86 (II) THE PLAID CYMRU LEADERSHIP ISSUE ........................................................................................... 88 SUMMARY Events and disputes placed the Administration on the backfoot during this period producing an atmosphere of instability. In early July, amid mounting press and media coverage and Opposition demands for his resignation, the Deputy First Minister Mike German ‘stood aside’ from the Cabinet while a police investigation continued into his tenure as Head of the Welsh Joint Education Committee’s European Unit during the mid 1990s. Culture Minister Jenny Randerson took his place as Acting Deputy First Minister, while First Minister Rhodri Morgan assumed temporary responsibility for his Economic Development portfolio. Other problems included a heightening of the foot and mouth outbreak with a mass sheep cull on the Brecon Beacons; a row with the internationally acclaimed architect Richard Rogers over the costs of his design for the new Assembly Chamber; and an escalating dispute over the issue of English in-migration into rural Wales threatening the integrity of Welsh-speaking communities. This last dispute invaded the National Eisteddfod, held this year in Denbigh in the first week of August, and overshadowed much of the Assembly’s activities during the quarter. Midway through the Assembly’s first four-year term the question is frequently asked, “What has the Assembly done for you?” First Minister Rhodri Morgan uses every opportunity to respond as follows: ‘Free school milk for infants, money for improved school buildings, free prescription charges for under-25s, bus passes for the elderly, and free admission to museums and galleries.” The media has a different agenda, however. And it was one that the establishment figure John Elfed Jones knew he could stimulate by likening the impact of English in-migration into rural Wales to the effects