‘A distinctive body of Welsh law is emerging’

Speaking plainly: the First Minister reflects on his first 100 days and the challenges for the year ahead

In terms of One Wales, I would just like to reflect for a moment on what the Government has delivered for the people of Wales over the last three years. The policies we have pursued, as set out in One Wales, have made real and significant differences to the lives of the people of Wales.

Well over 80% of the commitments in One Wales have been delivered already, or are being maintained. Our achievements include: maintaining free prescriptions; root and branch health reform – while also reducing waiting times; the development of a National Transport Plan,,  the opening of the Ebbw Vale line, additional services on the Merthyr line and the launch of Y Gerallt Gymro; establishing the Single Investment Fund for business support; extra help for pensioners with council tax; the rollout of the Foundation Phase, with its emphasis on young children learning by ‘doing’; the creation of a national Welsh Medium Education Strategy; and extra assistance with student debt, including an additional £77.9m for the next academic year.

We have responded effectively to new and unforeseen challenges. Challenges that could never have been factored-in when Labour and Plaid Cymru sealed the deal on One Wales back in July 2007. Challenges that caught most Governments across the world on-the-hop.

The ink on the One Wales programme for Government was barely dry when the world economy took a turn for the worse.  A financial crisis erupted, very visibly manifested in the run on Northern Rock bank, only a few months later. It is, however, widely recognised by other constituent parts of the UK – and indeed some other European countries – that the Welsh Assembly Government responded very swiftly and decisively to the recession.

We brought business, banks and the public sector together in economic summits, generating both ideas and consensus about the measures needed.  We brought forward capital investment and introduced temporary rate relief measures. Following on from the groundbreaking success of the ProAct and ReAct schemes, and working with the Department of Work and Pensions and Jobcentre plus, we rolled out the ‘Six Month Offer’, providing self-employment and business support to individuals who have been unemployed and claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance for six months or more.  This scheme is to be extended to be applied to those unemployed for three months by the end of the month. Additionally the recently announced additional funding secured for the Future Jobs Fund will be rolled out.

The UK economy is now growing again and the labour market seems to have stabilised.  Regrettably, employment is lower and unemployment higher as compared with when One Wales was published.  But given the scale of the recession, which was unforeseen, the labour market has held up quite well.  Previously, the same loss in output would have been associated with much larger declines in employment and increases in unemployment. We are hopeful that the labour market will show signs of more vigorous recovery over the next year.

Our ability to respond to Wales’ changing needs depends in part on the resources at our disposal. One important commitment was the establishment of an independent commission to examine how Wales is funded. They have produced resoundingly authoritative work – work that has been praised at both ends of the M4.  And whichever way you examine their first report, the conclusions stand up.

The Barnett formula is leading to convergence between English and Welsh levels of spend per head.  If this were to continue, Wales would be disadvantaged because relative needs are higher in Wales. A needs based formula is the fair alternative and it can be done.  I welcome the UK Government statement that it will ensure that Wales is not significantly disadvantaged by the Barnett formula in future.  We are committed to fair funding for Wales, that reflects the relative needs of our population, and we will pursue that cause vigorously.

At the same time as we contemplate the distance travelled in delivering One Wales, we need to look at the way the wider horizon has changed.

We can look back to the days when Wales was regarded as an experiment in devolution.  In 1998, the powers of the Welsh Office Ministers were handed to the Assembly wrapped in carefully constructed procedures. It was as if a large label was attached, saying “handle with care”.  The Assembly was then a corporate body: a hybrid of Westminster and local council models of governance, entrusted with making subordinate legislation.

By common consent, from those beginnings, the Assembly evolved rapidly – both in terms of its competence and its gravitas.  The experiment showed that the separation of powers is in the nature of democracy.  From 2001 we had a de facto separation of powers between the Welsh Assembly Government and the National Assembly for Wales.  From 2007, this separation became a legal separation between the executive and the legislature.

One other fact became clear over the past decade.  The Assembly Government was going to want the tools to do the job.   It could achieve much through the use of executive powers and funding; but to innovate, to bring about fundamental reforms, it needed to be able to change the law.

At first, it relied upon the UK Government granting it space in its own legislative programme.  It was in this way that the Children’s Commissioner for Wales came into being – through an Act of Parliament.   This is an occasion for looking forward, not back, so I shall not go over the full story of how the volume of Wales-only legislation grew.  However it is important that it did grow, from just that one Act in 2001 to four Wales-only Acts in 2006, together with two Acts containing framework powers for the Assembly.

Despite this, some people seemed surprised that the Assembly Government and the Assembly itself seized the opportunity to gain law-making powers so energetically, once the Government of Wales Act 2006 came into force.   Others, on the contrary, have felt that the Assembly’s powers have grown too slowly.

Both perspectives tend to overlook the significance of the legislation that has been passed since 2007 – the real law reform based on distinctive Welsh policies. We have given young people a legal right to a wide choice of education and training up to 19-years-old. We have legislated on child poverty, making it a shared objective of a wide range of public agencies to work together to tackle child poverty. That emphasis on social justice, equality and joint action continues, with legislation to promote the rights of carers, people with mental health problems and children with special educational needs. So, gradually a distinctive body of Welsh law is emerging, rooted in the principles of sustainability, inclusivity, social justice, fairness and equality.

We now have the prospect of the Assembly gaining law-making powers over the range of the Assembly Government’s responsibilities – on the basis of a yes vote in a referendum, rather than relying on successive requests for more powers on a case by case basis.  The All Wales Convention was of course another outstanding example of evidence gathering and analysis which has given the whole constitutional debate a powerful impetus. During this Assembly, we have had the challenge of making the case for new powers as well as showing how we can use them.

I believe we have met both challenges.The next step is to make the case to the electorate that laws which affect the people of Wales should be made in Wales. If the people decide that they want an Assembly which can pass laws on any devolved subject, the challenge will be consistently to use those powers wisely and creatively.

This is not just the business of government and politicians. What we need, to make the best possible use of the new governance of Wales, is input from all parts of civic society – colleges and universities, businesses and charities, local government, community groups and all parts of the public sector. All need to contribute their ideas, insights and energies to shape new policies and legislation for Wales.

In looking forward, not just to the next year but to the next Assembly and beyond, I want to tap in to that potential. We need to generate the public policy debate that will shape Wales’s future. We need to share the rich variety of evidence and experience that will help us identify the best options for change.

We have one year to go in delivering One Wales. But the coming year will also be a crucial one in determining how we can set a course that puts Wales on the right track for the longer term. We need to be honest about the challenge. Public expenditure will be very tight.  It won’t be easy. It certainly won’t be painless. We’ve seen an unprecedented rise in public spending over the last 10 years. Now we will see a major reigning in of our spending power – although it’s worth remembering that even with this very challenging financial situation, it is likely that our expenditure levels in 2013/14, when you allow for the impacts of inflation, will be equivalent to WAG’s expenditure levels in 2003/04. That it still 30% above spending levels in the first year of devolution.

The challenge will be to deliver continually improving public services, to come up with some radical solutions to delivering with tighter resources, and to do this without having to resort to wholesale job losses in a bid to balance the books.

As the new boy at the helm, I’m all too aware that in the years ahead, I will be judged on the difficult choices, the tough and perhaps unpalatable decisions that we will have take in the coming months – decisions which will, in all likelihood, have an impact for several years ahead.

My approach to meeting the challenge will emphasise a number of key principles. First, now is the time, as we emerge from recession, to put in place solutions that work long-term. It is not enough to get back to “business as usual” in economic terms. We know that won’t be enough. We have already shown that we are prepared to invest for the long term – just look at the development of the Foundation Phase, our focus on early years and promoting healthy living.  We need to ensure that the solutions we develop will improve the well-being of people and communities in ways that will last.  This is a key test of sustainability.

This means, secondly, that we need genuine joined-up thinking. We know that social, economic and environmental problems are intertwined, but equally, there are still many opportunities for win-win solutions. You will see this joined-up approach coming through as we develop our “economic renewal” agenda; in the draft Child Poverty Strategy that will be published for consultation shortly; in our continuing work on health inequities; and in the forthcoming Action Plan on Climate Change.

Thirdly, my focus is very strongly on delivery. We will need even better team-working with all our delivery partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors if we are to make the impact we want with limited public spending.

Fourthly, we will have tough choices to make.   We will need to have the courage to invest where the evidence tells us we need to invest, to get the greatest social, economic and environmental benefit. And we will need to engage with citizens as never before, so that they can understand the nature of the choices when they are difficult.

All of us know the great potential Wales could reach in the future. My task as First Minister, is to ensure that that potential is captured, harnessed and channelled to most effect and for our collective good.