What Wales can learn from Venezuela

From the Assembly's Record of Proceedings:

Leanne Wood: Among the most successful and progressive policies of the Venezuelan Government is to commit to giving every child a musical instrument and music lessons. Compare that with the recent decision by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council to consult on proposals to downgrade peripatetic music teachers to instructors, which would cut their salaries by around £10,000 a year. That would have a devastating effect on the teaching of music in schools in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Would you be prepared to look at Rhondda Cynon Taf’s proposals to see whether they fit in with your department’s priorities? If you find that they do not, will you seek an avenue whereby you can intervene?

Jane Hutt: I refer you to my written statement of 15 October on the review of music education that I have launched. I am sure that all local authorities in Wales, including Rhondda Cynon Taf, will engage with and welcome that review. The membership of that review group includes representatives of the Arts Council of Wales, the Welsh Local Government Association, Estyn, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and, importantly, practising music teachers. They will be reviewing current provision for 3 to 19-year-olds, mapping present support given by local authorities, and identifying how music provision in Wales can be strengthened.
9.12.09

But Rhondda Cynon Taf are making cuts now, before Jane's review comes out. A newly-made redundant music teacher contacted me last week. What's the point in RCT engaging and welcoming the review after they've sacked or downgraded all their teachers?

Copenhagen fail

The end of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen has ended in disappointment, if not disaster. There's no legally binding agreement and no agreement as to which countries should cut what levels of greenhouse gases.

Leaders of many non-industrialised countries have reacted with anger to the private agreement signed by the heads of some of the world's richest and biggest emitting countries. It's been widely acknowleded that what looks like an accidental deal by the USA, China, India, Brasil and South Africa goes no-where near far enough. So what happens now?

The climate science tells us that we have to shift very quickly if we are to avoid irreversible climate change. Parts of Africa are already turning to desert. People in the UK are at greater risk of flooding. Some islands face disappearing under water. The anger from the leaders of those countries who are already dealing with the consequences of climate change is perfectly understandable. They've been unable to have a say, yet they can see and feel the effects of the richest countries carrying on emitting as we are. This can't be the end of these talks. Failure to reach agreement is not an option.

Sacking them on the cheap

Last week it transpired that the UK government intends to cut the redundancy package currently available to civil servants. Cynics think it may have something to do with plans to sell off government assets like the Royal Mint, Llantrisant. The Mint is will be more attractive to potential buyers if they can lay off people 'on-the-cheap'. This is from last weeks Record of Proceedings:

Leanne Wood: The UK Government seeks to make changes to the civil service compensation scheme that governs redundancy and early retirement payments to employees of all devolved and non-devolved Government departments as well as those of many other public bodies. Those changes will rob thousands of hard-working employees of a third of the value of the redundancy payment that they thought that they could expect as a right. Even though Tessa Jowell agreed with the unions in September that talks with officials should be reopened to secure a mutually acceptable outcome, that has not happened. A slightly improved set of proposals were circulated to all civil servants by permanent secretaries as a fait accompli on Friday 4 December, with no prior consultation with the trade unions. Given the implications for the staff of the Welsh Assembly Government, the National Assembly for Wales and Assembly Government sponsored bodies, will the Assembly Government make representations to the Cabinet Office for the resumption of negotiations in good faith as a matter of urgency? Furthermore, will the Leader of the House make time available for this issue to be discussed in Plenary as soon as possible in the new year?

Carwyn Jones: On the civil service compensation scheme, it is important that all channels are kept open to make sure that there is a satisfactory solution, particularly for those who may be affected by the scheme. I will ensure that I investigate the situation, and if there is a need to offer a view on behalf of the Government, that will be done. At the moment, it is a matter for negotiation between the unions and the UK Government. I hope that it is something that will be resolved satisfactorily in the future.

International day to Eliminate Violence Against Women

Today, I was among a group of women Assembly Members who took part in 'Face Facts' , a campaign co-ordinated by Welsh Women’s Aid to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The intention through the use of make-up was to produce hard hitting images highlighting the impact of domestic abuse. It certainly did that.

To tie in with International Day, I also released responses I recently received from Welsh police forces showing the number of complaints they’ve received about domestic abuse.

In the last four years South Wales Police received almost 64,000 complaints with 2,862 prosecutions during 2008-09. Around three-quarters of the 12,322 domestic abuse victims in the last year were women.

It has been estimated that two women die every day in the UK and within North and South Wales and Gwent Police force areas there were eight deaths last year as a result of domestic violence.

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100 children spend Christmas in emergency refuge accomodation each year in Wales. Often they arrive with nothing, just the clothes they left the house in. Please help bring some comfort and Christmas cheer to children in refuge by donating to the Welsh Women's Aid Christmas Appeal and ensure that children who spend Christmas in refuge have some happy memories to take away when they leave.

The Children Matter - Christmas Appeal 2009. Please donate here

Referendum - bring it on!

Today sees the publication of the report by the All Wales Convention, and it seems that a majority of people favour the Assembly gaining law making powers, and moving to become a Parliament, similar to Scotland's.

The All Wales Convention, chaired by Sir Emyr Jones Parry, has hosted public consultations to gauge opinion on further powers for the Assembly, received 700 pieces of evidence and has spoken to 2,000 people.

We have seen time after time that the current LCO system has acted as a barrier preventing us in Wales from introducing strong legislation. This halfway house system has enabled MPs to put blocks on our efforts to ensure more affordable housing. They've tied our hands as we tried to ensure that our children can travel safely on buses. They've limiting our powers over the Welsh language and ignored our attempt to legislate to tackle climate change. I hope this report will help to change the system into one where people in Wales can have a much greater input into the laws which we live by.

From the record - prepearing for Copenhagen Climate talks

Assembly Record of proceedings 3rd November 2009
Leanne Wood: Plaid Cymru supports the calls from the environment movement for wealthy industrialised countries to commit to a cut of at least 40 per cent in domestic emissions by 2020. This call is not just about getting the UK Government to agree to such a target, but about persuading other industrialised countries to agree that a 40 per cent cut in emissions is a fair and just approach for the sake of a global deal. If you agree with that call, Minister, there are clear implications for the One Wales Government and the commitment to cut our emissions by 3 per cent per year after 2011. I know that the climate change commission is looking at the feasibility of emission cuts of 3 per cent, 6 per cent and 9 per cent, so I would be grateful to hear whether you think that Wales can commit to cutting emissions by 40 per cent by 2020.

We also support calls for the rich industrialised countries — those of us who have grown relatively rich on the back of fantastically high emissions historically — to provide additional money for non-industrialised countries to grow in a way that does not cause more harm to our planet.

We are all aware that climate change will bring more desertification, floods, droughts and famines. Some countries will need support to cope with the mass movements of people that are bound to arise as a result of that, as well as the finance to green their existing industries. Oxfam has called for an additional 0.7 per cent on top of existing aid commitments. I would be grateful to hear the Welsh Assembly Government’s view on that.

We would also like to see action to reduce the use of large-scale biofuels, as well as action to halt the destruction of the world’s forests. We recognise that we need to make adjustments to our own lifestyles, which help to promote the destruction of those forests. We should be making strong representations to the UK Government, which is the body that has the seat at the top table in Copenhagen. We in Wales should be prepared to make our own share of the cuts.

My final point is that Plaid Cymru is of the view that Wales should have direct representation in Copenhagen. We should have our own seat at that top table, and I would be grateful to hear whether the Minister agrees with that.

Jane Davidson: An awful lot of figures are bandied around in this debate. With regard to some of the early issues regarding the targets, the initial target in the Climate Change Act 2008 was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 34 per cent by 2020, against a 1990 baseline. There was then a call for a 40 per cent reduction by 2020, against a 1990 baseline. To look at our reductions against a 1990 baseline, greenhouse gas emissions are now 14.7 per cent lower, and carbon dioxide emissions are 9.5 per cent lower, as shown by the figures for 2007 that I announced in September.

The Climate Change Commission for Wales met with the independent Committee on Climate Change, which came to launch its report in Wales on the further action that needs to be taken, and when it should be taken, in the context of the UK Government meeting its 80 per cent target by 2050, it said clearly that our 3 per cent reduction target in relation to our devolved responsibilities was the most ambitious target in the UK; it is over and above the reductions that will come through the EU emissions trading scheme for example — for the large emitters — which will also improve reductions. Therefore, the figures are complex. We are determined to achieve a minimum of a 3 per cent reduction. Further work has been undertaken by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, which is probably the foremost climate change centre in the United Kingdom, in looking at reductions of 3 per cent, 6 per cent and 9 per cent a year, and what those would look like. That work is due to be published before Copenhagen, so we will have a chance to look at that as well.

The Government has always made it clear that the 3 per cent reduction target was a political target; science leads us in a further direction. If every country in the world achieved a 3 per cent reduction, we would not restrict global warming to a 2 per cent rise. Therefore, in a sense, there are major stakes for us all. I am looking at the maximum reductions that can be achieved in our final climate change strategy, which will come out in the early part of the new year.

I agree with you on the relationship with developing countries. One important element of the role that Wales has been given in the nrg4sd, and others, has been our commitment to sustainable development and the ecological footprint. The ecological footprint relates to bringing our share of the Earth’s resources down to our fair share, in the same kind of timescale as in the context of climate change. We have already put more than £0.5 million into our Wales for Africa programme, some of which will contribute towards the territorial approach to climate change, whereby we are one of the 10 pilot regions in the world of the United Nations development programme, and we have a link with the Mbale region of Uganda. That gives us a real opportunity to work on that agenda.

From the record... ASW pensions

I raised the issue of ASW workers' pensions with the Leader of House, Carwyn Jones yesterday:

I would be grateful if you would consider making time available for either a statement from the First Minister or a debate in the Chamber on a matter that is not devolved but which has caused immense strain for a group of workers in Cardiff. I am, of course,talking about the Allied Steel and Wire workers who lost their pensions, as well as their jobs,back in 2002. I am asking for time to be set aside to discuss this here, because I believe that there are representations that the First Minister could make to Ministers in Westminster. The recommendations of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman state that the former ASW workers should be paid 100 per cent compensation for their pension losses. Those recommendations have yet to be implemented, and the unfairness of the situation is
exacerbated by the fact that the workers know that, had they saved that money themselves, they would not have lost it. Instead, they invested in a private pension and lost the lot. That is a bad message for younger workers to receive, as they may then think that investing in a private pension is a complete waste of money. We need to ensure that the First Minister does everything that he can to press the case for the former ASW workers so that they can receive 100 per cent compensation for the loss of their pension funds. I would be grateful if you could find time for such a debate in the Assembly.

Carwyn Jones: You raise an important point. Many of us remember the difficulties—and
that is an understatement—that the workers went through when they lost their pension
entitlements. It affected a large number of families in this area and I know that they are still fighting. One way of dealing with this matter might be this: if those affected feel that there are fresh representations that could be made on their behalf by the First Minister, perhaps they could communicate with the First Minister’s office to see whether something can be done on their behalf. That might be a more effective and quicker way of getting their representations across to the First Minister and of seeing whether anything further can be done for them.