Araith

Dyma fideo o araith yr Eisteddfod. Here's a video of the Eisteddfod speech.

Ar y Maes

I enjoyed the CHC debate today with Dafydd Iwan on the Maes, and was able to outline how regeneration strategy will support the Welsh Language. There has been good coverage overall on the BBC principally.

The Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, was in the chair.

My full speech follows. I am too tired to translate it into English tonight:

Mae’n anodd I wahanu polisi Blaid Lafur o’r polisi Clymblaid. R’o’n I’n
Dirpwy Gweinidog dros Tai ar ol yr etholiad diwethaf – am saith wythnos.

Pan on i’n Weinidog dros Dai, cyn y Clymblaid, dwi’n cofio ymateb
I ddadl Plaid Cymru ar y pwnc Tai Fforddiadwy. Dwedais i

gallwn ni weld consensws graddol ar faterion tai

Esboniais I yn y dadl bod y Llwyodraeth yn

- Cefnogi mwy o fuddsoddiad i helpu tuag at ddarparu chew mil a hanner (6,500) o dai
fforddiadwy newydd ychwanegol
- annog pobl i fod yn berchen ar eu cartrefi, er enghraifft trwy’r cynllun cymorth
prynu (Homebuy),
- cefnogi rhoi pwer i awdurdodau lleol yr hawl i wneud cais i Weinidogion i ohirio’r yr hawl i
brynu mewn ardaloedd lle mae angen dybryd am
dai
- wedi ofyn I syddogion I ddiwygio’r drefn reoleiddio ar gyfer cymdeithasau tai, ac ar gyfer ehangu eu rôl hwy mewn datblygu cymunedol
- cefnogu’r datblygiad ymddiriedolaethau tir cymunedol
- defnyddio safon ansawdd tai Cymru (WHQS yn Saesneg) fel cyfle allweddol i sbardun adfywio mewn nifer o’n cymunedau tlotaf.

Hefyd, ar y pwnc dai haf, neu ail gartrefi, dwedais I mod I’n deall bod problem gyda ni mewn rhai ardaloedd yng Nghymru, ac r’o’n i’n hapus i edrych eto ar y pwnc, ac ar unrhyw syniadau ymarferol. Dwedais I bod rhaid i ni gael consensws newydd ar y mater, a sicrhau bod Cymru yn parhau yn wlad sy’n croesawu ymwelwyr a mewnfudwyr.

Ar yr un pryd, wrth gwrs, cymerais i ran yn y trafodaethau arweiniodd y polisi Tai yn y ddogfen
Cymru’n Un, gyda Jane Hutt, Jocelyn Davies, Adam Price a phawb.

Heddiw, fel Dirprwy weinidog dros Adfywio, fi’n trafod y sefyllfa gyda Jocelyn yn aml.


Fel Llywodraeth, ein huchelgais ni yw i weld pawb yn gallu fforddio cartref parchus i’w berchnogi neu i’w renti.

Byddwn hefyd yn rhoi cefnogaeth ariannol i bobl ifanc na allannwh fforddio prynu eu cartref cyntaf yn eu cymuned eu hunain.

Ein nod yw gwella mynediad at dai, cynyddu’r cyflenwad o dai fforddiadwy, sicrhau tai addas ar gyfer yr unfed ganrif ar hugain (21ain) a lleihau digartrefedd yn ein holl gymunedau.

Dyn ni ar fin dechrau’r rhaglen fwyaf i wella cartrefi pobl ers dros trigain mlynedd. Os
wnawn ni hyn yn y modd cywir, gallwn adfywio rhai o’n cymunedau sydd o dan yr
anfantais mwyaf.

Mae’n rhaid i bob awdurdod lleol yn sicrhau bod pob ty cymdeithasol yn cyrraedd safonnau uchel newydd – sef Safon Ansawdd Tai Cymru.

Bydd angen rhyw dair (£3) biliwn o bunnoedd i gyrraedd y safon a bydd fuddsoddiad yn parhau ar ol dwy fil a deuddeg (2012).

Nid yw dros hanner tenantiaid tai cymdeithasol yng Nghymru yn gweithio. Felly mae anelu y buddsoddiad mewn tai at yr ardaloedd hynny lle mae’r diweithdra mwyaf yn gyfle i adfywio cymunedau a chreu swyddi tymor hir lleol.

Er mwyn cyflawni y safon hwn ledled De Cymru, bydd angen hyd at dwy fil saith cant (2700) o weithwyr ychwanegol dros gyfnod o ddeng mlynedd. Bydd hyn yn cynnwys labrwyr cyffredinol, plastrwyr, sgaffaldwyr, ac adeiladwyr.

I gyrraedd y safonn newydd yn Ne Cymru yn unig bydd rhaid buddsoddi rhwng saith can (£700) miliwn ac un pwynt pedwar biliwn a (£1.4) o bunoedd.

Yr wythnos diwethaf, ron’ni’n lansio Cartrefi RCT, sy’n gymdeithas dai gydweithredol guda deg mil gartrefi. Mae’n nhw’n buddsoddi cant saith-deg miliwn (£170) o bunnoedd dros y pum mlynedd nesaf – pum mil cegin newydd, pedair mil ystafell molchi newydd ac yn y blaen. Ac mae’n nhw’n creu un cant saithdeg o swyddi newydd yn y gymdeaithas neu gyda chrontractwyr a chyflenwr neu mewn busnesi lleol. Mae’n nwh’n creu prentisiaid hefyd. Dyma
adfywio ymarferol.

Heddiw, dwi’n cyhoeddi cynllun i ddefnyddio rhaglen adfywio i gefnogi’r iaith mewn ardaloedd strategol. Dyn ni’n lansio prosiectau peilot sef

· pedwar can mil o bunnoedd (£400,ooo) yn Nant Gwrtheyrn i gynorthwyo’r gwaith o
ddatblygu ymhellach y prif gyflesuter preswyl ar gyfer dysgu Cymraeg, gan
gyfrannu rhagor i’r gwaith ehangach o adfywio Pen Llyn
· Pen Llyn hefyd – cefnogi prosiect adfywio sy’n cysylltu’r gwaith o ddarparu cyfleoedd gwaith a thai fforddiadwy gan weithio ar y cyd a chymdeithas dai leol, sef Cymdeithas Tai
Eryri·
Blaenau Ffestiniog – gweithio gyda chymunedau lleol i ddatblygu ymhellach y modd unigryw y gall yr iaith gyfrannu i’r gwaith o genogi gobeithion y gymuned o ran datblygu
economaidd.
· Peblig, yng Nghaernarfon, defnyddio broceriaid i annog pobl leol i ysteried eu sgiliau yn y Gymraeg yn gaffaeliad wrth chwilio am waith.

Fel dwedodd Carwyn Jones dydd LLun, mae’n rhaid i ni roi hyder i bobol i ddnefnyddio’r iaith
Dyn ni’n cyhoeddi hefyd pecyn ariannu am dair blynedd pellach ar gyfer prosiectau gwledig
Cymunedau yn Gyntaf gan gynnwys tri mewn ardaloedd Cymraeg eu hiaith yn bennaf,
sef Pen Llyn, pentrefi ucheldir Tregaron, a Bro Ddyfi.

Dwi’n cofio brawddeg o’r saithdegau: Tai a Gwaith sy’n Cadw’r Iaith. Dyma beth dyn ni’n
gwneud.

I benthyg brawddeg o ymgyrch Bill Clinton yn 1992 : yr economi yw e, twpsyn.

Barry, dwi’n gwybod dy fod ti eisiau gweld y prosiect datganoli yn symud ymlaen. Dwi wedi wastad cefnogi pwerau deddfwriaethol. Dwi’n credu hefyd bod rhaid i ni drosglwyddo pwer i’r cymunedau. Mae dwy enghraifft gyda ni yn y maes adfywio – y cronfa canlyniadau newydd yn y
rhaglen Cymunedau yn Gyntaf, ble mae’r cymunedau yn gallu arwain newid yn y
gwasanaethau cyhoeddus, a’r mudiad cymdeithas tai gydweithredol, fel Cartrefi
RCT a Bron Afon yn Nhorfaen. Dyma ddatganoli dwbl: mwy o bwerau i’r Cynulliad, a
mwy o bwerau i’n Cymunedau. Dyma’r ffordd ymlaen.

Mayor for the Valleys

In case there is any doubt, I agree with my colleague Huw Lewis that this is a daft idea, as I told the Chair of the Institute of Welsh Affairs on the Maes today. I see that the Western Mail managed to take one of my sentences from the foreword to the IWA publication and make it look like I welcomed the idea. Well, I welcome all discussion on the future of the Heads of the Valleys, but I don't think this is an idea that will go very far.

Just a quick note on Huw's comments. The original budget for the Heads of the Valleys was £10 million per annum: last year under Huw and I between us the programme spent over £16 million and in the previous year under Andrew Davies the programme spent over £15 million. So we are well ahead of the original budget.

But Huw will remember that the Heads of the Valleys are not the Valleys as such. There are only two local authority areas (Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent) and two Assembly Constituencies wholly covered by the Heads of the Valleys programme (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney and Blaenau Gwent). Parts of Torfaen, RCT (including some parts of the Rhondda and some parts of the Cynon Valley constituencies) and Caerphilly Borough (including some parts of the Caerphilly and some parts of the Islwyn constituencies) are included.

Community Mutuals

The Co-operative Party blog picks up on the launch of RCT Homes as a community mutual, the Co-operative Party's model for public housing.

ITV Wales

There used to be quite a good programme about politics on ITV Wales called Waterfront, presented by Jo Kiernan and then Lee Waters. It was replaced a year or so back by a less interesting programme called Sharp End.

Now ITV Wales has pulled the plug, meaning that there is even less competition for the BBC in political reporting.

This is what we have all feared.

RCT Homes

We launched RCT Homes yesterday, the community housing mutual - or housing cooperative - which tenants in Rhondda Cynon Taff voted to set up. Its £170 million investment programme will involve the installation of an estimated 5,000 new kitchens, 4,000 new bathrooms and 6,000 energy-efficient boilers. Other improvements will include extensive re-wiring, the installation of new central heating systems, improved security measures and work on roofs, chimneys and walls as well as a promised £1m a year on environmental enhancements.

The Community Housing Mutual model was developed by the co-operative movement in Wales with the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Earlier this year I launched a report that highlighted the unprecedented opportunities the introduction of the Welsh Housing Quality Standard would create.

RCT Homes is maximising these opportunities and creating new jobs, training opportunities, business contracts and major new investment in housing and related regeneration work.

Around 170 jobs will be created through RCT Homes operations. RCT Homes has implemented community benefit clauses in its procurement contracts. Local businesses have bid for and win major contracts against competition from national companies leading to the creation of a total of 59 new local jobs.

RCT Homes has also tied its main contractors into using locally-based suppliers which will generate a total of 61 new jobs and training opportunities.

RCT Homes has been working with the Heads of the Valleys JobMatch initiative to maximise the impact the new job and training opportunities will have on the local employment situation.

RCT Homes itself has created 53 new jobs since it began operations at the end of last year, and took on 6 apprentices.

Torfaen tenants also voted to go down the community mutual route. This is a model approach that I believe others will follow to help regenerate our most disadvantaged communities.

Reachinhg the Welsh Housing Quality Standard is not a one-off opportunity but an ongoing, long-term investment because not only do these new housing standards need to be reached, but they have to be maintained through a rolling programme of work.

Assembly Diary

Last week the First Minister published the Assembly’s legislative programme for next year, building on the One Wales programme for government. One Wales set out our vision of a fair and just Wales, where everyone can live free from poverty and discrimination. We made a commitment to develop Wales-specific solutions to tackle child poverty. Our next step is to bring forward an Assembly Measure to provide greater support to children and families experiencing poverty. It will include a number of initiatives such as a duty on public agencies to demonstrate their contribution to ending child poverty and to provide free childcare places and other early years’ services in specific areas.

As regards older people, One Wales made clear our commitment to help people to be independent and improve the care provided to vulnerable people by public, private and voluntary organisations. A key element of this agenda is to establish a fairer and more consistent approach to charging for non-residential social care. We therefore intend to develop proposals for an Assembly Measure to use our powers to establish a level playing field for charges for specified services levied by local authorities.

We are working hard to get local authorities and other public bodies to work together. Our aim is to have effective and joined-up community planning to deliver high quality citizen-centred local services for Wales. Early in the autumn we expect to introduce a Measure for local government which will link well-being and community planning with service improvement.
A stock of good-quality affordable homes is the foundation of thriving local communities and healthy family life in all parts of Wales. We want to develop a Measure within this legislative programme to give local authorities the power to apply to the Welsh Ministers to suspend the Right to Buy in areas of housing pressure for a limited period of time.

The government is also looking at a draft legislative competence order in relation to the provision of bus and coach services championed by my Merthyr Labour colleague Huw Lewis AM.

Not everything we do in the Assembly depends on legislation of course. I am pleased we have been able to put more money into the Heads of the Valleys programme, well above the original budget of £10million a year.

AM's photos

The BBC has some of the photos displayed in the AM's photographic exhibition in the Senedd, including this rose from my garden in Llwynypia.




I also displayed a moodier picture I took on Pen Pych in the New Year.

Well said, Carwyn

I am delighted that my good friend Carwyn Jones is following up issues I have recently raised in speeches such as the credit crunch and the importance of co-operatives to Welsh Labour.

Maerdy Archive Group

I was pleased to welcome members of the Maerdy Archive Group to the Assembly - not for the first time - a couple of weeks ago, for the launch of the Community Archives Wales online records project. You can find the Maerdy Archive Group material here.

The project has been supported by Communities@One, the Assembly's digital inclusion project, which is funded from my Ministerial budgets in the Assembly and from Objective One monies, as well as by the Heritage department in the Assembly.

CAW is a 15-month pilot project to enable eleven groups within Communities First areas throughout Wales to create their own digital archives and share them on the CAW website. The project employs 4 members of staff. It started in January 2007 and the current phase will end in September 2008. Digital community archives are collections of material in private hands that have been digitised and interpreted by community groups, enabling the communities to present their own history in their own words.

Members of the Maerdy Archive Group have been supporting my campaign to get the Maerdy Community Centre run by a broader-based group of people. Chris Bryant MP and I held a meeting two weeks ago where a lot of people indicated they wanted to become involved in the Community Centre, and later today we will be receiving the application forms from those who want to join.

Tappers Garage, Treherbert

Tappers Garage, Treherbert, was demolished with money form the Welsh Assembly Government's Heads of the Valleys programme and it will become a community facility.

Treherbert resident Sharon Morris has sent me these pictures o the murals designed by local children. I thought they deserved a wider airing.

Tower Colliery

Until recently a number of my constituents were working at Tower - now some have moved to Aberpergwm.

Tower's achievement is a shining example of the cooperative ethos of popular power and workers' control - and I was delighted to attend the reception held by the First Minister last night to commemorate the workers' achievement.

Does Mark Thompson have a point?

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson has made several BBC Wales journalists very cross by suggesting that the BBC Wales newsroom holds back good stories from the network.

But maybe he has a point.

Yesterday BBC Radio Wales reported in the morning that the Israeli ambassador had said that the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly had 'disgraced himself' by his email last week.

No mention of this on Wales Today. Nor on BBC Online.

If they don't report significant stories properly themselves, perhaps it's no wonder BBC network news doesn't get told?

Communities First

I outlined the plans for the future of the Communities First programme today in the Assembly.

Included in the plans is a new Outcomes Fund to boost community regeneration in some of the most deprived areas of Wales, worth at least £25 million over the next three years.

The Outcomes Fund is the centrepiece of our plans for the next phase of Communities First. Communities First partnerships will be able to bid for the funding but will need to demonstrate that their proposals will help deliver key Communities First priorities. They will also need to show that they are working in partnership with local public bodies and have engaged with local people in planning local services.

Plans for the next phase of Communities First will give the programme a sharper focus on stimulating practical improvements to tackle poverty, contribute to wider regeneration initiatives and improving employability. They follow an extensive consultation process earlier in the year. The programme will continue to be called Communities First with some new initiatives called Communities First plus. It will also contain new measures to intervene in partnerships that are struggling to make an impact locally.

A higher proportion of the overall budget will be spent in Communities First areas.

Censorship Rules Overturned

For the last month I have been campaigning against the proposed censorship of Assembly Members' websites.

I have now received Counsel's Opinion and I am pleased to report that Assembly Members have won the battle against censorship of their websites by the Assembly Commission. The legal advice states that the rules set out in the Guidance would not satisfy the requirements of Article 10 of the Human Rights Act because they lack clarity and certainty.

Counsel also concludes that the Assembly Commission would also be vulnerable to Judicial Review. The features of the Guidance which render it vulnerable to challenge on human rights grounds would make any decision to refuse an allowance equally vulnerable to challenge on traditional administrative law grounds in that Guidance would be open to attack on grounds of irrationality and lack of proportionality.

Counsel warns that the guidance ‘seems to lack any logical basis and to be unworkable’:

The purported distinction between Assembly business on the one hand and political activities, or promoting the interests of a person or party on the other, seems to lack any logical basis and to be unworkable. The lack of clarity as to the sanction in an individual case compounds the problem. These difficulties are of a scale that I advise that a claim that the Guidance was in breach would probably succeed and certainly the prudent course is to avoid any proceedings.

In his advice, Counsel also agreed there is ambiguity about the status of the guidance and a lack of clarity as to the dividing line between the kinds of general “political” activity. Counsel says:

If all political activity is prohibited how can that be distinguished from Assembly business: is there a category of Assembly business which is clearly not political? If there is what is the justification for excluding use of allowances for matters which are Assembly business because they are political even if not party political and how can the distinction ever be applied logically and consistently?

Counsel also comments that:

the specific point has been made that publication of speeches on the web would be acceptable but that publication of the same content not as a report of a speech would not. I think that this does serve to illustrate the problem of the distinctions which would become necessary as above. Introducing a topic as part of an account of a particular session of the Assembly may be relatively straightforward, but are verbatim passages all that are permitted? What of paraphrase or commentary, what of follow up questions and comments? Why is political or party political comment in quotation marks allowable but the same comment repeated independently on a website impermissible?

I welcome Counsel’s advice. This is a victory for common sense and freedom of speech.

The Guidance will now have to be withdrawn, and as a consequence all Assembly Members are able once again to communicate openly and honestly with their constituents, without fear of repercussion.

SUMMARY OF ADVICE FROM COUNSEL IN RELATION TO GUIDANCE ON USE OF OFFICE COST ALLOWANCE TO PAY FOR WEB-SITES

There is no legal objection in principle to the laying down of rules by the Commission as to the content of web-sites for which payment may be made using AMs' allowances or, alternatively, to the issuing of guidance by the Commission to help AMs to understand how such rules should be interpreted. Guidance must however be consistent with the rules since it is the rules themselves which must be applied.
there is ambiguity about the status of the "Guidance". It is not expressed as guidance in interpreting the Commission's Determination but as strict rules which must be observed. Those rules are more detailed and restrictive than the Determination itself. Since the Commission has the power to lay down rules (i.e. a determination) laying down rules is not outside the Commission’s powers but ambiguity about the status of the document contributes to a general lack of clarity affecting it. This is relevant to difficulties in giving effect to the "Guidance" identified below.

It as at least very arguable that insofar as the rules set out in the "Guidance" restrict those web-sites which may be paid for by an AM's Office Allowance by reference to the content of the web-site, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights is engaged and it is essential therefore that those rules should, in practice, be tested against the practical requirements of Article 10.

The rules set out in the Guidance would not satisfy the requirements of Article 10 because they lack clarity and certainty. Exclusion of material furthering personal or business interests is clear and uncontroversial. However, there is lack of clarity as to the dividing line between the kinds of general “political” activity which may or may not be carried on through a web-site paid for out of the allowance. Also, there appears to be a lack of a logical basis for the distinction drawn between activities which are to be regarded as being in furtherance of an AM’s duties and those which are not. Such matters would make it impossible to satisfy the tests that a restriction on free expression must be "prescribed by law" and "necessary in a democratic society".

The features of the Guidance which render it vulnerable to challenge on human rights grounds would make any decision to refuse an allowance equally vulnerable to challenge on traditional administrative law grounds in that Guidance would be open to attack on grounds of irrationality and lack of proportionality.

Update:

The Western Mail report is here.

The Daily Post reports the news here.

Juvenile Gestures

The Western Mail has more on Dafydd El's gesture politics.

Oh, and this old blogger says:

Had I received Dafydd El's email as well, I would have cancelled any other engagement to make sure I could attend, hopefully the cancelled meeting being one with the Presiding Officer himself.

Dafydd El Presidente

I forgot to post this, from last week's Assembly proceedings:

The Presiding Officer: Order. That was not guidance; it was a ruling. The reason for the ruling, which I have stuck to throughout my period of presidency so far, is to ensure the independence of local government. Ministers can answer questions on their relationship with local authorities, but we should not be second-guessing what local authorities do any more than MPs in Westminster should try to second-guess what we do........

......Leighton Andrews: Llywydd, or perhaps I should say 'El Presidente’—[Laughter.]

The Presiding Officer: Order. For the avoidance of doubt, I meant to say 'during my presiding period’. The Welsh word Llywyddu covers both.


Leighton Andrews: And 'El Presidente’ is a translation of Llywydd into Spanish, I think.

Thanks, Mohammad

I have received a nice email back from Mohammad Asghar AM which reads as follows:

Your comments are perfect, encouraging and helpful Kind Regards Asghar

The Presiding Officer and Israel

It's been reported in a few places that the Presiding Officer has summarily announced he will be boycotting the visit of the Israeli Ambassador in two weeks time. The Ambassador is being invited by the Plaid Cymru AM Mohammad Asghar.

I cannot be at the event because of a prior commitment, but I have emailed Mohammad as follows:

I am unlikely to be able to attend the meeting with the Ambassador as I will be travelling to an evening engagement in West Wales.

However, I do not want my absence to be seen in any way as part of the juvenile gesture politics provoked by the Presiding Officer. I think his response to the invitation to the Israeli Ambassador is discourteous to you, insulting to the people of Israel, and demeaning to the National Assembly.

UK Government policy recognises the role of Israel as a liberal democracy and also recognises the need to safeguard Israel’s security, as well as seeking to achieve justice for the Palestinian people. As the Foreign Secretary said yesterday ‘There is evidence of the possibility of reaching a solution to the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians based on the two-state idea….the solution lies in achieving justice for the Palestinians and guaranteeing security for the Israelis.’

Were I able to attend the event, I would want to convey to the Ambassador my concern about the situation faced by the Palestinian people.

I have supported the rights of the Palestinians for decades. Thirty years ago I attended the funeral of the assassinated PLO Representative in London, Said Hammami, at the invitation of Palestinian friends who were students with me at Bangor University, one of whom is now the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and was involved in the drafting of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

I believe that we will only see peace in the Middle East if there is a viable Palestinian state based on the boundaries of 1967 – and equally an Israeli state free from terror, recognised by the Arab world. That means dialogue, not pointless gestures.

Regards

Leighton

Foundation Phase

From September, the Assembly Government is pioneering our early years initiative, the Foundation Phase. Last week Education Minister Jane Hutt announced an additional £5 million this financial year, on top of the £25 million grant already secured in 2008/09.

The Foundation Phase for three to seven year olds is designed to give children in Wales the best possible start in life. It is based on learning through play, active involvement and practical activities which enhances their creativity, knowledge, skills and understanding which are invaluable for future learning.

The scheme has been widely supported by teachers and head-teachers. One head-teacher has written to me to say:

I constantly praise (the) Welsh Assembly Government and in particular our Welsh education system to English friends. We were first to take the brave step of removing SAT testing and we have a far more holistic approach to education with less concern about league tables and academic comparisons between schools. I believe that the philosophy of the Foundation Phase was to be the “crowning glory.” At last we can allow young children to be individuals and develop in their own way. Apart from the improvement in oral language I honestly believe that it will drastically reduce the disaffection which we battle with later on, especially with boys. If properly funded, it would make us world leaders in education.

However, there have been concerns about the funding of the Foundation Phase, and I met several Rhondda head-teachers yesterday to discuss the issues that they face. I have already written to the Education Minister on the issue and I was pleased to hear about the additional £5 million last week.

I believe that the Foundation Phase will mean a step-change in the education of children in our primary schools, and I want to ensure that we get the introduction right….