7. 7. Welsh Conservatives Debate: The Programme for Government

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:52 pm on 28 September 2016.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Adam Price Adam Price Plaid Cymru 4:52, 28 September 2016

(Translated)

I hope the Member will understand why—. I don’t want to do that, because, of course, we support our own programme for opposition. But I’m happy to confirm that we will support the Conservative motion, because we do have to hold this Government to account for a poor programme for government—a programme that is vacuous when Wales deserves better.

To put it in very simple terms, there are no performance data attached to anything that the Welsh Government is saying in this programme for government. I was looking through the document for figures; there are very few figures contained in it: 20,000 affordable homes—that was in their manifesto, of course—cutting smoking rates in Wales down to 16 per cent. Now, in the whole document, there are only two such targets to be attained—and 100,000 apprenticeships—just two or three targets, as compared with the hundreds of indicators that were listed in the previous programme for government. There are a few targets, of course, that take us up until the middle of the next century—1 million Welsh speakers, for example. Well, those aren’t real targets where you can hold the Government to account in a five-year term.

Even if we look at the language, as has been said, this is mealy-mouthed weak, very open-ended, with many mentions of ‘promoting’, ‘supporting’ and ‘working towards’. Well, you can work towards something until the cows come home. It doesn’t mean anything to anyone. To ordinary people, certainly, it means nothing. It’s difficult to disagree with much of what’s contained here, but none of us have any idea what it actually means, and what yardsticks are in place so that we can know whether they’ve made attainments.

Ac nid ni’n unig sy’n dweud hynny—ond y Sefydliad Materion Cymreig, Undeb Cenedlaethol yr Athrawon, y Gymdeithas Diwygio Etholiadol, Cartrefi Cymunedol Cymru, ac yn y blaen. Yn seiliedig ar y ddogfen hon, mae yna ddiffyg arweinyddiaeth, fel y gwelsom, o adael yr UE i TB gwartheg, ac ar sail y ddogfen hon, mae perygl mai hon fydd y Llywodraeth wannaf, y Llywodraeth waethaf a gawsom, o bosibl, ers dyddiau Alun Michael. Nid yw’n drywydd ar gyfer y dyfodol—nid yw’n mynd â ni i unman yn arbennig. Ac os na allwn gael Llywodraeth yn lle hon ar hyn o bryd, yna mater i ni fel deddfwrfa yw gwneud ein gorau i geisio ei hachub rhag y diffyg llwyr o syniadau sydd yn y ddogfen hon ar hyn o bryd.