Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:46 pm on 27 September 2017.
Only yesterday here we spoke about the importance of open data collection, and recording useful data to inform and develop strong policies. So, how bizarre is it, then, that this strategy is so lacking in measurable targets, giving such little allowance for Assembly or public scrutiny. We are sixteen months into the fifth Assembly term, and the people of Wales are quite right to be questioning why a party that has been in power for over 18 years is unable to establish and work to coherent, clear and, again, measurable goals for delivery. Local authorities do it all the time. Where are they in this document?
Maybe this Welsh Labour Government is dissuaded from drawing attention to their record on the economy, business, housing, health, education, infrastructure, rural communities, because they have so consistently failed in those areas. Health and social services—we know that, in their current form, health and social services in Wales will not be sustainable in the near future. Health boards in Wales are facing significant deficits, overspending by £149 million this year alone. Since 2013 there has been a 400 per cent rise in the number of patients waiting over a year for surgery, yet the Welsh Government reduced funding for health and social care by 8.2 per cent in real terms between 2009-10 and 2015-16, exacerbating the pressures on the service, whilst the Health Foundation estimates that health spending in Wales will need to rise by 3.2 per cent per year in real terms to bridge the projected funding gap.