Welsh Labour is celebrating two by-election victories today; a gain in Blackwood and a Labour hold in Tredegar.

These are great results for Welsh Labour and show that since the General Election, momentum has swung firmly back behind our party. The wins for Nigel Dix in Blackwood and Bernard Willis in Tredegar are testament to their hard work, and the hard work of our volunteers on the ground.

Our membership is still on the up and with every wrong turn being taken by the ConDem Government contrasting with Labour’s social justice agenda in the Assembly, people are continuing to come back to Labour.

A breakdown of results can be found here.

Remember this image? This was the Liberal Democrat poster used in the General Election campaign, warning against the planned Tory rise in VAT, a move that would hit the poorest hardest. In today’s budget statement, George Osborne, flanked by Liberal ministers, went ahead and dropped that VAT bombshell, putting the rate up to 20% from January 2011.

Peter Hain, Labour’s Shadow Welsh Secretary had this to say reacting to today’s budget.

“The scandal of this budget is that the poorest will be hit the worst. Increasing VAT to 20% will affect everyone, most of all pensioners and those in poverty. As the Financial Times has said, areas like Wales that rely most on the public sector will be hit hardest by the deep cuts announced to public spending.

“Worse still, these big cuts are based upon a big lie: that the public finances are so terrible, the cuts must be faster and deeper than Labour’s very tough deficit reduction plan which would have halved borrowing within four years. Cameron and Osborne have been deliberately scaring the public, with Clegg and Cable joining in.

“These brutal cuts are ideological not economic, the new ConDem Government is not cutting savagely because it needs to, it is cutting savagely because it wants to.”

Cardiff will host a leadership hustings on 4th July.  Party members, including the 1000 new members in Wales, are encouraged to come along and play their part in shaping our progressive future.

The Party’s five leadership contenders will be setting out their stall at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday, 4th July.

This is a members’ event and you will need to register here: www.labour.org.uk/cardiffhustings

If you have any queries with applying for a ticket, please contact Conference Services on 0870 043 5533 or conferenceservices@new.labour.org.uk

You can read about the contest here: http://www2.labour.org.uk/leadership-2010

And to have your say, you can join the party here: https://secure2.labour.org.uk/join

Following Jeremy Hunt’s announcement that the Government will be axing Wales Live, the planned new channel 3 news service for Wales, Shadow Welsh Secretary PETER HAIN said:

“Combined with the savage cuts to S4C’s budget, this is a huge blow to Welsh broadcasting inflicted by the new ConDem government.

“£12m had already been ring-fenced for this project, which was coming from a surplus in the digital switchover budget. Wales Live was an exciting and innovative concept that would have safeguarded hundreds of Welsh jobs and offered viewers a greater choice of TV news. A lot of people had put put a lot of work into getting it this far and it’s bitterly disappointing that the new Government has pulled the plug at this late stage.

“Creative industries in Wales are struggling and the media is in crisis, Welsh news on channel 3 is at serious risk of disappearing off our screens and it’s outrageous that the Tories and Lib Dems in Government are offering no support.”

Alun Davies, who chaired the Assembly’s Broadcasting Committee, called for an urgent government statement on the issue and is writing to the Assembly’s Presiding Officer asking for the committee to be re-established to review the position facing the provision of news in Wales.

He said: “Only a few months ago Kirsty Williams wrote on twitter that she thought the Tories would cancel IFNC contracts and “sell Welsh news down the river.”

“Well – with the support of her party, they have done just that.

“Kirsty also called on the Minister for Heritage to give assurances that he has lobbied the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to ensure the contract is signed.

“I want to know what discussions she has had with her Westminster colleagues because it doesn’t sound as if they have listened to her.

“Access to plurality in impartial news is essential in any democracy. This decision throws Wales’ needs into the long grass.

“The Secretary of State has confused local news serving the cities of England with national news serving the needs of Wales.

“It is shocking that this coalition government is so ignorant of our needs. They simply could not give a damn about Wales.

“I would have expected Kirsty Williams and Nick Bourne to have some influence in their parties but it appears that they have none at all. Under this government Wales is the forgotten part of Britain.”

Kirsty Williams on Twitter
“Believes that we need the Government to get on and sign the IFNC contracts before the Tories cancel them and sell Welsh news down the river.”
5:49 PM Mar 17th http://twitter.com/kirstyam

Kirsty Williams on 17th March
“I have concerns about the input of Welsh voices to those who will decide the successful bid today, but I hope that the Minister will be able to give us some
assurance that he has been in close contact with his colleagues in the Department for  Culture, Media and Sport about the importance of this project to ensure that Welsh voices have been heard and that he will do all that he can to lobby DCMS to ensure that the contract is signed before the general election. Otherwise, as we have just heard from the Conservatives, we are in danger of losing this proposal altogether. It is really important that it gets signed as quickly as possible.”
17 March 2010  (See attachment)

Eleanor Burnham (14th March) “The Welsh Liberal Democrats held a debate in the National Assembly showing our support for IFNC and our position has not changed. We believe that believe that high quality television and radio news and current affairs are essential components of an inclusive democracy.”

Further embarrassment for the Welsh Liberal Democrats last night, as one of their AMs was forced to admit Nick Clegg has a “blind spot” for Wales, after the Deputy Prime Minister became confused about the Government’s stance on the referendum.

Mr Clegg was forced into a u-turn after telling MPs that the government would be campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote in a referendum on more powers for Wales.  Seemingly unknown to the Lib Dem leader, Tory Ministers, Cheryl Gillan and David Jones, had already committed to sitting on the fence by remaining neutral in any referendum.

Nick Clegg made his initial positive response, which he later retracted, responding to a question from Ian Lucas, Labour’s Wrexham MP.

After the retraction Mr Lucas said,

“It is no use Mr Clegg standing at the despatch box flanneling. It shows the complete disarray and shambles in the government towards the referendum.

“They need to come clean on their views and have a cohesive approach.”

Peter Black, a Welsh Lib Dem AM, admitted that Nick Clegg was weak on Wales, saying,

“…Clegg does appear to have developed a certain blind spot when it comes to Wales in recent weeks…”

With friends like these eh, Nick?

Welsh Labour will be hosting it’s first “Wales in London” event on Wednesday 30th June at the Mayfair Arts Club, London. It is a fantastic opportunity to meet senior Labour Party figures and Welsh Ministers.

All are welcome and limited tickets are still available.  For more information or to book a ticket then please contact Sarah Murphy on 02920 877701 or Sarah_Murphy@new.labour.org.uk.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Labour activists have been been campaigning up and down Wales in recent days, drawing attention to the damaging cuts being made by Lib Dems in Government.

Posing with “Under New (Tory) Management” signs outside Lib Dem offices in Wales, Labour campaigners clearly struck a nerve with senior Liberals who failed to see the funny side of the tongue-in-cheek campaign.

Members were also distributing leaflets about ConDem cuts to the Child Trust Fund, with Labour Party membership forms on the back.  A Welsh Labour facebook page on the CTF has attracted hundreds of signatories already.

Speaking about the campaign, Alun Davies said,

“The campaign is a bit tongue in cheek, though I’m guessing that the Welsh Lib Dem leadership might not see the funny side.  There is a serious message here too, however.  The ink is not dry on the ConDem coalition deal and already we have seen the Child Trust Fund axed, as well as programmes that support young unemployed people back to work.

“My guess is that is not what your average Liberal voter was looking for when they marked their ballot paper in this election.  It is clear that the Lib Dems are under new Tory management.  Some of them, like Nick Clegg and David Laws, clearly quite like the fact – but I suspect that deep down Kirsty and some of her Welsh colleagues are absolutely livid.

“Progressive people need to know that Labour is here for them, that we are promoting their values every day in government in the Welsh Assembly and we will oppose damaging cuts at Westminster.”

Reacting to the Queen’s Speech today Welsh Labour said that no punches would be pulled in examining the proposals and record of the new ConDem coalition government.

Chris Evans, Labour’s MP for Islwyn, said that the party would not oppose the Tories and Lib Dems for the sake of it, but where there were issues of public concern Labour would be both robust and responsible in their approach.

Speaking from Westminster, Mr Evans said,

“Whilst people rightly expect politicians to work together on some issues, responsible opposition requires us to hold the new Government fully to account. And the coalition has got off to a bad start in my eyes – not only axing the Child Trust Fund and Future Jobs Fund, programmes that benefit low income families, but they also chose to make the announcements to the press and not to Parliament. That is not acceptable.

“On political reform, Labour wants to work with other parties to restore trust in the system – but that will not be done by introducing a 55% rule that would allow this Government to continue even after it lost the confidence of a majority of MPs. That is not democratic, that is not the new politics people want to see.

“We also know that the economic recovery has not yet been secured. Damaging cuts that will destabilise our economy will be strongly opposed by Labour. We recognise that there is a huge difference between cutting waste and cutting opportunities for young people and there has been too much of the latter from this Government during their first days in power.”

Welsh Labour today responded to the £6bn of cuts put forward by the Liberal/Conservative government – saying the cuts were short-sighted, damaging and potentially just the start.

Speaking from Westminster, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain said,

“This is just the opening salvo of fusillade of future cuts aimed at thousands more Welsh jobs and key public services.

“The real tragedy is that instead of this savage cuts programme, Labour’s Deficit Reduction Plan, would have halved the debt but maintained vital public services and jobs.

“The first act of this ConDem coalition government will be to punish young families trying to save for their children’s future and the young long-term unemployed who Labour fought hard to support with the Future Jobs Fund.”

Huw Lewis, Labour’s Children’s Minister in the Assembly Government added,

“In the first major announcement by the Tory Lib Dem government we can see how they plan to run the country – taking the axe to some of the most vulnerable in our society.

“By scrapping Labour’s Child Trust Fund the Tories and their Lib Dem helpers have pulled the rug from underneath thousands of Welsh children.”

Responding to the announcement for the Assembly Government, Labour’s Jane Hutt said there would be no “knee jerk” reaction,

“If these cuts are imposed on us, the UK Government has offered the option to defer them until next year.  But we still need greater clarity on the terms under which we might be able to defer any cuts.  I have been, and will continue to be, pursuing this urgently with Treasury Ministers.   In the meantime, we will not be taking knee jerk action now to cut budgets in Wales.”

Welsh Labour’s Health Minister today announced that every secondary school in Wales will have a registered nurse by next year.

Edwina Hart made the announcement at Mountain Ash Comprehensive in Rhondda Cynon Taf, where she launched the new school nursing service in Wales.

The nurses’ role is to help address the health, emotional and social needs of children and young people and promote healthy behaviour and well-being. It will address the needs of all pupils regardless of their school attendance and will include services outside school hours and during school holidays where required.

It is widely accepted that schools that promote the health and well being of children and young people are more likely to create an effective learning environment.

Health Minister Edwina Hart said:

“The provision of a school nurse for every secondary school will lead to greater consistency of the service across Wales to improve the health of children and young people.

“The nurses will have a mix of skills and expertise, covering public health, health surveillance, health promotion, health protection, safeguarding, supporting children and young people with medical, special and complex health needs.

“This will increase opportunities to work together with others, such as teachers, classroom assistants, school counsellors, youth workers, parents and school students.”

Following the publication of a review into the administration of the education system in Wales, Labour’s Leighton Andrews has written the following piece in today’s Western Mail – highlighting the challenges and possibilities of moving extra funding into classrooms.

You can watch the Assembly statement and debate here.

In January this year, I announced a review of the cost of administering the education system in Wales, to seek to ensure that more money reaches the front line.

In February, I announced that I had appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out the first phase of that review. They have now completed their report and I am publishing it today.

The terms of reference for the first phase of the review were, broadly, to identify the cost of administering education across Wales; the numbers working in administering the education system; and opportunities to move resources from administration to the delivery of front-line services across the whole of the education sector.

In undertaking their review, PricewaterhouseCoopers have looked at a wide range of information, sought targeted input from stakeholders, and gathered views on where the main opportunities exist to refocus resources to the front line.

In total, they met more than one hundred stakeholders. These meetings have indicated that there is a significant degree of consensus across Wales in respect of their main findings. I am grateful to all those who participated in this process for their positive and constructive engagement.

Before I set out the report’s main findings, I want to stress three things.

First, we should acknowledge at the outset that much has already been done across the public sector in Wales, and specifically within the education system, to improve services and to achieve the highest possible standards of education and training.

Across the education sector in Wales there are numerous examples of innovative practice which have delivered better services to learners and the best use of resources. For example, some local authorities are already engaged in developing a consortia approach to the provision of professional advisory services.

There have been a number of mergers in schools, further and higher education, and increasing co-operation in many areas, such as procurement. Some further and higher education institutions are already exploring opportunities for further collaboration. This review will build on these foundations.

The second thing I want to stress is that this review is not about cuts in funding. It is about freeing up resources, by changing the balance in funding between front line and support services. In the light of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, it is clear that we have scope and opportunity, and indeed a responsibility, to do this.

Third, this is not about a radical restructuring of education or local authorities, although I hope that this report will contribute to the growing momentum behind greater collaboration and improved co-operation at local level. I support the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government in his attempts to drive better collaboration through his policy of ‘Outcome Agreement plus’.

In Wales we spend some £4.5bn a year on the education system.

The report analyses the bulk of this expenditure, and divides it between those services which provide front-line delivery of education, and those which can be considered support services.

It concludes that direct funding for learning and teaching, including educationally-focused expenditure, such as professional support for teaching and research, accounts for around 68% of the total. The remainder, around 32%, is made up of support services, covering a range of functions, such as the selection and admission of students, service management, financial administration, and so on.

Of course, the overall figure of around 32% of expenditure on support services masks considerable variation across sectors and organisations. There are examples of good practice which we can learn from and spread more widely. But the report provides compelling evidence of the opportunities that exist and the need to examine this balance further.

On the basis of the evidence and the input from stakeholders, the report identifies key opportunities which should be considered further. These are grouped under two themes: Simplifying Governance; and Standardising and Sharing Provision.

Under the heading of Simplifying Governance, I will continue to look for opportunities to simplify the structure of grant schemes, by reducing the number of separate grants. There may be further scope to rationalise inspection and performance management regimes.

In relation to Standardising and Sharing Provision, there may be further opportunity to standardise and share educational support through regional consortia. There is scope to integrate non-educational support, where organisations are not large enough to justify stand-alone teams.

Many schools are well-placed to form clusters to share resources, approaches and facilities. There is scope to standardise access, assessment and administration processes across institutions.

Within the higher education sector I will be looking to find opportunities to simplify, standardise and re-configure support services across faculties and institutions. And we can converge on leading practice in common support functions, by developing measures against which organisations can assess themselves and identify and address performance gaps.

The report suggests some practical ideas and opportunities to help us take forward; there is a wide measure of consensus around the analysis; and the response from stakeholders to date has been positive.

However, we require a step change. All the organisations involved in the delivery of education have a part to play, with a shared vision, a shared sense of purpose and real urgency. The themes running through the report of simplifying , sharing and standardising are values which have a currency for the whole Welsh public service and I will be reporting the findings and particularly, recommending the approach to the Efficiency and Innovation Board, chaired by the Minister for Business and Budget.

I am publishing this report today in the hope that the entire Assembly will embrace it as a foundation for action.

Leighton Andrews, Education Minister.