Error processing SSI file Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales 1999 Welsh Assembly Manifesto
Foreword
For many generations the idea of a new Millennium has inspired hopes and dreams of new
opportunities, a more peaceful world and a more just society.
In this century, through the excitement and energy of the 1960s to the more cynical 1980s,
people have looked to the future to bring better times and the end of this Millennium has been
the focus of those aspirations.
For most people around the world the change from 1999 to 2000 will signify very little in real
terms. Their condition - rich or poor - will remain unchanged. For far too many, their
environment will still be in danger, and the threat of war or famine will remain.
But in one small country at least, 1999 really will be the time when things start to change. In
that country, a new framework of politics will commence. New representatives will be elected to
a new Government which, for the first time in modern history, will be able to govern that
country according to the people's declared priorities in most aspects of domestic life. New
opportunities will emerge to regenerate communities. This is the new Wales, with its own
national government and its own distinctive voice in a changing United Kingdom and within an
evolving European Union.
The Welsh General Election of 1999 will present the clearest choice ever placed before the
voters. For the first time their votes will decide who will govern Wales. In the past Welsh
votes have been outweighed by those from the English shires and cities. In no General Election
this century would Wales have returned a Tory Government. Plaid Cymru has always been stronger
at local government - where our votes really do make a difference - than in UK elections. In
these elections the voters of Wales have a real choice. The way in which they cast their votes
on the 6th of May will directly affect the government within the National Assembly, as well as
the governing patterns on our local councils. Every vote for The Party of Wales will register
support for the policies spelt out in this manifesto. The only real choice in this first Welsh
General Election is between New Labour and Plaid Cymru. The continuation of New Labour's
policies currently being implemented in London is one alternative. The other is represented by
the new set of radical proposals spelt out in this manifesto. After the euphoria of kicking out
the Tories in 1997, Wales has experienced bitter disappointments at the policies of London New
Labour. They have in many ways implemented Conservative social and economic policies, which
continued to treat Wales as a colony, governed by diktat. New Labour has rejected its Labour
Party past, which Wales as a nation helped create. It has chosen to become the party of
"middle England". The same choice faces the Welsh voter in the elections to the
European Parliament, County Councils and Community Councils. The introduction of proportional
representation to the European Elections means that every vote for Plaid Cymru will count and
will help to elect the Party's MEPs. We already run Gwynedd Council - rated as one of the top
three in Wales - and our record in local government stands head and shoulders above New
Labour's farrago of incompetence and corruption.
Credit must be given to New Labour for introducing constitutional reform, albeit long overdue
and in a very restricted form for Wales. The people of Wales showed self-confidence and hope
for the future in voting "Yes" in the Referendum for our National Assembly. That
hope is being dissipated by New Labour. The new self-confidence of the Welsh electorate demands
a confident and determined government that will build social, environmental and economic
policies on the basis of our values as a nation and the needs of our communities.
New Wales demands a new party in government. Only one party in this election has its policy
created in Wales, by the people of Wales, to answer the needs of Wales. Only one party has
dedicated its policies and its campaigning to the people of Wales and only one party can make
the National Assembly work for the new Wales and for the new Europe.
Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales, is that party and this is our manifesto for national renewal.
Dafydd Wigley, MP President,
1. Governing Wales
1.1 New Wales, new government
The establishment of the National Assembly signals a new beginning in the history of Wales. It
will present us with an exciting opportunity and a great challenge. It is time to undertake
the task of building a new, successful and confident Wales.
It is also time for a fundamental shift in the political life of our country, as Plaid Cymru
takes its place as a potential party of government.
Such fundamental shifts have happened before. Within twenty years of the election of Keir
Hardie as the first Labour MP, the Liberals, whose radicalism had been the driving force of
Welsh politics for so long, had been swept aside. Labour achieved a dominance in the life of
Wales which lasted for the rest of the twentieth century.
By the mid - 1990's however, Labour, reconstructing itself as New Labour, was adopting
different priorities. Casting aside many of its fundamental principles, including the
redistribution of wealth to help disadvantaged individuals, communities and regions, New
Labour targeted "middle England". It was elected to power in 1997 on a promise to
continue Tory spending plans for at least two years. Among Labour's traditional supporters in
Wales, there is a growing sense of betrayal and alienation. Such feelings have been intensified
by the way in which 10 Downing Street has sought to control political decisions in Wales, for
example in the Welsh Labour leadership contest.
This leaves our new National Assembly in a precarious position. If New Labour gains control,
adding to its current dominance at other levels of government, the Blairite agenda will
prevail.
The alternative is clear. Only the Party of Wales offers a real challenge to more Tory - type
policies in Wales.
For the first time, voting for Plaid Cymru can change the government. No vote for the Party of
Wales will be wasted. Every one will count as a firm rejection of New Labour's Tory values in
our county councils, our country and in Europe. We have always put Wales first and have always
fought for using the wealth of Wales to build a fairer, more just society. The opportunity is
there to move into a new millennium with a new government and a new party in government. This
manifesto outlines the real choice offered to the voters of Wales, between New Labour's
message of defeat and the Party of Wales' message of hope and national renewal.
1.2 What the Party of Wales is About
Plaid Cymru is a party rooted in the traditions and values of Wales. Our policies spring from
these sources and from the practical experience of our people. They are designed to reflect
Wales' priorities, but with a strong awareness of global, European and British needs and
realities.
Our fundamental conviction is that Wales is a nation and that our political status should
reflect that fact. We see the establishment of the National Assembly as a crucial step in a
process of national advance and growing self-confidence. This is a process that must involve
all of the diverse cultural and linguistic elements that make up our changing identity.
For the Party of Wales, building a national future is not merely an end in itself.
Essentially, it is a matter of taking responsibility - for achieving economic success, social
justice, cultural vitality, democratic renewal and environmental sustainability in a small
corner of planet Earth. These elements come together in the concept of sustainable development,
which is at the very heart of Plaid Cymru's programme.
Building sustainable development from the outset must be the central task of the National
Assembly of Wales.
1.3 The National Assembly: a national voice
The National Assembly is more than a law-making body; it is also our voice in Europe and the
focus of our national aspirations. Its role is far greater than that of allocating a budget
every year. It must lead our national development: in job creation and economic development;
in cultural renewal; in health care; in fighting poverty; in providing education and training,
and in environmental sustainability.
Plaid Cymru seeks a new style of government. The annual dogfight for resources, which pitches
local authority against local authority, health trust against health trust, and school against
school, will be replaced by a consensual, partnership way of working. Each year, budgets will
be agreed according to nationally set priorities and strategies. The Local Government
Partnership Council, the Voluntary Sector Schemes and the consultation with social and business
partners will all be vital tools in achieving this. National strategies for the labour market;
anti-poverty action; NHS reform; educational reform; modernisation of local government; reform
of training and lifelong learning will provide the basis for the decisions that will have to be
made.
The National Assembly must also make its voice heard in Europe and the world. This includes
ensuring the right to take part in meetings of the European Council of Ministers on matters of
Welsh concern and building on the success of the Wales European Centre. It also entails
protocols with Westminster government departments to ensure the distinctive voice and culture
of Wales are represented fairly alongside the other three nations in overseas delegations,
missions and similar ventures.
Wales as a nation is vibrant. The revival of our national language has contributed to a
stronger sense of identity among Welsh and English speakers alike. The two cultures have
invigorated each other, a process further enlivened by the newer cultures that migration has
brought into Wales. The result is a country which is renowned for its popular music, arts and
environmental conscience. This has been accentuated by a quieter, but equally significant,
revolution in our technological standing.
1.4 National Assembly key tasks
The key task of the National Assembly will be to consolidate this new Wales. The Party of Wales
will aim to ensure that the following feature strongly in our new Wales.
National self-confidence, together with an equally strong awareness of world
citizenship.
A just society, which fights poverty and social exclusion.
Economic innovation and success.
A commitment to safeguard the natural environment, locally and throughout the
world.
The ability to rise to the challenge of rapid change, the pace of which is likely to
increase during the next century.
A people who are alive to their democratic responsibilities and to their rights as
individuals and communities.
1.5 Assembly structure
How the National Assembly conducts its business will be a key marker of its success in
achieving this new style of politics.
Independent observers have noted that National Assembly Members (at 60, fewer than many county
councils) will have a heavy workload and will be severely stretched for time.
The Assembly should therefore structure itself so as to ensure it is able to fulfil its tasks,
without getting bogged down in endless meetings.
Consistency of policy delivery across departmental boundaries must be ensured, and mechanisms
must exist to ensure that certain cross-cutting issues are integrated into all policy areas.
The Assembly has a crucial statutory responsibility to promote sustainable development and
equal opportunities and both of these require action in all policy areas. The same applies to
the vital national task of revitalising the Welsh language and creating a truly bilingual
society.
1.6 A national government that leads
The Party of Wales will treat the Assembly as our new national government. It will have
important powers to debate all issues affecting the Welsh electorate and to make laws about
many of them.
We will:
ensure that the National Assembly debates the vital issues facing Wales, calls
expert witnesses to its committees and works with its partners in local
government, business, the trade unions and the voluntary sector on developing
policies.
ensure that the National Assembly instigates any necessary legislation on
those issues. Where the Assembly's powers are insufficient, we will call for
the necessary primary legislation to be passed at Westminster. Plaid Cymru
is pressing for a means to fast-track such laws through the complexities of
the parliamentary process. Further, we intend to use the power to promote a
private Bill through the Westminster Parliament when appropriate.
use public inquiries and polls as a way of increasing democratic participation
in the Assembly's decision- making. We will also encourage the use of
community appraisals and other methods by all public bodies as part of our
proposals for community planning and participation.
use modern information technology to ensure that the public in all parts of
Wales have easy access to the Assembly's proceedings and decisions.
1.7 Welsh public service
When the Assembly is established, the Assembly and its civil servants will replace the Welsh
Office. Providing the most professional expertise to the highest possible standard for the
National Assembly must be its employees' top priority. We want to see the development of a
national public service which would provide a proper career structure for civil servants in
Wales, working for the Assembly, local government, health authorities and other public
agencies. Inter-agency working, secondments and career moves between these different parts of
an integrated Welsh public service should become much more common.
We would encourage exchanges between the public services in the four nations, along with
secondments and exchanges with the European Commission's public officials, and with other
European states and regions. Such co-operation can only deepen our understanding of the
process of devolution and bring new skills and ideas into Wales.
We recognise that this cannot be achieved overnight. There will be an immediate need for
outside resources, advice and expertise. This will have to be negotiated in a concordat with
the civil service in Whitehall, and elsewhere in devolved parliaments. In the long term, the
Party of Wales would like to see the development of a public service college, with associated
training, in Wales.
1.8 Paying for our programme: the Assembly, the EU and the Treasury
The National Assembly will have an extremely important role to play in prioritising spending
according to Welsh needs and circumstances. But it has no way of levying taxes; no way of
responding to Welsh demands for greater public spending in one area, other than by cutting it
in another.
However, UK government spending is not the only source of support for the Welsh economy.
European Union Structural Funds can be used to regenerate communities and support enterprise.
Important changes are planned for these funds.
The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy could present serious problems for our rural
areas. On the other hand, Wales will probably benefit from far higher levels of funding for
the seven years from 2000 through the achievement of Objective 1 status.
However, these resources can only be used to best effect if matching funds are available. As
the Assembly has no revenue-raising powers, only the UK government can ensure that the
available European money is brought into Wales. Failure to do so would be a betrayal and a
clear sign that tax cuts in middle England are a higher priority for New Labour than the
regeneration of Welsh communities.
Plaid Cymru in the National Assembly will give first priority to the campaign for the essential
matched funding from the UK government coffers.
This will not be easy. Over the years, the London government has systematically diverted
European cash that should have come to Wales. The annual rebate which the UK gets from the EU,
negotiated by Mrs Thatcher, has been portrayed as an unmixed blessing. This is far from the
truth. European payments for economic and social renewal involve a reduction in the UK rebate.
The result is a chronic reluctance on the government's part to access European structural
funds. This, together with an unwillingness to provide matched funding, has led to Wales's
losing out on a massive scale and is a big part of the reason for our country's current
economic difficulties. The contrast with Ireland, which has made full use of European
assistance, is stark.
The Party of Wales totally rejects New Labour's view that European funding in
Wales should be matched by taking money from our hospitals and schools and
demands that the government commits itself to providing the necessary
co-financing.
We will ensure that the business, public and voluntary sectors are fully
geared up to attract all possible European funding, which will prioritise
support for employment, equal opportunities and the environment.
We will ensure that true local partnerships are formed to deliver the bottom-up
development favoured by the European Commission.
We will demand that European funding comes directly to the National Assembly
and not to the Exchequer in Westminster.
1.9 Funding relationship with Westminster
Given the Assembly's lack of tax-varying powers, the allocation of the block grant by the UK
Treasury is a crucial issue. We will fight for that allocation - in our view, currently
inadequate - to reflect the true needs of Wales.
2 The National Assembly and you
The National Assembly's most immediate impact may well be on family and home life. From the
outset, there will be opportunities to change the way we deliver early years education and
care, social services, housing and community safety.
These are all services provided for people, in the context of their home life. Nursery
education and child care is much discussed, but delivered patchily; social services suffer
from understaffing and a lack of appreciation of the role of carers; housing policy remains
skewed towards owner occupation; there is a real lack of good quality accommodation to rent,
and crime and the fear of crime still blight many communities.
2.1 Early years education and care
Young children are the foundation of our Wales. There is plenty of evidence that good quality
early years education provides great benefits to society:
Children who receive it gain in terms of their later education, employment and
their relations with the community.
Provision for children in their early years is an essential foundation for the
kind of new Wales we want to build.
Such provision
supports families
helps parents return to work if they so choose
helps employers retain staff
helps children develop socially
enables the local community to share in bringing up the next generation,
including the passing on of language and culture.
However, there is a danger that in considering the wider economic and social benefits of early
years provision, the needs of the children themselves may become subordinate. Children
themselves are citizens. They have little power, but great expectations. For the Party of
Wales, it is their needs that are paramount.
2.2 Educare
There is little practical difference between the educational and care needs of the young child.
Plaid Cymru believes that both should be promoted through an integrated system of educare.
This will require education authorities, health authorities, voluntary groups and families to
work together in both formal and informal partnerships. The ability to provide the framework
for such partnerships to work and achieve high quality educare will be a marker of the
National Assembly's success, as will quality in standards.
2.2.1 At the local level:
Local authorities should build on the Early Years Partnerships in each area to ensure educare
can be delivered. This will entail expanding the present target of providing the option of
nursery places to all four year olds to three year olds. This can only be achieved, especially
in rural areas, through strong co-operation with voluntary organisations. Each local authority
should therefore have an Early Years Unit which will work with the Partnership to co-ordinate
services across a wide range of providers, and ensure needs are met. Through a National Early
Years Strategy, local authorities will be encouraged to develop further partnerships,
particularly with voluntary groups and the health service (such as health visitors), to meet
earlier care needs. It is essential that there be mixed provision, including child minders,
private, voluntary and statutory run crèches, and informal care arrangements, to meet
parents' and children's needs.
Partnership must be genuine. The current tendency for local authorities to dominate, leading
to the closure of many voluntary units, and an actual reduction in accessible provision and
the involvement of parents, must be urgently addressed by the Assembly.
Organisations such as Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin, the Wales Pre-School Playgroups Association,
must be key players in a comprehensive strategy. The National Child Minders' Association has
an important role to play in the very earliest years.
We must take advantage of the unique opportunity to make the Welsh language available to all
our children. Voluntary groups, such as the Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin, have been the mainstay
of introducing and encouraging the use of Welsh among babies and young children. Demand still
outstrips supply however. Further expansion is needed. Also there is an opportunity, on a
voluntary basis, for children attending English-medium nursery schools and playgroups to have
some experience of the Welsh language and culture.
2.2.2 At the national level:
Plaid Cymru will ensure that every National Assembly committee considers the needs of children
when discussing its policies.
An Early Years Taskforce will be established to develop a National Early Years Strategy. This
will include:
A national training framework for nursery teachers and those working with young
children, together with a simplified qualifications system.
Action to bring provision within the financial reach of families, by
encouraging take-up of such incentives as Family Credit and the Working
Family Tax Credit. This will form part of both local and national
anti-poverty strategies and will be subject to a vigorous awareness-raising
campaign through local voluntary groups and health services.
Ensuring that children with special needs are fully integrated into the
national strategy and catered for at the local level.
Ensuring that the learning experiences of young children are appropriate for
their age.
Targets for Welsh-medium educare in every locality.
Meeting the needs of children from ethnic minority communities and those whose
first language is neither English nor Welsh.
Challenging race and gender stereotypes in the early years curriculum.
The Party of Wales has identified early years educare as a key priority. We see it as the
foundation of a lifelong learning strategy for the new Wales.
2.3 Social Services
The successful provision of social services depends on:
The dedication and professionalism of staff working at all levels
Participation by the users themselves
Adequate funding
Close co-operation with other sectors such as health and housing
Recognising the key role of carers and responding to their needs.
Plaid Cymru believes that market mechanisms, introduced by the Conservatives and continued by
New Labour under the guise of Best Value, have been inappropriate and damaging.
We will fight to abolish the market in social care and advocate a new compact with local
government over best value. This will replace the element of competitive tendering with one of
consultative planning with users, benchmarking excellence and standards, and collaborative
working. This will allow local authorities to run social services on the basis of the best
quality, and not merely the cheapest available.
Artificial boundaries between health, nursing and social care can lead to distress and
injustice, particularly among the elderly. We will:
Encourage greater integration between housing and social services at a local
level.
Move away from competition in the NHS.
Create a collaborative framework between the different agencies to ensure
services are delivered according to the individual's need.
Partnerships at a local level should encompass user groups, communities, voluntary sector
providers and health and local authorities.
2.3.1 Participation by users
Participation in the design and implementation of social services by their users is at the
heart of best practice. However, local authorities are often more familiar with consultation,
and occasional participation through the ballot box, than with true day-to-day participation.
The Party of Wales will strengthen participation through our new model of best value. We will
also seek agreement on uniform service charges for such things as home care through the Local
Government Partnership Council. Local authorities would only be able to vary these charges
significantly if they could demonstrate user and community agreement through their
participatory mechanisms.
2.3.2 Standards
High standards in care are essential. Plaid Cymru is committed to:
fighting discrimination of any kind
supporting the vital role of carers, recognising the need for respite care and
greater home support
establishing a Social Care General Standards Council to set and uphold the
standards of registered workers
the development of better training
compulsory registration of children's homes with fewer than three children.
A national anti-poverty strategy, working through local councils' own strategies, will set
targets for reducing social exclusion and achieving local partnerships. The Party of Wales
commits itself to working with local communities and groups on this.
2.3.3 Children
Services to children require a stronger emphasis on preventative work.
Plaid Cymru supports
statutory power for the recommendations of the Warner and Utting reports on
child protection
basic national standards for child protection and services developed in
partnership with local government and voluntary organisations
working in partnership with children and young people.
Consideration should be given to the appointment of a Commissioner for Children who would
provide information and advice to the Assembly on children's issues
ensure that policies of all kinds are compatible with children's welfare
oversee the development of local and national Child Care Strategies.
2.3.4 Learning Difficulties
People with learning difficulties face problems resulting from cuts in funding. The Party of
Wales wants to protect services and build new developments on existing good practice. Enabling
all people to realise their full potential is the hallmark of a civilised society.
2.4 The Welfare State
Benefits and pensions will remain outside the remit of the Assembly. Plaid Cymru is profoundly
concerned at the erosion of the welfare state under New Labour, and the effect of this on the
elderly, the young, the unemployed, the disadvantaged and the disabled.
At the time of writing, the UK government has refused to commit itself to free provision of
residential care for the elderly.
We see an important opportunity for the National Assembly to challenge the right - wing views
that currently dominate London politics.
2.5 Housing
The housing stock in Wales is relatively old. We have a high level of home-ownership, but a
lower level of income to support that ownership. Changes in the make-up of households - more
people living on their own, people living longer at home - mean that there is still a demand
for new rented accommodation and new houses to buy.
Welsh circumstances demand new solutions. Plaid Cymru recognises that housing is much more than
bricks and mortar. Poor quality housing both reflects people's lack of resources and
contributes to it - there is a clear correlation between poor housing and poor health, poor
educational achievement and social problems. This situation is now entrenched on many of our
most run-down and peripheral housing estates. Improving our housing stock is a vital national
task for the National Assembly.
In order to gain an accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the Welsh housing
stock, it is essential to carry out a full Housing Condition and Needs Survey. This will
provide the information to target resources, and draw up a national housing strategy.
We believe that local authorities should be given the tools and responsibilities to undertake
the task of planning and implementing the task of improving the housing stock. The Unitary
Development Plans that are now being produced will be strengthened when they are linked to the
national assessment of needs and priorities available from a full national Housing Condition
and Needs Survey.
Local authority development plans must also be connected with land use planning and the Welsh
Development Agency's role in allocating land. Such strategies should only be developed in
collaboration with voluntary and community groups, including tenants.
2.5.1 New House Building
Plaid Cymru believes that there has been too much emphasis on building private new homes on
greenfield sites in recent years. We welcome the declared wish of many local authorities to
see additional social housing provided by the renewal and regeneration of existing housing. No
single method of providing housing is appropriate to every part of Wales, but in general we
assert the following principles:
The regeneration of existing homes and estates will be favoured. While
preferring brownfield to greenfield development, the value of some
brownfield land for access and / or wildlife should be recognised.
In recognition of the social problems that large estates of social housing can
engender, mixed tenure will be required for all new developments except
those which are very small. This should include homes suitable for first time
buyers and for letting by social landlords.
Housing authorities should lead the development of sustainable communities by
encouraging co-operation across estate boundaries and types of tenure and
between different housing providers. Initiatives should focus on
identifiable communities in a way that encourages tenant and resident
participation from the bottom up. These should be part of the local
anti-poverty strategy.
2.5.2 Home Ownership
We acknowledge that home ownership is preferred by the majority of households though some of
this results from the stigma attached to single tenure social housing estates, the poor
quality of some private rented accommodation, and the limited choice of accommodation.
Resources released through the abolition of Mortgage Income Tax relief should come to the
National Assembly to increase targeted support.
Such support should be directed towards assisting people on lower incomes and those facing
mortgage repossessions through the Home Buy Option. This provides interest - free mortgages on
condition that the capital profits released when the property is sold are returned to the
lender.
2.5.3 Home Renovation Grants
A reform of the Home Renovation grants system is needed. This would be based on the results of
the Housing Condition Survey. In the interim, Plaid Cymru would move towards:
A more flexible approach to demolition and rebuild - which is sometimes the
most cost-effective solution
A targeted approach to home improvements, looking at the overall needs of an
area, and linked to anti-poverty strategies.
2.5.4 Social Housing
There is currently a shortage of social rented housing. Under the current financial rules,
registered social landlords such as housing associations can provide almost twice as many
houses for a given sum as local authorities. The Party of Wales would therefore:
Support schemes which would produce the best value outcomes under existing
legislation
Establish a scheme for tenant representatives on the Board of Management of
all social landlords
Advocate co-operation of local authorities and social landlords on a common
housing register and allocate housing by an agreed points system. This must
be open, transparent, easily understood and based on best practice
Allow and encourage social landlords to purchase empty homes to provide a mix
of tenure and to regenerate communities
Lobby the UK government for a phased release of Capital receipts held by local
authorities from the Right to Buy Scheme, without loss of Housing Subsidies
or Housing Credit Approvals.
2.5.5 Care and Repair
Care and Repair Schemes provide an excellent service to elderly and disabled persons, allowing
them to adapt their homes so that they can remain there with dignity. We wish to see a secure
funding system so that such schemes are available everywhere.
2.5.6 Energy Conservation
The promotion of home energy conservation must be prioritised. This benefits the environment,
creates jobs and reduces residents' fuel costs.
2.5.7 Homelessness
Homelessness affects all communities and produces social and health problems. Tackling
homelessness involves long-term solutions based on local needs. The Assembly and local
authorities should work with partner agencies to provide realistic and diverse solutions which
encourage long-term re-housing in the community.
2.6 Youth
The involvement of young people in the decision-making process of the new Wales is essential.
The danger of ignoring a sector of society already disenchanted with conventional politics
must be averted.
The Assembly and local authorities must offer young people opportunities to play an active
role.
The Party of Wales recognises the following as key areas for the social inclusion of the
young:
Employment
Access to decent and affordable housing
Education and training.
Establishing Youth Development Forums by local authorities would allow young people to have an
input on decision-making.
We will give responsibility for this area of policy to a specific Assembly Secretary. This
"Youth Minister" will highlight young people's needs and views throughout the
Assembly's policies and consult with Local Authority Youth Development Forums to ensure that
the voice of the future is heard.
2.7 Community Safety
Though most issues to do with the police forces and the criminal justice system will be
outside the remit of the National Assembly, several key issues relating to community safety
will be affected by its decisions.
Despite this divided responsibility, the two main approaches to crime prevention must be
integrated. However, Plaid Cymru believes that a society that ensures a constructive role for
all its citizens is the best guarantee of community safety. Communities vulnerable to offending
should be targeted and action taken to reduce risk factors such as poverty, discrimination,
family problems and low self-esteem among the young. The policies set out above - to
regenerate our housing (2.5); improve personal social services (2.3); and set the foundations
of citizenship in the early years (2.1) - will help ameliorate the factors that cause crime.
Our economic plan (6.1) will likewise contribute.
The right kind of economic development (see below) is crucial. We re-affirm our commitment to
the programme set out in our 1997 manifesto, including:
Neighbourhood Watch schemes.
Better vetting and strict licensing for security firms.
Sensitive use of closed circuit television cameras in major public areas, such
as town centres, after full community consultation.
A national commission into the causes and effects of the use of illegal and
legal drugs to make policy recommendations. This commission would take
evidence from all those with an interest in the subject, including illegal
drug users and voluntary groups working with them.
Better supervision of licensed premises to curb underage drinking, including
voluntary use of the "age card".
A ban on the advertising of strong alcoholic drinks aimed at young people.
Education and rehabilitation for young offenders in a culturally and
linguistically appropriate manner.
Most young offenders will leave their criminal past behind. To facilitate this, most are best
dealt with by sentences of supervision within their own communities.
3 Your local council and the National Assembly
The urgent need to renew political, social and economic life in Wales cannot be fully achieved
without a similar renewal at the community and county council level. Local government is the
key to that change. Plaid Cymru believes that local government deserves to be modernised and
given the opportunity to demonstrate how it can serve local communities by giving modern
leadership and becoming their champions.
The community and county council elections are an opportunity for local government to follow
the new national government of Wales along the path of change. This means encouraging local
councils to see themselves as the facilitators of local services. Local councils must take
responsibility for finding out community needs; providing or ensuring the services are in place
to meet those needs; and creating the opportunity for local economic and community
development. These ways of working demand responsive local councils which are prepared to
collaborate with the National Assembly, national agencies and local social partners such as
community groups.
There is little that legally stops local authorities taking such an approach now. However,
they have become paralysed by nearly 20 years of council-bashing, fear over funding, and a
severe shortage of fresh blood and new ideas. Councillors as a whole are not representative
of the types of communities and people that they serve and seem slow to introduce reforms by
themselves.
The Party of Wales sees strong and invigorated local government as central to the success of
the Assembly itself. In return for a partnership role with the National Assembly in our
national government, we will press for the modernisation of local authorities. We also wish to
build a new partnership between local councils and the National Assembly in the field of
education and training and health services. Below, we set out how a modernised local
government system would work. Other aspects of local government policies can be found at:
housing (2.5)
3.1 Modernising local government
There are three broad strands to the changes that are needed to ensure better and more
accountable local government.
3.1.1 Empowering the local community
Good local government has to be as close to the community as possible. A sense of community is
fundamental to a healthy society, and a sense of belonging is essential for the happiness and
well-being of everyone. Each community - as well as the individual - should be able to express
its wishes through the political system. Every locality in Wales should ideally have a
community or town council. These councils should be given an enhanced role in local democracy
and particularly in the role of planning and monitoring services. County councils should work
closely with their community councils to preserve local identity and give it political value.
Where community councils are absent, the National Assembly must insist upon meaningful
community participation and planning strategies from local authorities (6.11).
There are still more government appointees to un-elected bodies in Wales than elected local
councillors. Many of these perform functions that were once the preserve of local government.
Local authorities must be the eyes and ears of the local community, monitoring the workings of
these bodies closely and critically. Their reports and financial information should be
scrutinised by local authorities as part of their own planning cycle. Privatised public
utilities, such as water and energy supply companies, should be monitored and encouraged to
communicate in the same way.
3.1.2 The strategic authority
Local authorities must work strategically. Policies must be devised and implemented across the
range of council departments to ensure the council works holistically and not as a collection
of different departments, competing with each other for resources. County councils should
develop strategies that first set out to discover the needs of their local communities and
then plan the services to meet those needs with the most effective use of resources. These
strategies should bind the council, voluntary groups and private concerns together to create a
synergy of operation and to maximise results.
In particular, two areas must be addressed by local authorities:
Sustainable development strategy (or Local Agenda 21)
This should build on community development work and anti-poverty actions to bring new
opportunities to our most deprived communities.
Support for the family
Most of us are part of a family of one kind or another, but those isolated from family support
structures often turn to socially disruptive activities. Individual policies which should be
integrated to support family life include: play areas for children; child care provision and
after-school care; concessionary fares for the elderly; support for carers; youth
participation and full community use of school facilities.
3.1.3 Co-operation not confrontation
The culture of local government must change. The arrogance of old-style Labour and patriarchal
Tory politics must bet set aside for the good of our communities. Local authorities should
co-operate on matters such as the best strategic provision of professional or specialist
services and with the National Assembly itself. The Local Government Partnership Council must
work with this aim in mind.
The Welsh Local Government Association must become autonomous and set about developing
policies, guidelines and training for Welsh needs. The Association should collaborate with its
English and Scottish counterparts, perhaps through the proposed "Council of the
Isles", as well as European associations of a similar nature. In particular, there must be
partnerships and collaboration with the voluntary and community sector, business and
communities. The existence of the voluntary sector scheme with the Assembly demands a strategic
response from local government.
3.2 Electoral reform
We have long advocated proportional representation for local elections. This remains our aim,
but electoral reform by itself does not inevitably deliver modern local government. As PR is
not immediately achievable under the Assembly's powers, this must mean that a range of other
reforms must be implemented first.
These fall into two clear categories:
increasing direct participation in local government, e.g. at elections, as
candidates, as users of services, and
increasing community participation in local decision-making.
3.2.1 Electoral participation
We will:
hold local elections on days other than Thursdays
allow more regular elections according to local choice
ensure completely accessible electoral stations
place all local government agendas and papers on the Internet
establish the right of public and community councils/groups to ask questions
and make presentation to council meetings
encourage a greater range of members of society to be represented in local
council chambers - particularly younger people and women - by ensuring
better remuneration for fewer councillors, supporting working parents.
3.3 Management structures
Complementary to the reforms needed to our electoral arrangement are those required for the
way councils organise their internal structures, management and business. The Party of Wales
favours the separation of the executive from the "backbench" councillors, with the
important condition that the backbench councillors are given a clear remit and support to
achieve that.
Wales has a strong tradition of collective decision-making. For this reason, we are not
persuaded of the need for directly elected mayors, and the individual executive powers they
entail. However, we recognise that a particular area may wish to explore the introduction of a
mayor through a local referendum.
A further managerial change that would be welcomed is that of increased decentralisation both
to local government, within local government and between local government and its local
partners.
To support these aims, we will:
Support or initiate the necessary legislation to allow councils to change to a
Cabinet or other reformed committee system according to local demands.
Review the number of councillors with a view to decreasing their number and
allowing better remuneration.
Encourage more decentralised decision-making within local government.
allow the appointment of council managers, with delegated responsibilities for
services.
Introduce safeguards for "backbench" councillors, including full
access to all information and dedicated officer support for their scrutiny
role.
3.4 Community participation and planning
The second element of increasing participation in local government is ensuring that
communities can play their full part in local decision-making. This means both
communities bringing their unrivalled knowledge and expertise to joint working and also local
authorities recognising their value as equal partners. It includes both neighbourhoods and
service user groups taking a leading role in examining and planning the services they require.
We will build community participation into our new model of Best Value Service Standards (3.6).
Local authorities will be asked to ensure community participation in formulating their unitary
development plans and in setting priorities. Failure to do so should be a material, and public,
factor in allocating revenue support for future years.
3.5 Community and town councils
Community planning depends on very local participatory democracy. Where community councils
exist they can become the channel for this, but a framework for other areas is also desirable.
We would like to see community councils in every area of Wales, but recognise that doing so by
diktat could well increase public alienation.
We therefore propose that there should be a national model for community planning and
participation, which would include:
A scheme for town and community councils with the aim of creating a climate in
which they would develop naturally into local partnership agencies, taking a
lead role in co-ordinating and monitoring local services and needs.
A scheme for community planning and participation, which would link local
authority funding closer to an analysis of local needs and build into
national and assembly funding schemes a requirement for a proper consultation
plan to discover those needs.
3.6 Best Value Service Standards
We want to encourage the development of a community-based model for local authorities. These
should work on the basis of a comprehensive identification of community needs, and assume the
responsibility (not necessarily directly) for meeting them. Such authorities show a mixed mode
of service provision; take strategic, long-term decisions; advocate ideas on behalf of their
citizens, and seek to redistribute wealth locally.
Best Value Service Standards will ensure that all authorities perform to the best of their
abilities and use their resources effectively. Our participatory approach to local planning
will be linked to national benchmarking of services by the Audit Commission and a dual
assessment of community need - by both social exclusion indicators and local appraisals.
Mechanisms which deliver local authority commissioned services and which also retain or build
local economies should be favoured. This may often mean direct service provision, but could
just as well mean community-owned enterprises.
To achieve this, Plaid Cymru will set out a new model for Best Value, which will replace
competition between authorities for resources with collaboration and professional excellence.
Services will be measured against those delivered elsewhere - and not just by other local
councils - to ensure their efficacy and effectiveness ("benchmarking").
3.7 Probity
To do their job properly, councillors need both expenses and decent remuneration. The
expectations of work in the new county councils are especially heavy. Yet this must not become
a gravy train. We will expect the new Partnership Council to set out open guidelines on what
sort of remuneration can be expected.
We support a legally enforceable "whistle-blowers' charter", policed by the District
Auditor, to safeguard those who blow the gaff on any wrongdoing.
3.8 National Parks
Legally, these are local authorities. In practice, they are quangos. Councillors representing
their local authorities are nominated, not directly elected. Confusion can reign as to who
holds the executive strings and the large number of nominating bodies involved can lead to
poor strategy.
We therefore advocate that National Park authorities should be comprised of 50% of members
nominated by the National Assembly and 50% councillors directly elected by the voters of the
Parks' area, and will support the necessary legislation to achieve this.
3.9 Taxation
Our long - standing policy is for local income tax and a local business tax on profits and/or
VAT. We also seek the return of the business rates (NNDR) to local authority control. These
measures require primary legislation. In the meanwhile, there is scope to develop
hypothecated taxes, for example, giving local authorities the power to police and fine (i.e.
raise revenue from) illegal parking and use the resources to support transport initiatives.
We will explore the use of hypothecated taxes and charges within the local
authority finance system.
We will negotiate a new, lower Council Tax band in Wales and for further
discretion for local authorities over the loading for empty properties,
etc.
We will abolish all rate - capping.
We believe that the local business community should play a much more
participative role in NNDR consultations than at present. We will work for
a more integrated strategy of consultation with local business, similar in
principle to that for community planning.
3.10 Relationship with the Assembly and workings of Partnership Council
Plaid Cymru is the only party to have long advocated a new way of working between local and
national government in Wales. Our key principle is that the annual financial settlement for
local government, including revenue support grant and capital approvals, should be made
between the National Assembly and local government as partners.
This means that we will encourage the Partnership Council to raise local authority standards
across the board. Our vision of Best Value will be used to keep councils on their toes and
results will be publicised to demonstrate their council's performance to local voters. It
follows that Plaid Cymru would not limit any new powers to some councils only, but would
extend them to all local authorities, subject to their meeting the minimum standards of Best
Value and agreement of the Partnership Council.
We will ensure that the negotiations in the Council over the way the National Assembly's
support for local authorities is shared reflect their true needs, and that authorities
serving deprived areas are given as great a share of the resources as possible. We support a
complete review of the way the financial settlement is worked out, in order to tackle the
unfairness of the existing pattern of allocation.
The Party of Wales will ensure that adequate time and resources are given to consultation with
local authorities, and will recognise the value of local government experience.
The concepts of competition and challenge, which have proved so damaging in funding in recent
years, will give way to a rigorous and open assessment of need and viability.
3.11 Local government and sustainability
Local authorities in Wales are charged with ensuring the planning and implementation of Local
Agenda 21 strategies. The National Assembly will have a duty to promote sustainability. As a
key indication of both our commitment to sustainable development and our aspirations for
national government, we will incorporate sustainable development into Best Value and guarantee
that every authority meets the current timetable to draw up an LA21 strategy by 2000. These
strategies should be subject to full public participation and should be followed immediately
by action plans. The Partnership Council should ensure that best practice is followed and
failing councils toe the line.
3.12 Voluntary and community sector
We support the requirement on the National Assembly to have a scheme with the voluntary sector
in Wales, but feel that much of the real partnership work will have to be done at a more local
level.
Local authorities have a unique local leadership role, reflecting that of the National
Assembly at a national level. We believe that this role is most effective when its is used to
co-ordinate and facilitate developments that communities have been able to identify and
express for themselves. This is the basis for our community planning schemes (3.6). We would
further advocate that each local authority establishes its own partnership with its local
sector, along the lines agreed by Wales Council for Voluntary Action and the Welsh Local
Government Association. These local agreements should oversee community planning; ensure
community participation in European funding bids and other joint funding bids; and provide a
framework for an ongoing partnership of equals.
We believe that community development can achieve sustainable results in building communities
and tackling social exclusion. We will insist on community participation in any such programme
at a local government and national level. We also support the need for such programmes to
demonstrate long - term funding and the development of skills and knowledge so that local
people can lead and sustain the development of their community. Our plans for domestic
business support (6.7) include unique ways of encouraging the expansion of the social economy,
such as development trusts, community businesses and co-operatives.
4 Education and training
We want the new Wales to be a learning country. To meet the challenges of global change, to
build national self-confidence, to create an awareness of world citizenship and to ensure
economic success, we must revive the old Welsh commitment to education as the key to success
and civilised life. Our policies for education and training are therefore central to our
programme of national development.
We want to revive the partnership between local and national government to set education back
on the pedestal it once had in Welsh life. Little by little, local authorities have seen their
discretion over educational policy taken away and centralised. This has been allied with an
increasing tendency to set school against school and college against college in an ugly
competition for resources based on student numbers and results.
We recognise that education and training is a national project that must be closely connected
to our economic plans for Wales. But the lessons of lifelong learning - for pupils after they
leave school and college; for vocational training; for adult education and for workforce
flexibility - demand a locally accountable infrastructure to deliver that national project.
4.1 Local Education Authorities
Revitalised local education authorities (LEAs) must retain their key strategic role in
relation to school education. The Party of Wales rejects opting out from the local authority
framework by individual schools, along with the creeping privatisation advocated for certain
areas by New Labour. Each LEA will set out its blueprint for providing places for pupils in a
strategic plan to be approved by the National Assembly. While local management of schools
(LMS) has brought many benefits, the Conservatives, who introduced it, wished to undermine
local government and establish a competitive market between schools. We want a review of the
schools funding formula to:
Allow very considerable discretion on spending decisions for schools
Ensure co-operation between schools based on local communities
Reduce bureaucratic burdens
Safeguard key services.
Raising the prestige and improving the morale of teachers is a precondition for high-quality
teaching and learning in an age of constant change.
While recognising the need to reward teachers for remaining in the classroom and the role of
appraisal, we totally reject payment by results and the bureaucratic control and appraisal
processes advocated by New Labour.
4.2 Education and Training Council for Wales
To fulfil their demanding role, teachers need the best possible advice and support. Plaid Cymru
proposes the establishment of an Education and Training Council for Wales with the following
functions:
Curriculum development for schools, educare and post-16 education
Ensuring that teaching materials are available
Examinations and testing
Monitoring performance and providing feedback to schools, including governors
and parents
Publishing analyses of performance on a national basis
Providing a full advisory and in-service training service to school staff and
governors
Collaborating with LEA specialists to disseminate best practice
Maintaining national institutions such as the Youth Orchestra and Theatre.
ETCW would have the power to intervene to tackle deficiencies and raise standards. It would be
a democratically - constituted body. LEAs would have the most important voice, but governors,
parents, teachers, higher and further education, and the "social partners" would
also have representatives. It would subsume the functions of the Welsh Joint Education
Committee (WJEC) and the Wales Curriculum, Qualification and Assessment Authority (ACCAC).
The General Teaching Council for Wales would safeguard teachers' professional standards and
work with other partners on initial teacher training, professional development and promoting
teaching as a career.
We would retain an independent inspectorate but the present system of 'blitz' inspections is
damaging and inefficient. We want to see a fundamental review of the system.
4.3 Tertiary education
Further education colleges left local authority control in 1992. Since then student numbers
have increased greatly and more disadvantaged students have been able to follow courses. On
the other hand, colleges have faced financial problems and a market in post -16 education has
been created, with schools and colleges in competition. The role of the TECs in training
further complicates the situation.
The Party of Wales supports change to improve efficiency and increase real choice for students.
Elements in a new strategy would be:
a network of comprehensive tertiary colleges
tertiary colleges and schools sharing functions in an integrated and
cost-effective way
close co-operation with employers, including workplace courses.
4.4 Qualifications
We foresee ETCW assuming responsibility for the whole range of academic and vocational
qualifications. The aim would be to move towards a system of Welsh qualifications which would
be recognised at a UK and European level. A Welsh Baccalaureate for pupils at 18 and beyond
would be central. We pledge to find the finance to pilot such a WelshBac by the year 2000,
with the aim of establishing it as the main qualification for 18 year - olds within a decade.
4.5 Lifelong learning
Plaid Cymru believes that lifelong education and training should be available for the whole
population. Only by creating a society where learning is a natural part of our way of life can
we rise to the standards of Europe's most successful regions. Our schools, colleges and higher
education institutions will play a major role. Just as importantly, a wide range of other
providers, including those from the voluntary and private sectors, must play their part, and
the relevance of informal learning - not necessarily leading to qualifications - must be
acknowledged. We support the principle that an informal education sector, working through
community groups, should be funded to this end.
In order to bring all these elements together, we suggest that the Further Education Funding
Council be renamed the Lifelong Learning Funding Council and that its work should be redefined
in this light, with a particular emphasis on local partnerships.
In a bilingual country, the opportunities to learn and develop Welsh language skills must be
extended, as must the use of modern technology to bring lifelong learning of the highest
quality to many more people.
4.6 Higher education
Higher education must play a key role in the task of building the new Wales.
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) operate, particularly in research, in a context of
international collaboration. Our HEIs must take their place in this global context while
increasing at the same time the relevance of their activities to our country's needs and
priorities.
Achieving a world class HE sector in Wales must involve far greater collaboration and
co-ordination between individual institutions. This will be greatly facilitated by the
expansion of broadband telecommunications. The National Assembly should require the Higher
Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) to review the provision of courses across all
institutions and prepare a strategy aimed at:
Ensuring high-quality provision within Wales in the whole range of disciplines
and specialisms and the existence of world-class centres of excellence.
Attracting a higher proportion of HE students from Wales to study in Wales.
Enabling students to pursue courses/modules at more than one institution in
order to obtain the appropriate combination of subjects.
High quality research activity in Wales must be strengthened, and the research councils should
be pressed to increase substantially the proportion of their funding spent in Wales.
Fundamental and "blue skies" research must be protected, but HEIs should also be
rewarded for providing services to business, industry and public-sector institutions such as
schools. They should also, in certain circumstances, be encouraged to adopt an entrepreneurial
role.
Wales should become a centre of excellence in curriculum development and the preparation of
structured course materials for the global HE market.
Provision for Welsh-medium teaching and learning should be strengthened. HEFCW should urgently
conduct a feasibility study with a view to establishing a Welsh-medium federal college within
the University of Wales or the wider HE framework. Students and staff of such a college would
be located at different HEIs but would be part of a single network.
5 Leisure and Sport
With the complex changes in family life and working patterns, our needs are very different
from a generation ago. We have also come to learn of the value of providing safe, interactive
play areas for children which allow them to develop social skills and begin an active and
healthy life.
Access to purposeful and fulfilling leisure, including both sports and arts activities, is an
important weapon in combating youth crime and stress in society. We advocate the following
principles:
The right to leisure time and access to a reasonable variety of activities.
The provision of leisure facilities by public, private or statutory bodies as
appropriate. Local government will form the strategy, in consultation with
users, and encourage the widest co-operation to achieve the objectives.
The protection of allotments and other green spaces by local authorities.
Ensuring that where local leisure facilities are used to boost tourism, the
local economy benefits.
Maintenance and preservation of public parks.
Plaid Cymru recognises the value of sporting activities for many people of all ages and its
ability to relieve the stress of modern life. We will therefore work closely with the Sports
Council of Wales to develop a strategy for good comprehensive provision of a wide range of
activities throughout the country.
We will also encourage the establishment of County / County Borough Sports Councils in each
local authority area; these would be expected to work together so that there is genuine
consultation and agreement on local needs and new provision. Development programmes for young
players will be expected as a result of this co-operation.
The County Sports Council will have representation on the Sports Council of Wales.
Providing access to sport and leisure for young people and those unable to afford the full
cost will be encouraged.
It is accepted that private sponsorship may play a part in meeting the financial costs of
sports development.
6 The National Assembly's national tasks
The Party of Wales wants to build a strong National Assembly, working with its local
government and social partners in Wales, and representing our national aspirations in Europe.
The Assembly's vision for our national future, and the image projected by it will have a
profound influence - on other countries, inward investors and our own people.
In this part of our manifesto, we examine four key areas of national responsibility in which
the National Assembly will have to succeed.
6.1 An economic development plan for Wales
The National Assembly will not have access to the fiscal and monetary instruments governments
usually use to influence the economic environment. It will be responsible for only half the
public spending in Wales and will have limited flexibility within a set budget. Nevertheless,
we believe that the National Assembly can exert real influence on economic affairs, and
improve the deployment and distribution of Wales's resources, giving priority to disadvantaged
areas.
We see the National Assembly adopting:
A number of linked strategies to ensure the Welsh economy gives maximum
opportunities to all the people of Wales, including disadvantaged groups.
A multi-pronged approach to job creation, backed by well-researched market
intelligence, and appraised against social, cultural, environmental and
equal opportunities criteria.
Priority development of the domestic economy, accompanied by a focused,
selective approach to inward investment.
A social partnership approach to get maximum creative input from employers'
and workers' representative bodies, the voluntary sector, community
organisations etc, at all levels.
Transparency - including an independent monitoring unit, similar to the
National Audit Office.
New assessment tools to measure progress, and to ensure that public spending
gives maximum social and economic benefits to those who need it most.
A new institutional framework to deliver these objectives.
Such an economic plan needs to co-ordinate a wide range of new and radical approaches. We have
identified the following:
A labour market strategy (6.3)
A new infrastructure and emphasis on education and training (4)
Improved public transport to ensure people can get to jobs, and first rate
telecommunications throughout Wales (6.4)
A strategy to deal with the effect of CAP reform in rural areas, including a
fully funded Tir Gofal agri-environmental scheme (6.6)
Policies to support indigenous enterprise in all its manifestations -
mainstream small and medium business, community or voluntary sector
initiatives, and co-operatives, - and to ease access to appropriate
finance for domestic business (6.7)
Promoting equal opportunities and participation by women, the disabled, and
ethnic initiatives
A limit on how much per job the WDA can offer inward investors, on a sliding
scale related to the needs of various regions of Wales
Support for existing strong industrial sectors and suitable emerging ones
A new emphasis on cultural, and environmental tourism, with a revamped Wales
Tourist Board working more closely with the Welsh Development Agency
overseas and answerable directly to the Economic Development Committee
of the National Assembly (6.8)
An energy strategy for Wales with emphasis on renewables and the development
of cutting edge technologies (6.9)
A new national planning system (6.11)
The maximum use of EU Structural Funds (1.8)
6.2 Ensuring sustainable development and equal opportunities
Taken together, the different parts of our economic development plan are all predicated on the
principles of sustainable development. Plaid Cymru welcomes the statutory requirement for the
National Assembly to promote sustainable development. Powerful mechanisms must be put in
place to ensure that environmental sustainability and social regeneration are integrated into
all policy areas, particularly economic development. We support creating a cross-cutting
sustainable development committee.
The Assembly's economic development plan should draw upon the process of Strategic
Environmental Assessment. Use should be made of environmental and social, as well as economic
indicators. Economic growth as measured by GDP is no longer on its own a satisfactory way of
measuring success.
Likewise with equal opportunities for which there must be a cross-cutting committee. It is
vital that those whose access to work has traditionally been limited are enabled to
participate fully in economic life.
6.3 A Sustainable Economy
A Labour Market Strategy should be at the heart of Welsh economic policy, ensuring both
economic and social dimensions to a multi-stranded job creation strategy. All employment,
training and recruitment programmes supported by the National Assembly must make the best use
of public resources. The Party of Wales will advocate a new economic objective for all of
these programmes - the creation of employment which is of high quality, sustainable and far
more widely dispersed.
We propose the establishment of an independent Sustainability Unit which would provide the
Assembly with objective analysis and monitoring of the Assembly's economic development
programme as delivered by the Welsh Development Agency and others. This Sustainability Unit
would be responsible for a constantly updated skills audit of the Welsh workforce and monitor
the success of policy by the following criteria:
Effectiveness in correcting social and regional disadvantage
Environmental sustainability
Ensuring equal opportunities.
Objective criteria will be used for the awarding of public financial support and the Assembly
will receive periodic reports on the cost per job of employment creation in each sector. This
will include an annual statement of jobs promised and jobs actually created by all investors
receiving public funding and an analysis of inward investment to reach the true picture of
Wales' share, including employment created.
We recognise that the public sector is a key contributor to employment in Wales and a
stabilising influence on the business cycle. This sector, in particular local government, will
also be harnessed to prioritise support for those households who are "multiple
marginalised" (by location, job status, illness, etc) and for a policy to fight poverty
as an integral part of the labour market strategy.
The Labour Market Strategy will have to take the provision of training - vocational and
academic - fully into account. Our proposals for a new training infrastructure are detailed at
4. We also envisage some institutional changes to the WDA to support this strategy:
Separation of the WDA's international and domestic functions, with the
international division to function as an efficient analyst of international
business intelligence.
Shifting the WDA's regional divisions towards becoming facilitators of
bottom-up, sustainable local development.
Clarifying responsibility for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and rules to
prevent WDA regions, economic fora and local authorities bidding against
one another against the national interest.
Giving Business Connect a clear brief and a set period in which to prove it
can deliver business services.
6.4 Transport and communications
Our transport policy has five main objectives:
to give environmental and safety considerations first priority
to provide good quality links with the rest of Britain and Europe
to improve links within Wales and between North and South
to integrate all modes of transport in the context of strategic land use
planning
to reduce road traffic overall.
Unfortunately, the Assembly lacks all of the powers necessary to meet these objectives. We
will therefore seek primary legislation at Westminster to enable
The transfer of responsibility and funding for railways to the Assembly
The creation of a Wales Passenger Transport Authority.
A Strategic Transport Authority would take decisions on investment in rail and other public
transport and in roads. Local authorities working through regional transport boards would
co-ordinate public transport and different modes to achieve seamless interchange.
Until such a structure is established, the Assembly should work with OPRAF and the Regulator
to integrate transport and improve railway services.
When the UK government creates a Strategic Rail Authority there will be an opportunity for the
transfer of functions referred to above. As a transitional stage, a Wales division within the
Strategic Rail Authority would be a step forward.
New Labour are proposing large scale investment in the M4 and a new road to Wales
International Airport. Plaid Cymru by contrast favours investment in rail, including a rail
link to the airport and significant investment in the Valley lines.
A fast rail service from the North West to Cardiff is an urgent priority.
Roads will of course remain vitally important, not least in providing for high-quality public
transport by bus. We wish to see a decent "figure-of-eight" road network giving
north-south links to the four corners of Wales and connections with the main east-west routes
such as the A40, the A55 and the M4.
6.5 Electronic Networks
We are on the brink of one of the major changes in human history. The information revolution
will have profound consequences for the economic and social life of Wales.
That is why a first-rate telecommunications network is absolutely essential for Wales, a
country of small dispersed communities. The advantages for economic development of investment
in such a network could be enormous, and the need for people to travel, and thus generate road
traffic could be reduced.
The Assembly must work with private and public-sector bodies, using European money as
appropriate, to deliver this fundamental necessity for the new Wales.
6.6 Rural development
Agriculture and the rural economy are more significant in Wales than in the UK as a whole:
farming contributes more to GDP and employment, and almost a quarter of the population lives
outside the conurbations of the south-east and north-east. Rural Wales is distinctive in
economic, social and environmental terms, and has a particular place in our national image and
cultural identity.
Because of the predominant influence of European policy, the link between policy changes and
conditions in rural Wales is strong. Despite high levels of support through the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP), a succession of agricultural crises have occurred. These have
tended to accelerate the long-term transformation of agricultural holdings. Social changes have
been induced by the loss of farming jobs as it has become difficult even for farm family members
to carry on in farming.
Diversification of the rural economy, for example in manufacturing and tourism, has only
partially compensated for these losses in agricultural employment.
The pressure for deep cuts in agricultural support, particularly from the UK government,
presents a serious threat to our family farm structure and rural areas. The Assembly should
campaign against such cuts and in favour of redirecting support into agri-environmental
programmes, integrated rural development, with special attention to the family farm and new
entrants to the industry. Over time, the Assembly should be given responsibility for
agricultural support payments in Wales.
A sustainable land-use strategy should provide the framework for policy decisions on rural
development. Key elements would include:
a fully-funded Tir Gofal scheme
the promotion of green and cultural tourism
sustainable forestry
adding value to primary products including food
renewable energy, including crops
encouraging co-operation amongst producers.
Plaid Cymru welcomes the WDA's new role in developing a Welsh food strategy, including
marketing Wales as the source of high-quality environmentally-friendly products.
6.7 Domestic business support
Plaid Cymru will direct the new Welsh Development Agency to look to domestic business support
and growth as a priority. This must include "new" sectors such as the social economy
(which includes not-for-profit companies and co-operatives), as well as SMEs.
The financing of these sectors needs a radical approach if new businesses are to be started
and jobs created. We will urge the National Assembly to:
Encourage mainstream banks to establish specialist units or partnerships with
social investment specialists.
Help credit unions to extend their micro-finance role.
Facilitate the formation of a development bank.
Direct the WDA to offer "soft" loans.
Offer business rate rebates or holidays to encourage businesses in the areas of
greatest need, in conjunction with local authorities.
Insist that the community and voluntary sector be taken seriously as an
economic development partner, thus ensuring that the maximum available
European funding is attracted.
Offer specific support to women and ethnic minority entrepreneurs.
One of our key objectives is to ensure that Welsh-based knowledge - whether at the community,
small business or corporate level - is utilised when the National Assembly itself needs to
purchase outside expertise, and that as much as possible of the revenue spent is retained in
Wales.
6.8 Tourism
Tourism makes a major contribution to the economy of Wales, The further development of
sustainable tourism must involve its growing hand-in-hand with natural and community assets.
This will entail protecting and strengthening our built and natural environment, and
developing local facilities in tune with local community needs. Tourism must be maintained and
developed under a national strategic umbrella, such as that provided by the Wales Tourist
Board. However, there is a clear need for greater co-ordination between the WTB and the WDA.
Both agencies should agree a joint strategy for the economic promotion of Wales and report to
the Economic Affairs committee in the National Assembly.
The delivery of individual tourist facilities and ventures is in the hands of a myriad of
agencies, local authorities and private operators. Community interests should be brought much
more into the planning process of the Wales Tourist Board.
Welsh tourism has benefited from considerable European funding. There is room for improvement,
however, and the new Structural Funds offer the opportunity to promote tourism within the wider
aim of a Europe of cultural diversity, environmental sustainability and community-controlled
development.
6.9 Energy
Energy is crucial in shaping economies and societies. It is vital that the National Assembly
develops an energy policy that meets the needs of a growing economy in a sustainable way.
The economic development powers of the Assembly can be used to promote such an energy policy.
Plaid Cymru will use them to:
Promote energy efficiency. The WDA should encourage this among business, for
example in the use of combined heat and power schemes.
Help the renewable energy sector. This includes hydro, wind, solar, biomass
and tidal energy. Biomass energy has a particular role to play in the
regeneration of rural communities.
Recognise a continuing, though reduced, role for coal.
Work with the educational, voluntary and research sectors, for example in
providing information and ideas to the public.
The planning system has a key role. We will operate on the basis of a presumption against
further open cast mining and nuclear power stations and in favour of renewable energy
generation. Planning decisions about housing and other development should consider how
ecological features - such as solar energy, energy efficiency measures and water saving -
could be incorporated.
6.10 Water
Water is a vital environmental and economic asset which will be in increasingly short supply.
Wales however is a water-rich country. The Party of Wales is determined that water be
developed in an environmentally responsible manner in the national interest.
Policy priorities will be:
Preventing further transfers of water out of Wales and "adding
value" to it within our country
Developing a charging system based on Welsh needs
Over time bringing all water supply into the Assembly's remit
Seeking fair recompense for exported water to reduce bills in Wales
Encouraging conservation.
6.11 Planning
Land use, and community planning, are central to ensuring co-ordination between our economic
development plan and other policies which impact upon it, such as housing and local
government.
We propose that the present ad-hoc and inadequate arrangements be replaced by a new
distinctively Welsh planning framework, comprising
A Development Plan for Wales, integrated with the functions of the WDA. This
would give a land use perspective to issues such as transport, housing,
sustainable development, and tackle the big issue of hotspots in the
south-east whilst stimulating appropriate development elsewhere.
A new national system of guidance, replacing the current inadequate
adaptations from England with new guidance on individual policy areas, such
as open cast mining, renewable energy (6.9) and water (6.10).
Building upon local authority community-based, development plans within the
national framework.
We would further ensure:
a limit on greenfield development
a presumption against out of town stores
a presumption against landfill
a requirement to follow the 1% for Art scheme in larger developments
that community councils, groups and individuals be allowed to address planning
meetings
in the longer term, democratisation of the National Parks.
The WDA must be brought much more into the planning system, particularly now it incorporates
the Land Authority for Wales. The Party of Wales will advocate that the WDA:
has targets for acquiring and developing brownfield sites in each local
authority area
forms genuine partnerships with local councils
modifies its "clawback" rules to promote the reclamation of
brownfield sites.
6.12 A Welsh National Health Service
The NHS was conceived in Wales and born of Welsh values and aspirations. On its 50th
anniversary we can celebrate its achievements while recognising the serious difficulties it
faces. The National Assembly will inherit a situation in which social inequality and
deprivation have created some morbidity blackspots which are among the worst in Europe, as well
as a funding crisis.
Despite the enormous resources the NHS commands, it is under - funded in comparison with
international standards. Repeated tinkering over the years with its structure and
administration - culminating in the present regime of internal market competition - has
reduced efficiency.
The Party of Wales will strive for a health service that is fairer; eliminates two-tier
services; is based on co-operation rather than competition; promotes better health; and
involves the public. Such a health service should have two core aims:
An effective, clinically led service, based on quality and equality
The promotion of good health and prevention of disease.
This involves integrating health considerations into areas such as housing, transport and the
environment. In setting out to realise these aims, the National Assembly must establish a
mechanism for achieving a consensus on needs and demands.
6.12.1 A new structure for the Welsh NHS
The existing NHS structure is forced to compete with itself as an internal market. Plaid Cymru
aims to:
abolish the internal market and the Trust structure
reorganise the NHS around units of clinical delivery, with the minimum
disruption to service delivery.
Our new NHS would comprise:
A Health Committee and ministry in the National Assembly, responsible for
strategic planning and policy decisions.
The five Health Authorities will be reconstituted democratically to be
responsible for the commissioning and delivering of all health services
within their areas. The purchaser/provider split will be abolished. The
HA's will employ and deploy the family practitioner and primary care
services (6.12).
Local Health Councils. These democratically constituted bodies will be the
principal advisory mechanism to inform the Health Authorities of the specific
needs of their area. They should evolve in a staged way, initially as Local
Health Teams and eventually becoming LHCs.
The HA's will be responsible for the district general hospitals serving their areas, but
without rigid boundaries as the compartmentalisation created by trusts will have gone. They
will draw up health improvement programmes based on the health needs of their areas and
following wide consultation. They will collaborate on nationally - or regionally - provided
specialist services. Their annual reports will be required to report on collaboration within
the NHS and with other agencies including local authorities and the voluntary sector.
6.12.2 Standards
With the purchaser - provider split gone, standards and quality would be checked by an
independent Health Service Inspectorate and a Welsh Department of Health which should liaise
with its equivalents elsewhere in the UK and abroad to benchmark our services against best
practice.
6.12.3 Primary care
Family practitioners and the community nurse are the cornerstone of the Welsh NHS. To improve
these services, we will relieve the family doctor of the responsibility for sick certification
and encourage the amalgamation of single practices into groups.
Where appropriate, community hospitals may be managed clinically by GPs, with nursing and
other colleagues, working in clinical directorates similar to those in district general
hospitals.
A new pattern of salaried GP's will be piloted. This will help attract GPs to areas of need,
such as the industrial valleys, and give greater synergy to their work with other salaried
primary health workers. A similar scheme for dentists will be enhanced.
Nurses will be able to develop aspects of their roles such as screening, testing and limited
prescribing, releasing medical practitioners from inappropriate work and allowing a more
cost-effective use of NHS personnel. Public health nurses such as Health Visitors and School
Nurses will be the cornerstone of local initiatives to improve the quality of life of
children, families and communities.
Emergency primary care treatment centres, sited in the community hospital, with GPs, nurses,
dentists and pharmacists on call, will improve casualty and out of hours services.
6.12.4 Secondary services
These are mostly focused around the District General Hospital. Giving the demography of Wales,
the National Assembly should resist the drift towards large hospitals staffed predominantly by
specialists and reinforce the more local district hospital staffed by generalists.
Innovative ways of integrating primary and secondary care, for example telephone consultations,
specialist clinics and tele-medicine increase the ability of primary care staff to make
assessments and release hospital staff to concentrate on more appropriate tasks.
6.12.5 Highly Specialised (Tertiary) Services
The strategy for these should be decided nationally, and not by competition and duplication as
at present. Centralisation in one centre should be resisted.
Criteria for determining access to some treatments should be provided in national guidelines.
6.12.6 Mental Health Services
The essential task of providing a service for those with mental illness in their own
communities must be supported by an effective hospital service. These two aspects - community
care and in-patient services - must be taken forward together. The one does not depend on the
dismantling of the other.
The simplistic approach of simply replacing hospitals with community care has been disastrous.
We now have a situation where prison places increase as hospital places decrease, with a
corresponding rise in the numbers of prisoners with mental illness. Effective treatment for
these individuals is an issue of basic human rights.
For this reason, Plaid Cymru calls for the suspension of further hospital closures or
psychiatric bed reductions. Mental Health Services must be developed along a model of dual
deployment whereby the same teams provide both the community and hospital-based services and
have involvement in both.
6.12.7 Community Health Councils
These should concentrate on developing public participation in the NHS. They should be
co-terminous with Local Health Councils and local authorities and reflect the views of the
population they serve.
Health care must be backed up by a comprehensive public health strategy. Close collaboration
between Health and Social Services is of fundamental importance.
6.12.8 Resourcing the Welsh NHS
In the light of the crisis facing many aspects of the NHS, a radical approach is needed to
free up funding. This should include:
Treatment free at the point of delivery for services that are within the
defined area of need.
Proven, effective treatment interventions should be free on the NHS.
The National Assembly should seek the abolition of capital charges, which
are effectively a tax on NHS assets. This should lead to the abandonment
of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), which is little more than ruinously
expensive hire purchase.
Measures to control the cost of drug prescriptions. A modified form of
limited list prescribing should be established on a national basis.
Targeting resources at areas of greatest need. Firstly, Health Action Areas
will be established in areas of high morbidity, such as the Heads of the
Valleys. Secondly, initiatives which could yield significant health gains
will be prioritised.
7 A strategy for Arts, Culture and Heritage
Cultural activities are increasingly recognised as enhancing the quality of life and personal
development of every individual. The National Assembly should recognise the key role played by
the arts in expressing and promoting Wales' diverse cultural identities and heritage, at home
and abroad.
The arts, culture and heritage sector is making an increasingly significant contribution to
the Welsh economy.
In recognition of this, Plaid Cymru believes that a national culture strategy should ensure
that the widest range of experiences and activities are available to all, at a level which
meets their needs and fosters their personal development and is within their reach both
practically and financially.
There should be free entry to libraries in Wales. Telecommunications networks
covering the whole of Wales should ensure access to the catalogues of these
institutions. The nation's rich heritage collections should be available in
digital form and thus available on the world - wide web.
The National Lottery should be run by a non-profit making body and all its
funds should be devolved to decision-making bodies in Wales.
The distribution of arts funding in Wales requires a radical rethink. It
should be based on the principles of enabling, respect for artistic
independence, transparency and accountability.
Public appointments in the arts, culture and heritage should be the
responsibility of the Assembly. Membership of the management boards and
councils should be broadened in order to achieve a better balance between
the sectors.
The Assembly's deliberations should be informed by practitioners' views.
A decentralised, 'bottom-up' structure with a high degree of local input and a
relatively devolved administration should be aimed for. Local authorities
should be encouraged to assign responsibility for cultural activities to a
designated officer.
7.1 The Film Industry
Film, animation and multi-media are growth industries in Wales alongside but separate from
broadcasting. They need support from the artistic, educational and economic development
aspects. Funding for the film industry must be fair in comparison with other art forms and
sufficient to enable it to develop further. This is a fruitful area for internal economic
development that can lead to further inward investment to Wales.
7.2 Broadcasting
Broadcasting is an important employer within the Welsh heritage sector and an enormous
influence on our national consciousness. It is a major anomaly that the National Assembly has
no formal role in policy for television and radio. We will ensure that the National Assembly
becomes the people's voice on broadcasting in Wales and will press for the necessary
legislation to give it a real role.
We resisted the threat to downgrade S4C and fought for a proper provision of digital
multiplexes in Wales. We will ensure good quality Welsh language programmes continue during
peak hours. Equally important is a comprehensive English-language service produced in and for
Wales.
8 The Welsh language
Recent decades have seen a revival in the fortunes of our national language and the
establishment of a powerful consensus in favour of encouraging its wider use.
The status of Welsh has in many ways been transformed. It enjoys official recognition and a
significant presence in the media. It is promoted through the education system.
However complacency in the context of these advances would be misplaced. There are serious
grounds for concern, for example, at the erosion of the language's territorial base and many
parents' failure to transmit the language to their children. Many Welsh speakers lack the
confidence to make use of the language for more complex purposes.
The establishment of the National Assembly provides the occasion for the revival of Welsh to
be given a new impetus. The aim should be to change Wales from being a country with a
minority language to being a truly bilingual nation.
The Assembly must establish effective mechanisms to plan the growth of the language. This will
involve a range of public policies and close co-operation with local authorities. The Assembly
should work with the Welsh Language Board to formulate a strategy which would include the
following elements:
Particular emphasis on early years educare as the foundation for Welsh-medium
education at all levels.
Focus on local "mentrau iaith" (language ventures) to co-ordinate
and energise activities.
A truly bilingual National Assembly.
The Welsh Language Board adopting a stronger language-planning role,
developing and disseminating best practice.
In the longer term, the inadequacy of the Welsh Language Act to deliver integrated language
planning will need to be addressed.
9 Europe
When Plaid Cymru coined the phrase "Wales in Europe" ten years ago, it was not just
the slogan of our European election campaign, it was our programme for the decade. It was our
vision of Wales participating fully in shaping the new European Union and playing an active
role within it. We saw our country's future as a modern self-governing nation within the
Europe of the 21st century.
1999 will go down in history as the first year of a new Wales. The establishment of our
National Assembly coincides with momentous events within the European Union: economic and
monetary union, changes to the structural funds and the Common Agricultural Policy and an
increase in the number of Member States. Many vital decisions affecting the people of Wales
are already taken in Brussels rather than London. This makes it all the more important that
Wales has a voice in all the institutions involved in EU decision - making. The National
Assembly can provide that voice and help shape a new Europe of the future.
9.1 A Europe of the Nations and Regions
The political construction of Europe must be based on the diversity of European experience and
tradition, on the principle of subsidiarity and with the active participation of its citizens.
The most effective way of achieving this is through the involvement of the nations and regions
which together form the European jigsaw which cannot be completed as long as one piece is
missing.
As the European Union embarks on a process of enlargement which could make it a union of nearly
500 million people, there have to be changes to the way it functions. The structure designed
for a union of six Member States is no longer feasible. Neither is it democratic or
accountable. A further Inter-Governmental Conference will be held to decide on the fundamental
changes required. This will be an historic opportunity for change. The Party of Wales will be
putting forward the following proposals:
9.2 A Democratic European Union
The European Union must become democratic. Each of the natural communities -
the nations and historic regions - should become a basic unit in the process
of integration. This is in line with the principle of subsidiarity whereby
decisions are taken at the lowest and most effective level.
The European Parliament should have legislative powers. In addition to the
first chamber of the Parliament, directly elected as it is now, there should
be a European senate made up of representatives of each of the nations and
regions. The Committee of the Regions could form the embryo of this new
second chamber. European law-making should be transferred from the Council
of Ministers to this bicameral parliament.
In the short term, Plaid Cymru welcomes the strengthening of the role of the
European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions, and the extension of
majority voting.
9.3 An Open and Accountable European Union
It is important in the development of the new European Union that its citizens have confidence
in its institutions. Measures must be adopted to make the EU more open and accountable. Plaid
Cymru supports the following:
A written constitution for the EU and a Bill of Rights for Europe
The decision-making process of the Council of Ministers must be made more
accountable and representative
All documents should be published and available in a readable form to the
public
The EU should promote citizen involvement and educational systems which
encourage public concern for public affairs.
9.4 The National Assembly and Europe
The establishment of the National Assembly should be reflected by a stronger presence at the
centre of the European Union. Overall, responsibility for relations with Europe will remain
with the British government and parliament. However, EU legislation will impinge on many of the
direct responsibilities of the National Assembly. The Assembly will need its own machinery to
scrutinise and debate EU legislation which affects Wales. It will be able to make subordinate
legislation implementing Community law. It will also have to identify areas in its work
programme which will relate to EU legislation and policy.
9.5 An European Affairs Committee
The National Assembly will have a cross-cutting European committee. It must
have a European Minister to deal effectively with European strategy and
policy issues.
The Committee must be supported by a staff unit with the relevant skills and
experience.
Welsh MPs, MEPs and representatives on the Committee of the Regions and the
Economic and Social Committee should have the right to attend meetings of
the European Committee as non-voting members.
Each subject committee in the National Assembly should have formal
responsibility for examining relevant EU developments which affect it. One
member of each committee should be designated as European co-ordinator.
9.6 A Presence in Brussels
Wales should have a strong presence within the Office of the UK Permanent
Representation to the EU (UKrep).
The relevant Welsh Minister should reflect the Assembly's views directly at
the meetings of the Council of Ministers.
A multi-function "embassy" should be established in Brussels and
provide a shopfront for Wales in Europe.
9.7 Enlargement
The enlargement of the present fifteen members of the European Union to bring in countries
from Central and Eastern Europe will have profound changes on the way the Union operates.
We support enlargement as a further move to promote peace, stability and economic progress.
However, extending Europe at all costs will bring it to the edge of what is feasible.
Uniformity cannot be the objective. It is essential to involve the nations and regions closely
in the process. Greater co-operation with the regions in the new member states could help to
reinforce democracy and cohesion.
9.8 Economic and Monetary Union
The introduction of the Euro will have profound consequences not only for the eleven founder
members but also for those such as the UK who have opted to remain outside.
EMU also raises the question of a two-speed Europe, with a core of member states pressing
ahead with a more rapid programme of economic integration. This poses a threat to the economic
interests of the UK. Future currency fluctuations of sterling against the Euro will mean
uncertainty for UK business - especially in Wales where a higher average proportion of the
economy is accounted for by manufacturing industry. The uncertainty is also likely to prove a
disincentive for overseas investors who have played a major role in developing Wales'
manufacturing base.
The Party of Wales believes that the single currency can bring significant benefits for
industry and competitiveness. Given a strengthened regional economic policy and a commitment
to employment, for building up a Welsh financial sector. Plaid Cymru therefore believes that:
The National Assembly should debate the effect of monetary union on Wales as a
matter of urgency and decide on a position which is in the best interests of
Wales.
Entry into the Euro should be balanced by a stronger regional policy and treaty
commitment to full employment.
The European Central Bank should be democratically accountable to the
Parliament.
The European Central Bank should have a broader remit than controlling
inflation, including particularly high employment.
9.9 The Democratic Party of the Peoples of Europe - European Free Alliance
Plaid Cymru is a member of The Democratic Party of the Peoples of Europe - European Free
Alliance (DPPE - EFA). It is an alliance of political parties representing the real nations
and historic regions of Europe which are committed to self-government, social justice and
peaceful democracy. Its aim is to achieve a united Europe which fully respects the rights of
the peoples who comprise it. All European cultures should enjoy the same right to develop
freely within the Union.
DPPE-EFA works within the existing institutions to influence the evolution of the EU. It
supports:
A European Union of free peoples based on the principles of subsidiarity and
belief in solidarity with each other and other peoples of the world
The defence of human rights, the principle of self - determination
Protecting the environment and sustainable development
Creating a fair society with policies for social cohesion and equal
opportunities for all citizens
Parliamentary democracy.
9.10 Global Issues
Increasingly we see the National Assembly representing Wales' views and interests in the
global context. Decisions taken by organisations such as the World Trade Organisation are of
enormous significance for all of us. The European Union is an increasingly powerful player.
We foresee and support the growth of common European foreign and security policies.
Plaid Cymru is committed to the promotion of sustainable development to build a more equal and
peaceful world.
Specifically, we call for:
The abolition of all nuclear weapons and reduction in military expenditure
everywhere
Implementation of Jubilee 2000's call for Third World debt cancellation
Strengthening the Rio process and implementation of Agenda 21
Reform and strengthening of the United Nations
Reform and democratisation of the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund.
10 Taking Wales Forward
We are committed to the task of ensuring that the National Assembly works effectively for the
good of Wales and its people. To do this, the elected members will have a duty to ensure that
the Assembly's powers are used to the full. However, we believe that the National Assembly
needs additional powers to deliver the full programme of economic and social regeneration
that we would like to see.
In our 1997 manifesto, the Best for Wales, we set out what a Parliament for Wales could
achieve. Scotland now has just such a parliament - with the necessary law-making and
tax-varying powers.
One of our priorities for the National Assembly therefore will be to demonstrate how a similar
constitutional arrangement for Wales would benefit our nation. We will press for the
acquisition of additional powers by the National Assembly as a matter of urgency. This is a
matter of practical necessity in enabling the implementation of policies to meet our people's
needs.
We see the establishment of the National Assembly and its subsequent strengthening as part of
an evolutionary process in which the relationship between the countries in the UK is
fundamentally redefined. This is part of a wider, global process as Europe itself moves
towards increasing union and expansion.
We therefore look forward to a system of government which matches the needs of 21st century
Wales. We wish Wales to participate fully in shaping the European Union and play an active role
within it. Subject to public approval, Wales should achieve full national status within the new
Europe. We accept the need for certain broad economic, environmental and social issues to be
decided at a European level. However, we believe that the principle of subsidiarity must
prevail at all times - it is a key part of our philosophy that decisions should be taken as
close to the community as practicable.
The way ahead for Wales is now clear. We need to build rapidly on the political gains of the
late 20th century. The future context itself may be difficult to foresee with any precision,
but the overall trends are clear. The European Union is emerging as one of the world's major
political and economic blocs. Wales needs its own voice in our European home. The task of
Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales, is to develop the role of the National Assembly in that
direction.
