Written Statement - The One Wales Delivery Plan 2008-2011

Today will see us passing an important milestone in the term of this coalition government with the publication of the final quarterly update of the One Wales Delivery Plan. 

The One Wales agreement was the foundation stone of our historic coalition partnership and it set out a progressive government agenda for Wales. The delivery plan, first published in April 2008, was designed to give straightforward information about how each of our commitments would be delivered and when we expected them to come on stream.    This final update shows the progress we have made up to the end of the 2010-11 financial year, and indicates our expectations regarding those few commitments that are still outstanding.

One Wales set out more than 200 specific commitments to be delivered by the One Wales government to improve the quality of life of people in all of Wales’ communities and from all walks of life, with particular regard for the needs of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.  Our ambition was to transform Wales into a self-confident, prosperous and healthy nation, fair to all people and all communities. 

A small number of our commitments have yet to be completed, mostly ones with a long lead-in time such as new multi-purpose well-being centres; or where demonstration projects are being developed such as new not-for-profit nursing homes.

There are some commitments on which action will always need to continue, like improved provision for long-term health conditions such as stroke and diabetes.

But, even when all these issues are taken into account, we will have delivered more than 90% of our commitments by the end of April, the end of our term of government.   Although we would obviously have hoped to deliver every commitment within the term of this Assembly, we believe that this delivery record is one of which we can and should be proud.

Delivery of those commitments that remain will be a matter for the next Welsh Assembly Government.    But the plans this Government has laid are set out in this update; and, in our budget for the next 3 years, we have made provision for delivering them.

The Delivery Plan contained many different sorts of commitments.   Some were quite specific, for instance:

• Reforming charges to hospital parking  and access to phones and TVs

• Relocation of Assembly divisions to North West and Valleys

• An enhanced business rate relief scheme

• Reducing rail travel time between north and south

• Extra help for pensioners with council tax

• Establishing credit unions covering all parts of Wales

• Establishment of a National English language theatre

• Delivering successful UK School Games in 2009

Others were much wider-ranging or more complex, for instance:

• Completely reconfiguring the NHS in Wales and ending the wasteful internal market

• A whole new approach to continually improving local services

• Radically reducing class sizes for 3- to 7-year olds

• Working to eradicate child poverty, where we have been able to use the Assembly’s legislative powers innovatively

• Confirming the official status of the Welsh and English languages, and linguistic rights in the provision of services, and establishing a Language Commissioner

• Increasing the supply of affordable homes by 6,707 – exceeding our 6500-home target a year early, despite the impact of the recession that hit us in 2008.

All were important, and we believe that all will bear fruit for the future.

We take great pride in having delivered on our promises to the Welsh people.