This week saw the first anniversary of the One Wales Government, the coalition deal that put Plaid Cymru into government in Wales in alliance with Labour. To mark that occasion the Welsh Liberal Democrats staged a debate on the record of that Government, highlighting the many unfulfilled promises and the problems facing the two parties in delivering an uncosted wish-list.

A few ministers over the last few weeks have sought to deflect criticism by responding to several attacks by saying that ‘you have to be in government to change things’. However, what is clear and what has been demonstrated in the ‘One Wales’ celebrations, and over the last year, is that it is no good Plaid Cymru and Labour being in government if they cannot deliver on their own targets and agenda.

In education, the foundation phase for the under-sevens has been underfunded to the extent that planned pupil teacher ratios cannot be afforded, and roll-out has been extended by an extra year. The Government has missed its own target on school buildings. It stated that all school buildings would be fit for purpose by 2010, and that target was reiterated by Education Minister, Jane Hutt, in the present Government despite knowing she cannot deliver it. An increase of around 1.5 per cent in funding for further education means that many colleges are not able to deliver the Government’s skills agenda. There is also a £61 million funding gap in higher education, and despite a personal commitment by the First Minister to try to close that gap, action has still not been taken.

In local government, we have a below inflation increase in funding, which is hitting schools and social services. We have seen a failure to help pensioners pay their Council Tax this year as promised, and a failure to deliver on a Welsh language daily newspaper, as set out in ‘One Wales’. Post offices are being closed, and yet there is no movement on bringing the post office development fund forward, even though some Labour Members have called for it. There have been delays in finalising the local transport services grant, which has further strained councils’ ability to fund essential services. The Government has also failed to meet its own targets on child poverty and fuel poverty, and it continues not to meet those targets.

The Government talks about providing 6,500 affordable homes, but there has been no significant progress in delivering those homes. There is no indication that the number of new homes being built is greater than in previous years, and the over-reliance on planning gain has now been hit by the credit crunch, removing an important plank in delivering that policy. There is no means of measuring achievement on that policy, and when you take into account sales and demolitions, the likelihood is that we have fewer affordable homes now than we did a year ago. Repossessions are up by 75 per cent, and local councils are under pressure to deal with that, and yet we have no extra money for homelessness facilities and support.

Wales is at the bottom of the GVA league table for regions and nations of the UK . Our GVA is now 78.1 per cent of the UK average, down from 85.4 per cent in 1989. The ‘One Wales’ anniversary celebrations that we are now in the middle of have two features: We have Plaid and Labour claiming all the credit for themselves, with Islwyn MP, Don Touhig playing Banquo at the feast; and we have been treated to a long list of inputs and questionable half-outcomes, but little actual achievements.

Welsh Liberal Democrats have been in government, and we have made hard decisions. However, when we did so, we put together a programme that could be paid for and was deliverable. That is the major failing of this present Government. We are not asking Labour and Plaid Cymru to spend money on our uncosted promises, we are asking them to deliver on their uncosted promises. The people of Wales should expect nothing less.

These promises were made by Labour and Plaid Cymru, and there is nothing unreasonable in expecting them to deliver on them. Yet we still have Plaid Cymru and Labour making excuses. They say that Government is hard, that the UK Government has short-changed them, and that they have to make hard decisions. That is true, but you also need to go into Government with both eyes open, and cut your cloth accordingly. The biggest failure of this Government is not just that it has missed key targets, but that it has made promises that it cannot afford, and cannot deliver on.

* Councillor Peter Black AM blogs here.

Whatever you might say about the Welsh Liberal Democrats we are tenacious. From standstill in last May’s Assembly elections; to summer chaos, as we attempted to forge a coalition with the wrong parties only to see Plaid Cymru walk away to join up with Labour; to a set of local election results in which we not only held our own but actually advanced on our 2004 high.

Of the 33 net gains by the Liberal Democrats on 1 May, 21 of them were in Wales. In three of the four Councils we lead we increased our representation and consolidated our position, whilst elsewhere we became key players in future administrations.

In Cardiff we gained three seats and confirmed our status as the largest party. Talks are now underway to form a coalition there, ending four years of minority control. In Swansea, we made a net gain of four seats and look set to lead a majority coalition with the independents. In both cases this is reward for the way we have turned around both Cities after decades of Labour neglect.

In Wrexham we now have three more Councillors and are the largest group. It is likely that we will once more be leading a coalition administration there. In addition to these the Welsh Liberal Democrats now form part of the new administration in Anglesey and could play a significant role in any anti-Labour alliance in Flintshire.

It is likely that the handful of seats we won in Blaenau Gwent, Conwy, Gwynedd and Torfaen, as well as our more significant presence in Merthyr, will lead to us either being part of the administrations there or having influence. It is also likely that we will play a major role in Ceredigion, where we defeated the Plaid Cymru PPC, and Newport, where there are two deferred elections for six seats, three of them currently held by us.

Although we are the smallest opposition party in the Assembly we continue to punch above our weight. We demonstrated previously how we could make a success of government at an all-Wales level, now we have a further opportunity to show voters in many more Council areas what we can do at a local government level as well.

* Councillor Peter Black AM blogs here.

In a major new pamphlet, published in full here on Lib Dem Voice, Peter Black, Welsh Assembly member for South Wales West, sets out the challenges and opportunities for the Liberal Democrats in Wales.

The challenge

The outcome of the 2007 Assembly elections was both frustrating and disappointing for the Welsh Liberal Democrats. Despite increasing our vote share in the constituencies, despite fighting a very professional all-Wales campaign, we failed for the second time to increase the size of our Assembly Group past six.

I have no desire to re-open the debate that the party entered into following the election. The outcome of those discussions was that we voted to go into a rainbow coalition with Plaid Cymru and the Tories only to see the Nationalists walk away and sign up to a deal with Labour. There are a few things that need to happen now, firstly the party needs to learn the lessons of the past few months and we need to regroup and then rebuild with the one clear aim of getting our message to the people of Wales.

Our problem last May was our failure to connect with voters. We failed to make it clear to them what it means to be a Welsh Liberal Democrat. We went into the election with a detailed manifesto containing hundreds of radical policies, many of which we shared with the other parties. Although we pulled out three particular policy areas to major on in the election, these issues were not presented clearly or effectively and they turned out to be the same issues that the other parties were promoting as well. We failed to make them relevant or unique to us because we did not relate our positions to the day-to-day experience of ordinary voters. In other words we did not use our manifesto as a campaigning tool.

One reason for that omission is that we have spent too long mistaking our activity in the hallowed corridors of the Assembly for campaigning. Whilst the work we do in the Assembly is important, for a political party it can never be a substitute for honest groundwork and visible local community involvement. In many cases we did not get out into communities to deliver our message to voters. That has not been universal, because in those areas where we did work and where we did have a localised message that resonated with people, our vote not only held up but in some cases dramatically increased. It was the rest of Wales, the vast majority of communities where that did not happen.

In this respect we could learn a lot from Plaid Cymru. Our elected Parliamentarians and Assembly Members should be taking a lead, getting out onto the streets with other activists to talk and listen to people about their concerns and ideas. We should be using the real experience of our constituents and framing our policies in a way that they can identify with. In other words we need to put into practice on a national level what is at the heart of Welsh Liberal Democrat philosophy, devolution, localisation, community empowerment, real, genuine interaction with communities.

At a UK level we have a distinctive agenda based on civil liberties, freedom and the environment. Although we have tried to carry that agenda over into a Welsh context as yet we have failed to make an impact.

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