As we move into week three of a new Welsh Assembly term, the Welsh Liberal Democrats are pursuing their distinctive agenda with a renewed vigour and confidence under new leadership. Whilst the Welsh Conservative group remain in disarray over media revelations about their expenses and reported attempted coups against their leadership, our new leader Kirsty Williams has taken the opportunity to make her mark.

So far our profile has been high. We have led the way in exposing increased spending by the Welsh Assembly Government on consultants – nearly double on previous years; we have highlighted poor ambulance response times; led on the unprecedented veto for the Secretary of State for Wales on new powers on housing; on the delay in the publication of the Plaid Cymru-Labour governments bid for power to legislate on the Welsh language; and on a £500 million repair and maintenance backlog for the NHS estate, that includes six trusts who have buildings not meeting health and safety and fire regulations.

We have also highlighted the fact that the One Wales Government is sending £77 million of unspent European money back to Brussels.

In the Assembly Chamber Kirsty has been concentrating on the impact of the recession on people’s lives. She has been scrutinising the Government’s response to the economic downturn and in particular the unnecessary bureaucracy associated with their Pro-Act scheme. This is a programme to support companies to provide training for employees during the downturn, rather than laying them off. It was announced in December but not a single bid has yet been approved. This is not surprising given that there is an eight stage approval process including needing the okay from two separate Welsh Assembly Government departments.

Kirsty has also been getting out more, taking the opportunity to visit Council groups and local parties around Wales so as to boost their campaigning presence. She has spoken at the Oxford Union and is due to appear on BBC1’s Question Time at the end of February.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have boosted their internet presence. They have put together their own blog aggregator, and launched a Welsh version of Liberal Democrat Voice at Freedom Central. This is an area where we have been weak in the past and which we are hoping to correct.

All of the Assembly group have new roles and responsibilities and we rapidly coming to terms with them so as to make our mark. We may be the smallest group in the Assembly but since the new year we have hit the ground running and are hitting above our weight.

* Peter Black AM is the Welsh Liberal Democrat Business Manager, and blogs here.