‘Fair funding’ for Wales call at heart of Plaid Cymru manifesto

Published

5 months ago

June 13, 2024

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A call for “fair funding” was at the heart of Plaid Cymru’s general election manifesto launch in Cardiff on Thursday.

Dozens of party faithful gathered at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff to hear what leader Rhun ap Iorwerth had to say.

One of Plaid’s key manifesto pledges is to secure £4bn of funding for Wales from the HS2 project.

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As this was classed as an England and Wales project by the UK government, Wales did not receive any funding via the Barnett Formula.

That’s the term for how the Welsh government gets its money. So the more money spent on health in England, for example, the greater the funds received by Wales.

Plaid Cymru, which advocates Welsh independence, argues this should not have been classed as an England and Wales project as the HS2 will not enter the country.

The party says the additional funding would be used to improve Welsh public transport and reverse cuts to local bus services.

Plaid Cymru wants to see an increase in windfall tax and the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales.

There was a call, too, to rejoin the customs union and single market and for Wales to compete at the Eurovision Song Contest in its own right.

Mr ap Iorwerth said there was a “genuine sense that this election feels different”.

“More people than ever are left utterly uninspired,” he said.

He said Plaid Cymru was the only party calling for a change in how Wales receives its funding, including “scrapping” the Barnett Formula in favour of “a needs-based model”.

He said the party’s call for fair funding was not “driven by ideology, it’s driven by principle”.

Mr ap Iorwerth urged the next UK government to show they are “serious about Wales”.

He said he was “proud” of the party’s offer, which he said was “in Wales’s interests”.

Speaking to Sky News after the manifesto launch, Mr ap Iorwerth refused to be drawn on the number of seats Plaid are aiming for.

“It’s always about maximising the Welsh voice and in simple terms the more Welsh MPs from Plaid Cymru that are in Westminster, the less chance there is that we will be sidelined,” he said.

“The number of MPs in Wales has been slashed from 40 to 32. That’s a 20% cut in the number of MPs from Wales. The number of notional Plaid Cymru seats went down from four to two just by a direction of boundary changes.”

Politics

NHS league tables and cancelled pay rises for managers among government health reforms

Published

4 hours ago

November 13, 2024

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NHS league tables and cancelled pay rises for managers among government health reforms

NHS league tables revealing failing NHS trusts and cancelled pay rises or dismissal for managers who don’t turn things around are to form part of the government’s plans to improve the health service.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is confirming new measures he hopes will boost failing hospital trusts and encourage successful ones.

The changes form part of the Labour government’s strategy to reduce waiting lists “from 18 months to 18 weeks”.

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Health and the state of the NHS were consistently among the most important issues for voters at this year’s general election – with Labour blaming the Conservatives for “breaking” it.

As health is a devolved area, any reforms proposed in Westminster would only apply to England.

Chief among Mr Streeting’s proposals is a “league table” for NHS trusts.

An announcement from the Department for Health and Social Care said: “NHS England will carry out a no-holds-barred sweeping review of NHS performance across the entire country, with providers to be placed into a league table.

“This will be made public and regularly updated to ensure leaders, policy-makers and patients know which improvements need to be prioritised.”

It also promises to replace “persistently failing managers” – with “turn around teams” being sent in to improve trusts running sizeable deficits or offering poor service to patients.

The government says “senior managers” who fail to make progress will not be eligible for pay rises.

There will be “financial implications” for more senior figures such as chief executives if their trust does not improve.

On the flip-side, those trusts that are deemed to be “high-performing” will get “greater freedom over funding and flexibility”.

Senior leaders at these trusts will also be “rewarded”.

The government says the current system is not incentivising trusts to run a budget surplus, as they cannot benefit from it.

Mr Streeting said: “The budget showed this government prioritises the NHS, providing the investment needed to rebuild the health service.

“Today we are announcing the reforms to make sure every penny of extra investment is well spent and cuts waiting times for patients.

“There’ll be no more turning a blind eye to failure. We will drive the health service to improve, so patients get more out of it for what taxpayers put in.

“Our health service must attract top talent, be far more transparent to the public who pay for it, and run as efficiently as global businesses.

“With the combination of investment and reform, we will turn the NHS around and cut waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks.”

Concerns from health representatives

Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “While NHS leaders welcome accountability, it is critical that responsibility comes with the necessary support and development.

“The extensive package of reforms, developed together with government, will empower all leaders working in the NHS and it will give them the tools they need to provide the best possible services for our patients.”

Further plans on how monitoring will be published by the start of the next financial year in April 2025, the government said.

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation – a body that represents all NHS trusts – said healthcare leaders welcome the “government’s ambition”.

However, he said he was concerned league tables and reducing pay may “strip out” the nuance of what’s going on.

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Mr Taylor said: “NHS staff are doing their very best for patients under very challenging circumstances and we do not want them feeling like they are being named and shamed.

“League tables in themselves do not lead to improvement, trusts struggling with consistent performance issues – some of which reflect contextual issues such as underlying population heath and staff shortages – need to be identified and supported in order to recover.”