Yesterday the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, made a statement to the Plenary of the Senedd about his new Cabinet and the Welsh Government's priorities. It can be viewed below.
He said - (I've highlighted what was said in the Welsh Language - the English translation follows immediately afterwards.)
Llywydd, diolch yn fawr. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It's almost two weeks now since our fellow citizens in Wales were making their choice of the people who will represent them here in the Senedd over the coming five years. I know that in this Senedd term every Member elected will regard it as a privilege to sit in this Chamber, and to be First Minister of our nation is, of course, a very singular honour indeed. Yet, when I first became First Minister two and a half years ago, I emphasised my preference for collective and collaborative leadership, drawing on a wide pool of talent and commitment. I did so because I’ve always thought that collective leadership is therefore the most effective form of putting people to work for our nation's benefit. And I also believe that it goes with the grain of the way we do things here in Wales. We produce more choirs than soloists; we do better at rugby than at pole-vaulting, Now, that approach has held us in very good stead, I believe, during the last 15 months as we have responded to the global coronavirus pandemic, a response that has needed a whole-Government effort to help keep Wales safe.
The new Cabinet formed last week is a team of talent, ambition and experience, a team to ensure that we make the most of the opportunities that the next five years will bring, and to help us face the challenges that will inevitably come our way. I want to pay tribute today to Ken Skates, who has taken the decision to step back from Government to work from the backbenches. Ken has been a strong voice for north Wales inside the Government, and I know that he will continue to be a strong voice for north Wales from the backbenches. We will miss his passion and his energy around the Cabinet table.
Llywydd, nid yw argyfwng coronavirus ar ben. Yn yr wythnos ers i ni ddod at ein gilydd yn y Cyfarfod Llawn, bydd pob un o'r Aelodau wedi clywed am yr amrywiolyn o India a'i effaith bosibl. Byddaf yn rhoi datganiad ar gyd-destun iechyd y cyhoedd yn nes ymlaen y prynhawn yma, ond bydd y Cabinet yn parhau i wneud penderfyniadau yn unol â'n cylch adolygu tair wythnos, ac yn rhannu cyfrifoldeb am y penderfyniadau hyn
Cabinet a fydd yn cyflawni adferiad yw'r Cabinet newydd, a hynny ar gyfer y Gymru y tu hwnt i'r pandemig—y Gymru gryfach, wyrddach a thecach y mae fy mhlaid wedi ymrwymo i'w chyflawni: Cymru lle bydd pawb yn chwarae ei ran, Cymru lle na fydd neb yn cael ei ddal yn ôl a lle na fydd neb yn cael ei adael ar ôl.
Dyma Gabinet a grëwyd i gwrdd â heriau mawr ein hoes—colli bioamrywiaeth a'r newid yn yr hinsawdd. Nid yw'r argyfwng newid hinsawdd wedi diflannu tra ydym wedi bod yn delio â'r pandemig.
Llywydd, the coronavirus crisis is not over. In the week since we last met in Plenary, all of the Members will have heard of the Indian variant and its potential impact. I will make a statement on the public health context later this afternoon, but the Cabinet will continue to make decisions in line with our three-weekly review cycle and to be collectively responsible for these decisions.
This new Cabinet is a Cabinet for recovery, and recovery for the Wales that lies beyond the pandemic—that stronger, greener and fairer Wales to which my party is committed. It's a Wales in which everyone has a part to play, and a Wales in which no-one is held back and no-one is left behind either.
This is a Cabinet created to meet those other great challenges of our time—biodiversity loss and climate change. The climate change emergency has not gone away while we have been dealing with the pandemic.
And it's for that reason, of course, Llywydd, that this new Government puts the environment, biodiversity loss and climate change at the heart of our decision making, brought together in a single ministry that will bring together all the major drivers that contribute to climate change. A Minister and a Deputy Minister—Julie James and Lee Waters—will together have responsibility for housing, transport, planning, energy and the environment, dealing with the dangers of climate change, but also harnessing our immense natural assets and creating the jobs of Wales's future.14
Llywydd, we have already begun the work to develop a new programme for government, which will be laid before the Senedd in the coming weeks. It will set out our plans to help our public services recover after COVID. That will include an urgent NHS recovery plan and the biggest catch-up plan for young people in the history of devolution. It will set out the work to develop a new young person’s guarantee, giving everyone under the age of 25 the offer of work, education or training.15
It will outline steps towards a fair deal for care, including paying the real living wage for all those working in the care sector. It will set out the action we will take to make Wales a greener country—abolishing more polluting single-use plastics and creating a national forest and a new national park for Wales. It will include plans for safer communities, increasing the number of police community support officers on our streets. And it will outline where we will create new jobs for Wales through a low-carbon house building revolution, building 20,000 new low-carbon social homes for rent.16
But where we can go further and faster, this Government will always be open to new ideas. Llywydd, last week I said that no party has a monopoly on good ways of taking Wales forward, and I offered to work across party lines where there are common and shared interests. I have written to the leaders of the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru to confirm that offer. And I know that, across the Senedd, there will be new and returning Members who come here looking to make that positive contribution to the future of our nation, the challenges of today and of tomorrow.17
As I've said, none is more pressing and none more urgent than the climate and nature crisis we face. That is why there is a new ministry at the heart of this Government. And all parties represented here, during the election, quite rightly signalled the need for bold steps to tackle the crisis we face. Now will be the time to translate that commitment into practical action. Out of the election, and out of the pandemic, can come that stronger, greener and fairer Wales. The job now is to set Wales on the path to recovery, and the Cabinet that I have set out this afternoon is ready to go to work to do just that. Llywydd, diolch yn fawr. Thank you very much.
