Welsh ministers' own scorecard misses broken promises, says Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru has criticised a Welsh Government annual report for not acknowledging ministers' "broken promises" and "failures".
Party leader Adam Price accused the Labour government of missing targets to eradicate fuel and child poverty. First Minister Mark Drakeford said his policies had made "real differences in the lives of real people". The Welsh Government's annual report highlighted the delivery of pledges around social care and apprenticeships. The report said the government had delivered on Welsh Labour's 2016 manifesto pledges, including raising the savings limit for people going into care to £50,000, and an £80m treatment fund to speed up access to life-improving and life-prolonging medicines. Speaking in the Senedd during Tuesday's First Minister's Questions, Mr Price quoted an internal Welsh Government document written by a "non-executive director of your government for almost a decade". According to the party leader the document said there "tends to a box ticking drive to ensure manifesto and programme promises can be said to have been met. "What I have never seen is an overall attempt to assess whether the desired outcomes underlying the programme are being advanced. "The current mindset puts delivery second best to maintenance of the status quo." Mr Price asked the first minister if he acknowledged what the Plaid leader said were "failures, the missed targets, the broken promises". "You said you'd eradicate fuel poverty by 2018, you didn't. You said you'd abolish child poverty by 2020, you didn't. You said you cut emissions by 40% by last year, you didn't." In response to the criticism of the Welsh Government's annual report, Mark Drakeford accused the Plaid Cymru leader of a "sneering attitude". "He may prefer... independence and other high-flown sentiments. We will deal with those things that a make a difference in people's lives," Mr Drakeford said. In September, Welsh Labour officials circulated a 'Draft Final Policy Document' amongst party members to "help us build a powerful, progressive manifesto for change in the 2021 Senedd elections". Plans 'fail to measure up to scale of the challenges' But Darren Williams, secretary of Welsh Labour Grassroots, the Welsh equivalent of the left-wing Momentum group, said the policies included in the document were "mostly cautious and uninspiring". Writing in December, he said: "The third and 'final' consultation document contains few new policy proposals and none at all in important areas like manufacturing, rail transport, local government or even on environmental policy (beyond a vague commitment to an 'all-Wales plan' to tackle the climate emergency). "Even the new proposals that have been put forward… fail to measure up to scale of the challenges that Wales and the Welsh Government will face over the years ahead. "Moreover, they lack the transformative edge that is needed," he added. Referencing Mr William's criticism, Mr Price told the first minister: "You can dismiss my criticisms of your government... but can you dismiss the words of the very people who campaigned to put you in the position you're now in?" In response, Mr Drakeford said: "Our proposals for the next Senedd term will be published in Labour's manifesto. "When the member has seen it, he'll be able to make a judgment on it. He hasn't seen it, neither have the people he appears to quote." The first minister said Welsh Labour's manifesto will be "deliverable", accusing Mr Price of "fantasy policy-making". The Welsh Government's annual report for 2020 also highlighted policies such as the 30 hours a week of free childcare working parents of three and four-year-olds are entitled to. An official research study for the Welsh Government showed while the childcare offer was saving families hundreds of pounds, there was confusion about how the scheme works, leading to some parents receiving unexpected bills. During the fifth Senedd 17 new laws have been passed, including a minimum price for alcohol and a ban on smacking children.