First Minister sets out third year legislative priorities

New laws to give the Welsh NHS greater financial flexibility, tackle homelessness and domestic violence and reform the planning system are at the heart of the Welsh Government’s legislative priorities for 2013-14, First Minister Carwyn Jones has announced in his latest legislative statement.

During the third year of this Assembly:

• A National Health Service Finance (Wales) Bill will be introduced to ensure Local Health Boards (LHBs) focus on the challenges of service delivery by introducing a three year, rather than an annual financial regime. This means LHBs will be able to make prudent long term decisions in the interests of both patients and NHS Wales as a whole.
• The Ending Violence Against Women and Domestic Abuse (Wales) Bill will tackle all forms of violence against women and domestic abuse by tackling the enduring social problems of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. 
• A Planning Reform (Wales) Bill will reform the planning system in Wales by setting out new roles and responsibilities for Welsh Ministers, local authorities, developers and communities. It will ensure the reformed planning system is positive in outlook, smart in application, swift in process and inclusive in operation.
• The Housing (Wales) Bill will help ensure everyone in Wales has a decent place to live by tackling homelessness and empty homes; improving standards in the private rented sector; increasing the supply of housing; and improving its quality.
• The Future Generations (Wales) Bill (previously the Sustainable Development Bill) will help tackle the generational challenges Wales faces in a more joined up and integrated way – ensuring Welsh public services make key decisions with the long term well being of Wales in mind.
• The Higher Education (Wales) Bill will provide the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) with a robust regulatory framework within which to operate to ensure quality of higher education and provide assurance about the financial health and governance of higher education providers and the quality of their provision. It will also enforce fee controls and to safeguard equality of opportunity for those accessing or intending to access higher education.
• A draft Public Service Workforce (Wales) Bill will be published later this year to put the workforce at the centre of public service improvement in Wales.
• Legislation will also be brought forward to deliver an effective solution to the problem of fly grazing of horses and ponies by making those individuals who fly graze accountable for their actions.

This takes the total number of Welsh Government bills in its ambitious five year legislative programme for this Assembly to 32. This includes Bills to change the system of organ donation, drive up school standards, implement a new food hygiene rating scheme, modernise the system of making local bylaws, reform social services, strengthen the agricultural sector and promote active travel.