Slim Fast

So, the Welsh Assembly government has to find some savings.  Hardly a bolt out of the blue is it? 

Yet, just two and a half weeks after the election, we're apparently seeing the catastrophic effects of  "yet another direct Tory Liberal hit on Wales", sighs Peter Hain.  If you can sigh and explode simultaneously.

When the Labour government in Westminster imposed cuts of quarter of a billion last year, I don't remember Peter Hain saying "This is yet another direct Labour hit on Wales", despite us already having the highest unemployment, highest child poverty, oh you know the rest.  If he has to have his say, could he please change the record.  We don't want worn, scratched old vinyl in this i-Pod age.

As it's time for some new voices, it's pleasing to hear from the new Plaid MP for Carmarthen East & Dinefwr, Jonathan Edwards. His calculator tells him that the cuts in Wales are a third higher than the rest of the UK apparently. 

Maybe one of the primary areas for these extra savings in Wales is the cost of governing it. Just like Whitehall, Cardiff Bay needs to cost less. If WAG doesn't want to be treated like a government department, then it needs to start behaving more like a government. That means going on a diet instead of moaning about the cost of burgers.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM is right to resist deferring savings that can be made now, and right to resist equal cuts across all areas of expenditure.  Russell Lawson of FSB Wales agrees and says that public services should “look towards the private sector” to introduce efficiencies:
“There have been studies that show that if the public sector had adopted the practices of introducing efficiencies of the private sector, public services would be in the region of £58bn cheaper today, which is obviously a significant amount."

Mr Thomas also mentions the pending loss of 500 lower paid jobs in Carmarthenshire County Council, and asks why the higher salaried posts aren't going.  Good question, and one that could be applied the to Assembly itself.

Only this week, the Assembly's response to an important report into the serious problem of people trafficking is to recommend a new post of trafficking director to deal with the problem in Wales.  The typical Assembly response - create a new job/civil servant/quango.  However, there is already a single point of contact and senior police officer in place in each of the four Welsh forces who is the dedicated work lead in the area of human trafficking.

As any dieter knows, it's about changing your eating habits. Time for the Welsh Assembly government to be thinking of that Austerity Bikini, and going for locally sourced, low-fat alternatives.