New laws to tackle school underperformance, make councils work together and a new organ donation system were among the Bills proposed by the Welsh Government.
Addressing Assembly Members in the Senedd on Tuesday, First Minister Carwyn Jones set out the legislative priorities of his new government.
Among the areas the Bills will address are:
- Making local authorities to further collaborate when delivering services.
- A new Food Hygiene Rating Scheme to help improve food safety and provide consumers with easily understandable information.
- Organ Donation Bill to create an opt-out system of organ donation.
- A Cosmetic Piercing Bill to ensure that a parent is involved in and consents to their child’s decision to have a cosmetic piercing.
- The Schools and Standards Bill to tackle under performing schools.
- Reforming social services to provide for the first time a coherent Welsh legal framework to meet changing social expectations and demography.
- Action to address homelessness and empty dwellings, as well as improving standards and tenants’ rights in the private rented sector.
- Introduce a duty on Local Authorities to provide and maintain cycle paths in key areas.
- Consolidate existing legislation to make the planning system more transparent and accessible.
The First Minister said: “Today I have set out my government’s legislative programme for the next five years. It is the most detailed programme of government ever presented to Assembly Members since the creation of the Assembly.
“From creating an education system that allows our children to reach their full potential, to getting the best value from our local authorities, we plan to use the new powers we have to create a Wales where there is social justice and where we can create opportunities for all our people.”
Speaking in response to the First Minister’s announcement William Graham, AM for South Wales East, said: “The legislative programme announced today was a mixed bag with no proposals to encourage the job creation that South Wales East badly needs.
“However, the Assembly Government appears to have heeded the proposals made in the Welsh Conservatives manifesto for the 2011 Assembly elections that promised more responsibility for local authorities and incentivised collaboration.
“The Conservative-led councils at Monmouthshire and Newport have shown the way forward for local authorities in Wales, investing prudently in public services and showing a willingness to work with neighbouring councils on schemes such as Project Gwyrdd and vital collaboration on secondary school capital projects.
“With limited funds Welsh councils’ emphasis must be firmly on service delivery and the silo mentality of some authorities must end.”