NDM9102 - Opposition Debate
Tabled on 07/01/2026 | For debate on 14/01/2026To propose that the Senedd:
1. Notes the upcoming Senedd election on 7 May 2026.
2. Believes that the Senedd election provides an opportunity for new leadership for Wales.
3. Calls for the implementation of Plaid Cymru’s proposals to:
a) introduce a waiting list plan to clear the current backlog, put the NHS on a more sustainable footing and ensure patients are not left waiting years in pain for treatment;
b) establish a new national development agency, providing a one-stop-shop for business support, supporting and growing Welsh-owned businesses at every stage of their development;
c) introduce a minimum 20 hour-a-week universal childcare offer to give every child the best start in life and allow parents to return to work;
d) introduce a foundational literacy and numeracy plan to establish national benchmarks, provide targeted support, and ensure high-quality teaching and transparent progress tracking; and
e) introduce a new Wales bill to secure parity of devolved powers with Scotland, as a necessary lever to unlock Wales’s potential.
4. Regrets that 26 years of a Labour Welsh Government has led to:
a) over 8,700 pathways waiting over two years for treatment despite the target to eradicate such waits completely by March 2023;
b) Wales having the second lowest gross disposable income per head and primary income per head of all the UK nations and regions, with both falling as a proportion of the UK average; and
c) Wales’s scores in literacy and numeracy being the lowest they have been since first participating in PISA in 2006, and are the lowest among UK nations for the fifth time in a row.
5. Further regrets that Labour’s partnership in power has let Wales down.
Tabled By
Amendments
Delete all and replace with:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Notes the upcoming Senedd election on 7 May 2026.
2. Believes that the Senedd election provides an opportunity for new leadership for Wales.
3. Regrets that 26 years of a Labour Welsh Government, with the support of Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats, has led to:
a) one in four of the Welsh population on an NHS waiting list;
b) the highest unemployment rate and the lowest take-home pay in the United Kingdom;
c) Wales’s PISA results falling to their lowest level ever in maths, reading and science: the lowest of all UK nations for the fifth consecutive time;
d) taxpayer money wasted on non-devolved spending and Senedd expansion;
e) the Welsh economy being held back with the least competitive business rates offer in Great Britain, the default 20mph speed limit, and land transaction tax rates that are stifling the housing market;
f) working families being hit with the highest childcare costs and the worst childcare offer in Great Britain; and
g) the sustainable farming scheme risking the loss of jobs and livelihoods.
4. Calls on the Welsh Government to implement Welsh Conservative calls to:
a) declare a health emergency in the Welsh NHS, eliminate excessive waiting times in emergency departments, for ambulances, tests, and treatment, introduce a GP wait guarantee, and promote patient choice as a driver of healthcare improvement;
b) get the Welsh economy moving by cutting the basic rate of income tax, eliminating business rates for small businesses, restoring the default speed limit to 30mph, investing in road infrastructure, and scrapping land transaction tax for main homes;
c) improve education outcomes in Wales by restoring discipline and respect in Welsh schools, cracking down on violence and poor behaviour, banning mobile phones in Welsh classrooms, empowering teachers, and enabling the establishment of academy schools;
d) stop spending taxpayer money on non-devolved areas, and reverse Senedd expansion;
e) support working families by matching the childcare offer available in England; and
f) scrap and replace the sustainable farming scheme with a truly sustainable scheme that protects rural jobs and has food security at its heart.
Tabled By
Delete all after point 1 and replace with:
2. Recognises the policies of the Welsh Labour Government over this Senedd term have led to:
a) 18,652 additional homes for rent in the social sector being delivered;
b) 46,000 jobs supported;
c) almost 60 million free school meals for primary school children being served and recent improvements in educational attainment;
d) the most progressive and generous student support offer in the UK, meaning household income does not decide where you go to university;
e) long waiting times for treatment and tests falling and the NHS being on course to provide an extra 20,000 cataract operations this year;
f) a National Forest being planted and action to safeguard communities from the legacy of coalmining being taken; and
g) more than £1 billion being invested to transform the core Valleys Lines into a modern metro system.
3. Believes that Wales is ready for a new era of investment under Labour following more than a decade of Tory austerity.
