³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Priorities and working out what they are - not a bad way to kick off a new term.

Let's start with words that didn't go away all Summer and will loom ever larger between now and the Comprehensive Spending Review on October the 20th: public spending cuts.

What would cuts in spending in the region of 25% look like and feel like in Wales? If you've not yet got a handle on it, then you'll be hoping that Michael Hearty, the Assembly Government's new Finance Director, has. In one of the last posts before recess I described him as the man faced with sharing out the crumbs, after a succession of others who'd divvied up the cake. He was described to me this morning as being more like "the man in the soup." Let's hope he surfaces soon and lets us know just what he's found in there.

The First Minister's certainly on the look out for nasty surprises. Take a look at cabinet minutes published over the Summer and you'll find this extract:

Item 2: First Minister's items
UK Government's review of non-departmental public bodies
2.1 The First Minister indicated that the UK Government's plans to abolish a number of non-departmental public bodies could have implications for Welsh Ministers and he asked his Cabinet colleagues to be on the look out for such proposals.

"On the look out" indeed.

So dealing with cuts is priority number one. What comes next?

One government source mused this morning: "It's a short term til Christmas then it'll be the election all the way." Hang on, we chorused. The Assembly Election's not until May. What about the referendum on the Assembly's powers? "Ah yes."

I hear we'll have sight of the Electoral Commission's view on the wording of the referendum question before the end of the week. How the Assembly Government plan to get the answer they want is another matter. The four party representatives who met in August to discuss the way forward for the Yes campaign have kept stumm about their priorities.

And what about another suggestion? One that comes from the Electoral Commission indicating that the Alternative Vote referendum - which will be held on the same day as the elections to the Assembly in Wales and Holyrood in Scotland - "will be the senior poll." Does that mean it would be counted first and that results in the national elections would be delayed?

Priorities, priorities. Not sure "respect agenda" watchers will fancy that one very much.

One priority for S4C? To stem the flow of damaging stories about the departure of its Chief Executive and even more damaging questions about its governance. Don't imagine, says one political source and supporter of S4C, that it wouldn't be tempting for the Culture Secretary to get rid of the channel and tell the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ to take over its responsibilities. Don't imagine, said the same source, that such a scenario would be at all easy to fend off. Don't imagine either that it won't have been given at least some consideration.

One of my priorities? To thank Arwyn and Bethan for taking over Betsan's Blog for the past few weeks - and to re-open the blog to comments as soon as possible.

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