2022 Motions and Amendments
The policy Motions and Amendments to Conference can be seen below, restricted to Members only. All information about Conference is published on partyof.wales/conference.
Motions 1 | 9:15 Friday
Motions 2 | 11:40 Friday
Motions 3 | 15:30 Friday
Motions 4 | 16:35 Friday
- A proposal to strengthen Welsh language provision in health and care services
- Land Ownership, Community Assets and Housing
Motions 5 | 9:30 Saturday
- A motion to support the CEE Bill
- Cost of Living & Fuel Poverty Conference Motion
- Employment rights and conditions
Motions 6 | 10:00 Saturday
- Increase the remit of the NHS to fully include dental and optometric treatment
- Four Day Working Week
Motions 7 | 10:20 Saturday
Motions 8 | 14:45 Saturday
Motions 9 | 15:35 Saturday
Gender Quotas
Proposer: Plaid Cymru Senedd Group
Conference notes:
1. The Recommendation of the Special Purpose Committee on Parliamentary Reform that the Senedd should be elected with integrated statutory gender quotas.
Conference believes:
2. There should be balanced gender representation in the Senedd;
3. To ensure balanced representation in the Senedd Plaid Cymru should ensure that at least 50% of its Senedd election candidates are women.
Conference resolves to:
4. Ensure through Plaid Cymru’s candidate selection systems that at least 50% of candidates who are top of Plaid Cymru’s lists in the Welsh Parliament election are women;
5. Ensure through Plaid Cymru’s candidate selection systems that any ‘zipping’ procedure of electing Plaid Cymru candidates in the Senedd Cymru election does not elect less than 50% of women.
Community Orchards
Proposer: Bridgend and Ogmore Constituencies
Conference notes:
1. That there are several community orchards across the UK and Wales alongside community gardens.
Conference believes:
that community orchards:
2. Regenerate communities and provide a sustainable source of food for them;
3. Reduce atmospheric carbon levels and improve air quality;
4. Reduce the amount of single use plastic packaging;
5. Can reduce the use of harmful pesticides, ensuring a healthier ecosystem where vital pollinators are supported;
6. Can reduce food poverty and the reliance on food banks by providing local, seasonal crops.
Conference calls:
7. On the Senedd to fund and introduce community orchards as a regenerative and sustainable resource for communities.
Clarity on Housing Affordability
Proposer: Bridgend and Ogmore Constituencies
Conference notes:
1. That most mortgage companies now require 10% deposit as a minimum;
2. That new builds which are supposed to be affordable are frequently priced well above what is affordable for most people.
Conference believes:
3. That with the cost of living rising it is going to become increasingly difficult for people to gain a deposit to buy a home.
Conference calls:
4. On the Senedd to define realistic affordability criteria aligned to median incomes in each locality.
A Motion to ban so-called “conversion therapy” in Wales
Proposer: Plaid Ifanc
Conference notes:
1. That the Conservative Party was elected to the UK Government in 2019 on a manifesto pledge to ban so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ people across the United Kingdom, having previously made the commitment to do so and failed to see it through;
2. That in 2022, the UK Government announced a change in policy, declaring that it would not ban “conversion therapy” for transgender and genderqueer people, after initially seeming to roll back the commitment entirely for all LGBTQ+ people;
3. That the Co-Operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru commits to making Wales the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe within the next three years;
4. That the power to pass legislation in Wales relating to health services, including mental health services, lies with the Senedd, and that the power to administer such services lies with the Welsh Government;
5. That those who conduct so-called “conversion therapy” usually present themselves as mental health professionals;
6. And that there is a proven link between worsened mental health in LGBTQ+ people and their subjection to so-called “conversion therapy”.
Conference believes:
7. That so-called “conversion therapy” in all of its forms is a moral aberration constituting torture and indoctrination;
8. That the people of Wales and the wider United Kingdom have multiple times given a democratic mandate to outlaw the practice of so-called “conversion therapy”;
9. That continued attacks on the rights of transgender and genderqueer people by the UK Government and wider society must be resisted at every opportunity;
10. That all LGBTQ+ people, including transgender and genderqueer people, have the right to feel safe within Welsh society;
11. That all LGBTQ+ people, including transgender and genderqueer people, have the right to live as their real and authentic selves within Welsh society, without pressure or coercion to change their nature;
12. That so-called “conversion therapy” has no medical or scientific basis;
13. That there is no evidence that so-called “conversion therapy” ever achieves the aims its practitioners seek, and that those aims are, in themselves, reprehensible;
14. And that, as something branded as a mental health service, and something that will cause severe mental health issues for those subjected to it, so-called “conversion therapy” can be legislated upon by the Senedd within devolved competence as reasonably interpreted, as a matter of health legislation, to help protect the physical and mental health of LGBTQ+ people throughout Wales.
Conference Resolves:
15. To campaign against so-called “conversion therapy” at every opportunity;
16. To educate people about the dangers of
so-called “conversion therapy” and to highlight its lack of scientific basis;
17. To reaffirm and strengthen Plaid Cymru’s commitment to the protection of LGBTQ+ rights, and in particular of the rights of transgender and genderqueer people;
18. To call upon the Welsh Government and the Senedd to implement policy and draft legislation to ban so-called “conversion therapy” within Wales for all LGBTQ+ people, including transgender and genderqueer people;
19. To work with partners across the wider United Kingdom to fight against the UK Government’s latest attack on the rights of transgender and genderqueer people and to insist that they hold to their manifesto pledge as originally written;
20. And to work with Plaid Pride to ensure that Plaid Cymru to adopts and delivers a policy to ban
so-called “conversion therapy” in all of its forms.
Retrofitting
Proposer: Plaid Cymru Senedd Group
Conference notes:
1. The UK has the oldest housing stock in Europe, and Wales has the oldest, least energy efficient stock in the UK, with 32% built pre-1919;
2. That the End Fuel Poverty Coalition predict a £3,000 energy price cap would see 1 in 3 UK households having to choose between fuel and food;
3. That the April energy price cap rise is estimated to have doubled UK fuel poverty to 6 million households;
4. That the Financial Times predicts oil and gas shortages and costs will limit production and supply of building materials necessary for building and retrofitting homes;
5. Many construction products will become uneconomical to produce in the event of persistent high energy prices, and are fundamentally unsustainable in the long term;
6. That while the estimated cost of retrofit in Wales by 2030 stands at £14.75 billion, cost-benefit analyses have found that retrofitting would deliver £19.32 billion in GDP growth, generating
£3.54 billion in net tax profit; 26,500 new jobs by 2030; £8.3 billion in energy bill savings by 2040 as well as £4.4 billion savings in health & environmental benefits by 2040.
Conference believes:
7. That rapid cost increases for staples increase the rate of food poverty in addition to fuel poverty for those on low incomes, making it increasingly impossible to reconcile household budgets;
8. That the economic shocks of Brexit, Covid-19, and subsequent cost-of-living crisis, combined with the climate crisis and the need for decarbonisation are driving rising energy prices, fuel poverty and the need for transformative retrofit of Wales’s housing stock;
9. That retrofitting is a key measure to address thermal efficiency, reduce fuel bills, and alleviate fuel poverty, and that sustainably sourced, Welsh materials such as wood fibre insulation, natural hydraulic lime, and mycelium insulation should be used when retrofitting Welsh homes;
10. That with extreme weather conditions becoming increasingly evident today, it’s absolutely critical we design, build and adapt homes, not for the climate today, but for the climate in 50-100 years’ time.
Conference resolves to adopt the following as Plaid Cymru policy:
11. Consider short-term actions relating to retrofitting including conducting research, planning and developing strategies for materials supply, and re-writing policies for standards, skills and training;
12. For the Welsh Local Government Association to coordinate the sharing of Local Authority plans for tackling fuel poverty and for meeting Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards;
13. Consider medium-term actions relating to retrofitting including building sustainable materials capacity and supply, assess the vulnerability of homes and community infrastructure to long-term climate emergency impacts, introduce new retrofit guidance, and upscale skills, training and mass recruitment;
14. Consider long-term actions relating to retrofitting including banning new use of plastic insulation (PCIs) by 2030, introducing sustainable insulation material production and distribution, and optimising opportunities to generate sustainable economic growth, employment, and health through housing regeneration and deep resilience and adaptation over mitigation measures.
Universal Basic Income
Proposer: Plaid Cymru Senedd Group
Conference notes:
1. A universal basic income programme would involve every adult in Wales getting the same basic monthly payment from the government, and for that payment to meet the real living wage at a minimum;
2. Around 25% of people in Wales live in poverty, and roughly 31% of children in Wales live in poverty;
3. Welsh Government has launched a three-year UBI pilot, as of April 2022, with about 250 care leavers;
4. Economists such as Stewart Lansley and Howard Reed have argued that as little as £48 a week UBI in the UK could reduce child poverty and pensioner poverty by over a third.
Conference believes:
5. Radical policy is needed to tackle severe
socio-economic inequality facing people in Wales;
6. UBI has the potential to be an effective way to alleviate the unacceptably high poverty and child poverty rates in Wales;
7. Universal Basic Income would also reduce pressures (safety net) from future crisis on unemployment that has been seen from the pandemic, automation, and industry shifts;
8. It also has the potential to improve well-being, mental health, and happiness among the population;
9. UBI would also be less stressful to navigate and potentially in the long-term easier to operate than current means-tested benefits, as well as helping to reduce stigma around the benefits system.
Conference resolves:
To adopt the following as Plaid Cymru policy:
10. Establish and promote ourselves as a pro-UBI party;
11. Explore the expansion of the current UBI pilot, in the first instance looking to expand it on a geographic basis to areas that experience multiple deprivations;
12. Conduct feasibility studies, following the lead of the Scottish Government, to understand the potential and feasibility of full rollout of UBI;
13. Continue to push for the full devolution of the welfare and tax system to Wales so that the full potential of UBI in Wales can be explored.
Amendment 1Proposer: Clwyd West Constituency Committee At the end of the motion, add:
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Amendment 2Proposer: UNDEB After Point ‘4.’ in ‘Conference notes’, insert:
In Point ‘6.’ of ‘Conference believes’, (‘6. UBI has the potential to be an effective way to alleviate the unacceptably high poverty and child poverty rates in Wales;’), replace ‘UBI has the potential to be an effective way’ with ‘UBI and UBS both have the potential to be effective ways’. Remove Point ‘9.’ of ‘Conference believes’ (‘9. UBI would also be less stressful to navigate and potentially in the long-term easier to operate than current means-tested benefits, as well as helping to reduce stigma around the benefits system.’). Remove Point ‘10.’ in ‘Conference resolves’, (‘10. Establish and promote ourselves as a pro-UBI party;’), and replace with:
In Point ‘13.’ of Conference resolves, (‘13. Continue to push for the full devolution of the welfare and tax system to Wales so that the full potential of UBI can be explored.’), replace ‘UBI’ with ‘UBI and UBS’. |
Government of Wales (Devolved Powers) Bill motion
Proposer: Plaid Cymru Westminster Group
Conference notes:
1. That the Conservative Government is hostile to the powers and responsibilities of Senedd Cymru and has repeatedly and deliberately sought to undermine the devolution settlement between the UK and Wales;
Conference believes:
2. That Senedd Cymru is the democratic parliament of Wales and the first voice of its people;
Conference resolves:
3. To support the principle that powers devolved to Senedd Cymru must not be amended or withdrawn without a super-majority vote of its elected members, and supports Lord Dafydd Wigley’s Government of Wales (Devolved Powers) Bill to that effect.
A proposal to strengthen Welsh language provision in health and care services
Proposer: Arfon Constituency
Conference notes:
1. The last decade has been an exciting period for legislative and policy developments in Wales, but Welsh-language provision in health and social care remains insufficient. This causes users considerable risk and concern, and has a deleterious effect on their health and welfare. Action on the objectives of the Mwy na Geiriau [More than Words] Strategy (WG, 2016) has been lacking; they have not been mainstreamed or owned, and there are significant gaps and weaknesses in the Welsh Language Standards. Therefore, the Welsh language and the ‘proactive offer’ remains marignal in service planning and provision, and the inequality between Welsh language and English language provision remains.
Conference believes:
2. Our vision is for the Welsh language to be deeply embedded in health and social care services the length and breadth of Wales so that Welsh speakers can have direct access to the best quality care which meets their language needs without endangering their situation. In this respect, patients and service users can expect to receive Welsh-language services as a matter of course without having to ask specifically for them. Everyone working in the health and social care sector will be aware that this is the norm and they will take a proactive part in the task of contributing to this aim.
Conference calls on Plaid Cymru to place the Welsh language at the heart of our services and to:
3. Ensure that the principles of Mwy na Geiriau are central to the establishment of a National Health and Care Service;
4. Hold service providers to account for their responsibilities to implement the Welsh Language Standards and the principles of Mwy na Geiriau; and to tighten up the processes of regulatory and inspection bodies to make providers more accountable;
5. Establish and develop a health and social care workforce which fulfils the needs of the people of Wales and reflects the Welsh language and the cultural identity of the population;
6. Establish Welsh-medium care pathways for groups of vulnerable patients.
AmendmentProposer: Plaid Cymru Gwynedd Council Group Under Conference Notes, in the sentence ‘Action on the objectives of the Mwy na Geiriau [More than Words] Strategy (WG, 2016) has been lacking’, remove the italics from the word Strategy. Under Conference Believes, after ‘so that Welsh speakers can have direct access to the best quality care’ add in ‘and treatment’. Under Conference Calls, on point five, delete ‘reflects the Welsh language and the cultural identity of the population’ and add ‘which allows Welsh speakers access to services in their own language.’ |
Land Ownership, Community Assets and Housing
Proposer: Plaid Cymru Senedd Group
Conference notes:
1. Elsewhere within the UK, policies exist that enable the transfer of land and assets into community ownership which could set useful precedents for Welsh approaches with a view to enhancing the power that communities in Wales have over land and assets;
2. In Scotland, and, to a lesser degree, England, such national conversations have led to the introduction of policies designed to ensure that community groups can make use of sites in their local communities for housing, as well as projects like community-energy production;
3. Policies, such as the Community Right to Buy enshrined in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 which gives community bodies first refusal on sites put up for sale in their vicinity, have led, both directly and indirectly, to empowered communities driving forward on housing schemes to address the needs of local people.
Conference believes:
4. That Land and housing development are inextricably linked. The way that land is brought forward for housing development affects where and how many homes can be built, the quality of the homes and how affordable they are;
5. The current market-led system is dominated by developers competing for land, which is often in short supply, and therefore, those with the deepest pockets usually win, making it difficult for communities to take a leading and lasting role in developing affordable homes in their areas;
6. This system is not working for Wales, where the housing crisis, exacerbated by the Covid property boom, continues to affect more and more people every day. We need to ensure that more land is brought forward for high quality mixed-tenure housing more quickly, with local communities at the heart of decision making, management, and ownership;
7. Wales is trailing other nations in UK when it comes to community ownership rights. Currently Welsh citizens wishing to access sub-market value land for community housing initiatives are reliant on either philanthropic landowners, or on community asset transfers or compulsory purchase orders;
8. Neither of these policies offers quite the same empowerment as is enjoyed by communities in England or, particularly, Scotland, as they either focus solely on assets and facilities owned by public bodies or necessitate the direct involvement of a public body to implement the power.
Conference resolves to adopt the following as Plaid Cymru policy:
9. Strengthen community empowerment and ownership rights to help deliver the commitments set out in the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government and the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru Co-operation Agreement;
10. Enhance participatory democracy at a local level and empower people across Wales to have a greater ability to shape their local areas;
11. Establish a commission to stimulate innovative thinking on community ownership of land and assets in Wales;
12. Introduce a Community Ownership and Empowerment Act that gives well-governed, sustainable community organisations the opportunity to have more control over land and assets in their communities;
13. Develop a land ownership registry/database, which provides publicly accessible key data on land ownership/transactions in Wales bringing together existing databases e.g., HM Land Registry and the Welsh Government Land Division, to create a universal resource containing information on land;
14. Develop a Community Wealth Fund that would support communities to develop social infrastructure;
15. Publish guidance (eg a Technical Advice Note) that should encourage local authorities to develop bespoke policies (eg Supplementary Planning Guidance, land disposal policies) on community-led housing and how it can be included in future developments and provide community groups with access to public land at a reduced cost, enabling planning departments to ensure that this commitment in the Programme for Government is readily achieved;
16. Develop a formal process for Community Asset Transfers (CAT) so that there is a standardised approach across all local authorities and public bodies.
A motion to support the CEE Bill
Proposer: Plaid Ifanc
Conference notes that:
1. Wales was the first nation to declare a climate and nature emergency of 29th April 2019;
2. The Co-operation Agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government of 1st December 2021 commits to protect and restore biodiversity and a net zero emissions target by 2030, and that;
3. The National Executive Committee of Plaid Ifanc met with representatives from Zero Hour to discuss how we can help their campaigns.
Conference believes that:
4. Working together across the political spectrum to address climate, environmental and ecological challenges is the right thing to do;
5. All levels of government have a part to play in creating a zero carbon and nature positive society;
6. The CEE Bill presents a sound basis for holding the UK Government to account on commitments to tackle the climate and ecology emergency;
7. Legally-backed targets are an essential part of any zero carbon and nature restoration strategy, and that;
8. The support of political parties, youth organisations and local authorities across Wales, along with the Senedd Cymru, can help the CEE Bill gain traction in the UK Parliament.
Conference resolves to:
9. Formally associate Plaid Cymru with the Zero Hour campaign to pass the CEE Bill into law and declare the Party to be a supporter of Zero Hour’s work;
10. Approach Members of the Senedd and Members of the Welsh Youth Parliament and gather their support for the campaign to pass the CEE Bill;
11. Explore avenues for a pre-emptive Legislative Consent Motion in the Senedd Cymru regarding the CEE Bill being brought before the UK Parliament, or else a motion expressing support;
12. Put pressure on Plaid Cymru MPs to strengthen their ongoing efforts in support of the CEE Bill in the UK Parliament;
13. Encourage Plaid Cymru Councillors to present motions in local authorities supporting the CEE Bill;
14. Encourage the Welsh Youth Parliament to collectively express its formal support for the CEE Bill, and to;
15. Create social media content surrounding the campaign to pass the CEE Bill.
AmendmentProposer: Plaid Cymru Westminster Group Add a new bullet point to conference believes:
In conference resolves, delete bullet points 11 (Explore avenues), 12 (Put pressure), 13 (Encourage Plaid) and 14 (Encourage the) and replace with:
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Cost of Living & Fuel Poverty Conference Motion
Proposer: Plaid Cymru Senedd Group
Conference notes:
1. Wales has relatively high levels of old housing stock with poor levels of energy efficiency and relatively low levels of household income. We are now faced with the external issue of soaring energy costs—both directly for housing and transportation, as well as indirectly in food, clothing, entertainment and their wider lives;
2. Fuel poverty principally exists as a function of:
- general poverty (income),
- general energy use (related to property energy efficiency and knowledge about consumption), and
- unit energy cost.
Conference believes:
3. There is a role for Welsh government in all three components of the fuel poverty triangle, including:
- improving opportunities for fair pay, better wages and a high skilled economy,
- improving the energy efficiency of homes, and
- increasing the number of local renewable energy projects.
Conference resolves:
To adopt the following as Plaid Cymru policy:
4. Set clear and transparent statutory targets for reducing fuel poverty with associated deadlines;
5. Ensure robust data is available to evidence impact and identify the next stage of activity;
6. Support a rapid roll-out of smart meters, especially to households who use prepayment meters;
7. Targeted support for switching tariffs and social tariffs for those most in need;
8. Increase grant cap for rural properties;
9. Explore a potential price cap for small businesses, or dedicated support package;
10. Align future support schemes with the decarbonisation agenda to maximise outputs and benefits;
11. Ensure all fuel poverty support programmes include low-income households living in, or at risk of, fuel poverty even if they do not receive means-tested benefits and focus on improving the energy efficiency of the least efficient homes occupied by low income and vulnerable households;
12. Ensure that that there is Welsh representation on the Ofgem board so that Welsh needs are sufficiently addressed, and ultimately aim to devolve Ofgem to Wales;
13. That, where the Welsh Government lacks the necessary powers to further alleviate fuel poverty, the UK Government should intervene in the market to ensure energy prices are affordable, introduce a social tariff for energy, increase the Warm Homes Discount, and expand its eligibility and that of the Cold Weather Payment to cover all low-income households living in or at risk of fuel poverty;
14. That all powers over energy generation should be transferred to the Senedd, alongside the funding required to make this a success, as a first step towards a Welsh energy sector and which promotes public ownership, and with Ynni Cymru as a delivery vehicle.
Employment rights and conditions
Proposer: Aberafan Constituency
Conference notes:
1. The report of the Fair Work Commission in 2019;
2. The call by the Bevan Foundation in July 2021 for the recommendations of this report to be taken forward by the Welsh Government;
3. The call by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in November 2021 for greater job security, work-life balance, and proper regulation to ensure fairness at work;
4. The call by the IPPR in February 2022 highlighting the close relationship between work and health and the wide age, class, and racial differentials between access to sick pay;
5. The commonalities in these reports and many others in calling for widespread reform in working conditions;
6. Although the Welsh Government formally accepted the recommendations of the Commission as long ago as May 2019, there has been a blatant lack of progress in implementation. The fact that so many research institutions have found it necessary to continue to recommend action makes it obvious that the work of the Commission has been a dead letter.
7. The wide range of abuses that have been used over many years by employers to worsen working conditions. Examples of these abuses include:
- fire and rehire;
- zero hours contracts;
- insecure hours and casualisation;
- use of employment agencies and umbrella companies to substitute for permanent employees;
- enforced and fake self-employment;
- worsening of pension schemes;
- high working intensity;
- frequent breaches of the law on minimum wages and rest breaks;
- aggressive and bullying sickness management regimes;
8. Delegates will be familiar with many examples of this, both recent (P&O, British Gas, DVLA) and others going back over many decades.
Conference Further Notes:
9. The increase in in-work poverty and insecurity which has been a consequence of these abuses;
10. The damaging effects to both physical and mental health which are also a consequence;
11. The conflict between the current situation and our vision of a Wales whose economy features high-wage, high-skill, useful, and sustainable employment;
12. The centrality of this issue to our own and the Welsh Government’s agendas on poverty and well-being;
13. Increasing calls in the post-Covid situation for Healthy Jobs, Good Work, and Fair Jobs.
Conference Condemns:
14. The non-devolution of terms and conditions of employment under the Wales Act 2017, in contrast to the devolution of this power to Stormont under the Northern Ireland Act 1998;
15. The lack of vision by Welsh Labour in not seeking devolution of this issue;
16. The failure by the Welsh Government to take forward the Fair Work Commission recommendations.
Conference Recognises:
17. The importance not merely of setting aspirations for this issue but of providing and enforcing a regulatory framework.
Conference Calls:
18. For an end to delays in implementing the full recommendations of the Fair Work Commission;
19. For an amendment to the Wales Act to remove employment conditions from the reserved list;
20. Charges the National Policy Forum, in consultation with our trade union section Undeb, to prepare settled policy for our approach to regulation of this issue;
21. For these targets to be made mandatory for local authorities as well as central government.
Increase the remit of the NHS to fully include dental and optometric treatment
Proposer: Plaid Ifanc
Conference notes:
1. The UK Government increase in National Insurance by +1.25% and their failure to stop the increase of the energy cap by instituting a windfall tax on energy companies’ profits resulting in an average increase of £693;
2. The focus of these increases is currently on the choice between heating and eating, however, thousands of people ineligible for free dental and/or optometric treatment or help with costs of these treatments will also be forced to make further difficult choices between dental and optometric care, heating and eating;
3. That the Party, in the campaign for the Senedd election in May 2021, committed to create a National Health and Social Care Service free at the point of need.
Conference also notes:
4. That oral health issues, left untreated can lead to much more serious health conditions such as heart disease.
5. That ocular health not only enables people to stay in work longer thus increasing productivity, but also allows people to have increased levels of activity which, without readily able services for the visually impaired, they would otherwise be unable to undertake.
6. A quote from Aneurin Bevan, the founder of the NHS "Illness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay, nor an offence for which they should be penalised, but a misfortune, the cost of which should be shared by the community."
Conference believes:
7. That oral and ocular health is paramount to an individual’s overall health and well-being;
8. That all aspects of health should be covered by a National Health and Social Care Service free at the point of need;
9. That the right to healthcare is a fundamental human right available to everyone, not just those who can afford it.
Conference calls:
10. On the Party to put pressure on the Welsh Government to provide further coverage of dental and optometric treatments free of charge;
11. On the Party to push for scraping NHS charges on all non-cosmetic treatments including check-ups and preventative treatments;
12. On the party to push for a price cap on all treatments not freely available under the NHS.
Four Day Working Week
Proposer: Plaid Cymru Senedd Group
Conference notes:
1. The standard 4-day working week model involves employees working 80% of their usual time for 100% of their usual pay;
2. In the latter half of 2022, over 60 UK companies will be participating in a 4-day working week pilot, with no loss of pay for employees, the biggest four-day working week trial in the world, supported by the 4-day week campaign;
3. A study by Henley Business School (2021) found that UK businesses could save a total of
£104 billion a year if the 4-day work week was implemented across the entire workforce;
4. A four-day working week could reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by 127 million tonnes per year, the equivalent of taking 27 million cars off the road, according to the 4-day week campaign;
5. Research has suggested that a four-day week in the Welsh public sector could create over 26,000 full-time and 10,000 part-time jobs in Wales, cost around £1 billion;
6. Polling suggests there is support for this in Wales, an estimated 57% of the Welsh public support a Welsh Government pilot towards a four-day working week, and 62% of the Welsh public would ideally choose to work a four day working week or less.
Conferences believes:
7. A four-day working week could bring benefits to workers, employers, the economy, local communities & wider society, and the environment;
8. It would provide workers with a better work-life balance, and happier more fulfilling lives, with greater time to rest, enjoy leisure, and prioritise life admin;
9. Other trials and examples have shown that employers can expect to gain greater productivity, performance, and profits from a
4-day work week while reducing costs;
10. It has the potential to improve talent pools for employers and further social justice & equality, as those with caring roles may be more able to access the workforce and those who usually work 5-days a week can carry out a more equal share of unpaid work;
11. A four-day working week is also likely to improve the economy with aggregate lower employment, increased productivity, and potential boost to the tourism sector driven by increases in internal tourism due to more free leisure time;
12. Generally, it should lead society have better mental and physical health, as well as strengthened and happier communities;
13. The environment is also likely to improve, as people will have more free time to make environmentally conscious decisions and there will be less commuting.
Conference resolves:
To adopt the following as Plaid Cymru policy:
14. Commission Wales-specific research into the options and impact of potential 4-day working week policies;
15. Establish a Commission on the 4-day working weeks to bring together stakeholders such as unions, politicians, and businesses, to work towards the end goal of a 4-day working week;
16. Explore the possibility of running a 4-day working week public sector pilot in Wales.
Victims’ Commissioner for Wales
Proposer: Plaid Cymru Westminster Group
Conference notes:
1. The passage of the draft Victims Bill, contained in the UK Government’s proposed legislative programme in 2021 through the Westminster Parliament;
2. The work by Goleudy in supporting the victims of crime in the Dyfed Powys Police Force area.
Conference congratulates:
3. Campaigners like Nadine Marshall for their work to ensure victims’ voices are heard in the criminal justice system.
Conference calls:
4. For the party to undertake detailed work to secure the creation of a Victims’ Commissioner for Wales;
5. For families of serious crime including murder to be provided with Probation Liaison Officers at an early stage following any criminal proceedings. Many families are still without answers or support following catastrophic events and loss of loved ones.
Housing
Proposer: Monmouth Constituency
Conference Notes:
1. With some 67,000 people on waiting lists for housing and only a fraction of social housing being built in Wales at present, our communities are facing an existential crisis which needs immediate action;
2. In some areas of Wales, up to 40% of houses are being bought as second homes resulting in locals, many of them young and first-time buyers, being priced out of the market, and ultimately moving away from their communities;
3. As a result of the impact of second home owners, some communities where Welsh is traditionally spoken, are now becoming more fragmented, and are losing their cultural and linguistic identity.
In Wales, wherever Plaid Cymru is in power, locally or nationally, is committed to the following:
4. A package of measures to include intervention in land use and planning, taxation, and housebuilding, to be introduced immediately to tackle the growing housing crisis at both national and local levels; measures should also include regulation of house prices and rents;
5. A change in planning law whereby second home buyers pay higher land tax (Treth Trafodiad Tir); abolishing the loophole which allows second home owners to turn their property into businesses in order to avoid Council Tax; regulating short term holiday homes with a licensing scheme;
6. Establishing a Welsh national housing company in order to better support councils and landlords in the supply of affordable housing; a national building programme would also make a key contribution to the creation of construction jobs in Wales, thereby boosting the economy at both national and local levels;
7. Giving local authorities more powers over housing in their jurisdiction i.e. building more social housing of higher quality (with renewable energy and other eco-friendly features); introducing measures to help those wishing to remain in their communities;
8. Addressing the problem of homelessness which worsened during the Covid crisis—during a period of 18 months, it is estimated that over 17,300 people became homeless;
9. Establishing a multi-disciplinary group in every authority with a view to implement strategies for tackling area-specific housing issues.
Conference notes that these measures have the potential to:
10. Provide much-needed housing in both private and social sectors;
11. Support first-time buyers and others who wish to remain in their communities;
12. Establish a new building company/programme to create more jobs and boost the economy;
13. Enable local authorities to lead the way in terms of identifying and addressing problems in their own areas.
Solar Panels
Proposer: Bridgend and Ogmore Constituencies
Conference notes:
1. That diversifying our energy production is key to reducing our carbon footprint;
2. While 25% of UK energy is currently produced from wind, there is an urgent need to diversify our renewable energy production to mitigate against unpredictable weather (during the winter of 2021, for example, increases in energy costs were partially blamed on the use of energy reserves due to a lack of wind);
3. That solar power technology has progressed significantly, with current solar panels being more reliable and effective than their predecessors;
4. That the long pay-back period on solar panels (an average of 15 years) is an obstacle to their wider adoption.
Conference believes:
5. That solar panels will help households reduce their energy costs;
6. That financial assistance should be provided to builders for the installation of solar panels on new homes;
7. That such assistance will both encourage wider adoption of solar panel technology and keep property prices affordable.
Conference calls:
on the Senedd to:
8. Require all new-build homes where feasible to be fitted with solar panels;
9. Provide financial assistance for the installation of solar panels on new-build homes.
Energy
Proposer: Monmouth Constituency
Conference notes:
1. The present levels of greenhouse gas emissions which are too high for continuation of life on earth;
2. Soaring inflation and cost of living caused by the pandemic and by Russian aggression, but exacerbated by Brexit and establishment of trade barriers;
3. The UK Government’s lack of a coherent plan to manage this situation. Instead they prefer non-intervention, the use of market forces regardless of peoples’ needs, and allow high levels of corruption in a ‘small state’ run by big undemocratic corporations;
4. The UK Government’s incompetence and lack of caring demonstrate an out-of-touch regime, where nepotism is rife as they stagger along under the maxim of “no rules for us, only rules for you”.
Conference further notes:
5. The UK Government’s lack of action on, and withdrawal from, investment in renewable energy and insulation of buildings over the past 12 years;
6. The UK Government’s innumeracy in putting emphasis on expansion of costly nuclear plants with a long construction time, instead of investing in cheaper wind, solar and hydro power, and the insulation of homes and workplaces;
7. The yet unsolved problems of nuclear waste disposal and security risks in an increasingly unstable world, both environmentally and politically;
8. The generation of more electricity in Wales overall than our present needs, but in the south less than is needed. The lack of a south-north National Grid preventing connection throughout Wales. Only 36% of this electricity generation is from renewable sources.
In Wales, Plaid Cymru, wherever it is in power locally or nationally, commits to:
9. Phasing out fossil fuels completely;
10. Introducing a comprehensive programme of insulation of all buildings;
11. A programme to increase research and investment into the development of renewable electricity generation and its use in buildings, transport, agriculture and industrial processes to reduce costs and to establish the conditions for net zero carbon emissions;
12. Maintaining diversity of life in Wales, through sustainable use of renewable natural products and processes. This will include a) electricity generation from tides and waves, (but not from barriers across river mouths), wind, sun and other hydro means b) use of wood primarily for structures and implements, instead of concrete and plastics. c) phasing out wood as a fuel in urban and suburban areas to reduce air pollution, and d) making heat pumps the standard method of heating wherever possible;
13. Planning micro generation within a joined-up structure;
14. Ensuring widespread availability of adequate, well-connected, reliable public transport.
15. Plaid Cymru also commits to gain powers for the Welsh Government to nationalise electrical generation and distribution.
Conference notes that these measures have the potential in a developed strategy to:
16. Revitalise the economy of Wales;
17. Strengthen natural biodiversity;
18. Alleviate climate change;
19. Stabilise the costs of living.
The Future of Hydrogen in Wales
Proposer: Ynys Môn Constituency Committee
Conference notes:
1. The importance of developing hydrogen technology in decarbonising energy and securing clean air;
2. That it might be practically impossible to decarbonise a number of sectors without hydrogen;
3. That green hydrogen can contribute to transforming Wales’ economy;
4. That hydrogen development can make a significant contribution to the cyclical and foundational economy, and the localisation agenda;
5. That the use of hydrogen can lead to more stable energy prices and break our dependency on the fossil fuel chain.
Conference believes:
6. That it is necessary to invest and plan strategically to develop a new hydrogen industry;
7. That innovation already taking place in Wales in the field of hydrogen, e.g. in Ynys Môn led by Menter Môn, could form the basis for the creation of an important new industry in Ynys Môn and other parts of Wales;
8. That there would be genuine value in securing Welsh ownership and control of this new sector;
9. That a major benefit could be derived from strategic collaboration with Ireland on hydrogen developments;
10. That there is an opportunity for Wales to be in the front rank of countries in the development of this new sector.
Conference calls:
11. For Plaid Cymru to ensure a policy making hydrogen one of our priorities for the future of energy in Wales, including the need to establish a National Hydrogen Strategy for Wales.
Safeguarding Food Production
Proposer: Aberconwy Constituency
Conference Notes:
1. That agriculture is one of Wales’s chief economic sectors with a far-reaching contribution in many directions:
- That the emphasis of Welsh agriculture is on the production of nourishing food through environmentally friendly non-intensive methods – including the conservation of the structure and biodiversity of the soil and pasture;
- That it contributes to safeguarding food supplies here in Wales and beyond – an increasingly important issue in the face of global uncertainty;
- Agriculture invests in the local and wider economy – through current farm payments it sustains employment linked to agriculture, food and conservation within other local businesses, also supporting the wider economies of whole areas beyond farming;
- It is a core resource for the Foundational Economy, with a new opportunity through the Co-operation Agreement between Plaid and Welsh Government for local food producers to contribute further to the local supply and buy cycle;
- It makes a key contribution to safeguarding our environment and conserving our landscape, and for the Welsh language to thrive as the natural language of work and living communities;
- It’s at the core of the economy of Wales and sustainability in its fullest sense.
2. Other interests are now in competition for the land so essential to our agricultural industry and for the related Welsh Government funding:
- Most specifically afforestation—with large companies and financial market investors eager to make a profit from our resources under the cloak of saving the planet;
- Unfortunately, for us planting trees is no silver bullet to solving the climate change emergency. As testified in the scientific article ‘How much can forests fight climate change?’. In the Northern Hemisphere alternative plant growth other than forests do the same work, including the maintenance of pasture as well as not denuding the land—all completely compatible with the agricultural activities of Welsh family farms. Planting forests is not the only solution.
Conference believes:
3. That supporting food production as the primary activity of our farms is crucial for the success of our economy, our communities and the Welsh language—and that safeguarding our environment and biodiversity goes hand in hand with that;
4. That the broad range of our agricultural land, be that in the lowlands or the hills, is a valuable national resource, essential for producing food through non-intensive means—and that the agricultural use of land and the related financial resources should be protected;
5. That the change of land use from agricultural to afforestation should require specific planning consent;
6. That elements of the Co-operation agreement between Plaid and Welsh Government offers a new opportunity for local food producers and the foundational economy and this should be developed further.
Conference Calls:
7. On Welsh Government’s new Agriculture Scheme, and specifically the chief payments, to support active family farms of all sizes to produce food as the core of the scheme;
8. For Welsh Government to ensure that the new Agricultural Scheme funding support does not go to companies and institutions outside Wales;
9. On Welsh Government to strengthen the planning regime by adding the need for specific change of use consent for changing agricultural land to afforestation;
10. On Plaid’s Senedd Group to progress swiftly to establish the practical aspects of the
Co-operation Agreement between Plaid and Welsh Government in relation to linking local food producers with public sector purchasing.
AmendmentProposer: Monmouth Constituency Under Conference Calls, add points after point 7:
Also under Conference Calls, on current point 8, after ‘go to companies and institutions outside Wales’, add: ‘and reinforces the retention of agricultural businesses in Wales;’ |
Place names—A National Treasure
Proposer: Aberconwy Constituency
Conference notes:
1. That the Welsh names of houses, farms and other buildings reflect a rich history and centuries of people’s lived experience within our communities. They are national treasures;
2. Over recent decades these old long-lived names have been gradually replaced, by new owners, with English names that have no relation to landscape features nor the histories of our areas, nor our culture;
3. That these names are now being replaced in some of our strongest Welsh-speaking areas – and that people in these areas are not prepared to see that continue.
Conference believes:
4. That this situation has continued for far too long without attention or protection, and that we need to move now to safeguard our local placenames and the rich history they express.
Conference calls:
5. On the Welsh Government to establish legal protection—e.g. within the planning regime or other means—to ensure that the Welsh names of houses, farms and other properties cannot be changed without formal permission;
6. For such new requirements—e.g. within the planning regime—to denote a prominent role for our Community Councils in the decision-making process on every name change application;
7. On the authorities to mandate estate agents to raise awareness of this requirement in their discussions with potential buyers of homes or land, together with the importance of the Welsh language and culture to our everyday lives.