The Policy Motions and Amendments to Annual Conference 2026. All information about Conference is published on partyof.wales/conference.

Friday Motions

10:10 Friday
MOTIONS 1

• The Cost of Energy
• Saving Babies' Lives and Supporting Bereaved Families in Wales
• Cancer Strategy

16:15 Friday
MOTIONS 2

• A New Wales Bill
• The UK's role in upholding international law

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Saturday Motions

09:50 Saturday
MOTIONS 3

• Food Security and Resilience
• Community Led Planning

14:15 Saturday
MOTIONS 4

• Establish an independent veterinary school for Wales
• Child Poverty in Wales
• Diaspora Strategy

15:55 Saturday
MOTIONS 5

• Preventative Health
• Equalities
• Sustainability

The Cost of Energy

Motions 1: 10:10 Friday
Proposer: Westminster Group

Conference Notes:

• That energy costs are a major driver of the cost-of-living crisis for households and businesses in Wales.
• That Wales has the oldest housing stock in the UK, with 26% of homes built before 1919, making energy efficiency improvements more challenging and more expensive.
• That 19% of Welsh households are off-grid, compared with 15% across Great Britain, leaving many reliant on more expensive sources of energy.
• That standing charges in Wales are significantly higher than in other parts of the UK.

Conference Believes:

• That the UK Government must take stronger, targeted action to reduce the cost of living for households and businesses in Wales.
• That UK-support must properly account for Welsh needs, including high standing charges, a higher number of off-grid communities, and Wales’ older housing stock.
• That tackling the cost-of-living crisis must go hand-in-hand with reducing fossil fuel use and addressing the climate emergency.
• That long-term investment in clean, affordable, domestically produced energy is essential to protect Welsh households and businesses from future price shocks.

Conference Resolves:

• To call on the UK Government to end unfair energy standing charges that disproportionately impact Welsh households.
• To urge the UK Government to move green levies from household bills into general taxation to make funding green energy projects more progressive.
• To press the UK Government for funding for a major expansion of energy-efficiency programmes and ensuring projects in Wales receive their fair share of the Green Heat Network Fund to develop new heat networks.
• To reiterate the demand for the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales, with profits reinvested to reduce energy costs and support renewable energy development.
• To insist that all UK Government support schemes reflect the specific needs of Welsh households and businesses.
• To call on the UK Government to strengthen the windfall tax on large oil and gas companies, and to investigate windfall profits made by other companies as a result of the energy crisis, ensuring excess profits contribute to lowering bills.

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Saving Babies' Lives and Supporting Bereaved Families in Wales

Motions 1: 10:10 Friday
Proposer: Pontypridd Etholaeth

Conference Notes:

• the stillbirth rate in Wales has been consistently higher than the rate for the rest of the UK;
• there has been no sustained drop in the rate of babies being stillborn in Wales since 2018;
• there has also been a lack of sustained progress in reducing the rate of babies dying shortly after birth in Wales; and
• more than 1,000 babies in Wales may have survived between 2019 and 2023 if outcomes had matched those of the best-performing countries in Europe.

Conference Welcomes:

• The new Welsh Government’s increasing focus on preventative health and reducing inequalities across health outcomes.
• Ongoing work to improve maternity safety, workforce planning, and equity within maternity and neonatal services in Wales.
• The commitment in Plaid Cymru’s 2026 Senedd election manifesto to develop and strengthen Wales’s National Bereavement Care Pathway and promote best practice in supporting bereaved parents, providing a clear foundation for delivery in government.³
• The strong commitment shown by Plaid Cymru representatives to improving outcomes for babies and families, including the fact that 35 Plaid Cymru Members of the Senedd elected in 2026 signed the Sands pledge as candidates, representing a clear majority of the group and demonstrating a clear mandate within the party to deliver progress in saving babies’ lives and supporting bereaved families.⁴
• The publication of the 2026 All-Wales Maternity and Neonatal Assurance Assessment report, and Plaid Cymru’s response welcoming the report while making clear that its recommendations must be urgently implemented to improve safety, quality and outcomes for mothers and babies across Wales.

Conference Believes that:

• Bereaved families do not always receive consistent, high-quality support across Wales, including access to trained staff, bereavement facilities, and specialist psychological care.
• Too many baby deaths in Wales are preventable, and urgent, coordinated action is required to reduce stillbirth and neonatal mortality.
• Ensuring that fewer babies die, and that all bereaved parents receive compassionate, high-quality care, must be a central aim of a preventative, equitable health system.
• Addressing inequalities in baby loss outcomes, particularly for families in deprived communities and from minority ethnic backgrounds, is essential to delivering a fairer Wales.
• The commitment made by Plaid Cymru representatives to work towards a future where fewer babies die and all bereaved parents receive the support they need must now be delivered through government.

Conference calls on the Welsh Government to:

• Ensure timely and effective implementation of the recommendations set out in the 2026 All-Wales Maternity and Neonatal Assurance Assessment Report;
• Deliver on the manifesto commitment to develop and strengthen the National Bereavement Care Pathway;
• work with all health boards across Wales to:
  • ensure that all bereaved families can access high-quality bereavement care as part of the National Bereavement Care Pathway, including trained staff, appropriate facilities, opportunities to create memories, and referral to specialist psychological support where required;
  • rollout specialist psychological support for people following pregnancy and baby loss, ensuring all bereaved parents can access support regardless of where they life, the type of pregnancy or baby loss they experienced, or how long ago it was; and
• consider adopting clear, measurable targets to reduce stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates in Wales in line with the best-performing countries in Europe, including targets to eliminate inequalities in baby loss by ethnicity and deprivation, and ensure sustained focus on delivery.
• Ensure that learning from reviews of baby deaths is completed, shared, and acted upon consistently across Wales to prevent avoidable deaths in the future.

Conference Resolves:

• That Plaid Cymru in government will continue to work towards a future where fewer babies die and all bereaved parents in Wales receive the care, compassion and support they need.

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Cancer Strategy

Motions 1: 10:10 Friday
Proposer: Senedd Group

Conference Notes:

• That 1 in every 2 people in Wales will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
• That an estimated 230,000 people in Wales will be living with cancer by 2030.

Regrets that:

• Approximately 40% of cancer patients in Wales do not receive treatment within the clinically recommended 62 day period.
• Wales has amongst the worst survival rates in the developed world for liver, oesophageal, pancreatic, lung and stomach cancers.

Calls on the new Plaid Cymru Welsh Government to:

• Develop a new national cancer plan to expand access to timely treatment, strengthen cancer screening and diagnostic services, address the preventative causes of cancer, improve survival rates and build resilience and capacity within the workforce.

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A New Wales Bill

Motions 2: 16:15 Friday
Proposer: Westminster Group

Conference Notes:

• That successive UK Governments have overlooked the needs of communities in Wales including through historic underfunding.
• That Wales’s current devolution settlement not only falls short compared to powers held by Scotland, but is also vulnerable – having been frequently undermined and overridden by the UK Government, such as through Brexit legislation.
• That multiple commissions – from the Silk Commission to the Thomas Commission, and the Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales – have recommended further transfer of powers to Wales, along with the need to reset relations between the Welsh and UK Governments.

Conference Believes:

• The current settlement is insufficient and requires reform to ensure fair funding, to remove constraints, and the further devolution of powers, along with the long-term protection of devolution.
• The people of Wales have elected a Plaid Cymru Welsh Government to stand up for our communities and demand real fairness for Wales in Westminster, including calling for:
• securing funding owed from HS2 and other England-only rail projects so that we can invest in an integrated transport system that works for Wales
• revising the outdated Barnett formula to ensure that Wales receives its fair share of public investment
• devolving the Crown Estate, justice and policing, water, rail infrastructure, social security, energy regulation, Air Passenger Duty, regional development funding, research and innovation funding and broadcasting powers to Wales, so that decisions for Wales are made in Wales
• placing intergovernmental relations and the Sewel Convention on a firmer statutory basis to better protect devolution
• expanding Welsh fiscal powers, including the ability to set made in Wales Income Tax bands; and
• reforming the Welsh fiscal framework including raising the Welsh Reserve draw down limits and increasing the Welsh Government’s capital borrowing capacity, so that the Welsh Government is better placed to invest in our communities.

Conference Resolves:

• That Plaid Cymru will continue to call for the remediation of these systemic issues, including through a new Wales Bill to legislate for a better settlement for Wales
• That the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government will negotiate with the UK Government on the swift implementation of these measures, at the earliest opportunity.

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The UK's role in upholding international law

Motions 2: 16:15 Friday
Proposer: Westminster Group

Conference Notes:

• That the war resulting from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has now entered its fourth year, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides and widespread destruction.
• That the ceasefire in Gaza is not being fully observed, with at least 1300 Palestinians reported killed since October 2025, and that key humanitarian agencies, including UNRWA, remain banned by Israel, severely restricting aid delivery.
• That the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran in March were widely condemned as illegal under international law, and that the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had devastating consequences for regional stability and the global economy.
• That the invasion of Lebanon by Israel in March 2026 has displaced at least 1.2 million people, worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis in the region.
• That the fuel blockade of Cuba by the United States has led to severe humanitarian impacts, including: Infant mortality rising to 9.9 per 1,000 births, Childhood cancer survival rates falling from 85% to 65%, essential medicines available at only 30% of normal levels, Food production reportedly down 60%, with sharp increases in basic food prices.
• That the latest United Nations reports estimate 41.6 million refugees globally, and 68.7 million people displaced within their own countries due to conflict, persecution, or violence.
• The OECD notes a 23.1% decrease in International Aid from member countries, the largest decrease on record, bringing spending down to a level last seen in 2015.

Conference Believes:

• That the UK must use all diplomatic, legal, and economic tools available to uphold international law consistently and without exception.
• That military attacks on civilian populations and energy infrastructure cannot be justified and do not constitute a proportionate or lawful form of self-defence under international law.
• That the UK has a responsibility to support humanitarian relief, promote peaceful resolution of conflicts, and oppose collective punishment in all forms.

Conference Resolves:

• To call on the UK Government to apply international law consistently to all nations, without exception.
• To press the UK Government to sanction individuals responsible for breaches of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, and to review trade and diplomatic ties with states that commit such violations.
• To call on the UK to reaffirm a commitment to upholding human rights, supporting humanitarian access, and advocating for peaceful, negotiated solutions to international conflicts.
• To call for increased UK support for refugees and displaced people, including expanded resettlement pathways, strengthened international cooperation, and to reverse cuts to international development spending by restoring it to the United Nations target of 0.7% of GDP.

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Food Security and Resilience

Motions 3: 09:50 Saturday
Proposer: Senedd Group

Conference Notes:

• The effect of the American / Israeli war on Iran on global food supply chains
• The continuing effect of Climate change on UK food production and global supply chains
• The crippling effect of increased food price inflation on the most vulnerable in our communities.

Conference Further Notes:

• The price of fertiliser has risen by up to 80% since the beginning of the US / Israeli war on Iran which could result in a bidding war for food between richer and poorer nations
• Food systems are highly dependent on fossil fuels which not only provide transportation but are also used in fertiliser production, powering irrigation and therefore the shutting of the Straits of Hormuz and its spike in global energy costs will have major impacts for the food industry.
• Between 2022 and 2023 climate impacts added an estimated £361 to the average household food bill
• Food prices were already on track to be 50% higher than they were 5 years ago without further inflationary pressures.

Conference supports the Plaid Cymru Government plans to:

• Develop a new national Food Strategy
• Improve Food security and make greater use of public procurement.
• Support Welsh food and drink producers

Conference further supports measures that:

• Examine whether food price caps for basic foods should be introduced to stop supermarkets profiteering from the food crisis.
• Support Cooperatively owned shops and supermarkets
• Support Community and cooperatively owned food growing schemes, market gardens and farmers markets and local and small scale horticulture.
• Work with food banks and food share schemes to support vulnerable families and reduce food wastage.

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Community Led Planning

Motions 3: 09:50 Saturday
Proposer: Senedd Group

Conference Notes:

• Future Wales – the National Plan 2040 and Planning Policy Wales provide the overarching frameworks for planning and regional development policy in Wales.
• These frameworks were developed under previous Labour Welsh Governments, and reflect their particular approach to and priorities for regional and spatial development.
• Planning processes in Wales are often both slow and overly top-down, with developments delayed or held-up by a lack of community buy-in.
• The Welsh Government has powers to review and reform planning policy in Wales.

Conference Believes:

• Current planning policy does not currently strike the right balance between the needs of communities and the interests of commercial developers.
• Local Development Plans (LDPs), in particular, are in need of reform so that they better reflect communities’ real needs, and give communities more meaningful power and influence over local development.
• Planning processes can and should be clearer and more consistent, and better facilitate community-led solutions to the overlapping climate and housing crises.
• Wales needs a more coherent framework for spatial planning and regional development – one that replaces Labour’s tangled web of incoherent projects and inconsistent priorities with a more streamlined and nation-building approach.

Conference Resolves:

• To call on the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government to review Future Wales – the National Plan 2040, Planning Policy Wales and other relevant planning frameworks, and to reform or replace these frameworks as appropriate so that planning in Wales becomes:
  • More community-led and reflective of communities’ real needs
  • Clearer and less inconsistent
  • More facilitative of community-led housing and energy solutions
  • More coherent and focussed on real local development, and connections within and between communities in Wales

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Establish an independent veterinary school for Wales

Motions 4: 14:15 Saturday
Proposer: Dwyfor Meirionnydd Etholaeth

Conference Notes that:

•  Until recently the lack of investment by the Welsh Government in funding infrastructure and facilities to develop animal health and welfare research in Wales has been disappointing
• The continued refusal of the Welsh Government to date to examine the case for having an independent Welsh veterinary school
• That there is no full-time veterinary school in Wales
• There are 8 veterinary schools in England; 2 in Scotland with a third new one opened in September 2025; consideration is being given to the creation of a veterinary school in Northern Ireland; and the Irish government has approved the creation of two new schools in addition to the existing one
• Wales is the only country in the UK where students wishing to study veterinary medicine have to do so outside their home country

Conference Welcomes:

• The progress made in terms of establishing a center of veterinary excellence at Aberystwyth University and the establishment of a 'shared' veterinary school where there is some teaching through the medium of Welsh, this in partnership with the Royal Veterinary College in London.
•  Aberystwyth's veterinary school is firmly based on the university's distinguished reputation for research and education in agriculture and agronomy, which is in addition to the two existing veterinary bioscience courses.

Conference Regrets:

• The real shortage of farm animal vets in Wales
• Veterinary undergraduates spend only their first two years of pre-clinical studies at Aberystwyth University before transferring to the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire and London for the remaining three years
• With the last three years of the course spent in London, the chances of graduates returning to Wales as originally hoped are diminishing

Conference Believes:

• That the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme which has been pioneered by the Welsh Government will put increasing pressure on veterinary resources and expertise in Wales
• That such requirements would be best met by a full-time veterinary school in Aberystwyth, with full clinical and teaching facilities together with the provision of first class science resources to support veterinary practitioners throughout the country, when the current arrangement with the Royal Veterinary College in London comes to an end in a few years' time

Conference Calls for:

• Ongoing and continuing support with the vision to reinforce the message to establish an Independent Welsh Veterinary School with bilingual teaching integral to the provision – subject to available resources.

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Child Poverty in Wales

Motions 4: 14:15 Saturday
Proposer: Senedd Group

Conference Notes:

• That almost one in three children in Wales are living in poverty, with projections suggesting rates could rise further, making Wales the worst affected nation in the UK by the end of the decade.
• The failure of past administrations to meet previous commitments in relation to child poverty, including the abandonment of poverty reduction targets and a failure to include measurable poverty reduction targets in the 2024 Child Poverty Strategy for Wales.
• That Plaid Cymru prioritised tackling child poverty through its manifesto commitments on expanded childcare, the expansion of free school meals, a Cynnal child payment and a new, targeted plan to tackle child poverty.

Conference Believes:

• That child poverty is a moral injustice that undermines the health, education and life chances of children across Wales.
• That tackling child poverty must remain a central national mission for the Plaid Cymru Government, requiring sustained political will and targeted, evidence-based interventions.
• That direct financial support to families, alongside enhanced support with funded childcare and expanded free school meals, represents the most effective way to reduce poverty in the short term.
• That investing strategically in reducing child poverty delivers long-term social and economic benefits, strengthening communities and boosting local economies.

Conference Decides:

To continue to support the Plaid Cymru Government's vision to tackle child poverty through:

• A new, targeted national child poverty strategy underpinned by clear targets and rooted in evidence
• The pilot of Cynnal – the Welsh Child Payment, providing direct weekly financial support to low-income families.
• Building on Plaid Cymru’s previous success in delivering free school meals in primary schools, by extending free school meals to all pupils in secondary schools whose families are in receipt of universal credit
• Delivering a transformational universal childcare offer, ensuring affordable, high-quality provision, helping lift families out of poverty while children’s development during the early years.

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Diaspora Strategy

Motions 4: 14:15 Saturday
Proposer: Senedd Group

Conference Notes:

• That there is an estimated 3 – 4 million Welsh people living outside of Wales.
• That previous Welsh Governments have not effectively engaged the diaspora.
• Examples of successful diaspora engagement from Governments elsewhere such as Ireland and New Zealand.
• The work undertaken by Global Welsh to push previous Welsh Governments to do more on engagement with the diaspora.

Conference Believes:

• The diaspora are an asset to Wales.
• That the diaspora want to support innovation and growth in Wales.
• That successful engagement with the Welsh diaspora by Welsh Government will lead to greater innovation and growth potential here in Wales.
• That successful engagement with the diaspora will contribute to stemming the migration of young people from our communities.

Conference Resolves:

• To call on the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government to develop a comprehensive diaspora strategy – aimed at fostering and nurturing relationships with the diaspora.
• That the aforementioned strategy must promote Wales as a place to invest and return to.

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Preventative Health

Motions 5: 15:55 Saturday
Proposer: Senedd Group

Conference Notes:

• Life expectancy in Wales has fallen and remains below the UK average, standing at 82.0 years for females and 78.1 years for males, while healthy life expectancy has declined to 60.3 years for males and 59.6 years for females, the lowest in the UK.
• The gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived communities continues to widen, now at 16.4 years for males and 20.2 years for females, reflecting deep and persistent health inequalities.
• Health outcomes are shaped by wider social determinants including poverty, housing, education, rurality, transport, and unequal access to healthcare services.
• Preventable conditions such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, smoking-related illness, and poor mental wellbeing continue to place significant pressure on health services in Wales.
• Public health screening and early diagnosis services are essential for reducing these inequalities, but uptake remains uneven, particularly in deprived and rural communities due to access barriers.

Conference Believes:

• Tackling health inequalities must be the central priority of Wales’ health and social care system.
• Prevention and early intervention are more effective and sustainable than treatment alone in improving population health.
• Everyone should have equal access to healthcare services regardless of postcode, income, rurality, or background.
• A stronger focus is needed on improving population health through action on obesity, mental health, smoking-related harm, and other preventable conditions.
• Cross-government action is required to address the wider determinants of health, including housing, education, transport, and poverty.

Conference Resolves:

To call on the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government to:

• prioritise public health through the creation of Wales’ first Deputy Minister role focused on Preventative Health.
• place reducing health inequalities at the centre of healthcare policymaking
• improve equitable access to GP, dental, mental health, screening, and specialist services across Wales.
• strengthen early intervention approaches for obesity, diabetes, mental health, smoking, vaping-related harm, and cancer.
• work with health boards and Public Health Wales to improve screening uptake and ensure consistent access to early diagnosis services, particularly in deprived and rural areas.
• embed a person-centred and age-appropriate approach to service design, ensuring support is coordinated across the life course’

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Equalities

Motions 5: 15:55 Saturday
Proposer: Plaid Pride

While the Senedd can legislate on many aspects of daily life, core equalities legislation remains reserved to Westminster. Notable exceptions exist where the Senedd has pushed boundaries within its current powers, but this fragmented approach hinders true progress.

Now that we have a Plaid Cymru-led Welsh Government, it is time that we address this deficit in our legislative framework. Successive Westminster governments have consistently failed to protect and advance the rights of marginalised groups to the standard Wales demands, and LGBTQ+ people living here in Wales deserve.

Conference calls on the Cabinet Minister for Social Justice to establish a working group of appropriately qualified people to determine the way forward so that by the end of the current Senedd term, a clear roadmap for the full devolution of equalities is agreed and initiated.

Conference Notes:

• Core equalities legislation currently remains reserved to the Westminster Parliament
• Wales is restricted in its ability to fully protect and advance the rights of all its Citizens

Conference Believes:

• It is time that we address this deficit in our legislative framework to build a fairer Society
• It is essential that a Plaid Cymru government take the relevant steps to protect human rights and equalities in Wales
• Devolving equalities would bring profound social benefits and allow Wales to lead on progressive human rights legislation

Conference Resolves:

• The Cabinet Minister for Social Justice will consider establishing a working group of appropriately qualified people – including people specifically from marginalised or affected groups and also from minorities.
• This working group would deliberate on the legal and political framework that can be used to secure these powers
• By the end of this Senedd term, Wales will aim to have a clear, actionable roadmap for the full devolution of equalities legislation.

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Sustainability

Motions 5: 15:55 Saturday
Proposer: Senedd Group

Conference Notes:

• Wales faces inter-related climate and nature crises.
• Wales’s super-abundance in natural resources like wind and water means that it is ideally placed to be a leader in the green transition, and a just transition represents real opportunities for our people, communities and businesses.
• Wales produces sustainable and nutritious food that is truly world class, but we too often fail to capture the full value of that food, and remain overly reliant on food imports.
• Wales’s heavy industrial heritage has left a legacy of environmental injustice – from unsafe coal-tips to contaminated land.
• 80% of Wales is rural, and rural areas face particular challenges when it comes to public services and economic opportunities.

Conference Believes:

• The climate and nature crises are real and immediate, and we have an ethical duty to confront them, in a way that delivers a just transition for people and communities in Wales.
• Tackling the climate and nature crises, supporting Welsh farmers to produce sustainable and high-quality food, and facilitating the just transition to Net Zero are complementary policy aims.
• We can and should do more to promote food security and for Wales.
• Environmental justice for those communities most impacted by Wales’s industrial legacy requires that Westminster foots the bill for the remediation of environmental impacts – like coal-tips and contaminated land – that long pre-date devolution.
• Tailored strategies and consistent rural proofing are required to meet the specific needs of rural communities.

Conference Resolves:

To call on the Plaid Cymru Welsh Government to:

• Develop and implement a new Climate and Nature Plan for Wales.
• Bring forward policies that ensure that our communities see more of the benefits from Welsh renewables.
• Support Welsh farmers to produce sustainable, healthy and high-quality food, in a way that ensures the long-term viability of family farm businesses.
• Develop a new National Food Strategy for Wales.
• Continue to seek justice for coalfield communities, and pursue full funding for coal-tip remediation from the UK Government.
• Ensure that all Welsh Government policies, programmes and funding are properly rural proofed, to account for the particular needs of rural communities.

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