Radio Cwmni on-line

Radio Cwmni is back - and you can listen online.

I'll be joining Sharon and the team tomorrow afternoon.

Charlie Burton

The Rhondda Artist Charles Burton has an exhibition on at the Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff. I went last night and I hope many others will also!

David Cameron fails his homework

Catching up

The last two months or so have been very busy and so it seems timely to do a brief catch-up on some of the things that have been happening on the Ministerial front.

Last week I announced £7 million of funding to help the development of social enterprises in Wales. During the debate on co-ops last week I also confirmed the establishment of a fund worth £8 million over the next three years to support community asset transfer.

I have annouced two new strategic regeneration areas, building on the examples of the Heads of the Valleys programme and Mon a Menai, in the Western Valleys and Rhyl and Colwyn Bay, following my statement on our strategic approach to regeneration. Meanwhile, the Heads of the Valleys programme has been awarded a prestigious Council of Europe Prize of the Regions. We have also made a significant multimillion investment in the Jobmatch programme in the Heads of the Valleys, designed to tackle economic inactivity.

At our regeneration summit, which as IWA Chair Geraint Talfan Davies noted, was a great success, I announced how we are working to create a major multimillion urban regeneration fund under the EU's JESSICA scheme. We also published the proposals for the Centre of Regeneration Excellence in Wales.

Following our representations, I am delighted that the UK Government agreed to award the Post Office Card Account to the Post Office. Earlier this year I launched the consultation on our Post Office Development Fund.

We have extended funding for the Assembly Government's flagship digital inclusion programme, Communities@One until end the of the financial year. Communities@One has been shortlisted for an EU e-Inclusion award which will be announced at the EU e-Inclusion conference in Vienna next week, where I am chairing a discussion on tackling digital exclusion in regional economies.

Vote for Ferndale Skate Park

Voting lines are now open to support the Ferndale Skate Park: dial 0871 626 81 46

The Ferndale Skate Park project has been shortlisted in the People's Millions, a UK-wide programme which aims to fund projects that improve the quality of life of local communities. Projects will transform the local environment or provide opportunities or facilities that allow people to enjoy their local area.

The Ferndale Skate Park will feature on ITV Wales this evening, going head to head against another project. The project that receives the most public support will win an award of £50,000.

Voting is open from 9am to midnight. If you wish to support the Ferndale Skate Park please call 0871 626 81 46 to cast your vote.

The runner up with the highest number of votes in each ITV region will also win an award, so every vote counts!

I have already voted.

Pass it on!

Welsh Labour needs a debate

Welsh Labour needs a profound debate about its direction, and the run-up to the leadership election next year should see a vigorous debate on our party's future role.

I was proud to be involved in the Yes for Wales campaign in 1997; equally proud to win the Rhondda back for Labour in 2003; and proud to have been given Ministerial office by Rhodri Morgan last year.

I have also been flattered to have been asked by many Labour Party members in Wales to consider standing for the leadership of our party in Wales. I am grateful for their confidence in me and their support.

However, I want to make it clear that I do not intend to be a candidate for the leadership when Rhodri Morgan stands down next year.

I am making this statement now because I do not want every Ministerial decision I make over the next twelve months scrutinised as though it were a calculated move in a leadership campaign.

I hope that there will be a contest for the leadership when Rhodri stands down. Welsh Labour needs to be part of the battle of ideas on the future of Wales and the future of progressive politics in Wales. There is no better way than to ensure that our leadership contest explores the opportunities and challenges before us.

I intend to contribute to that debate, and I believe there are real issues all candidates must confront.

Leadership is not a singular role. Leaders require strong allies and a strong team working with them collectively to deliver change.

I hope that I can contribute skills to that leadership team, particularly in terms of ideas and implementation.

Following the US election and the Glenrothes by-election, this is a moment of progressive potential.

In Wales, we need to take advantage of that moment. Our challenge is to demonstrate the relevance of Welsh Labour – that we are focused on Wales as it is, not Wales as it was.

We need to make it clear that our appeal is to the whole of Wales, not just to those areas traditionally seen as our heartlands – from the Eastern Valleys to the Welsh-speaking North and West, from the M4 belt to the A55 corridor, our Valleys communities and our rural towns and villages in between, there must be no no-go areas for Labour.

Equally, we cannot take any part of Wales for granted. And our performance will need to improve significantly on the 2007 Assembly election.

People are impatient for delivery. They want quality outcomes and they have high aspirations for themselves and their families. They want to see public services that are responsive and personally relevant.

They want a 'yes we can' culture in Welsh public service, not a 'No we can't' culture.

They want a Labour leadership in Wales committed to strengthening the Welsh economy, supporting the private sector in the creation of wealth and supporting the trades unions in ensuring that hard-working families and the vulnerable benefit from it.

They are comfortable in their Welshness but not obsessed with it. They are comfortable with the Welsh language and its role in our culture. They are proud of their heritage but ambitious for the future. They see Wales as part of Britain but a Britain that is changing constantly.

The new Leader will have to take Welsh Labour into the 2011 Assembly election, and support our Westminster candidates in the General Election before that.

He or she will need to explain that our arrangement with Plaid Cymru in the National Assembly is based around the One Wales document and it is a coalition not a merger.

Many will feel that the only leadership choice that really matters is about who can best maximise Welsh Labour's vote in those elections.

These are exciting times for progressive politicians. The new leader will need to grasp those opportunities

Thought for the Day - come home to the Valleys!

It's not often initiatives we launch as Ministers get to be the subject of the Radio Four Today programme's Thought for the Day, but thanks to the Rev Roy Jenkins our Valleys Homecoming Initiative in 2010 has done so.

You can read Roy's words here, or listen here.

Clydach Vale Communities First

The Communities First Team in Clydach Vale has a new website with details of local activities. You can access it here.