Too much too soon?

I was interested to read and hear the debate coming out of Cardiff regarding the recommendations being made by the 'Silk Commission'. But this does beg the question: Is this too much too soon?

We open our Welsh papers daily and weekly to find them full of the Welsh Government's failure to deliver, yes Welsh Government, full of issues that are already in your competences now, which you are unable to deliver equitably or indeed to an acceptable standard for the Welsh public, so why would you need more Government?

For the sake of brevity, as I could write a dissertation on the subject of 'poor Government', let us look at Health.....This particular area of the Welsh Government competences, utilising the Welsh Governments own figures, takes up nearly 50% of the total Welsh Budget and I and many tens of thousands of Welsh people will tell you that under your leadership Health is failing us as the taxpayer and user of a formally world renowned unique health system; you as the Government are responsible for that failure and you don't seem able to deliver an acceptable answer to this for the people of the whole of Wales!

The above statement alone should stimulate debate....but I want to pose the most pressing question, that of the Silk Commission recommendations.....Yes we would want parity with the Scottish/Northern Ireland system but nearly 14 years of a predominantly single party government in Wales has shown that they cannot deliver an equitable polity for Wales with the competences they have now. Just looking at the Health system alone, any business minded person would just glance at it and see that it is so top heavy with non-clinical staff it's about to topple over...and the programme for change being forced through now will only compound the situation, not resolve it!

So what about Silk? A straw poll I have undertaken certainly highlights for that cross-section of society it's too much too soon. They don't want a further continuance of this inequitable governance system in Cardiff before all the inequalities, and there are many, are ironed out.

Every person I speak to wants quality services, equitably delivered as close to them as possible....they are not interested in a political elite(?)wanting to increase their grip on a society that is going backwards because of poor government...get that right first before seeking a governance system that is more akin to a 'nation state' recognisable in the International arena...then, and only then, will Wales start to move forward and be in a position to adopt any of the Silk recommendations!

Cllr Paul Hinge

Bow Street

Ceredigion