:00:16. > :00:20.The First Minister has given his strongest criticism yet
:00:21. > :00:24.of the way councils run education services in Wales.
:00:25. > :00:28.He says he doesn't have faith that local authorities can consistently
:00:29. > :00:34.Carwyn Jones made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with
:00:35. > :00:38.our political editor Nick Servini about the Welsh Government's record
:00:39. > :00:47.- 15 years since the beginning of devolution in Wales.
:00:48. > :00:52.In education is never far from the spotlight. It is the one where the
:00:53. > :00:56.greatest divide has opened up between Wales and England. There are
:00:57. > :01:02.already big differences in policies in tuition fees and primary school
:01:03. > :01:06.education. Many other reforms are on way or in the process of being
:01:07. > :01:09.entered it. I asked the First Minister whether he had faith in
:01:10. > :01:20.those delivering many of these reforms on the ground. I don't,
:01:21. > :01:26.consistently, because it is clear that how can we have faith? We need
:01:27. > :01:29.to make sure the structure of government delivers in the way we
:01:30. > :01:36.want it to do and it could change the structure before then anyway but
:01:37. > :01:39.we don't physically run schools. We need to make sure those schools are
:01:40. > :01:43.delivering consistently for kids in the schools and parents will stop we
:01:44. > :01:45.need to make sure the local authorities are delivering
:01:46. > :01:51.consistently and that is not happening at the moment. The NHS is
:01:52. > :01:55.the area where they have faced the most criticism particularly over
:01:56. > :01:58.waiting times. He said they would be tough decisions as the NHS dealt
:01:59. > :02:03.with the pressures of an ageing population. What we have to do is
:02:04. > :02:08.decide what we are able to fund, to try to understand what demand will
:02:09. > :02:11.be like in the future and get the two to meet. When our budgets are
:02:12. > :02:19.being cut, it makes it that much harder. It is previous Labour
:02:20. > :02:22.governments since the start of devolution, does Labour need to
:02:23. > :02:32.apologise to the people of Wales for its record of handling the NHS? I
:02:33. > :02:37.could never say that the NHS has consistently under performed in the
:02:38. > :02:42.last 15 years. We have seen challenges but the fact the money is
:02:43. > :02:47.not there in the way that it was. Over a 15 year period, and massive
:02:48. > :02:51.increase in funding? The thing about the health service is, the demand on
:02:52. > :02:55.the health service increases substantially year after year. It is
:02:56. > :02:59.a challenge for any government to ensure the funds are there to meet
:03:00. > :03:04.that demand. Devolution is high on the agenda with the referendum and
:03:05. > :03:08.matter of months away. Tax and borrowing powers in the process of
:03:09. > :03:13.being handed over, I asked him how far he felt devolution should go
:03:14. > :03:18.here. It clearly doesn't lead to independence. Clearly there are some
:03:19. > :03:27.areas that I think are not right for devolution, Social Security is one
:03:28. > :03:32.area. I think having a wholly independent taxation service would
:03:33. > :03:38.not work for us here. Security, Kerry not. Is important is, there is
:03:39. > :03:43.an established mechanism for devolving power.
:03:44. > :03:45.Staying with Labour - they'll struggle to win a majority
:03:46. > :03:48.at the next Assembly election - and UKIP will win seats in
:03:49. > :03:51.Cardiff Bay for the first time, according to a new opinion poll
:03:52. > :03:56.The ICM poll of more than 1,000 adults
:03:57. > :04:00.across Wales was carried out in the week after the European elections.
:04:01. > :04:04.An analysis of the figures by Cardiff University suggests
:04:05. > :04:08.Labour would win 28 seats - down two - there'd be 14 for Plaid,
:04:09. > :04:11.11 for the Conservatives, 5 for UKIP
:04:12. > :04:14.and just two for the Liberal Democrats.
:04:15. > :04:17.It's a boost for Plaid, who would overtake the Tories
:04:18. > :04:29.as the second-largest party in Cardiff
:04:30. > :04:31.There are calls to reverse staff cuts at Newport's passport office,
:04:32. > :04:33.and for the postal system to be reinstated,
:04:34. > :04:35.after a growing backlog of applications.
:04:36. > :04:38.Thousands of Welsh holidaymakers face having their holidays ruined
:04:39. > :04:44.if their travel documents aren't processed in time.
:04:45. > :04:49.Alison Miners from Cwmbran near Newport can at last pack for
:04:50. > :04:51.her holiday with her husband Andy. The couple got married last year
:04:52. > :04:54.and were treating this trip to France as their Honeymoon
:04:55. > :04:59.but all plans were put on hold when Alison's new passport didn't arrive
:05:00. > :05:02.after applying for it in April. What should have taken three weeks
:05:03. > :05:03.took nearly two months and a 200 mile
:05:04. > :05:17.trip to Liverpool to collect it. Really distressed, I was in work and
:05:18. > :05:24.I had to catch a train, and a taxi to the house, get my husband out of
:05:25. > :05:30.the meeting, hire a car to drive to Liverpool, but my hotel because we
:05:31. > :05:35.got there after they closed. Very distressing and very upset. I had
:05:36. > :05:39.not been sleeping because it was getting nearer and nearer.
:05:40. > :05:50.Everything was paid for and I didn't know what I would be going.
:05:51. > :05:52.trip to Liverpool to collect it. But three years ago the office
:05:53. > :05:53.faced potential closure, it was saved
:05:54. > :06:17.but there were major job losses. The materials have got to be sent
:06:18. > :06:20.from Newport to other officers and was always a ludicrous decision to
:06:21. > :06:23.take that function away from Newport and they ought to think about
:06:24. > :06:26.putting that back. These pictures emerged earlier
:06:27. > :06:28.in the week said to show a backlog of applications waiting to
:06:29. > :06:29.be processed. With files being stored
:06:30. > :06:44.in meeting rooms. Even those who seek to pay extra to
:06:45. > :06:46.get an appointment on a quicker turnaround on their passport are no
:06:47. > :06:48.longer able to get an appointment within a few days.
:06:49. > :06:51.in meeting rooms. The UK government has announced new
:06:52. > :06:53.measures to address the problem. Anyone with urgent travel
:06:54. > :06:56.plans will have their cases fast-tracked free of charge.
:06:57. > :06:59.But for Alison that's come too late. It's cost her nearly ?500
:07:00. > :07:00.and a lot of stress but now she nd her husband can now go
:07:01. > :07:05.on a much needed holiday. The Wales rugby coach Warren
:07:06. > :07:08.Gatland has been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours
:07:09. > :07:10.List. Gatland said he felt proud
:07:11. > :07:13.and humbled to receive an OBE. The singer songwriter,
:07:14. > :07:16.Cerys Mathews, is made an MBE. Professor Michael Owen from Cardiff
:07:17. > :07:27.University is knighted for his work What we are really keen to do is
:07:28. > :07:30.attract more clever people into psychiatry and neuroscience, to
:07:31. > :07:35.encourage people to work on these disorders and recognition for
:07:36. > :07:41.individuals shows maybe that is a good career for them to take.
:07:42. > :07:44.Glamorgan have tied their match against Kent in the T-20
:07:45. > :07:52.Kent responded by scoring the same amount of runs for the loss
:07:53. > :08:15.Plenty of sunshine and blue skies today but change is on the way. The
:08:16. > :08:20.moment, it looks like cloudy with sunny spells tomorrow. I mentioned
:08:21. > :08:25.the showers, here they are making their way down to the south east
:08:26. > :08:29.overnight. Quite heavy showers but generally, things turning dry by the
:08:30. > :08:36.edit the evening. It will feel quite mild overnight with temperatures of
:08:37. > :08:40.11 and 16 degrees. Tomorrow morning, limited brightness and sunny spells
:08:41. > :08:45.but we will see some rakes in the clouds and blue sky as well but
:08:46. > :08:49.cloudier so feeling easy at times. If we look at the bigger picture,
:08:50. > :08:50.this is what is going on. This area of high pressure and
:08:51. > :08:58.this is what is going on. This area of this cold front introducing
:08:59. > :09:06.showers across much of the UK but to the east of that and to the west of
:09:07. > :09:11.that, temperatures reaching 23 degrees. Back home, the showers will
:09:12. > :09:18.come and go through the day. Some heavy downpours but temperatures
:09:19. > :09:23.reaching 22 degrees. A northerly breeze, this is cooler so taking the
:09:24. > :09:28.edge of some of these temperatures. Missed and fog patches forming
:09:29. > :09:31.tomorrow night further west. Some of these creeping further inland as
:09:32. > :09:38.well so feeling quite murky. Overnight lows of between 11 and 15
:09:39. > :09:41.degrees. Sunday is looking better, more in the way of brightness of the
:09:42. > :09:52.next few days will remain settled and quite warm.
:09:53. > :10:00.From all of us on the programme, goodnight.