16/10/2016 BBC Wales Today

Dafydd Elis-Thomas has told BBC Wales he hopes Plaid Cymru

will consider its future as a political party,

after he decided to sit as an independent AM.

Lord Elis-Thomas accused the party of not reacting

well enough to changes in Wales since devolution.

It comes as former First Minister Rhodri Morgan says the party's power

will be much weaker now in the Assembly.

Here's our political correspondent, Arwyn Jones.

For over 40 years, he's represented Plaid Cymru

But he now finds himself as an independent AM.

And he has insisted he will not serve in Carwyn Jones' cabinet.

And won't be triggering a by-election.

I am stating, quite clearly, that I want to be able to serve

my constituency and serve the interests of Wales.

Do you carry out that role best then as an independent AM?

I carry out the role of representing my constituents

The question of membership of the Welsh government does not arise.

Lord Elis-Thomas had a few parting shots at his old party.

He said Plaid hadn't responded to the challenges of devolution

And it needed to think again about its future.

The party chose not to comment.

But his departure will also cause a headache

for Plaid in the Assembly. Why?

Well, with only 29 AMs, Labour depends on Kirsty Williams

It also needed help from Plaid to pass next week's Budget.

The two parties have been in talks for months over the content.

But today, a former First Minister told BBC Wales'

Sunday Politics Wales programme that Plaid is now

--Labour is in a much stronger position.

because Plaid have lost their leverage.

It is amazing how - in a small body like the Assembly,

with just 60 seats, and Labour having 30 of them -

just how much difference that one person can make.

Because Labour are one vote short of being to get a budget through.

Because, if the other 30... You know, they can block things.

Because level pegging, 30/30, is not enough.

Over the next two days, it'll become clear whether or not

Lord Elis-Thomas will lend his support to the government.

But, after such a long and high-profile career

in the party, Lord Elis-Thomas' departure was always

The author of a report for the Welsh Government

on free childcare says the policy could cost

considerably more than Labour has estimated.

Gillian Paull told Sunday Politics Wales it could cost as much

That's far more than the ?84 million budgeted for.

It's breakfast time at Little Inspirations nursery

in Llantrisant in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

This kind of service could be a significant cost to parents.

But the Welsh government is planning to give a helping hand.

Under its plan, parents working 16 hours or more of a week would be

entitled to 30 hours free childcare week for three and four-year-olds.

And it would be available 48 weeks of the year.

That is 20 hours more per week than currently on offer.

The author of a report for the government

on the policy is sceptical Labour's aim to get more parents to work

with the offer will have much impact.

But she says that, if it does, it costs could increase

And there are other factors that could drive the cost up, too.

There are several parameters that feed into that estimate.

All of which have large degrees of uncertainty around them.

First of all, we do need to know the hourly cost of delivery,

which can vary enormously across regions

We also need to know, most importantly, how parents

In particular, whether they will change their work behaviour

in response to the policy, which is hard to estimate.

There are also concerns about the availability of places -

a problem that could also require government investment.

We are starting from a very low base of childcare provision.

So, one of the big problems we have, in delivering this extra childcare,

is that there isn't much childcare to offer in the first place.

The Welsh government acknowledges there are "issues with capacity".

And says it is working with the sector.

It is also undertaking "complex modelling" of costs.

The oil company responsible for a pipeline which ruptured,

leaking 140,000 litres of Kerosene near Carmarthen,

has said they're on track to finish the work.

Over the weekend, traffic along the A48 has been

the road to re-open early tomorrow morning.

Welsh councils who invested money in Icelandic banks before

they collapsed eight years ago, have now recovered

Powys Council says it's recouped all of the ?4 million it deposited.

It's one of eight councils, three universities,

and three former police authorities that had

And the Scarlets got off to a winning start

The convincing home win will, hopefully, put to bed any memories

More showers, some heavy in the north and west.

Tomorrow will be breezy, with plenty of sunshine.

One or two heavy showers. But most places staying dry.

A reminder that, all week on Wales Today,

we'll be marking events, as Wales remembers Aberfan.

It's 50 years since a coal tip collapsed, submerging a school,

We'll have a number of special reports.

Good evening. I hope you had a good weekend, you probably saw some

sunshine and rain. Typical autumn. A typical autumn picture in the West

Midlands. A brown leaf and conkers.