Welsh election 2021: Key points from the Welsh Lib Dem manifesto

The Lib Dems have promised a fund for town centres

This Senedd election for the Welsh Liberal Democrats is about survival.

The last five years has seen the party's representation in Westminster and the Welsh Parliament massively reduced, leaving them with no MPs and only one Senedd member.

Kirsty Williams, herself a former Welsh party leader and a Welsh education minister, is standing down from front-line politics this year.

The question this May is whether the party can turn its fortunes around, or not.

Their manifesto is a full programme for government, showing the party still has ministerial ambitions.

It is unlikely they could win a majority, but it is the kind of shopping list one or a few Lib Dems could trade bits of with another party in exchange for their vote in the Senedd chamber.

• Lib Dems pledge free bus travel to under-25s

WALES ALERTS: Get extra updates on BBC election coverage

Health and social care

The focus of the manifesto is on "recovery" - for the economy, from climate change and in people's mental health and social care.

On the latter, the party pledges to:

• Increase the share of mental health funding to 13% of all NHS spend by 2028

• agree a range of NHS and social care recovery plans to ensure that people who have had their care delayed or impacted are supported as quickly as possible

• ensuring that all care workers are paid the Real Living Wage

• plan to provide free counselling to couples

• introduce a Right to Rehabilitation that ensures everyone has access to rehabilitation services

• work towards the creation of a single National Care Service and the integration of health and care in Wales

• pass a Clean Air Act in the first 100 days to tackle dirty air

WALES ELECTION: THE BASICS

What's happening? On 6 May, people will vote to elect 60 Members of the Senedd (MSs). The party that can command the support of a majority of MSs will form the Welsh government. Find out more here.

What powers does the Senedd have? MSs pass laws on aspects of life in Wales such as health, education and transport - and have some tax powers.

Who can vote? Anyone who lives in Wales, is registered to vote and aged 16 or over on 6 May is eligible. You can register to vote online.

The Lib Dems said they would look at reforming school term dates

Education

The party makes a lot of Kirsty Williams' position as education minister in the current Welsh government, saying it would continue her work "to give our children the best start in life and support adults to engage in learning and skills development through a right to lifelong learning".

It pledges to:

• work with the education workforce, unions, and others to consider if school term dates could be reformed

• extend provision of Free School Meals during the school holidays beyond the pandemic

• "embed" a right to lifelong learning

• expand personal learning accounts to ensure everyone "can benefit from free, flexible and accessible courses"

• end digital exclusion at all levels of education, supporting the development of strong digital skills and access to digital resources

The Lib Dems say they would introduce universal free part-time childcare from nine months to school age, expand provision of before and after school care and introduce universal part-time holiday care for 5-13 year olds.

And the manifesto promises an "immediate moratorium" on private for-profit contracts in specific areas of the care system, including children's residential care and learning disability secure units.

Economy

The Welsh Liberal Democrats said the economy "must support secure, well-paid work and good public services".

The party pledges:

• a £500m fund over five years to help high streets, town and city centres

• to freeze business rates for the life of the Senedd term, which runs to 2026, and in the long-term replace them with a "fairer, more supportive system"

• to pass a law requiring councils to commission small businesses and supply chains as a priority

• to provide free part-time childcare from 9 months to the date of the child's third birthday for all parents

• work to remove the barriers that businesses in Wales now face to trading with European markets

It is not devolved, but the Lib Dems say they would work towards re-joining the European Single Market and Customs Union, as part of the scheduled renegotiation with the EU in 2025, or earlier should the opportunity arise.

Climate change

The party has a whole section dedicated to the environment - at its heart is a pledge to spend £1bn a year "to fight the climate emergency, create new jobs and stability for supply chains and businesses, and to invest in new technology".

The manifesto pledges:

• a Green Homes Act to help cut average household energy bills by £500 per year and build smarter more, energy efficient homes

• action to protect the natural environment and biodiversity

• to make Holyhead a regional hub for renewable energy and hydrogen production

• to make Port Talbot the principal manufacturing and port hub for floating offshore wind in Wales

• prepare a long term Tree and Woodland Strategy to deliver and sustain a minimum of 20% tree cover in urban areas and 30% tree cover for all new developments

• pass a Wildlife Act for Wales, creating clarity and consistency on the policy and legislation that protects wildlife

The Lib Dems have promised a fund for town centres

Housing and transport

The Welsh Liberal Democrats manifesto said it would offer free bus travel for young people up to the age of 25, by the year 2025.

The manifesto promises to end homelessness through house building, funding for services and a law "to ensure nobody goes without the help they need to escape homelessness".

Other pledges include:

• build 30,000 new social homes for rent, ensuring that people on low incomes or with experience of homelessness can access a safe and secure home

• a "Bus Bill" that will ensure routes meet community needs, ticket fares are affordable and flexible, timetables meet different needs, and bus stops and railway stations are accessible

• guarantee the concessionary bus pass from over 60s for the next Senedd term

• spend at least 10% of the transport budget on walking and cycling

Welsh language, media, the constitution and rights

The party says it would pass a "Welsh Language Education for All Act", normalising the Welsh language in education including for life-long learning and in post-16 education.

It says it would establish an ongoing central fund to support news journalism, and would campaign for the devolution of powers over S4C.

Other pledges include:

• pursue the devolution of criminal justice to Wales "so that we can better prevent crime"

• establish a commission to investigate what services in Wales can do to prevent violence against women and girls and to support victims of abuse

• introduce a proportional voting system for Senedd elections and all local authority elections

• increase the number of Members of the Senedd to between 80-90

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