IT seems just like yesterday that I was out on the campaign trail during the general election nearly 12 months ago, and in just three weeks the Assembly will be dissolved and the election campaign to the fourth Assembly will begin.
It has been an interesting year in Welsh Politics. Back in May, the Liberal Democrats found themselves in government in Westminster for the first time. Since then it is clear that Liberal Democrat policies are being implemented in all strands of government in London.
Liberal Democrats in government are putting money back in the pockets of ordinary people through an increase in the personal tax allowance to £10,000. In the emergency budget in June the first steps towards this policy were announced, with an increase in the tax allowance of £1,000 to £7,475, lifting some 50,000 Welsh tax payers out of paying income tax altogether.
As part of the coalition document negotiated in May we have a commitment that the allowance will increase to £10,000 over the course of the current parliament.
Secondly, we campaigned on a fair start for our children.
In England, the Liberal Democrat policy of a pupil premium, which will target some £2.5 billion at the most disadvantaged pupils giving them the fair start they deserve, has come to fruition.
As education is devolved to Cardiff Bay, part of the Welsh Liberal Democrat manifesto for the forthcoming Assembly elections will contain a similar policy here, targeting money at poorer pupils as well as plugging the funding gap that the Labour and Plaid Cymru assembly government have presided over.
Thanks to that Labour-Plaid coalition, Welsh school pupils are underfunded compared to their English peers to the tune of some £604.
Strikingly the Welsh Conservatives’ budget proposals could further increase that gap up to £881 as they protect bloated NHS bureaucracy.
We also campaigned strongly on a fair green deal for our future, and we have seen great strides towards this since my colleague Chris Huhne became Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
The recently announced Green Deal scheme and the Green Investment Bank will help create new businesses and jobs that will drive the renewable energy sector and help with insulation for homes across Britain.
As the Welsh Liberal Democrats we will pledge to double the budget of a new fuel poverty alleviation scheme to acknowledge that the increase in the price of oil has increased the cost of heating our homes.
Labour and Plaid have presided over a 250% increase in the number of Welsh households living in fuel poverty.
Again Welsh Conservative proposals will see 25% taken from the Environment budget that provides funding to help those living in fuel poverty.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are the only party that has a fully costed plan that will put more money into educating our children, promote jobs and growth in the Welsh economy and reform our health services so that they provide a world class service to our nations’ people.