EXPECTATIONS were high in Wales as First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth appointed his new Cabinet today.

He promised that his Cabinet “will bring new energy, new ideas and a new direction” in the way Wales is led.

“United and filled with talent and experience ready to serve, my government will believe in the art of the possible, working as one team every day to improve the lives of the people of Wales,” Mr ap Iorwerth said.

But the to do list of things to fix in Wales is growing by the minute with trade unions demanding action to fix services and meet expectations of public service pay rises.

Newly appointed Cabinet Minister for Health and Social Care, Mabon ap Gwynfor, was presented with an immediate demand from health union Unison Cymru, which is urging its health members to write to him to demand he prioritise pay.

The letter highlights growing anger among nurses, healthcare assistants, porters and other NHS workers over a 3.3 per cent pay award that it said fails to keep pace with rising living costs.

Resolving the Unite Wales Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board health visitors strike will also be high on Mr ap Gwynfor’s agenda, along with cutting NHS waiting lists.

Plaid told the previous Welsh government to intervene and solve the over two months old dispute after the health board refused to pay them the correct salary, which is costing workers between £8,000 to £9,000 per year.

Cabinet Minister for Finance Elin Jones is the only Plaid Senedd member with ministerial experience.

The former Senedd speaker inherits a range of economic problems in the country from 30 per cent child poverty to crumbling NHS and school infrastructure to fund.

Unison Cymru’s manifesto demands will increase budget stresses as the union looks for fair pay agreements, £15 an hour in social care, ending term-time-only pay in schools, direct NHS pay bargaining in Wales, insourcing, a publicly funded and publicly delivered National Care Service, council housing and public transport investment.

Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, Anna Brychan, will need to placate teaching unions unhappy with the emphasis placed in the Plaid manifesto on new curriculum targets on language and literacy.

The head teachers’ union NAHT Cymru has told the incoming government that it needs to boost school funding to cut deficits and enable buildings to be repaired.