Browse content similar to 14/03/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good afternoon, welcome to the programme and our weekly | :00:20. | :00:21. | |
coverage of questions to the First Minister. | :00:22. | :00:23. | |
Carwyn Jones' place will be taken by Jane Hutt today | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
and she can expect questions on a range of subjects | :00:27. | :00:28. | |
including business rates, energy efficiency and how Government | :00:29. | :00:31. | |
Don't forget we're on Twitter @walespolitics, where you can see | :00:32. | :00:37. | |
For now, business in the Chamber is already well underway - | :00:38. | :00:41. | |
so let's take a look now at today's First Minister's Questions. | :00:42. | :00:52. | |
Call the National Assembly to order in the first item on agenda this | :00:53. | :00:58. | |
afternoon is questions to the First Minister and I have received | :00:59. | :01:02. | |
notification understanding order that the leader of the house will | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
answer questions today on behalf of the First Minister. Question one, | :01:07. | :01:13. | |
Nick Ramsay. Will be leader of the house provide an update on support | :01:14. | :01:15. | |
available to businesses affected by the business rate re-evaluation. The | :01:16. | :01:22. | |
Welsh Government has announced an extra ?20 million to support | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
businesses affected by this. ?10 million through transitional relief | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
scheme and ?20 million through high-street rate. This is action to | :01:30. | :01:39. | |
provide certainty and security to ratepayers in Wales affected by | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
re-evaluation. Thank you for that answer. Business is in my | :01:44. | :01:47. | |
constituency continue to be deeply concerned by the business rate | :01:48. | :01:50. | |
re-evaluation. What any support is welcome, I hear about the relief | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
that your Government has announced the additional discount every drop | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
in the ocean for those businesses facing the busiest hikes. What about | :01:59. | :02:05. | |
the businesses who will not benefit from the scheme of support and will | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
be Government look again at raising the threshold at which businesses | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
are paying business rates in order to avert some of the large-scale | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
business closures which I fear are going to happen after April? Para | :02:17. | :02:21. | |
?10 million transitional rates relief scheme will assist businesses | :02:22. | :02:24. | |
his entitlement to small business rates relief would be adversely | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
affected by the evaluation. Her ?10 million high-street rates relief | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
specifically targets businesses in your constituency. We listened to | :02:35. | :02:42. | |
the concerned responding to be some businesses in Wales. These are | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
bespoke funded schemes and indeed they are in addition to a ?100 | :02:47. | :02:52. | |
million small business rates relief. As a result, three quarters of | :02:53. | :02:55. | |
businesses will receive help in their bills and development 17 and | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
2018. Reader of the house, as a result of the evaluation, the | :03:01. | :03:04. | |
average rateable value has decreased by 6.1%. With this be a fairly | :03:05. | :03:10. | |
common pattern across the area, what impact could this have on the Welsh | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
Government's policy towards promoting economic prosperity across | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
the South Wales Valleys? The statistics published by the | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
evaluation are showing that total rateable value will fall in all of | :03:25. | :03:29. | |
the values. That does mean the majority of ratepayers in these | :03:30. | :03:32. | |
areas will benefit from reduction in their bills and of course, we have | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
acted to provide that additional support to businesses through an | :03:38. | :03:40. | |
extension of ?100 million small business rates relief scheme. Of | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
course, business Wales and all the other levers that will assist | :03:46. | :03:48. | |
businesses in your constituency will have a bearing on economic | :03:49. | :03:55. | |
opportunity. Including the city deal which is a key partner. Adam Price. | :03:56. | :04:07. | |
Notwithstanding that point, this is fundamentally an unfair tax. It is | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
wreaking economic carnage on our high-street. Isn't it time to scrap | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
this tax altogether and replace it with something like an Internet | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
sales tax? Clearly this is an issue where we have worked over a period | :04:23. | :04:25. | |
of time as a pro-business Government to take action to help new and | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
existing businesses and do indeed look at the impact, not just in | :04:31. | :04:33. | |
terms of re-evaluation, but our business support scheme. We are | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
looking at a new permanent scheme in terms of small business rates relief | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
from 2018. Supporting ways that reflect the needs of Wales. We have | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
engaged widely as possible about our scheme in a short time available | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
between the publication of its traffic waiting list and the date by | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
which these regulations had to be in place. It is their scheme, we have | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
to make sure that it redistributes the amount payable between | :05:05. | :05:10. | |
properties reflecting changes in the property market. That is their | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
responsibility. Leader of the house, the business rate re-evaluation is | :05:16. | :05:20. | |
spitting at our high-street at risk. Many small businesses are facing | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
huge hikes in the rates bills, yet their turnover is not increasing. | :05:26. | :05:28. | |
For many, the only alternative is to stick rental properties with smaller | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
rateable values of the high and this could be the final straw that broke | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
the camel's back for small independent high-street retailers. | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
The UK Government's latest budget proposes a cap on the business rate | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
increases for those small firms set to lose their rate relief. Will the | :05:47. | :05:54. | |
Government consider doing something similar for small high-street | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
retailers here in Wales? Can I does make it clear that we are doing it | :05:59. | :06:01. | |
more than the UK Government and if you look at the funding for the | :06:02. | :06:04. | |
rates relief measures that the Chancellor announced last week, it | :06:05. | :06:10. | |
will amount to just over ?12 million and if we had relied on that, it | :06:11. | :06:13. | |
would have meant ?8 million less support for small businesses in | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
Wales. We have got to fully funded this book schemes. I'm sure many of | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
your businesses in your constituency will particularly benefit from | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
those, not just the transitional scheme, but also the new scheme, | :06:28. | :06:31. | |
which specifically targets the high-street ratepayers. What | :06:32. | :06:38. | |
consideration how the First Minister given to prioritising energy | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
efficiency and homes as part of National infrastructure policy in | :06:44. | :06:46. | |
Wales? Investing in housing including energy efficiency is | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
already a priority in the plan, a long-term vision and the actions we | :06:51. | :06:53. | |
are taking in this important area are set out in the energy efficiency | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
strategy published last year. There's a lot of excellent work | :06:59. | :07:02. | |
already being done in Wales, but putting domestic energy efficiency | :07:03. | :07:05. | |
alongside other nationally important infrastructure programmes could have | :07:06. | :07:11. | |
multiple benefits, including massively boosting efforts to tackle | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
fuel poverty, including the health and well-being of older citizens, | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
reducing energy constructing, reducing the number of power plants, | :07:22. | :07:28. | |
creating new jobs in streets entreaties to throughout the land. | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
Far from being a win-win, it would be a win win, win win. As we await | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
the results of the recent consultation on the National | :07:38. | :07:40. | |
Infrastructure Commission, could I ask the leader of the house and the | :07:41. | :07:43. | |
First Minister and his cabinet to consider seriously the huge | :07:44. | :07:49. | |
potential for Wales bidding energy efficiency for wealth of National | :07:50. | :07:51. | |
infrastructure and the transformative effect it could have | :07:52. | :07:53. | |
on future perspire tea and well-being. I am completely with the | :07:54. | :08:01. | |
member. If you look at the opportunities we have in terms of | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
interceptor, not only delivering on carbon reduction commitment, | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
multiplier benefit effects on some the outcomes, better inflated homes, | :08:11. | :08:16. | |
tackling fuel poverty, creating jobs and economic activity. I will say | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
that it is important. We have been refining the remit in terms of | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
reference for the proposed National Infrastructure Commission for Wells | :08:26. | :08:28. | |
following a response to feedback from consultation and will include | :08:29. | :08:32. | |
economic and environmental infrastructure, including energy and | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
it will be looking at the interactions with social | :08:37. | :08:39. | |
infrastructure on housing and across cutting delivery issues. Our housing | :08:40. | :08:47. | |
stock is among the oldest in Europe and we really need to focus on | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
schemes of retrofitting, because a lot of that housing stock is | :08:53. | :08:55. | |
occupied by people who have low incomes or are otherwise vulnerable. | :08:56. | :09:01. | |
If we improve the skills and develop retrofitting projects, we would then | :09:02. | :09:05. | |
find a other parts of the UK for those goals and products and indeed | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
other parts of Europe. Indeed, and I think this is where it is important | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
that we are working with industry in terms of the opportunities for | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
skills base. We're looking at in which we can develop the skills and | :09:21. | :09:27. | |
experience, not only of our workforce, our young people, but | :09:28. | :09:30. | |
also clearly through the apprenticeship schemes that we are | :09:31. | :09:36. | |
supporting. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I agree with the original | :09:37. | :09:40. | |
question. There is no better example of what we debated last week than | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
investing in this area where you link in the skills that are local | :09:45. | :09:49. | |
and ensure that Welsh Government capital spend a spread across Wales | :09:50. | :09:52. | |
as well, because the Society regional problem, it is spread | :09:53. | :09:57. | |
across Wales in terms of the houses that we have. We are looking for a | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
clearer cited purpose around investment in energy efficiency and | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
something that fits into the National Infrastructure Commission | :10:08. | :10:09. | |
and the task and aim of that commission. I have already said that | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
we are going to change the remit as a result of consultation. It is | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
important that we recognise we are continuing to invest 100 into ?8 | :10:21. | :10:25. | |
million annually to ensure over 222,000 social homes meet and | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
maintain a Welsh Housing quality standards that David Melding | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
referred to, the older housing stock in Wales. The sender does require | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
all existing social housing homes to be brought up to an energy rating of | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
Dior above. This is an all Wales programme with the budget of ?20 | :10:46. | :10:48. | |
million to be made available to support this programme. Questions | :10:49. | :10:57. | |
now from the party leader, leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood. Although | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
our economic potential is yet to be fulfilled, we can already see that | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
Wales is a strong exporting nation. Last year, we headed ?2.2 billion | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
surplus with the EU, Harris Fire plus was higher than 2015 when it | :11:13. | :11:19. | |
was ?1.5 billion. With non-EU countries we had a trade deficit of | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
?2.3 billion, well the UK as a whole hand trade deficits with both the EU | :11:25. | :11:31. | |
and is non-EU markets. What future do you see for our EU trade surplus | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
if we are taken out of the single market? It is important that we | :11:38. | :11:43. | |
recognise the value of exports for Wales for the year up to and | :11:44. | :11:51. | |
including 2016, ?12.3 billion, an increase of ?725 million on the | :11:52. | :11:56. | |
previous year. As the leader of Plaid Cymru, Wales benefit hugely | :11:57. | :12:02. | |
from the EU 's and got market with access to over 500 million | :12:03. | :12:05. | |
customers. That is clearly going to be a huge impact in terms of the | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
prospects in terms of how we exit and how we make sure Wales' | :12:13. | :12:19. | |
interests are safeguarded. Plaid Cymru predicts a difficult future to | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
those exporters who rely upon the single market. We now have some in | :12:24. | :12:26. | |
the UK Government talking about leaving the EU without any deal at | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
all, which would effectively mean WTO own rules and that would be the | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
hardest possible tech of Brexit. It could lead to future targets and | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
other barriers. On the social and our mental side, it could lead to | :12:42. | :12:43. | |
deregulation and of lowering standards. The UK Government has now | :12:44. | :12:51. | |
indicated that Article 50 will be sent later this month. That means it | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
is a winter of opportunity. The window where there can be some | :12:55. | :12:59. | |
influence. The Welsh Government has said that it wants to be consulted. | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
I wonder if you can tell us, had he been consulted yet? What are the | :13:05. | :13:09. | |
implications of the UK Government issuing that Article 50 letter | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
without a fully consulting Wales as to its content? | :13:13. | :13:19. | |
Clearly we want a process that is sensitive to the interests of world | :13:20. | :13:31. | |
map. We with Plaid Cymru the position. This included continued | :13:32. | :13:38. | |
preserve put Britain's vision of the single market. Certainly, we want | :13:39. | :13:46. | |
and expect to be consulted on any Article 50 letter before it issues. | :13:47. | :13:51. | |
The First Minister made it clear to the UK Government that anything less | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
would be incompatible with the approach that they agreed to the | :13:55. | :13:57. | |
joint ministerial committee after the referendum results. We have, of | :13:58. | :14:06. | |
course, sent a copy of the White Paper to the European Commission. It | :14:07. | :14:12. | |
clear what your Government wants. It's not clear what you will do if | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
you don't get it. Yesterday, we saw how the mishandling of Brexit will | :14:17. | :14:19. | |
leads to a new referendum on Scottish independence. That | :14:20. | :14:25. | |
referendum could end the United Kingdom, the state as we know it | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
could cease to exist. That would be a radical change for Wales. It would | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
also greatly opportunity to be bolder and more ambitious ads were | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
confident about our own future. I suspect that there may be people in | :14:39. | :14:43. | |
this chamber who supported the Scottish no campaign last time that | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
would now feel less comfortable doing so. Leader of the house, the | :14:49. | :14:53. | |
First Minister's statement yesterday on a Scottish independence | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
referendum lacks detail. It says almost nothing on the future of | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
world map. Can you add more detail on reducing the Government taking | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
will snag over the next two years? What plans does your Government have | :15:08. | :15:13. | |
to put in place for the constitutional and economic future | :15:14. | :15:18. | |
of this country? I do go back to your second question about | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
engagement and instruments. -- and influence in terms of Article 50. | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
The point I would make is that we need to work together understood | :15:28. | :15:33. | |
sure that securing Wilson 's future -- will ... We should use our cloud | :15:34. | :15:50. | |
as co-signatories of the paper. In terms of your third question, it's | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
right that the constitutional future of Scotland is decided by the people | :15:57. | :16:00. | |
of Scotland. We believe that the UK remains better together. Last year, | :16:01. | :16:09. | |
Welsh Labour was elected on a message of togetherness. The | :16:10. | :16:12. | |
important thing for us today is that as the party and Government we | :16:13. | :16:16. | |
remain committed both to the union and the ongoing GMC process relating | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
to exiting the EU. The Scots say that they have no intention of | :16:24. | :16:27. | |
walking away from the GMC where we have common cause on many issues in | :16:28. | :16:33. | |
terms of our negotiations of exiting the EU. Leader of the Welsh | :16:34. | :16:45. | |
Conservatives. Many have seen in the last week, the shocking images of | :16:46. | :16:55. | |
drug abuse, people, toes in public areas. We can only feel sorry for | :16:56. | :17:00. | |
the full that have fallen so low. We would like to see as many safeguards | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
as possible put in place to rectify the people's proper. -- the people's | :17:06. | :17:14. | |
problem. Many of us will recognise the image of a town in Wales from | :17:15. | :17:21. | |
these images. Today, we have the north police and firemen | :17:22. | :17:30. | |
Commissioner. On this side of the house, we don't believe that is the | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
case. I would be grateful if you could give us a Government response | :17:36. | :17:38. | |
as to what actually you are taking as the Welsh Government given that | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
you held a meeting with the Police Commissioner last week to address | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
the shortcomings in this particular area. It's important to be looked at | :17:50. | :17:56. | |
north Wales particularly. The most of my prize of ?4.9 million of | :17:57. | :18:02. | |
substance misuse action fund to this area. -- the Government provides | :18:03. | :18:17. | |
?4.9 million. The issue in terms of paraphernalia and the visibility of | :18:18. | :18:20. | |
individuals with issues with substance misuse in the town centre, | :18:21. | :18:27. | |
that clearly as to result in a cross, multi-agency approach. That | :18:28. | :18:35. | |
includes not Wales police and also the local authority and voluntary | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
sector organisations. I had hoped that since the time has lapped we | :18:41. | :18:48. | |
might have had a fuller answer. The Welsh Government in 2000 and 84 for | :18:49. | :18:55. | |
a strategy to reduce harm. These images make it seem that this | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
strategy is not working. What a valuation has the Welsh Government | :19:01. | :19:03. | |
is taken of this strategy and the support that is in place for the | :19:04. | :19:09. | |
local authorities and the police forces and support agencies in | :19:10. | :19:12. | |
Health and Social Care to add to the address these issues that are | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
happening day in and day out, week in and week out, on the streets | :19:18. | :19:24. | |
across Wales, that are crying out for a solution and support from | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
central Government, in particular as you have had this 10-year strategy | :19:30. | :19:32. | |
in place that is coming towards the end. We are still seeing these | :19:33. | :19:37. | |
horrific images portrayed in the media as happening in public spaces | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
as we seek. I have identified investment in the substance misuse | :19:44. | :19:48. | |
action fund. That is available to those that are delivering on the | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
ground not well. -- underground for thrills. They have developed an | :19:54. | :20:03. | |
action plan, a comprehensive town centre action plan. It's got a | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
number of actions. It has to be about the constantly changing needs | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
and circumstances in terms of substance misuse. There are a number | :20:13. | :20:20. | |
of planned project coordinated by people. This is identifying hotspot | :20:21. | :20:24. | |
service and clean-up is taking place. It's also important to | :20:25. | :20:32. | |
recognise that this is about the substance misuse that we need to | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
look at in terms of best practice. That is where the new substance | :20:37. | :20:42. | |
misuse delivery plan is so Bertrand. -- is so Bertrand. Everyone seems to | :20:43. | :20:49. | |
blaming everyone else rather than actually getting to grips with the | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
problem. The Welsh Nationalists believe that legalising drugs is the | :20:55. | :21:00. | |
sensible alternative. From this side of the house, we do not believe this | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
is the solution. In particular, the deaths from drugs have doubled since | :21:06. | :21:13. | |
2012. That is clearly not a road to solving this problem. Well, there's | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
lots of mumbling coming from the other side of the house. From the | :21:19. | :21:26. | |
Government, there needs to be a working group set up by the Welsh | :21:27. | :21:30. | |
Government to pull together the charities and health bodies and | :21:31. | :21:36. | |
policing crime commission not Wales. To make sure that we can get a court | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
may could approach to dealing with this issue, there seems to be a | :21:42. | :21:49. | |
plain culture developing rather than -- be a blame culture developing | :21:50. | :21:52. | |
rather than getting to grips with the serious issue that many of these | :21:53. | :21:56. | |
people face and the tragedy that their lives have spirals out of | :21:57. | :22:02. | |
control and ultimately they need the support of Government, working with | :22:03. | :22:05. | |
sponsor bodies, to put the measures in place. Can you confirm that you | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
will do that? I have identified not only the strategy and investment but | :22:11. | :22:17. | |
I would hope that Andrew RT Davies is also speaking to the Conservative | :22:18. | :22:22. | |
councillors in Wrexham and the independent counsel those that are | :22:23. | :22:26. | |
at the sharp end of being responsible. With our support and | :22:27. | :22:34. | |
the multi-agency panel. These of you can. The leader of the house will | :22:35. | :22:42. | |
have seen that last year's budget was not an unqualified success for | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
the Chancellor. Does she and most governments for any lessons from | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
that experience with a view to how they are going to exercise the tax | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
varying powers we are to obtain under the Wales act? I do think that | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
in terms of last week, I think it has been described as a shambles. | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
Certainly, a budget that has hit self-employed people very hard. A ?2 | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
million hike in national insurance contributions. That is affecting | :23:13. | :23:18. | |
many of the people we talk about in the FSB talks about in terms of | :23:19. | :23:23. | |
self-employed people. These ID risk-takers spearheading both. -- | :23:24. | :23:33. | |
these are the risk-takers. Filming to learn lessons from us. The | :23:34. | :23:42. | |
additional funding... Can I say, you've asked me the question... The | :23:43. | :23:49. | |
additional funding doesn't alter the magnitude of spending reductions be | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
faced for future years, despite the small additions. The capital budget | :23:54. | :24:00. | |
will still be less than in real terms to certain of 11. With | :24:01. | :24:06. | |
respect, you didn't answer my question. What I was keen to elicit | :24:07. | :24:11. | |
was whether it makes it more or less likely that the Welsh Government | :24:12. | :24:19. | |
will use its powers to Vivienne, green -- vary its income tax. Lower | :24:20. | :24:28. | |
tax rates can produce higher tax revenues. In the 1980s, Nigel Lawson | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
reduced taxes and that was the effect. In 1979, the top 1% of | :24:33. | :24:41. | |
earners paid 11% of all tax revenues. By 1997, they paid 21%, in | :24:42. | :24:48. | |
spite of the fact that the club band of income tax had been reduced. -- | :24:49. | :24:56. | |
of the fact that the top band. Let's not make Wales into a kind of tax | :24:57. | :25:03. | |
haven. I don't think we'd expect anything different from the reader | :25:04. | :25:09. | |
of Ukip. I would have hoped that you would be considering the impact of | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
the Chancellor's budget last week. The impact on the people that we | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
represent. The impact of the fact that the sting in the tail of that | :25:20. | :25:22. | |
budget and forecast is that there is a 3.5 billion cut plans by the | :25:23. | :25:30. | |
Government for 1920. -- February 20 20. That is what I'm concerned. Of | :25:31. | :25:39. | |
course, we have to look at that in terms of the implications of this | :25:40. | :25:49. | |
budget. For self-employed and also the progress people and will. With | :25:50. | :26:00. | |
respect, I'll try again. I still haven't had an answer. Does the | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
reader of the house except that lower tax rates can produce higher | :26:06. | :26:08. | |
tax revenues? In which case, everybody wins. As far as the UK | :26:09. | :26:18. | |
Government is concerned, we take responsibility and have a | :26:19. | :26:21. | |
responsibility that we are not taking through registration in terms | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
of evolved and coming our way. We look forward to debating this in the | :26:26. | :26:34. | |
next couple of weeks. In -- we need to recognise the adverse impact of | :26:35. | :26:44. | |
the divisions made by Phil. He fumbled his budget angrily to | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
recognise that that is bad, the fact that it is undermining the ICO to | :26:50. | :26:56. | |
promote the UK as a place to start a business. Will Leader of the | :26:57. | :27:09. | |
House... The investment dealers Government is making to benefit all | :27:10. | :27:12. | |
parts of Wales and all aspects of society. The Government's own | :27:13. | :27:20. | |
figures show that the level of Welsh Government capital expenditure on | :27:21. | :27:25. | |
infrastructure in south-east Wales is twice that per head in north | :27:26. | :27:31. | |
Wales and three times the figure for mid and west Wales. Its concern over | :27:32. | :27:41. | |
huge investment cap led us to vote against the supplementary budget | :27:42. | :27:51. | |
last week. What assurance... Lets you the question. What assurance can | :27:52. | :27:58. | |
she give my party and members on all sides who represents those regions | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
that we will have equal investment for all parts of Wales so that we | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
can see Chris Berry T-shirt? I think the member has seen the | :28:08. | :28:16. | |
combined Welsh Government allocations for local authorities, | :28:17. | :28:22. | |
the Health Board, police authorities for 2017, 2018. And has seen that | :28:23. | :28:27. | |
there is only one area where there is a slightly different powerhead | :28:28. | :28:31. | |
allocation and I would want to share this again with the member. In terms | :28:32. | :28:37. | |
of capital expenditure on an all Wales basis, that is crucially | :28:38. | :28:40. | |
important in terms of investment in social housing, in best win in 20% | :28:41. | :28:46. | |
through schools, investment in transport. I can again give you the | :28:47. | :28:52. | |
investments in floods and coastal risk management, supporting the Hall | :28:53. | :28:57. | |
of Wales, ?144 million, to improve our road network. In terms of North | :28:58. | :29:05. | |
Wales, ?50 million to advance the north-east Wales Metro with | :29:06. | :29:07. | |
potential to expand west in the future. In terms of the | :29:08. | :29:15. | |
supplementary budget, we were... What was in that supplementary | :29:16. | :29:17. | |
budget is very important to be people of Wales. It is ?170 billion | :29:18. | :29:24. | |
to support the Welsh NHS. Just to give one example, and ?16 million | :29:25. | :29:33. | |
for a treatment fund and an additional ?20 million funding for | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
higher education and an additional ?85.5 billion to support | :29:38. | :29:40. | |
construction and maintenance to be tried and road network in Wales. | :29:41. | :29:51. | |
Let's say... Let's recognise the importance of our considerations. | :29:52. | :30:04. | |
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, there is a | :30:05. | :30:08. | |
Cardiff capital region city deal as a proposed Swansea be city deal, | :30:09. | :30:18. | |
what consideration has been given to a mid Wales deal on the same skill | :30:19. | :30:21. | |
to ensure there is a similar level of investment in the fourth | :30:22. | :30:25. | |
remaining economic region of Wales? There has been work done, as you | :30:26. | :30:32. | |
know, in terms of how we can respond to opportunities in mid Wales. It is | :30:33. | :30:38. | |
also relevant to say and very pertinent to your patch is that | :30:39. | :30:44. | |
these are about budget choices in terms of those cuts to the capital | :30:45. | :30:46. | |
programme that I have already spoken about. Five new primary schools we | :30:47. | :30:53. | |
are building had been recently announced as part of the 21st | :30:54. | :30:59. | |
century schools programme. That is so important. The prospects of | :31:00. | :31:03. | |
children and young people in terms of growth opportunities in mid | :31:04. | :31:07. | |
Wales. Although he would not believe it, there was quite a degree of | :31:08. | :31:10. | |
consensus last week during the debate on the foundational economy, | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
which has already been mentioned by Simon Thomas. It was agreed | :31:15. | :31:18. | |
unanimously in the Chamber that small businesses connected with each | :31:19. | :31:21. | |
other in a way that doesn't happen in large firms. Networks of social | :31:22. | :31:27. | |
capital need to be extended beyond local social context. It was agreed. | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
It was further agreed that the geography of the South Wales Valleys | :31:33. | :31:35. | |
has been a barrier to death in the past. With the reader of the house | :31:36. | :31:40. | |
therefore accept that the Government investment focused in this area to | :31:41. | :31:44. | |
be successful, the Northern Valleys need to be seen as interdependent | :31:45. | :31:47. | |
communities looking east and west and not simply spokes linking into a | :31:48. | :31:55. | |
city hub. It is always good when we get back to consensus in this | :31:56. | :31:58. | |
Chamber as we did very much a that debate on economy. The Cabinet | :31:59. | :32:06. | |
sector of the economy and transport responded to very positively. I was | :32:07. | :32:11. | |
also interested to see the very strong arguments for the points you | :32:12. | :32:17. | |
are making on the northern Valleys interdependency with Vicky Howells | :32:18. | :32:20. | |
in an article in the Westerman mail. It is a very personal point in terms | :32:21. | :32:25. | |
of the city region deal, because we have to make sure that this is | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
recognised, the northern Valleys recognise. It is not just been put | :32:31. | :32:37. | |
down it is going up on it is that mutual interdependency. Will the | :32:38. | :32:40. | |
reader has 87 on the provision for people on the otters spectrum in | :32:41. | :32:42. | |
Wales. -- otters. We have had extensive consultation. | :32:43. | :33:04. | |
Thank you for that response. The National Society for Wales has asked | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
for a record of the number of people on the spectrum in order to assist | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
local authorities to plan the services more effectively and in a | :33:13. | :33:18. | |
war competence of manner. One would expect a record of people who have a | :33:19. | :33:25. | |
care plan for next April onwards, but there are a number of people who | :33:26. | :33:29. | |
do not have a care plan and there are others who go in and out of the | :33:30. | :33:33. | |
system. When will your Government insist that a full record is kept in | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
order to ensure that the proper resources and facilities are | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
provided were needed in all parts of Wales? I thank the member for that | :33:42. | :33:44. | |
question. It is their relevant to the work that has been taken forward | :33:45. | :33:51. | |
by an implementation advisory group for the autistic spectrum disorder | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
strategic action plan for Wales. The National Autistic Society is sitting | :33:57. | :34:01. | |
on that import meditation group and as it is a world autism awareness | :34:02. | :34:05. | |
Day later this month, the group is going to be meeting for the written | :34:06. | :34:08. | |
at the end of the month. Wooding at that time, it is... It needs data. | :34:09. | :34:18. | |
It is also about the new 26 waiting time targets from a referral for | :34:19. | :34:21. | |
first appointment for children with autism and other neurodevelopmental | :34:22. | :34:32. | |
diseases to speed up the reports. Leader of the house, I understand | :34:33. | :34:34. | |
there are a strategic action plans in place only for five or six months | :34:35. | :34:40. | |
now, but what we really need to see is how the gaps in provision of | :34:41. | :34:45. | |
services, particularly services going to be fulfilled within | :34:46. | :34:47. | |
Pembrokeshire, there is a massive gap in the provision of services for | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
adults with autism and neither Pembrokeshire County Council nor the | :34:53. | :34:56. | |
local Health Board appear to have vacancies of enough method of being | :34:57. | :34:59. | |
able to plug those gaps. What can you the wealth Government do to | :35:00. | :35:03. | |
encourage that happen, because I can tell you know, you are strategic | :35:04. | :35:08. | |
action plan isn't even touching the sides on that? Look like the ?6 | :35:09. | :35:13. | |
million we put into developing our new integrated autism service will | :35:14. | :35:15. | |
start at the Cannes impact that the member would want to see. It is an | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
investment over three years which will be rolled out over a Wales by | :35:21. | :35:28. | |
2019. It's going to see new specialist teams in every region | :35:29. | :35:30. | |
providing adult diagnosis, supporting in the community and | :35:31. | :35:40. | |
helping their parents and carers. Will be leader of the house provide | :35:41. | :35:44. | |
an update on the work problem of the Welsh European funding office | :35:45. | :35:47. | |
between now and the exit from the European Union? The European funding | :35:48. | :35:53. | |
office for Wales is continuing to implement the EU funding programmes | :35:54. | :35:55. | |
as agreed with the European Commission to deliver jobs and | :35:56. | :35:59. | |
growth. Newly to those of the fund had been committed to date and our | :36:00. | :36:03. | |
aim is to invest all of the funds available to Wales by early 2019. | :36:04. | :36:09. | |
Thank you for that, but as you may already know, as well as indicating | :36:10. | :36:12. | |
that equivalent money should come to Wales after exit, with this giving | :36:13. | :36:17. | |
evidence to the external affairs committee have said this is an | :36:18. | :36:19. | |
opportunity to do things differently in terms of regional funding. Can | :36:20. | :36:25. | |
you tell me how many of the applications are currently | :36:26. | :36:27. | |
predicated on the private sector kicking the delivery lead and what | :36:28. | :36:30. | |
advice regarding bidders for that remaining money to make sure that | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
long-term projects are structurally flexible enough to make sure that | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
they can last ones the days of the commission directing regional | :36:41. | :36:45. | |
funding have gone? Clearly multi-million projects in crude | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
business Wales, apprenticeships, they are directly relevant for the | :36:52. | :36:56. | |
private sector. You will be aware that in your region, they are making | :36:57. | :37:01. | |
an impact by boosting business, helping them to increase work | :37:02. | :37:05. | |
prospects and skills of our people. Also ensuring that through programme | :37:06. | :37:10. | |
monitoring committee we are engaging fully with Welsh stakeholders, | :37:11. | :37:13. | |
including the private sector in terms of the Commonwealth position | :37:14. | :37:18. | |
on future arrangements for regional funding in Wales. That is critically | :37:19. | :37:23. | |
important. The PMC is shared by Julie Morgan. Critically important | :37:24. | :37:35. | |
of safeguarding those investments. It operates under EU regional | :37:36. | :37:38. | |
policy, they are not going to be there in two years. What I'm asking | :37:39. | :37:42. | |
is, what discussions have you had with the UK Government about a | :37:43. | :37:46. | |
future in regional policy and how have you taken the opportunity to be | :37:47. | :37:49. | |
created on the agenda to ensure that what happens in Wales can be unique | :37:50. | :37:53. | |
to the country goes back I think our white paper at securing Wales' | :37:54. | :37:57. | |
future is vitally important, because it does lay out what we made clear | :37:58. | :38:03. | |
as far as regional economic next development. It is a clear that that | :38:04. | :38:07. | |
is a devolved competence and it must remain so. We would resist firmly | :38:08. | :38:12. | |
any attempt by the UK Government to reverse any form of devolution and | :38:13. | :38:17. | |
take control of regional policy, so I'm glad of having the opportunity | :38:18. | :38:21. | |
to put that on record today. It is important that we have got | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
engagement through the joint administer real committee on | :38:28. | :38:31. | |
negotiations which the Cabinet sector of finance of local | :38:32. | :38:34. | |
Government represents us and he presented our White Paper in their | :38:35. | :38:41. | |
meeting on the aid of debris. -- on the 8th of February. | :38:42. | :38:48. | |
Will the leader of the house make a comment on post 16 education Wales? | :38:49. | :38:58. | |
It insures our young people can excessive skills that they need to | :38:59. | :39:04. | |
develop their careers and that adults can develop their careers and | :39:05. | :39:08. | |
support our growing economy. Thank you. There is been a a lot of talk | :39:09. | :39:17. | |
about the need for something between. But they have failed to | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
deliver on that talk. A recent report showed that there was an | :39:24. | :39:31. | |
oversight of finances for colleges. ?22 million to our colleges over the | :39:32. | :39:37. | |
past five years. That has stifled them been able to make progress. In | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
fact, nearly half of our Welsh colleges carry large deficits and | :39:43. | :39:51. | |
are closed to eat into their savings. What action might the Welsh | :39:52. | :39:54. | |
Government be able to take as a result of the savings which will be | :39:55. | :39:57. | |
secured through changes to higher education student support, in terms | :39:58. | :40:06. | |
of some of that cash being be invested in order to rebalance the | :40:07. | :40:09. | |
situation in terms of parity between both forms of education? He may | :40:10. | :40:20. | |
talk, we deliver. I have to say... Haven't delivered anything. Our | :40:21. | :40:32. | |
approach, we have established an approach to vocational and technical | :40:33. | :40:37. | |
qualifications that we've actually developed in consultation with | :40:38. | :40:41. | |
employees. We've benefited from collaboration, engaging with | :40:42. | :40:45. | |
Northern Ireland and Scotland, internationally recognised approach | :40:46. | :40:51. | |
to apprenticeships, vocational and technical qualifications. As we can | :40:52. | :40:55. | |
see by the investment and commitments to 100,000 | :40:56. | :40:59. | |
apprenticeships. And we have the original shirt skills partnerships. | :41:00. | :41:04. | |
That is to determine the need for skills. I don't recognise the points | :41:05. | :41:07. | |
you make at all. Those employers that I met last week, who are | :41:08. | :41:15. | |
concerned to get young people into science and technology, engineering | :41:16. | :41:24. | |
and maths. They say that actually parity with vocational opportunities | :41:25. | :41:34. | |
are vital for young people. Apprenticeships is something that | :41:35. | :41:40. | |
young aspire to. Along the same lines, there is UK research that | :41:41. | :41:51. | |
showed that only 17% of kids -- of was the... More thought higher | :41:52. | :41:58. | |
education as the best option for them. The perception still exists | :41:59. | :42:06. | |
that there isn't parity of esteem between vocational and academic | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
courses. Can I ask what he Welsh Government is doing, for example, to | :42:12. | :42:17. | |
promote perceptions of the research that shows that the probable | :42:18. | :42:20. | |
earnings of the best apprenticeships, many thousands of | :42:21. | :42:24. | |
pounds more over the course of their careers by students that have been | :42:25. | :42:30. | |
in higher education outside the main group of universities? Without the | :42:31. | :42:35. | |
debts that results from that codification. -- from that | :42:36. | :42:44. | |
education. 100,000 apprenticeships speaks for itself in terms of our | :42:45. | :42:51. | |
apprenticeship. The fact that it enables young people to reach their | :42:52. | :42:57. | |
potential. As you say, the Sutton trust research is very valuable and | :42:58. | :43:06. | |
pertinent. Clearly in terms of our statutory duty to provide education | :43:07. | :43:11. | |
for an owners up to the age of 18, we have protected and mitigated the | :43:12. | :43:17. | |
brand of reductions from the UK Government. As a result of the | :43:18. | :43:22. | |
budget agreement, we have put an additional ?30 million in to support | :43:23. | :43:25. | |
further and higher education. That is having a huge impact in terms of | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
targeting investment. As making the opportunities for young people real. | :43:31. | :43:35. | |
They can progress anyway from apprenticeships into higher | :43:36. | :43:40. | |
education and into very well paid and long-lasting jobs and careers. | :43:41. | :43:54. | |
Question seven. Our local energy service promotes services across | :43:55. | :44:01. | |
Wales back. It keeps the benefits of renewable energy projects within | :44:02. | :44:04. | |
Wales. We can look at how these projects will be a new continued to | :44:05. | :44:12. | |
develop. These mechanisms stand within the very proud cooperative | :44:13. | :44:18. | |
tradition of promoting local enterprise and social benefit. | :44:19. | :44:20. | |
Particularly for technical reasons they are easy-to-use and more | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
flexible than traditional charitable approaches. They are an excellent | :44:26. | :44:36. | |
way to Vermont communities schemes. -- to promote community schemes. I | :44:37. | :44:41. | |
do commend the efforts that have been going on in the not-for-profit | :44:42. | :44:49. | |
sector. I do think that the Government could do with Bush in | :44:50. | :44:55. | |
this area. I agree with all the points. The community shareholders | :44:56. | :45:02. | |
have raised over 5.5 million since 2010. You will be very aware of | :45:03. | :45:09. | |
these community projects. We related to commercial developers work more | :45:10. | :45:13. | |
closely with communities are shared ownership and investment. I think it | :45:14. | :45:21. | |
is important, you mentioned the cooperative Centre, we are proud of | :45:22. | :45:29. | |
that, that helps communities to share experience of how to develop | :45:30. | :45:34. | |
local energy services. Question eight. With the Leader of the House | :45:35. | :45:43. | |
make a statement on the duties of traffic officers? They are there to | :45:44. | :45:59. | |
serve up to the English border. Her, as the Leader of the House has | :46:00. | :46:02. | |
confirmed, traffic officers are not Wales patrol A55. It doesn't stop | :46:03. | :46:16. | |
at, plus. It continues to Anglesey. This, according to police officers, | :46:17. | :46:21. | |
is causing problems. It ties up resources in dealing with road | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
accidents and so on. These don't happen in other portables with my. | :46:26. | :46:32. | |
-- in other parts of north Wales. With the Government look again at | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
the cover and strategy. -- will be Government look again at this | :46:38. | :46:45. | |
strategy? The traffic officer service was originally devised to | :46:46. | :46:50. | |
cover business sections of the road network. We inherited this PFI | :46:51. | :46:57. | |
contract, as you will be aware. It has, in terms of responsibilities, | :46:58. | :47:00. | |
we need to look carefully at the impact of that. In terms of cough | :47:01. | :47:06. | |
and service. In the north, the server survey was A55. The two then | :47:07. | :47:17. | |
need to see that we extend this cover. We need to improve its | :47:18. | :47:28. | |
resilience. Finally, question nine. May I ask the leader of the house in | :47:29. | :47:33. | |
this budget on part of the First Minister what plans he has to meet | :47:34. | :47:36. | |
the Scottish First Minister to discuss the relationship with the | :47:37. | :47:42. | |
Rabin union? They spoke yesterday and continues to have regular | :47:43. | :47:47. | |
discussions with hard-boiled bilaterally and in meetings with the | :47:48. | :47:49. | |
joint receiver committee and British-Irish Council. And quicker | :47:50. | :47:58. | |
for the response and ensure that the First Minister wallop at an | :47:59. | :48:01. | |
interesting conversation with the Scottish First Minister. Because | :48:02. | :48:05. | |
there is so much in common between the Scottish Government White Paper | :48:06. | :48:21. | |
and the red White Paper of Plaid Cymru, Dusty Welsh Government sees | :48:22. | :48:26. | |
the importance, whatever the decision taken by Scotland on its | :48:27. | :48:29. | |
constitutional future, that's seem out of them, of course, that there | :48:30. | :48:36. | |
is a role for collaboration on the current negotiations between the UK | :48:37. | :48:42. | |
and the EU, particularly to safeguard unfettered access to the | :48:43. | :48:47. | |
single market for both nations? There is considerable common ground | :48:48. | :48:51. | |
between our white papers secure ring Wales future. In particular, | :48:52. | :49:00. | |
Scotland's place in Europe emphasises the economic importance | :49:01. | :49:04. | |
of the single market and the vital contribution of migrant workers to | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
businesses. The critical need to respect devolution settlement. | :49:10. | :49:17. | |
That's 21st Minister has taken the lead in calling for those | :49:18. | :49:22. | |
arrangements. -- that's where the First Minister has taken the lead. | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
He convened an extraordinary British Irish vessel summit last July to | :49:27. | :49:34. | |
other -- to allow to discuss the referendum. | :49:35. | :49:37. | |
There we are - that was First Minister's Questions. | :49:38. | :49:39. | |
If you want more more coverage of the National Assembly, you can go | :49:40. | :49:42. | |
online to BBC Wales's Senedd Live page at BBC.co.uk/Walespolitics. | :49:43. | :49:45. | |
If you want more Welsh politics this week, don't forget | :49:46. | :49:47. | |
the Wales Report with Huw Edwards after the Ten O'Clock News | :49:48. | :49:50. | |
As for today though, from all of us on the programme, goodbye. | :49:51. | :50:10. | |
It was the most beautiful view I've ever been through. | :50:11. | :50:17. | |
For one second, I was swimming on my back, and I was looking to the sky. | :50:18. | :50:23. | |
I was swimming across the Aegean Sea. | :50:24. | :50:29. | |
I was a refugee, going from Syria to Germany. | :50:30. | :50:41. | |
The very embodiment of the England that must emerge. | :50:42. | :50:49. | |
I have my own path to follow. Destiny. | :50:50. | :50:52. |