02/06/2013 Sunday Politics Wales


02/06/2013

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services. Are the wages of council chiefs out of control? Should decide

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2447 seconds

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bosses get paid? And some tourism operators are

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feeling gloomy. We have Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llywd

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and Julie Morgan from Labour. But first the murder of April Jones by

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Mark Bridger has called -- has led to calls for internet service

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providers to further restrict access to online Child pornography.

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Government and police have worked with the industry to take down

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explicit images very quickly. It is difficult for people to casually

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come across these images. However determined people are still able to

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get to it. We need other countries to do the same thing as the UK.

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easy is it going to be for agencies to get these global internet

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companies on board? Some of the big companies need to wake up. They need

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to engage Buckley. They can be part of the solution. -- to engage

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quickly. It is better if they have the example we have shown in the

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UK. An industry that respects what the public wants and what the

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protection of children requires. Our internet providers going to come

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on board? I hope they will. It is not acceptable that these images of

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children can be accessed. They could be more proactive. Organisations had

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to be more proactive. They must make sure this stuff is not available.

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There is more that should be done. Google has a zero tolerance policy.

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It will be difficult to read the internet office. It is our world

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wide then. -- it is a worldwide thing. We need an international

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approach. I would like to see it completely and. Can you see a

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situation where that is possible? completely prohibited. We need to

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act Buckley. -- we need to act quickly. Government should be

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involved. If the internet providers do not

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come on board we could end up going down a road of legislation which

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might not tackle the problem as well as working collaboratively could.

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Legislation is not always the most effective way of doing things. The

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number of these sites is going up drastically. This year it is 40%

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higher than last year. I believe that Dougal and others will see that

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they must be more proactive. -- Google. The Welsh Government has

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been accused of failing to reel in big salaries for Government chief

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executives. Then arrive over value for money our

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reporter has been to Swansea market. Local councils are in a competitive

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market. That has led to damaging headlines. Our councils paying over

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the odds? The size of these salaries is

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causing some controversy. Some opposition members are calling on

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the Welsh Government to rein them in. They want an independent panel

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to decide how much officers are paid. The idea was rejected by the

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Welsh Government which says local council pay is a local matter.

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It is out of control. Senior management is earning more than the

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first Minister. It is out of control. This is a big issue. The

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Welsh Labour Government has a duty to make sure that fairness is the

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common thread that goes through the setting of senior officer he. It is

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not happening at the moment. -- indoor market. You get what you pay

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for. It is a similar story for local councils. They are operating in a

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market. Should they be decided locally? This former leader of

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Swansea council says things will have to change. He says there are

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already salary guidelines that should be followed. I have sympathy

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with councillors trying to do the right thing. It has reached a stage

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that anybody paying above the level but had to explain why they are

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sector local Government salaries are at the lower end of the league

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table. Every council has two had -- every council has two publish an

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annual statements. For those who want tougher action the site of

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higher salaries is leading a sour taste in the mouth.

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Our Chief Executive's paid to match? Yes. There is something drastically

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wrong. They do have a lot of responsibility but I question

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whether they have the same level of responsibility as the first Minister

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in Cardiff and the UK prime minister. It has spun out of can

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roll. They will get the right people at a lower level as well. In some

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instances 170,000, well above the Prime Minister's salary. That is out

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beset independently? There is a joint negotiating Oddie. -- a joint

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negotiating body. They would be giving the power to somebody

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independent. They would be passing legislation. Local councils are

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democratically elected. They have the right to settle their own

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affairs. I am not taking powers away from locally elect bodies. We need

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to reinforce them. What do you think of the claim that chief executives

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are paid to match? The councils have to respond. Employees have been on

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pay freezes. There is an issue. But that is what the councils and the

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joint committee have to respond to. Would legislation be able to clamp

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down on this list to Mac the chief executive decides his own increase.

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That is not acceptable. That is being addressed. I am not sure other

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legislation would have captured that. I think there should be

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intervention by the Welsh Government. The current system is

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not working. There should be some reflection of the austerities that

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everyone else is going through. That is not happening. We need our review

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body. Why don't we have a body to deal with the whole issue and

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thereby give better value for money for taxpayers? It is a ridiculous

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situation where a Chief Executive in one council is paid well above UK

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prime minister. That is ridiculous. We need a concerted effort to make

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the leaders of the councils accept their responsibilities. Tourism

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operators say rules designed to stop second home owners are avoiding

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paying council tax on their holiday homes are threatening hundreds of

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businesses. The orders of self catering properties face an increase

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in the rates that they pay if they feel to rent out their properties

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for several days - macro for 70 days in any financial years.

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Rainy summers and the Calder Spring for 50 years combined Liverpool and

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economic climate has had business. It has been a nightmare. One of my

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properties field by six days. I lost my business rates. That is costing

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Those who fail to attract guests to stay in their holiday homes for more

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than 70 days face hundreds or thousands of pounds of rate

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increases. That is because some operators will now have to pay

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council taxes instead of less expensive business rates. For some

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operators these extra costs have a dramatic effect will stop it could

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be the final straw stop -- final straw. When you are running a

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business with tight margins that could push it over the edge. There

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is always a job that needs doing at these cottages. This couple have

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nine cottages and flats available for rent. Business is down on

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previous years. They are business assets. That distinction should be

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made. The Welsh Government will provide a strategy next month.

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Business owners will look for words to the research being published.

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The tourism industry figures generated a sixth of the size of the

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Welsh economy. What do you make of what we heard from some of the

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people in that piece? I have every sympathy for people in that

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situation. The tourism industry is so important. There are real things

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affecting the industry is the economy and the weather. We cannot

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do anything about the weather. We are doing our best to improve the

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economy. This particular issue, the Welsh Government is looking at, we

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have made a big push for people to diversify. That is part of the

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strategy. It is important that we have this review. The weather and

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the economy are hitting businesses. Is enough being done for the tourist

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industry? Not enough is being done will stop -- being done. It is not

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acceptable. We have got everything in Wales. The whole point of the

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regulation was to prevent misuse we are by second home owners

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registering as a business and it was not a business at all will stop I

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welcome the fact that the Welsh Government is looking to review

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this. A lot of people in the industry have said that Judaism

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should have its own minister. -- tourism should have its own

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minister. It has got an advantage being in their business portfolio.

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And Minister for tourism is not necessarily an answer. We have got

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fantastic festivals in Wales. We have got to build on those sort of

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things. We are very successful. need to invest more in bringing it

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book ended. -- bringing the Berlin. -- bringing people in.

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Time for a look at the stories of the week.

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The Welsh Government said it would go ahead with plans for a 111 49. --

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111 telephone line. David Davies revealed that he met

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the same journalist posing as lobbyists. The Panorama programme

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says Patrick Mercer broke lobbying rules. David Davies says he left the

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meeting. The regalia used by Prince Charles

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in 1969 should be put on permanent display according to their heritage

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You will be returning to Parliament after the break this week. There

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will be another debate on lobbying. We need to grasp this metal. It is

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not acceptable. The National Assembly has a tighter system. Even

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local Government has a better system. It is high time we did

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something about it in Westminster will stop -- Westminster. It is

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unacceptable. It is time we cleaned out of the stable. Was discussed.

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That has not happened. We are being lobbied all the time. I have

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voluntarily bodies and charities coming in to lobby for changes will

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stop -- changes. The issue is about commercial bodies. There was a

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report about this years ago. This issue has got to be grasped. But we

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must remember that we are there for people to approach as. Have you ever

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