Browse content similar to 04/10/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good afternoon. Welcome to the programme. It's | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
draft Budget Day here in the Assembly today. The Welsh | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
Government will set out its spending plans for the next | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
financial year later this afternoon. Before all that takes place we will, | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
of course, bring you coverage of First Minister's Questions. Feel | :00:34. | :00:44. | |
:00:44. | :00:46. | ||
free to get in touch with us while As usual, our Welsh Affairs Editor | :00:46. | :00:48. | |
Vaughan Roderick will be here to cast his expert eye over | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
proceedings later, but first let's go over to the chamber for First | :00:51. | :01:01. | |
:01:01. | :01:11. | ||
There is one question to the First Minister. | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
Question one, Christine Chapman. Will the First Minister provide an | :01:16. | :01:22. | |
update on what the Welsh Government is is doing to eradicate poverty in | :01:22. | :01:27. | |
Wales? An anti-poferty action plan is being developed. | :01:27. | :01:34. | |
Thank you. Despite that progress, I think that a high number of Welsh | :01:34. | :01:39. | |
children are still living in poverty, exacerbated by the cuts | :01:39. | :01:49. | |
made by the UK. Now the indicators by which we assess child poverty | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
has changed. Sometimes there is a lack of understanding of the true | :01:54. | :02:02. | |
nature of child poverty. What more can we do to ensure that | :02:02. | :02:07. | |
child poverty remains at the forefront of public awareness and | :02:07. | :02:13. | |
the the awareness of the agencies. The child poverty strategy gives a | :02:13. | :02:17. | |
clear account as to what we can achieve as a Government in helping | :02:17. | :02:23. | |
to reduce poverty and it contains three new objebg tis for tack -- | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
objectives for tackling child poverty. | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
Thank you. Well, the severe child poverty in Wales report published | :02:31. | :02:40. | |
by Save The Children in February February said that Wales as the | :02:40. | :02:49. | |
severest child child poverty among the nations. A report found that | :02:49. | :02:55. | |
child poverty rate between the mid- 1990s improvement had been lost in | :02:55. | :03:00. | |
the previous five years, where the Welsh Government's new child | :03:00. | :03:08. | |
poverty target requires the rate to fall four times as past over the | :03:08. | :03:14. | |
next ten years m. How do you respond to the call for joint | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
action with the two governments working together to device a plan | :03:18. | :03:23. | |
to tackle the severe child poverty? We are having to work with the UK | :03:23. | :03:28. | |
Government when it comes to child poverty and we expect a commitment | :03:28. | :03:34. | |
from them that they continue to take child poverty seriously. | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
In the Western world poverty is very much a relative term. If you | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
have no roof over their head, that is real poverty. Minister, what | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
steps is the Government taking to ensure that local authorities are | :03:47. | :03:53. | |
meeting their full obligations to provide housing to those households | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
who need housing as a priority need? | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
Well, local authorities have their responsibilities in terms of | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
providing housing and you will know we have targets with regard to the | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
numbers of houses we wish to see built every year and we know that | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
good progress was made in the previous four years of Government | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
particularly when the Government of the day and that's progress we want | :04:15. | :04:21. | |
to build on. Thank you. First Minister, you will | :04:21. | :04:24. | |
know one of the best ways of dealing with poverty is to give | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
young people opportunities in terms of better education and skills. How | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
is your forthcoming Budget going to be targeting particularly those | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
young people who are growing up in poverty to ensure that they have | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
the opportunities and that they do get the education and skills needed | :04:39. | :04:45. | |
to apply for descent paid jobs and get out of poverty? I don't want to | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
pre-empt the Budget Statement. But it is a manifesto of this | :04:48. | :04:54. | |
Government toin crease education -- to increase education funding by 1% | :04:54. | :05:02. | |
a year. Will the First Minister make a | :05:02. | :05:04. | |
statement on employment levels in Wales? | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
Yes, the latest employment data shows that there are 1.3 million | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
people in employment in Wales, but we know that the economy remains in | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
a fragile state. Thanks for that answer, First | :05:16. | :05:23. | |
Minister. First Minister, the advent of 24-hour news means we are | :05:23. | :05:29. | |
seeing the Tories sucking away prospects on a minute to minute | :05:29. | :05:34. | |
basis. It is making it for young people to find work. Next time you | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
meet the UK Government can you stress to them that Plan A is not | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
working? It is clear that Plan A isn't working and there doesn't | :05:44. | :05:49. | |
seem to be a Plan bmt and that's -- Plan B and that's something I | :05:49. | :05:51. | |
regretment First Minister, I listened | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
carefully to your answer there. What you didn't say, of course, is | :05:54. | :05:57. | |
that Wales has the least competitive business rates regime | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
in the United Kingdom. That is contributing to the uncertainty | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
particularly for small business that could do so much better if | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
they were taken out of business rates altogether. Will you give | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
careful consideration to our party's proposals to withdraw | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
people from business rates altogether where their ratable | :06:17. | :06:24. | |
value is under �12,500 to give them the confidence to create new jobs. | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
The small business release scheme is in place until September of next | :06:28. | :06:35. | |
year, unfortunately we don't have a magic money tree which seems to | :06:35. | :06:44. | |
grow in Conservative Party head quarters. | :06:44. | :06:50. | |
This morning MBMA announced it will be cutting 400 jobs at its Chester | :06:50. | :06:57. | |
centre in spite of announcing a postof �348 million. Bank of | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
America says most of the jobs will be voluntary, however, this is | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
going to be a body blow to many families in north-east Wales who | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
work there. Is this the worst short-term thinking that prevads | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
the banking sector and would you examine how retraining support | :07:13. | :07:16. | |
could be offered to the banking sector workers who live in north- | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
east Wales? As you know, of course, we have | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
invested heavily in retraining over the past three or four years. It is | :07:24. | :07:27. | |
right to say that many people working at Bank of America work on | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
this side of the border. I agree, it is important that where business | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
desrksz are taken, they are not taken on a short-term basis rather | :07:35. | :07:41. | |
they should be planned for the longer term. | :07:41. | :07:51. | |
:07:51. | :08:09. | ||
TRANSLATION: Has the Government commissioned or gathered any data | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
or research about the jobs that have been lost already in the | :08:12. | :08:13. | |
sector which make up the Government's economic regeneration | :08:13. | :08:15. | |
programme particularly over the past three years because these | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
sectors are extremely important, but I would like to have some sort | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
of idea if if jobs have been lost and where can we collaborate to | :08:21. | :08:23. | |
ensure those gaps are plugged. There are statistics that are | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
published and these are the labour market statistics every quarter. | :08:25. | :08:27. | |
And contained in those statistics it is possible to look at which | :08:27. | :08:29. | |
sectors have been hit hardest. But as regards finding out exactly | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
where every job is lost, that is not possible. | :08:34. | :08:42. | |
We move to leader's questions. Wyn Jones. Does the First Minister | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
agree that we need a package of measures to promote the economy now | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
and we need an injection of capital? You say in your programme | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
for Government that you want to look into innovative and | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
collaborative ways of raising capital to invest in the | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
infrastructure of public services and as that document does not tell | :09:01. | :09:06. | |
us exactly how you're going to achieve this, can you tell us today | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
how you intend to achieve that? I agree with what the leader of | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
Plaid Cymru is saying and that, of considers, is -- of course is why | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
we must ensure that borrowing powers come to the Welsh Government | :09:20. | :09:25. | |
as soon as possible bearing in minute the discussions will take | :09:25. | :09:28. | |
place between the Welsh Government and the UK Government, a process | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
supported by all parties in this assembly. | :09:31. | :09:37. | |
I take it First Minister, when your programme for Government mentions | :09:37. | :09:40. | |
finding innovative ways of working, you will have to go further than | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
just borrowing. It is apparent to me that borrowing is something that | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
we are all agreed on, but I am sure you would agree with me that we | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
need to go further than that. A shortage of capital money is a | :09:51. | :09:55. | |
challenge, of course, �800 million is what the Assembly Government is | :09:55. | :10:02. | |
going to lose by 2014 and in real terms, that is a cut of over 46% | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
when you take inflation into account and if you look at the | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
draft programme that you had already published then the | :10:10. | :10:16. | |
reduction in the education budget and the health budget will be | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
around 50%. So there will be a significant reduction in capital | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
expenditure and the question is, and I virtually asked it already, | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
but if you are saying that you're going to go, try and get borrowing | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
powers, what in addition are you going to do? There has been some | :10:33. | :10:41. | |
discussion of borrowing using Local Government's borrowing powers. But | :10:41. | :10:46. | |
no discussion has taken place between yourself and local | :10:46. | :10:55. | |
authorities. Can you tell us what you know? There is a plan for Wales. | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
Are you dependant on borrowing powers? No, we will look at all | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
kinds of means of raising capital in the future. It is important of | :11:04. | :11:09. | |
course, that the schemes we look at are practical ones. The first step, | :11:09. | :11:19. | |
:11:19. | :11:21. | ||
Government has the right to borrow, of course, and to ensure that we | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
have our fair share of funding bearing in mind the work of the | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
commissioner. So we are looking at a number of ways of securing more | :11:30. | :11:36. | |
capital for the Welsh, budget and borrowing is one part of that. | :11:36. | :11:42. | |
Well, I will give you another opportunity now, but we, I had said | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
that negotiations were to take place yourself and Local Government | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
to see whether we could use the borrowing powers available to Local | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
Government for Government plans. Schools is one example, for example. | :11:52. | :11:56. | |
Road building is another. Can you tell us if any negotiations have | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
taken place already because I do think that it is important that we | :11:59. | :12:02. | |
should know how far those negotiations and discussions have | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
gone. We know that you have to be ambitious and be proactive if we | :12:07. | :12:11. | |
are to move things forward and another question in addition to the | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
one on Local Government, what pressure have you put on the | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
Treasury to ensure that, if there is an injection of capital for the | :12:18. | :12:27. | |
UK, that Wales gets its fair share? We always do that with the Treasury. | :12:27. | :12:31. | |
Naturally we've fought Wales' corner with the Treasury. We do it | :12:31. | :12:35. | |
every week. Almost every day since the establishment of this | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
Government back in May. And of course, we do have discussions with | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
the local authorities. We have financial discussions, continuously | :12:44. | :12:49. | |
with local authorities, but as said, we look at every practical means of | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
securing capital for ales in the future and -- Wales in the future | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
and one step is that the United Kingdom Government Government gives | :12:57. | :13:04. | |
Wales the same rights as they do Scotland and Northern Ireland. | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
First Minister, the Budget this afternoon provides us with an | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
opportunity for you to show us where your priorities lie. Under | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
Labour in Wales, we spend �604 less per head than on education in | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
England. Wales is slipping backwards, for reading, maths and | :13:20. | :13:23. | |
science in its international rankings and for the last four | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
years, Welsh children have fallen behind their English counterparts | :13:26. | :13:33. | |
in GCSE achievements. If this performance doesn't persuade you to | :13:33. | :13:37. | |
prioritise education in your Budget this afternoon, what will? You know | :13:37. | :13:44. | |
the Government priorityises -- prioritises education. I should | :13:44. | :13:48. | |
emphasise that spending more doesn't necessarily mean that there | :13:48. | :13:54. | |
is better delivery. The two runs together. | :13:54. | :14:00. | |
So yes, extra funding is important, but so is better delivery. | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
The performance of our schools across Wales needs to improve, but | :14:04. | :14:08. | |
let us consider for the moment the performance of the worst off | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
children in Wales. Just one in five children, who are in receipt of | :14:12. | :14:18. | |
free school meals are poorest children, actually get five good | :14:18. | :14:23. | |
GCSEs from grade A star to C. Just one in five. You surely would agree | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
that this is a dreadful record for your Government and don't you agree | :14:26. | :14:31. | |
with me that we should direct extra resources to those children that | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
need it the most to help them succeed. | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
We are looking to ensure that the budget for schools is protected in | :14:38. | :14:41. | |
difficult financial times. You heard me talk about the commitment | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
that the Government has publicly given many, many times. I don't | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
accept that every school in Wales is somehow not doing well. Some | :14:48. | :14:53. | |
schools are doing very, very well. The key is to make sure there is | :14:53. | :14:55. | |
better consistency in terms of performance across the whole of | :14:56. | :14:59. | |
Wales. First Minister, two years ago, you | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
were implementing Rhodri Morgan's Budget. This year, it is your | :15:03. | :15:09. | |
Budget. Surely the legacy of your Budget this afternoon should be | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
additional help for our poorest children to give them the skills | :15:13. | :15:18. | |
they theed to succeed -- need to succeed in life. | :15:18. | :15:23. | |
Unless you have seen the Budget, the leader of the Liberal Democrats | :15:23. | :15:28. | |
will have to wait to see what the Budget speech is. | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
First Minister, will you be cutting council tax? Will you be be | :15:32. | :15:34. | |
freezing council tax next year? is a matter for local authorities. | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
Do you not think with the new money that's been made available to you | :15:38. | :15:44. | |
from Westminster that it would be a sensible, it would be a sensible | :15:44. | :15:51. | |
move on behalf of the Welsh Government to assist, to assist, | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
hard-pressed Welsh householders with a freeze on council tax? | :15:54. | :15:58. | |
Bearing in mind, in Scotland, they are freezing it for four years and | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
this is the second year that this is happening in England. | :16:01. | :16:05. | |
I mean really, for weeks and weeks and weeks the Leader of the | :16:05. | :16:09. | |
Opposition has been saying any extra money should go on health. | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
Now he has has flip-flopped. Why? Because he has been told to do so | :16:14. | :16:17. | |
by the Secretary of State. We look at this and the benefit for most | :16:17. | :16:22. | |
families in Wales is �3 to �5 a month and the reason why this money | :16:22. | :16:25. | |
has been given to local authorities in England is because they have | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
been hammered in terms of the Local Government settlement, in Wales we | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
have not done that. I have to say to the Leader of the Opposition, we | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
will be looking to use this money constructively. We will be looking | :16:36. | :16:40. | |
to use it as part of an economic package because we believe | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
investment in jobs and skills is important with the economy as it is. | :16:44. | :16:49. | |
He is the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, not the servant of | :16:49. | :16:53. | |
the Secretary of State. The leader of the Liberal Democrats has her | :16:53. | :17:03. | |
:17:03. | :17:04. | ||
own mind. His predecessor did the First Minister, you are acting like | :17:04. | :17:12. | |
a petulant child in your description. Maybe we should buy | :17:12. | :17:22. | |
:17:22. | :17:23. | ||
you a romper suit and a rattle, to be honest. I am very interested in | :17:23. | :17:28. | |
hearing. I'm sorry, I am really interested in what the leader of | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
the opposition is saying but I can't hear him. We provided our | :17:32. | :17:37. | |
budget last year, and we protected health spending and itemised how | :17:37. | :17:42. | |
that would happen. This is new money being made available to you | :17:42. | :17:50. | |
as a government. You are behind the curve on enterprise zones, failure | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
in the education system, failing to protect health spending, you will | :17:54. | :17:59. | |
not deliver the cancer drugs formed for Wales. When will you start | :17:59. | :18:04. | |
delivering for Welsh households? noticed yesterday the leader of the | :18:04. | :18:10. | |
opposition described himself as a farmyard areca who rants and raves. | :18:10. | :18:15. | |
I praise him for that. I think self-awareness is a wonderful thing | :18:15. | :18:22. | |
in a politician. People in Wales in March and May voted as they did to | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
get protection against him and his party. We know full well when it | :18:27. | :18:31. | |
comes to the health service in Wales, we haven't got health | :18:31. | :18:41. | |
:18:41. | :18:42. | ||
professionals telling us of Iraq -- irreparable damage will be done - | :18:42. | :18:48. | |
his party has. In June, those people waiting more than 52 weeks | :18:48. | :18:57. | |
for treatment, that figure increased by 60%. The situation in | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
England is far worse than in Wales. We have nothing to learn from his | :19:00. | :19:06. | |
party. In his Budget last year, he wanted to cut local government | :19:06. | :19:12. | |
funding by 12.5%. He said we hadn't gone far enough, and now he wants a | :19:12. | :19:18. | |
freeze in council tax. If we get back the �400 million that we have | :19:18. | :19:28. | |
lost, then I will be more than pleased to consider such a move. | :19:28. | :19:32. | |
TRANSLATION: What are the Welsh Government's plans for the | :19:32. | :19:42. | |
:19:42. | :19:47. | ||
agricultural industry? To promote and assist them, of course. Bearing | :19:47. | :19:55. | |
in mind there are significant additional cost to farming, are you | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
disappointed by the statement that Wales will be only country in the | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
UK that will not provide any specific assistance to farmers in | :20:03. | :20:08. | |
the less favoured areas? I don't understand this debate. Every | :20:08. | :20:11. | |
farmer in this country will receive more money because of the changes | :20:11. | :20:16. | |
that have been published and publicised. Much more money than | :20:16. | :20:26. | |
:20:26. | :20:26. | ||
was available. Every family will benefit in the future. We have to | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
do everything we can to assist the agriculture will industry and one | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
way of doing that is to make sure government bureaucracy on farmers | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
is as light touch as possible. The First Minister will be aware that | :20:39. | :20:47. | |
farmers can no longer Plough within one metre of boundaries, in order | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
to protect them, but having seen the impact of this it is apparent | :20:52. | :20:57. | |
that weeds grow into the fields from the hedgerows. Under the | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
circumstances, can the First Minister and the government to | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
reconsider this rule and provide more flexibility into the system? | :21:05. | :21:13. | |
am happy to revisit anything if the problem is being created. In the | :21:13. | :21:15. | |
light of the UK Government's decision to abolish the of a | :21:16. | :21:18. | |
cultural wages Board, can you comment on the implications of that | :21:18. | :21:28. | |
for Wales and how we might do things a bit do for it -- do things | :21:28. | :21:38. | |
:21:38. | :21:46. | ||
are bit differently. In recent times the sector of Welsh | :21:46. | :21:50. | |
agriculture that has been under greatest pressure is the organic | :21:50. | :21:56. | |
sector. What commitment will the First Minister make to support the | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
sustaining and development of that important sector going forward? | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
the organic farming scheme over the years has been helping with | :22:04. | :22:09. | |
conversions particularly, and we see that there was a robust market | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
for organic produce. On occasions in the past the prices have see- | :22:14. | :22:20. | |
sawed dramatically, but the long- term prospects are good, | :22:21. | :22:30. | |
:22:31. | :22:35. | ||
particularly for dairy. What are the First Minister's priorities for | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
the South Wales Central Region? I have asked you several times about | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
the government's intention for Cardiff airport and the sport they | :22:44. | :22:50. | |
are able to afford Cardiff airport to develop more route. Hopefully | :22:50. | :22:56. | |
you have been in a position to have discussions with them. Can you tell | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
us today how those discussions have receded, and your own personal | :23:00. | :23:05. | |
support? In May you indicated your personal concern over this | :23:05. | :23:11. | |
situation. There is still concern over the airport, over the way it | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
operates. There has been a large rise in the number of complaints | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
about it, certainly in my own postbag, which needs to be dealt | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
with by the airport. There are ongoing discussions with the number | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
of airlines and we need to make sure those discussions become | :23:26. | :23:32. | |
fruitful. I can't reveal who they are. First Minister, would you | :23:32. | :23:39. | |
agree with me that the new constructive approach outlined by | :23:39. | :23:42. | |
Davis in the sharpened last week, that he wants to see constructive | :23:42. | :23:51. | |
dialogue with all parties is to be welcome? The question was South | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
Wales Central priority. I didn't see a question there, so you | :23:55. | :24:01. | |
needn't answer. The last week I raised the issue of the factories | :24:01. | :24:05. | |
in the South Wales Central Region under threat and ask you to explore | :24:05. | :24:13. | |
the possibility of devolving, getting the budget devolved in | :24:13. | :24:16. | |
Wales and for you to undertake a commitment that if the budget was | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
devolved that those budget would be safeguarded. You agreed to explore | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
the matter with the Minister for Education last week. Given that | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
those workers are on the brink of losing their jobs, time is of the | :24:30. | :24:36. | |
essence. Can you update us? We are very aware of the situation and we | :24:36. | :24:41. | |
have discussed it many times in the past. I can't pretend that getting | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
devolution of the Budget will be easy, nor that the UK government | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
would acquiesce to that but we will continue to press the case. In | :24:50. | :24:57. | |
fairness, in answer to the issue raised about the constructive nurse | :24:57. | :25:02. | |
of this approach, I think he is being constructive by his own | :25:02. | :25:09. | |
standards. What plans to as the First Minister have to 0 improve | :25:09. | :25:16. | |
rail services in North Wales? are currently prioritising the | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
transport plan and it will be published in the autumn. I have | :25:20. | :25:25. | |
questioned do about the service from Holyhead to Cardiff and we | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
understand announcements will be made by the minister when he | :25:28. | :25:34. | |
announces his revised delivery plan for the national transport plan, | :25:34. | :25:39. | |
hopefully this autumn. However, I am advised that already one | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
locomotive is being repainted in the appropriate livery, that two | :25:43. | :25:49. | |
more are expected to be repainted, and yet the clock is ticking to the | :25:49. | :25:56. | |
current timetable where the current contract comes to an end. Could we | :25:56. | :26:03. | |
please have some indication and not so much ourselves but the industry | :26:03. | :26:06. | |
and the passenger representatives have some indication where we are | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
going with this? The national transport plan will contain our | :26:11. | :26:21. | |
:26:21. | :26:23. | ||
proposals for taking forward the rail network in the future. | :26:23. | :26:28. | |
TRANSLATION: Has the government committed itself to retaining rail | :26:28. | :26:38. | |
:26:38. | :26:38. | ||
services between North and South Wales including one particular link | :26:38. | :26:44. | |
which has been of such great benefit to travellers between North | :26:44. | :26:47. | |
and South Wales? We will be retaining that, bearing in mind | :26:47. | :26:51. | |
that 10 years ago there was no single link between North and South | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
Wales. We understand how important it is to make sure trains run as | :26:56. | :27:02. | |
quickly as possible between Cardiff and Holyhead. First Minister, when | :27:02. | :27:12. | |
:27:12. | :27:14. | ||
can we expect a further announcement? This is part of the | :27:14. | :27:16. | |
National Transport planned and there will be details on the future | :27:16. | :27:24. | |
of the rail network included within that document. What plans does the | :27:24. | :27:29. | |
First Minister have for making sure that everyone in Wales is able to | :27:29. | :27:34. | |
access the internet if they want to? Anyone who can't currently | :27:34. | :27:38. | |
access the internet is able to make an application to our broadband | :27:39. | :27:48. | |
:27:49. | :27:49. | ||
support scheme. My constituency has a broadband, not in a remote area | :27:49. | :27:53. | |
but through miles from Cardiff City Centre. Can the Minister confirm | :27:53. | :27:59. | |
that government activity will remedy hot spots will apply | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
regardless of the location? Yes, we want to make sure we have as many | :28:03. | :28:07. | |
people as possible with access to next generation broadband. We have | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
made commitments regarding that by 2015. The situation in your area is | :28:13. | :28:16. | |
complicated by the fact there is a difficulty with the way they are | :28:16. | :28:21. | |
connected to the exchange. It can be remedied, but in the meantime | :28:21. | :28:30. | |
residents can contact BT for help. Where Reeve parenting is not an | :28:30. | :28:35. | |
option the scheme can help. One of the key issues that mid-Wales | :28:35. | :28:39. | |
Tourism Partnership raised in the summer was the need to improve | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
broadband infrastructure and increased small business access to | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
it to make sure the tourism industry has the ability to fully | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
market itself. I know your Government's commitment to deliver | :28:50. | :28:57. | |
next generation broadband by 2015, but in relation to the next | :28:57. | :29:07. | |
:29:07. | :29:08. | ||
generation project will you commit to improving bought -- broadband in | :29:08. | :29:11. | |
areas that are not currently serve to make sure they can stay | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
competitive? The at is a matter for the discussions regarding the | :29:15. | :29:21. | |
tendering process and the contract, and we are looking to make sure | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
that the process to secure a provider to deliver this target is | :29:26. | :29:36. | |
:29:36. | :29:37. | ||
in place soon. Now that everybody has converted to digital television, | :29:37. | :29:41. | |
there is a very significant spectrum that is available that | :29:41. | :29:48. | |
will be auctioned before long under the Ofcom guidelines. It will be | :29:48. | :29:53. | |
available to reach many rural areas of Wales that can't receive | :29:53. | :29:57. | |
broadband in the traditional way. Will the government put pressure on | :29:57. | :30:01. | |
Ofcom to make sure that when they come to auctioning that spectrum | :30:01. | :30:06. | |
that they will reach at least 98% of the population in Wales and not | :30:06. | :30:12. | |
the 95% that has been proposed to date? From what they understand, | :30:12. | :30:17. | |
there are problems with Forgie across the UK, but there is a way | :30:17. | :30:24. | |
of dealing with this. As a understand it, there is a means of | :30:24. | :30:30. | |
improving mobile phone signals by making sure that a new broadband | :30:30. | :30:35. | |
system is rolled out into rural areas. What we want to see is that | :30:35. | :30:40. | |
people are able to use their mobiles and access faster broadband | :30:40. | :30:47. | |
at the same time. There is a technical way of achieving this. | :30:47. | :30:50. | |
Obviously we welcome the roll-out of fast broadband and we understand | :30:50. | :30:55. | |
that is in procurement at the moment. Obviously for residents in | :30:55. | :31:00. | |
urban not spot across Wales, they have been at a disadvantage for a | :31:00. | :31:08. | |
number of years now. How will the procurement contract be awarded? | :31:08. | :31:13. | |
When can residents expect to see improvement works beginning? We are | :31:13. | :31:23. | |
:31:23. | :31:24. | ||
Will the First Minister give an update on Welsh priorities for for | :31:24. | :31:28. | |
for? Yes, they are outlined. Many my my constituents will be | :31:28. | :31:36. | |
worried about Conservative plans announced yesterday to extend the | :31:36. | :31:40. | |
disqualified period for unfair dismissal. Would you agree this is | :31:40. | :31:46. | |
typical of the Tories and instead of attacking the hard won rights of | :31:46. | :31:48. | |
ordinary working people, they should be focusing their efforts on | :31:48. | :31:53. | |
getting our economy moving again? I don't understand the logic that | :31:53. | :31:57. | |
at a time when people are afraid for the security of their jobs, | :31:58. | :32:00. | |
that the Government should take the step of making them even more | :32:00. | :32:08. | |
insecure. I do not think that is the right way forward. | :32:08. | :32:13. | |
First Minister, NHS waiting times are a key concern to people in my | :32:13. | :32:19. | |
area. You recently boosted about Wales success on waiting time | :32:19. | :32:25. | |
beyond 36 weeks. Why therefore, does your programme for Government | :32:25. | :32:30. | |
seem to include no mention of a 36 week target? And no reference of | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
how meeting this target is an indicator of how the people of | :32:34. | :32:39. | |
Wales will know your actions are on track. Is this because under your | :32:39. | :32:46. | |
watch, the number of people waght over 36 -- waiting over 36 weeks to | :32:46. | :32:56. | |
start treatment has risen by incredible 3,125% and do you accept | :32:56. | :33:01. | |
that 2,125% -- 3,15% rise is something the people of Gwent | :33:01. | :33:06. | |
should not be prepared to accept. There were four questions there. So | :33:06. | :33:08. | |
you can choose to answer some of them. | :33:08. | :33:14. | |
There is an issue with orthopaedics as we know. That's why we allocated | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
money to orthopaedic surgery across Wales at the earlier part of this | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
year and we are now seeing the effect of that money because the | :33:22. | :33:26. | |
rises come in orthopaedic and no other specialism. In terms of | :33:26. | :33:30. | |
targets, the reality is if you look at waiting lists, waiting times | :33:30. | :33:34. | |
past 36 yeex, -- weeks, there are more people waiting in England than | :33:34. | :33:38. | |
in Wales. There is a far greater percentage of patients waiting in | :33:39. | :33:43. | |
England than in Wales. And so whilst there are always challenges | :33:43. | :33:46. | |
in the NHS, and we have met that challenge with regard to | :33:47. | :33:56. | |
orthopaedics, we still compare well with other parts of the UK. | :33:56. | :34:01. | |
With economic figures present a worrying picturement the percentage | :34:02. | :34:07. | |
of working aged people deemed to be economically inactive is now 27% | :34:07. | :34:11. | |
which is 6% higher than the national figure. First Minister, | :34:11. | :34:14. | |
this is something that has not happened overnight and it is time | :34:15. | :34:18. | |
we stopped blaming other people. First Minister, what steps are your | :34:18. | :34:25. | |
Government going to take in order to tackle this deprivation please? | :34:25. | :34:30. | |
I don't think that is a criticism of your party leader, but I assume | :34:30. | :34:36. | |
it is it is not. The situation economically is difficult. That's | :34:36. | :34:43. | |
why we introduced in previous years pro act and react. We are looking | :34:43. | :34:46. | |
forward to bring forward an economic package. I mentioned that | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
the �40 million that we have had from the UK Government is money | :34:50. | :34:53. | |
that could be best used for investment and best used as part of | :34:53. | :35:02. | |
that economic package. Will the First Minister outline the | :35:02. | :35:07. | |
Welsh Government's plans to support SMEs? Yes, our plans are set out in | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
the programme for Government. thank you for that answer, First | :35:10. | :35:15. | |
Minister. And you know, much has been mentioned this morning about | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
the broadband roll out scheme that your Government is match funding | :35:19. | :35:25. | |
and also on the procurement process to deliver high-speed services to | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
those parts of Wales that commercial operators have not | :35:28. | :35:31. | |
provided for. Two schemes that will benefit small business and social | :35:31. | :35:36. | |
enterprises are in my region. Could you update members on that scheme | :35:36. | :35:41. | |
and the proposed broadband roll out? Well, we aim, as I said, to | :35:41. | :35:46. | |
have the contract in place by Marchment we want to ensure that | :35:46. | :35:50. | |
all residences and businesses in Wales have access to high-speed | :35:50. | :36:00. | |
:36:00. | :36:02. | ||
broadband by 2015. First Minister, the Welsh | :36:02. | :36:07. | |
Conservatives have proposed to abolish non-domistic rates for many | :36:07. | :36:10. | |
SMEs and to simplify regulations following complaints from business | :36:10. | :36:14. | |
leaders. We want to open up more public services and general | :36:14. | :36:20. | |
procurement to SMEs. What steps are you taking First Minister to help | :36:20. | :36:24. | |
SMEs maximise their potential instead of wasting time and money | :36:24. | :36:30. | |
on red tape and regulation and disproportionate levels of NDR | :36:30. | :36:35. | |
particularly in the first few years of a business start-up. | :36:35. | :36:40. | |
It wasn't the Conservatives plans to abolish domestic rates. You ask | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
the question will small companies. With we have the microbusiness | :36:44. | :36:54. | |
:36:54. | :36:55. | ||
strategy and the task group has been set-up. We are looking to help | :36:55. | :36:58. | |
businesses and people are being recruited for that and we are look | :36:58. | :37:02. | |
to go continue to improve procurement for small and medium | :37:02. | :37:08. | |
sized enper triess and to help them gain more in terms of public sector | :37:08. | :37:14. | |
contracts than has been the case in the past. | :37:14. | :37:21. | |
First Minister, building a creative industry is crucial to our country. | :37:21. | :37:24. | |
As the communities and equalities and Local Government committee | :37:24. | :37:29. | |
commences its review of the media landscape in ales, what work is the | :37:29. | :37:34. | |
Welsh Government doing to help Wales' creative industry sector and | :37:34. | :37:38. | |
strengthen the media base in Wales? I recognise the creative industry | :37:38. | :37:45. | |
sector is a key area for growth and we have implemented a number of the | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
recommendations. There are other projects being created to support | :37:48. | :37:56. | |
the sector specifically and these will be announced shortly. | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
First Minister, you mentioned earlier this afternoon your | :38:00. | :38:05. | |
intention to carry on with the reduction on business rates until | :38:05. | :38:10. | |
September of next year. There is no reference to business rates in your | :38:10. | :38:12. | |
programme for Government at all. What therefore, does your intention | :38:12. | :38:17. | |
over the ensuing four years of this Government's programme? Our course | :38:17. | :38:22. | |
has been stated publicly. The Minister for Business is currently | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
considering this and is considering the business rate system and a | :38:27. | :38:32. | |
report will be drawn up over the next few months. | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
What plans does the First Minister have to promote the city regions of | :38:36. | :38:39. | |
Wales? Well, we are considering the | :38:39. | :38:45. | |
benefits of a city region approach as part of our efforts to have a | :38:45. | :38:48. | |
sustainable economy. Would the First Minister agree that | :38:48. | :38:53. | |
the single most important item of infrastructure that would help the | :38:53. | :38:58. | |
Cardiff City region to be truly competitive would be the | :38:58. | :39:00. | |
electrification of the valleys lines? Yes. In principle that is | :39:00. | :39:03. | |
something that we would support. There is a significant cost | :39:03. | :39:08. | |
attached to it, but we hope to work towards a position where such a | :39:08. | :39:14. | |
project will become viable in the future. | :39:14. | :39:21. | |
In the spring, you responded to my question asking you to outline the | :39:21. | :39:28. | |
success of the Ryder Cup. And you replied that they had been some | :39:28. | :39:33. | |
promisesing leads, but they had to remain private because it was a | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
commercial sensitivity. Could I ask you, are you satisfied with the | :39:37. | :39:40. | |
inquiries and would you publish a list of the successes? Well, there | :39:40. | :39:44. | |
are a number of leads that are being followed. These things take | :39:44. | :39:49. | |
time. With regards to tourism, Wales is favourably positioned in | :39:49. | :39:57. | |
terms of tourism and particularly with regard to golf tourism. | :39:57. | :40:02. | |
Thank you. As you will know, First Minister, many of us across the | :40:02. | :40:06. | |
chamber are across party acknowledge the success of the | :40:06. | :40:13. | |
Wales economy is is tied into improving transport infrastructure. | :40:13. | :40:19. | |
Should we proceed with the Valleys electrification on the proposals | :40:19. | :40:29. | |
:40:29. | :40:33. | ||
drawn up around the Metro idea. As I said earlier on, we would be | :40:33. | :40:36. | |
in principle in favour of a South Wales metro system. There is a | :40:36. | :40:40. | |
significant cost that is attached to that, but nevertheless it is a | :40:40. | :40:43. | |
system of transport that would benefit not just the city of | :40:43. | :40:49. | |
Cardiff, but the wider area. That's it for First Minister's | :40:50. | :40:52. | |
Questions this week. As mentioned earlier, the Finance Minister Jane | :40:52. | :40:55. | |
Hutt will present the Government's draft Budget at 3pm. You can watch | :40:55. | :41:02. | |
it on our Democracy Live online coverage. | :41:02. | :41:08. | |
Our Welsh Affairs Editor, Vaughan Roderick, is here. Watching through | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
that, there was one highlight, wasn't there, where the leader of | :41:12. | :41:19. | |
the Conservatives accused Carwyn Jones of behaving like a pet | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
petulant child. And offered to buy him a romper | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
suit and a rattle! Grown-up politics. I mean it is | :41:26. | :41:31. | |
interesting the dynamic between Andrew Davis and Carwyn Jones. | :41:31. | :41:36. | |
Almost a Westminster dynamic. You hear the sound increasing in the | :41:36. | :41:39. | |
chamber and these noisy exchanges between them. One has to say | :41:39. | :41:44. | |
perhaps a lot more heat than light being generated, but it seems to me | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
that Carwyn Jones enjoys doing battle with someone he sees as | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
being, you know, an old-fashioned right-wing Conservative whereas | :41:52. | :41:56. | |
with Nick Bourne, the previous Conservative leader, he was much | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
more proactive, more willing to praise the Government. This is | :42:01. | :42:07. | |
political knock about which traditional Labour people like | :42:07. | :42:09. | |
Carwyn Jones are used to and happy with. | :42:09. | :42:12. | |
I mention we are going to see the draft Budget statement later on. | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
There will be more more knock about there, isn't there? The Government | :42:16. | :42:20. | |
to get this draft Budget passed have to reply on the support from | :42:20. | :42:24. | |
one other party so they will be setting out their bargaining | :42:24. | :42:26. | |
position? This is the beginning of the process, not the end. Five | :42:26. | :42:30. | |
weeks after today, before the Budget has gone through various | :42:30. | :42:33. | |
committees and comes back to the assembly for a vote. Now you are | :42:33. | :42:37. | |
almost certainly going to see all three Opposition parties saying, | :42:37. | :42:40. | |
"We're not going to support this." They will be looking for | :42:40. | :42:44. | |
concessions. Plaid Cymru want concessions on economic development. | :42:44. | :42:49. | |
Some sints in -- hints in the First Minister's Questions there there | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
maybe concessions in that area. It maybe Plaid Cymru they are reaching | :42:53. | :42:56. | |
out to. The Liberal Democrats are pushing education. Their idea of | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
the pupil premium to help the most disadvantaged students in our | :42:59. | :43:05. | |
schools. The Conservatives are refighting the last assembly | :43:05. | :43:13. | |
elections. Carwyn Jones did reach out almost to Kirsty Williams by | :43:13. | :43:19. | |
suggesting she stands by her principles. He maybe picking up on | :43:19. | :43:22. | |
something that happened in the Press briefings this morning where | :43:22. | :43:26. | |
the Liberal Democrats made it clear that they didn't support a freeze | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
on council tax in Wales. They said extra money coming to Wales because | :43:29. | :43:33. | |
of the freeze in council tax in England should go on schools. | :43:33. | :43:36. |