Browse content similar to 12/07/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
and our coverage of Questions to the First Minister. | :00:22. | :00:27. | |
The final FMQs, in fact, before the summer break. | :00:28. | :00:30. | |
According to the Order Paper, we can expect questions on health services, | :00:31. | :00:33. | |
adult education and, unsurprisingly perhaps, | :00:34. | :00:37. | |
the development of football in Wales. | :00:38. | :00:39. | |
Don't forget you can get all the latest on Welsh politics | :00:40. | :00:42. | |
on our twitter feed - we're @walespolitics. | :00:43. | :00:47. | |
Well, business in the chamber is already underway | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
so let's take a look now at today's Questions to the First Minister. | :00:51. | :01:02. | |
I call the National Assembly to order. And the first item is | :01:03. | :01:12. | |
questions to the First Minister. How is the Welsh government improving | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
access to health services in Montgomeryshire? We continue to work | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
with the health board and other partners in Wales to take a range of | :01:20. | :01:26. | |
actions to improve access. As close to people's homes as possible. You | :01:27. | :01:31. | |
may be aware that stroke patients in mid Wales are no longer able to | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
access specialist treatment from the royal shrews prehospital following a | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
reconfiguration of services which has resulted in services moving | :01:42. | :01:45. | |
further away to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford. What | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
discussions has your government had with the UK Government and | :01:51. | :01:53. | |
Shrewsbury and Atcham health and Hospital NHS Trust to present their | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
case for special services to be retained in Shropshire? And what is | :01:59. | :02:01. | |
your government doing to make sure that mid Wales/ patients have | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
adequate access to this specialist service? I am aware of the | :02:05. | :02:13. | |
proposals. We expect as a government that the relevant stakeholders on | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
our side of the border are involved in any potential changes. I know | :02:19. | :02:21. | |
Powys health board has been very involved in representing the | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
concerns of residents and there will be further work taking place to be | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
subject to formal consultation later this year. Simon Thomas. I met | :02:31. | :02:37. | |
recently with Newtown health Forum who told me that between the hours | :02:38. | :02:43. | |
of 6pm and 12pm at night in Newtown, there is no GB or primary care | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
service at all. The GP surgery closes at six o'clock and the GP Doc | :02:49. | :02:56. | |
run from the Newtown hospital starts at midnight. People have too | :02:57. | :03:03. | |
travelled to Welshpool to access GP services. Do you think that is a | :03:04. | :03:08. | |
sufficient service in Newtown? The health board is looking at the | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
situation and I know that filling that gap is important to them. For | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
example, if we look at the minor injuries unit at Newtown, the health | :03:19. | :03:22. | |
board will be starting a process to develop a long-term strategy during | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
2016 and the health board will be reviewing services across Powys as | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
part of its work on unscheduled care services in order to make sure that | :03:32. | :03:39. | |
any gap is blood. Question two. Will the First Minister make a statement | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
on access to Welsh ministers? Ministers are accessible in a | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
variety of ways. Your government has made sure Wales has the weakest | :03:50. | :03:52. | |
protection in the UK against commercial lobbying. The last | :03:53. | :03:58. | |
Presiding Officer said we don't have the same problems as Westminster. | :03:59. | :04:05. | |
But from what I can see, companies selling access and information to | :04:06. | :04:08. | |
the highest bidder seemed to be everywhere in this Assembly. I was | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
not even allowed to submit a question about cash for access to | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
Welsh ministers. What are you hiding? I need to clarify that all | :04:19. | :04:23. | |
questions that are tabled in order are accepted to be asked in this | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
Assembly and your question has been accepted as it is in order. I submit | :04:29. | :04:38. | |
a question about cash for access. The one is on the record but my | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
question is, you clearly don't believe in open government otherwise | :04:45. | :04:47. | |
we would have regulations. What are you hiding? Nothing. Commercial | :04:48. | :04:54. | |
lobbyists don't have access to Welsh ministers. Perhaps I can turn | :04:55. | :05:01. | |
matters a bit more constructively. I think it is important that | :05:02. | :05:04. | |
politicians and ministers listen, and I hope you will identify Wales | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
in which your ministers can listen to the vital interest out there all | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
stakeholders and individuals. Your predecessor used to have sessions | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
with the Cabinet but I think these have fallen into disuse. But | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
listening to people's views is key to good governmental | :05:24. | :05:25. | |
decision-making. I entirely agree with that and being able to engage | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
with organisations is hugely important. It is right that open | :05:30. | :05:32. | |
mike sessions have not taken place for seven years. However, I did | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
travel around Wales offering myself as part of a Mac as it -- masochism | :05:39. | :05:45. | |
strategy and I hold surgeries in my constituency in order to listen to | :05:46. | :05:48. | |
the views of my constituents. Gareth Bennett. I think that the issues | :05:49. | :05:55. | |
that the Plaid Cymru member raised are perhaps important ones. | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
Transparency is paramount. We know that lobbying exists in reality in | :06:00. | :06:06. | |
political circles but we do have to make sure that it is then | :06:07. | :06:10. | |
legitimately and we need to know who is lobbying to. Are there any plans | :06:11. | :06:17. | |
to establish a register of lobbyists in Cardiff Bay? These are matters | :06:18. | :06:22. | |
that were looked at by the standards committee in 2013, and it came to | :06:23. | :06:26. | |
the King Rouge and that it did. Ministers do not meet with | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
commercial lobbyists. Ministers to meet with organisations such as | :06:32. | :06:35. | |
charities in order to listen to their views but it is certainly not | :06:36. | :06:37. | |
the case that commercial lobbying companies are able to bring clients | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
to meet ministers. That is certainly not happening and nor will it | :06:43. | :06:50. | |
happen. We now move to questions from the party leaders and I first | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
called the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies. | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
With all the politics that is going on in the country at the moment, the | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
change in leadership in other legislators and the fallout from the | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
Brexit referendum, some of the bread-and-butter issues do tend to | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
get looked over and I would like to draw your attention to the bliss | :07:12. | :07:14. | |
report that was brought forward last week by the charity which is a vital | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
document which I hope your government will steady with care | :07:20. | :07:21. | |
because it does offer a real route map to developing neonatal services | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
in Wales. One of the findings showed that only 20% of neonatal units had | :07:27. | :07:33. | |
enough nurses to staff the cots according to national standards. | :07:34. | :07:35. | |
There have been improvements over time to neonatal units in Wales but | :07:36. | :07:44. | |
2008, 2010 and 2011, the report points to. Can you commit in this | :07:45. | :07:48. | |
Assembly session to addressing the staffing problems that this report | :07:49. | :07:52. | |
clearly identifies, that only 20% of units have enough staff to man the | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
cots according to national standards? The network works with | :07:58. | :08:03. | |
health boards to meet a fluctuating needs for specialised neonatal | :08:04. | :08:05. | |
services and to address any shortcomings in staffing levels to | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
support the development of our workforce. We have an ?85 million | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
package of investment in the education and training of health | :08:15. | :08:17. | |
professionals in Wales including neonatal staff and the findings of | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
this report will be used by the network to help all units reflect on | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
and plan for any changes for the future. I appreciate that detailed | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
answer and it is a road map of sorts but what we would appreciate is how | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
during this Assembly will be measured your success, going from | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
20% to 50% of units having enough staff? Or 100% of units having | :08:42. | :08:47. | |
enough staff? What is key is identifying the road to success in | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
getting the numbers up. Can you give us a timeline where the script you | :08:52. | :08:54. | |
read is actually acted on and we will see more staff in the neonatal | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
units providing that vital service. I expect those numbers to grow over | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
the next five years and I expect every new nickel unit to be properly | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
staffed in that time. It is true to say that recruitment has been a | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
challenge, it will continue to be a challenge in light of the vote a | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
fortnight ago, but we will continue to tell those who want to come to | :09:18. | :09:20. | |
work in Wales that they are welcome. We will also train new specialist | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
ourselves. One of the issues identified in the report is the | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
retention of staff. Very often we focus on attracting new staff into | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
the health service but in particular in neonatal units, it is the | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
difficulty to retain staff once you have attracted them into the unit. | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
40 but said of mothers will suffer postnatal depression, who have had | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
an episode on these units. Ultimately, only five of the units | :09:49. | :09:52. | |
can offer support for postnatal depression. When you look at those | :09:53. | :09:58. | |
much -- numbers, 40% of expectant mothers will suffer an episode of | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
postnatal depression and only five units can offer that support. That | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
is a clear area that needs detailed work undertaken by your government | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
and the health boards. What assurances can you give the Assembly | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
today and Bliss in particular as a charity who has a special interest | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
in this field that we will see progress so that support can be | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
offered in all units, wherever they exist in Wales. These services are | :10:26. | :10:32. | |
working with local services in order to look to provide the services that | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
people would expect. We did announce last year that new perinatal | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
services would be set up across Wales and are developing well with | :10:42. | :10:48. | |
staff being recruited back by ?1.5 million of new investment. The | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
leader of the Ukip group, Neil Hamilton. Has the First Minister | :10:53. | :10:58. | |
seen that Europe's largest conglomerate, Siemens, is meeting | :10:59. | :11:00. | |
this weekend in The Cotswolds to work out their post Brexit strategy | :11:01. | :11:07. | |
and that the chief Executive will be there? He has said that Siemens is | :11:08. | :11:13. | |
fully committed to the UK whatever happens. He says they are here for | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
the long term because the UK is a good place to do business. He has | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
called for common sense to prevail on tariffs and that is something we | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
hear from the German industry Federation. Do you agree with me | :11:27. | :11:34. | |
that the project via has now become project optimism? Access to the | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
single market is now crucial to many businesses. They are now reassured | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
this position is stabilising within the UK as they see it but the next | :11:46. | :11:50. | |
big question for them will be, will baby free access to the single | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
market without tariffs? I agree with the First Minister on that. Free | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
trade is very sensible from both sides because we have a massive | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
trade deficit with Germany and it is very much in their interests that | :12:04. | :12:08. | |
they should be free trade within the EU. Trade is mutually beneficial to | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
both sides whether you have a surplus or a deficit. In the spirit | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
of constructive cooperation, will be First Minister agree with me that we | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
need in Wales to beef up our relationship with Germany and to put | :12:23. | :12:31. | |
more resource into our connections through the German industry | :12:32. | :12:34. | |
federations and the German lender and with the federal government to | :12:35. | :12:38. | |
encourage further trade with Germany and also to take advantage of the | :12:39. | :12:45. | |
political climate Germany is going to have in the EU in the years to | :12:46. | :12:51. | |
come? A German commitment to free trade in the EU is the best way we | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
can get what we both want. The leader of Ukip seems to be saying | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
that with the UK out of the EU, Germany needs to do the work for us | :13:02. | :13:04. | |
in the EU, which is a curiouser scenario. The only model that exists | :13:05. | :13:09. | |
that offers free access to the single market and that has with its | :13:10. | :13:18. | |
connotations with the free movement of people. There is nothing else on | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
the table at the moment. For me, access to the single market is an | :13:24. | :13:27. | |
absolute Red Line as far as Wales is concerned. Germany is a major | :13:28. | :13:32. | |
investor in the Welsh economy. One of the issues that I am examining is | :13:33. | :13:39. | |
how we beef up our offices overseas, whether we should look to increase | :13:40. | :13:43. | |
staffing in the existing offices or whether we should open new offices. | :13:44. | :13:47. | |
That is a difficult balance to strike. We have had work done on | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
that and we have listened to Ireland. They have a similar dilemma | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
to us because of their limited resources and their size as well. | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
But we will look to increase the Welsh presence now in markets that | :14:00. | :14:06. | |
are important to us. I welcome that responds. Turning to a different | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
matter, after today the First Minister will be unique in the UK | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
because we will have a woman Prime Minister in the UK, a woman First | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
Minister in Scotland and a woman First Minister in Northern Ireland. | :14:19. | :14:21. | |
Does he look forward to the day when he can make way for a woman to | :14:22. | :14:27. | |
replace him in this Assembly? What I can say to the leader of Ukip, the | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
Guardian a few days ago said that it would be the case that women would | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
now be heads of government across the UK. I have to say that was | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
corrected by the Guardian saving me hopefully from radical surgery. | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
Leader of the Opposition, Leanne Wood. I very much look forward to | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
the day when Wales is presided over by a woman First Minister. | :14:53. | :15:00. | |
Tomorrow there will be a new Prime Minister who says she intends to | :15:01. | :15:08. | |
implement the UK's draws from the European Union. The pledges that | :15:09. | :15:16. | |
were made by the Leave campaign have to be implemented for Wales. We want | :15:17. | :15:24. | |
to see an official Welsh negotiating position to be agreed by the | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
Assembly and on her desk as soon as possible. First Minister, when I | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
asked you last week you felt to publishing a formal position or did | :15:34. | :15:45. | |
not have it debated. Can you confirm that you will aim to come to an | :15:46. | :15:51. | |
agreed official negotiating position and you will press the new Prime | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
Minister for Wales to have a direct role in negotiations come as was | :15:56. | :16:01. | |
offered by David Cameron? As I can. I expect that promise to be | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
honoured. We will have a twin track approach. We will have our own | :16:07. | :16:13. | |
negotiating team in Brussels. It is complementary to the UK route. There | :16:14. | :16:19. | |
are two macro issues. Firstly free access to the single market. That | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
cannot be compromised on. Secondly, every penny lost to European funding | :16:24. | :16:31. | |
should be made up by the UK Government. Thank you, Minister. He | :16:32. | :16:40. | |
recalled last week that I suggested you needed to have a word with your | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
Westminster MPs and tell them to get a grip and get on with their jobs. | :16:45. | :16:49. | |
Last mike the amendments to the Wales Bill were again debated in the | :16:50. | :16:55. | |
House of Commons and your MPs, at least the ones that turned up, | :16:56. | :17:03. | |
abstained again on Welsh policy regarding the devolution of Welsh | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
policing. They did the same thing regarding creating a legal | :17:10. | :17:12. | |
jurisdiction. How comes your Labour MPs have no problem supporting | :17:13. | :17:18. | |
policing powers have Greater Manchester, but they can't bring | :17:19. | :17:21. | |
themselves to support the devolution of policing to Wales? Why are your | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
MPs letting the Tories of the book in this way and how can you defend | :17:27. | :17:32. | |
their behaviour, First Minister? It is a matter of timing rather than | :17:33. | :17:36. | |
principle. The situation we will face in the years to come is there | :17:37. | :17:41. | |
may be different sets of criminal law in Wales compared to England. | :17:42. | :17:48. | |
Someone could be arrested in Wales for something that is not an offence | :17:49. | :18:00. | |
here, but it is in England. It becomes nonsensical. It is not | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
sustainable to be in a position where it will be a matter for the | :18:05. | :18:14. | |
people of Wales to have a say in what defences they want. That is not | :18:15. | :18:24. | |
an issue of timing. The Wales Bill may not be hot of overriding | :18:25. | :18:30. | |
priority for your MPs, but the future of the steel industry is | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
critical and Wales without a steel industry is not a Wales I am the | :18:36. | :18:45. | |
pair to contemplate. The Tata Steel cell is of concern. It could lead to | :18:46. | :18:56. | |
cuts in still production. If there is edge, we need cast iron guarantee | :18:57. | :19:10. | |
regarding workers' rights. Can you also explain why the is nothing | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
regarding the suspension of the sales process? Will you confirm that | :19:17. | :19:27. | |
you will support the employees and management and press on tartar the | :19:28. | :19:36. | |
needs that the tartar still the need for secondment. -- Tata Steel. I had | :19:37. | :19:48. | |
a senior official based in Mumbai who has reported back to me. The | :19:49. | :19:57. | |
issue now for Tata Steel is a financial package is on the table | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
and we expect it to be with pro-quota. We expect guarantees | :20:02. | :20:05. | |
regarding future jobs and a commitment for a specified period of | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
time. We do have to see what happens with the pensions which we have the | :20:12. | :20:17. | |
control over. We have a package on the table that we believe | :20:18. | :20:23. | |
terror-macro will be happy with. We need to demonstrate to the people of | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
Wales that the package will achieve what they expect, but we need | :20:27. | :20:38. | |
progress regarding the pensions. The outstanding performance by the Welsh | :20:39. | :20:51. | |
team is going to help to grow the team further across the country. I | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
am pleased that how the Welsh team did at the European Championship. In | :20:56. | :21:08. | |
order to continue to develop football, the is a need to improve | :21:09. | :21:17. | |
pitches. How does the First Minister intend to do this. Sports world is | :21:18. | :21:29. | |
working with other agencies to develop 3G pitches. We need to | :21:30. | :21:37. | |
facilitate regular participation in sport and physical activity and we | :21:38. | :21:43. | |
needs facilities that are sustainable. Is it not a | :21:44. | :21:52. | |
contradiction between seeking to increase for jeed pitches, but yet a | :21:53. | :21:56. | |
mile down the road there is an all-weather pitch which is locked | :21:57. | :21:59. | |
up. Children are unable to play there because it is too expensive. | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
Also in this south of the city in a very challenged Ward, the leisure | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
centre is closed by your Labour council. There is a hall that | :22:11. | :22:18. | |
children can use. Do you not see the contradiction there? The reality on | :22:19. | :22:26. | |
the ground is that your Labour government is cutting facilities. -- | :22:27. | :22:36. | |
Labour council. The reality is that councils are in difficult position | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
is financially, but they must ensure that they do not price communities | :22:41. | :22:48. | |
out of facilities. It is a fair point. We need to make sure that | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
where facilities are developed, they don't become so expensive that | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
people cannot use them. We would urge all those involved to think | :22:58. | :23:00. | |
again to make sure the facilities are accessible. First Minister, I | :23:01. | :23:10. | |
would like to join with you to say what wonderful news it was last | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
week. Not only did our team do as well as they did, but they turned | :23:15. | :23:22. | |
someone at me who has the richest in football into a passionate football. | :23:23. | :23:25. | |
I could probably talk about the offside rule if I tried. I was proud | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
of them and proud of our fans and how they behaved, and also our | :23:31. | :23:35. | |
footballs came across as real, decent, grounded human beings and a | :23:36. | :23:39. | |
real example to our young people. I come to the heart of Mike question, | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
which is where you have discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
education to talk about how we can up the hours and minutes that young | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
people in primary schools spend in sport? It has been cut consistently | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
year on year and if you want to identify not just our footballs to | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
us of the future, but our sporting stars of the future, we need to get | :24:02. | :24:05. | |
them early, get them healthy and get them used to the whole sports agenda | :24:06. | :24:13. | |
instead of it being a dwindling time. It is difficult for children | :24:14. | :24:17. | |
who do not have access to public transport. These are the issues that | :24:18. | :24:21. | |
we want to explore with sports governing bodies. The member has | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
refreshing candour when she said she had no interest in football up until | :24:28. | :24:35. | |
now. Converts are always welcome. It is difficult to underestimate the | :24:36. | :24:39. | |
publicity that this has given our nation. I was in Paris on the night | :24:40. | :24:48. | |
of the semifinal and around the all I could hear was people talking | :24:49. | :25:00. | |
about Wales. The team have been role models as far as young people are | :25:01. | :25:03. | |
concerned and they can see it is possible to be successful in | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
football and other professional sport without carrying emotional | :25:09. | :25:19. | |
baggage, have we -- has we have seen previously. We will look to work | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
with sport Wales and governing bodies to deliver accessible | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
facilities of the highest standards across Wales. For the First Minister | :25:31. | :25:44. | |
make a statement about increasing employability and adult education. | :25:45. | :25:56. | |
Adult education complaint a vital role in breaking the poverty cycle. | :25:57. | :26:04. | |
That was the message from an awards ceremony last month. The new | :26:05. | :26:12. | |
building in Aberdare will avoid an aspirational building for adult | :26:13. | :26:18. | |
education, but the challenge is to provide quality courses for | :26:19. | :26:21. | |
learners. How is the Welsh government working with providers to | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
achieve this? The new campus will be a superb facilities for the people | :26:26. | :26:30. | |
of Aberdare and the surrounding area. We are in regular contact with | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
the post-16 sector with regards to the planning of provision, delivered | :26:36. | :26:45. | |
by the FEC to. Plans are also scrutinised by officials to make | :26:46. | :26:48. | |
sure a range of provision is offered within the budget available, and | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
every institution is subject to inspection. There is serious concern | :26:55. | :27:01. | |
amongst adult learning is Welsh throughout the country because of | :27:02. | :27:08. | |
the new system which has led to a loss of jobs amongst local tutors, | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
and already significant numbers of staff have we made redundant in | :27:15. | :27:23. | |
Swansea and a further number are facing job losses. The government | :27:24. | :27:31. | |
failed to commit to funding the Welsh for adults courses texture. -- | :27:32. | :27:44. | |
next year. If cuts are to continue, don't you believe it will work | :27:45. | :27:47. | |
against your government's ambition to increase the number of speakers | :27:48. | :27:55. | |
to 1 million? It has been difficult over the last financial year, but we | :27:56. | :28:00. | |
have made short new centres have been opened across wealth in order | :28:01. | :28:07. | |
to ensure that there are places where people can go and use the | :28:08. | :28:10. | |
Welsh language, particularly in those areas where the language is no | :28:11. | :28:15. | |
longer the language of the high street or generally used. I know | :28:16. | :28:22. | |
that some places have been successful in ensuring people can | :28:23. | :28:26. | |
learn Welsh, but also use Welsh so they do not lose the language once | :28:27. | :28:36. | |
they have learnt it. First Minister there are a number of adults across | :28:37. | :28:42. | |
Wales who want to learn Welsh, including people in my constituency. | :28:43. | :28:48. | |
Financial support is important. What specific financial support will be | :28:49. | :28:51. | |
made available over the next few years to support and nurture the | :28:52. | :28:54. | |
language, particularly in communities like mine where there is | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
a living language, but it needs fresh life brought into it, | :28:59. | :29:01. | |
particularly for people who move into the area from outside those | :29:02. | :29:05. | |
traditional Welsh speaking communities. We have invested in | :29:06. | :29:11. | |
making sure the language is used widely in school. There are good | :29:12. | :29:17. | |
examples like Gwynedd and Ceredigion that have centres that allow | :29:18. | :29:30. | |
children to become immersed in the language and they work well. We | :29:31. | :29:34. | |
found children were able to influence their parents. They help | :29:35. | :29:41. | |
their parents to learn Welsh as they learnt the language that easily. Can | :29:42. | :29:55. | |
you make a statement on the 21st-century 's school programme. | :29:56. | :30:02. | |
There will be ?25 billion invested. All 22 authorities will see the | :30:03. | :30:10. | |
rebuilding and refurbishment of schools and colleges across Wales. | :30:11. | :30:18. | |
For some, when mention of a new school is taken forward, there can | :30:19. | :30:24. | |
be concern when children and parents very happy with the school they are | :30:25. | :30:31. | |
attending. Under the statutory schools organisation called, local | :30:32. | :30:35. | |
authorities are obliged to consider all objections committed | :30:36. | :30:38. | |
conscientiously and not to make decisions on amalgamation proposals | :30:39. | :30:43. | |
with a closed mind to stakeholders' concerns. However, in Connolly | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
recently, two recent proposals affecting five of our primary | :30:49. | :30:52. | |
schools are being taken forward by the council despite many objections. | :30:53. | :30:57. | |
Many parents, teachers and governors and even the teachers unions are | :30:58. | :31:02. | |
angry, frustrated and disappointed, considering this consultation to be | :31:03. | :31:06. | |
meaningless, particularly when relevant Cabinet decision minutes | :31:07. | :31:10. | |
were published before the meeting had even taken place. In order to | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
address the concerns raised, will you work with the new Cabinet | :31:15. | :31:21. | |
secretary in the new school term to look again at how the concerns and | :31:22. | :31:26. | |
views of those most affected are considered within the 21st-century | :31:27. | :31:29. | |
schools decisions so that these voices are heard and acted on | :31:30. | :31:36. | |
appropriately? The member criticises Conwy Council and the way they | :31:37. | :31:40. | |
conducted themselves. I know there have been concerns of air, | :31:41. | :31:48. | |
particularly with regard to schools in Llandudno Junction. My | :31:49. | :31:55. | |
understanding is that there has been a re-consultation, which is open at | :31:56. | :31:58. | |
the moment and will be until the 27th of July. I understand that has | :31:59. | :32:07. | |
already been approved. But it is correct to say that way we set in | :32:08. | :32:10. | |
place standards that we expect to be observed when school closures and | :32:11. | :32:15. | |
mergers are proposed, that we expect that process to be observed. There | :32:16. | :32:22. | |
are legal pitfalls for local authorities and less they can | :32:23. | :32:25. | |
demonstrate they have followed the correct procedure and we expect all | :32:26. | :32:28. | |
local authorities in Wales to do that. John Griffiths. First | :32:29. | :32:35. | |
Minister, as well as building new schools, it is also important that | :32:36. | :32:38. | |
we continue to build new colleges of further education. Colic went have | :32:39. | :32:45. | |
ambitious and important plans to relocate their Newport campus to the | :32:46. | :32:51. | |
riverfront, alongside the University of South Wales campus and indeed | :32:52. | :32:57. | |
further buildings around and about. Would you agree with me that we must | :32:58. | :33:01. | |
continue to improve our further education colleges in that way and | :33:02. | :33:08. | |
support energy and ideas to bring about improvements to further | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
education, and particularly perhaps stronger links with higher | :33:13. | :33:18. | |
education? I do, and I know there may be proposals coming forward with | :33:19. | :33:22. | |
regard to the Newport campus. But it is entirely right to say that we | :33:23. | :33:27. | |
should make sure there is no hard and fast boundary between further | :33:28. | :33:32. | |
education and higher education for the student. I know there are many | :33:33. | :33:36. | |
students who go on to complete degree courses who begin in a | :33:37. | :33:39. | |
further education setting because it is better for them. Then they become | :33:40. | :33:47. | |
successful over time. Great working between further education and higher | :33:48. | :33:51. | |
education is hugely important in order to create that seamless | :33:52. | :33:58. | |
pathway for the student. In light of the duty on the public sector, given | :33:59. | :34:02. | |
the introduction of the well-being of future generations act, should | :34:03. | :34:06. | |
there be a requirement on all buildings erected using public | :34:07. | :34:11. | |
funding and, in this case, 21st-century schools, using all | :34:12. | :34:14. | |
opportunities in terms of renewable energies? Yes, and we have seen a | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
number of examples of the way buildings are excellent. We have | :34:20. | :34:26. | |
seen water being collected from the roofs, being used in the school | :34:27. | :34:30. | |
itself, so we would expect local authorities to consider the good | :34:31. | :34:33. | |
example is that I have seen across Wales. Question six. Joyce Watson. | :34:34. | :34:42. | |
Will the Welsh government made a statement on GP recruitment in | :34:43. | :34:46. | |
Powys? We will shortly be bringing forward proposals for a national and | :34:47. | :34:52. | |
international scheme to promote Wales and that will allow us to | :34:53. | :34:56. | |
recruit and train GPs and primary care professionals. I thank you for | :34:57. | :35:03. | |
that statement, but on Friday I attended a public health meeting and | :35:04. | :35:07. | |
one of the big challenges that they were facing was GP recruitment, | :35:08. | :35:14. | |
particularly in a local surgery. I welcome what you have just said in | :35:15. | :35:18. | |
terms of your plans to train and recruit more GPs. I look forward to | :35:19. | :35:26. | |
receiving an update on how those plans are going to produce more GPs | :35:27. | :35:33. | |
into the areas, particularly in rural Wales, where they are | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
currently finding this to be a huge challenge. Yes, we put in additional | :35:39. | :35:46. | |
investment, over ?40 million last year, in primary care, and some of | :35:47. | :35:51. | |
that funding was targeted at workforce diversity and, including a | :35:52. | :36:00. | |
range of primary care roles. There have been recruitment problems. The | :36:01. | :36:06. | |
result has been a number of GP sessions have been reduced. I know | :36:07. | :36:10. | |
the practice is going through a sustainability support process | :36:11. | :36:14. | |
because even though it is physically within the Powys Teaching Health | :36:15. | :36:18. | |
Board, the two health boards are working closely to agree a long term | :36:19. | :36:29. | |
solution. First Minister, I am grateful for Joyce Watson raising | :36:30. | :36:33. | |
this question because I have an issue in my constituency with many | :36:34. | :36:37. | |
GPs reaching retirement age and struggling to recruit. Many | :36:38. | :36:43. | |
surgeries in that instance are having to reconfigure how they | :36:44. | :36:47. | |
operate. What GPs are saying to me is that there is the potential of | :36:48. | :36:51. | |
the devaluation of their premises if their practices cease to operate as | :36:52. | :36:56. | |
a barrier for recruiting GPs, especially in rural Wales. What | :36:57. | :37:03. | |
steps are the Welsh government taking in order to offer protection | :37:04. | :37:08. | |
to GPs to incentivise them to recruit them to rural Wales? If GPs | :37:09. | :37:14. | |
wish to be seen as contractors and independent businesses, there is a | :37:15. | :37:19. | |
risk involved in terms of potential devaluation of buildings, although I | :37:20. | :37:22. | |
don't see why that should be the case necessarily. It is the case | :37:23. | :37:25. | |
that many of those who wish to enter general practice don't want to buy | :37:26. | :37:31. | |
into practice, they want to be salaried GPs. That is something that | :37:32. | :37:36. | |
we and the will need to accommodate. In terms of powers as a whole, I can | :37:37. | :37:43. | |
say that there have been six new GP partners in Powys and 11 new | :37:44. | :37:47. | |
salaried GPs that have commenced their work during the course of | :37:48. | :37:52. | |
2015-16. Question seven, Leo Griffith. Will the First Minister | :37:53. | :37:58. | |
make a statement on the future of the rural development plan? We know | :37:59. | :38:03. | |
that this supports the rural communities and the economy by a | :38:04. | :38:07. | |
combination of Welsh government and European Union funding and in the | :38:08. | :38:13. | |
light of the lack of assurances from the UK Government to date over | :38:14. | :38:18. | |
replacing European Union funding and programme continuity, I cannot | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
predict its long-term future. Thank you for that response because your | :38:24. | :38:27. | |
skills in response to a question from following a statement last week | :38:28. | :38:33. | |
that she is continuing to plan programmes on the basis that the | :38:34. | :38:37. | |
funding will come to Wales. If it does not come from the EU, she is | :38:38. | :38:40. | |
expecting it to come from the pledges made by the UK Government. | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
But the Cabinet Secretary for rural affairs has said programmes were to | :38:45. | :38:50. | |
be deferred because of uncertainty. That suggests to me you don't have | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
much of a strategy as a government in terms of responding to the | :38:55. | :38:58. | |
decision following the referendum. Can you tell us whether the left | :38:59. | :39:01. | |
hand knows what the right hand is doing? We are going to continue with | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
the capital schemes in order to progress with those but as regards | :39:07. | :39:10. | |
the revenue programmes and schemes, it is a much more, located picture, | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
but it is quite evident that if we see a cut of ?600 million in the | :39:16. | :39:21. | |
Assembly's budget year-on-year over the ensuing years, there will be a | :39:22. | :39:24. | |
very negative impact on some of the projects we have. First Minister, I | :39:25. | :39:32. | |
appreciate that you have met with representatives of the cultural | :39:33. | :39:35. | |
industry -- agricultural industry last week to discuss concerns | :39:36. | :39:39. | |
following the result of the referendum on the European Union and | :39:40. | :39:43. | |
I support your calls for farming support payments and funding for | :39:44. | :39:47. | |
rural communities to be safeguarded for the future. Bearing in mind that | :39:48. | :39:52. | |
the Lindsay will still be a major trading partner for our farmers for | :39:53. | :39:57. | |
the future -- that the European Union will still be a major trading | :39:58. | :40:00. | |
partner, can you tell is what discussions your government has had | :40:01. | :40:05. | |
to date with the UK Government and the European Union commissioner to | :40:06. | :40:08. | |
make sure that plans such as the rural development programme can | :40:09. | :40:13. | |
continue? There is no guarantee at all. We note that the commission | :40:14. | :40:22. | |
cannot play its part as regards European funding at the moment and | :40:23. | :40:26. | |
there is no assurance from the UK Government so there is no certainty | :40:27. | :40:30. | |
at all for the people of Wales. It is important that we get this | :40:31. | :40:33. | |
assurance as soon as in order to give our farmers some assurance. We | :40:34. | :40:40. | |
know that ?260 million will be coming into Wales as regards to | :40:41. | :40:44. | |
payments to farmers but at the moment there is no money left should | :40:45. | :40:51. | |
we leave the European Union. On the same theme as the last two | :40:52. | :40:55. | |
questions, I know that within my own constituency and the constituency of | :40:56. | :40:59. | |
the First Minister, we have just had the announcement of grants of up to | :41:00. | :41:05. | |
?100,000 for individual regeneration schemes and it often surprises | :41:06. | :41:08. | |
people died in a constituency like mine, a former mining and heavy | :41:09. | :41:13. | |
industry constituency, that all but two of the wards in my constituency | :41:14. | :41:17. | |
of rural. We have below one and pillar to funding as well but that | :41:18. | :41:21. | |
pillar to funding has been crucial for rural regeneration, | :41:22. | :41:27. | |
controversial as it is. In his discussions with the UK Government, | :41:28. | :41:31. | |
is he stressing to them the importance of making good any | :41:32. | :41:34. | |
shortfall in the immediacy of programmes that are already | :41:35. | :41:37. | |
committed to but also in the longer term because we need to make sure we | :41:38. | :41:42. | |
have that backfill shortfall filled by the UK Government in order that | :41:43. | :41:45. | |
we can keep those teams progressing for many years to come. It is | :41:46. | :41:50. | |
critical to the regeneration of my communities. We have made that | :41:51. | :41:57. | |
point. In future, agricultural policy will be wholly autonomous and | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
evolved. We are not going to get interference from Westminster in | :42:02. | :42:05. | |
that regard and it is a matter for the people of Wales, Scotland and | :42:06. | :42:09. | |
England to decide what sort of agricultural policy should be | :42:10. | :42:13. | |
pursued. The difficulty is, how will the money be distributed? We need to | :42:14. | :42:17. | |
make sure there is a guarantee from the UK Government that Wales will be | :42:18. | :42:21. | |
guaranteed at least it's current share of funding. My fear is that | :42:22. | :42:30. | |
there will be an attempt to cut the funding for Welsh agriculture. The | :42:31. | :42:33. | |
sooner Welsh farmers get these certainty from the UK Government | :42:34. | :42:37. | |
they need, the better. Question eight, Nick Ramsay. Will the First | :42:38. | :42:41. | |
Minister make a statement on the Welsh government's policies for | :42:42. | :42:43. | |
improving the investment in south-east Wales? The finance plan | :42:44. | :42:49. | |
published last year sets out our investment plans for transport and | :42:50. | :42:53. | |
infrastructure for 2015 - 20 across all of Wales. A solution to the M4 | :42:54. | :42:59. | |
Tunnel's congestion is a key priority for the Welsh government | :43:00. | :43:02. | |
and this Assembly as a whole. I am sure Professor Stuart Cole, who will | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
be sleeping a little bit easier knowing that his blue route is part | :43:08. | :43:11. | |
of the mix to be considered by the public enquiry announced recently. | :43:12. | :43:18. | |
You will be aware that the services have concerns about the effect of | :43:19. | :43:26. | |
the Black route. How are the concerns of important local | :43:27. | :43:28. | |
businesses such as these being taken into account by the public enquiry? | :43:29. | :43:35. | |
I would expect the enquiry to take full account of the views of all | :43:36. | :43:38. | |
those who express a view to the enquiry. We took a conscious | :43:39. | :43:42. | |
decision to make God that all the possibilities were examined by the | :43:43. | :43:49. | |
enquiry -- to make sure that all the possible at his work examined by the | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
enquiry and we wanted to make sure that all the options were properly | :43:54. | :43:56. | |
examine and now the member knows that I have stood her and said the | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
blue route is hugely problematic in terms of its affect on so many | :44:02. | :44:05. | |
people but let's see what the public local enquiry actually says and see | :44:06. | :44:09. | |
what recommendations are made from that. The key to ensuring success in | :44:10. | :44:18. | |
the capital region is to pursue a multi-hub approach to infrastructure | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
and economic development. While the city deal and the city region model | :44:23. | :44:27. | |
look to build on Cardiff's international brand, we must | :44:28. | :44:31. | |
recognise the role of overpopulation sectors as well. Does the First | :44:32. | :44:35. | |
Minister agree that in moving forward, the distinct status of | :44:36. | :44:38. | |
Newport as a regional capital in its own right, the capital of the former | :44:39. | :44:43. | |
county of Gwent, should be upheld and that he agreed this distinct | :44:44. | :44:47. | |
status for Newport should be enshrined in the capital region's | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
planning and should be promoted at every opportunity? I don't agree | :44:52. | :44:55. | |
with him on that. All the local authorities have an equal voice in | :44:56. | :44:59. | |
terms of the development of the city region. Identity is important but | :45:00. | :45:03. | |
the economic region pays no heed at all to political boundaries. Newport | :45:04. | :45:10. | |
is busy and important city, it is our third biggest city, and together | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
with Cardiff and the Valley areas to the north, they all play an | :45:16. | :45:18. | |
important role in developing the whole of the city region for the | :45:19. | :45:20. | |
good of all those who live in it. I welcome the new allocation of | :45:21. | :45:29. | |
money in the Welsh government supplementary budget in the | :45:30. | :45:34. | |
Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal. I would like to ask the Venice the | :45:35. | :45:39. | |
macro if this fits into any wider development strategy for integrating | :45:40. | :45:48. | |
our waterways into south-west Wales. The waterways were fragmented along | :45:49. | :46:02. | |
time ago. What is important is that we have a potential for tourism | :46:03. | :46:09. | |
through our canals and they will act as economic drivers and we will work | :46:10. | :46:12. | |
with State builders to make sure that potential is realised. But the | :46:13. | :46:24. | |
-- will the Minister make a statement on the cancel tax | :46:25. | :46:32. | |
collection. Figures released by your government released that some | :46:33. | :46:44. | |
councils are not collecting the council tax. 6000 people are now | :46:45. | :46:52. | |
struggling to pay their bills. We'll be First Minister explain to those | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
families in Wales's poorest areas why he decided not to use the funds | :46:59. | :47:01. | |
provided by the UK Government to freeze council tax in Wales for the | :47:02. | :47:09. | |
purposes they were intended for? Devolution means that it is not for | :47:10. | :47:18. | |
a purpose intended. Authorities in England turned down the council | :47:19. | :47:22. | |
tax-free is and chose to increase it. Despite that, council tax in | :47:23. | :47:28. | |
Wales is lower than in England and he will remember that when council | :47:29. | :47:39. | |
tax benefits were devolves, only 90% of the budget was allocated. Surely | :47:40. | :47:52. | |
the fact that the highest percentage of people who don't pay the tax live | :47:53. | :48:01. | |
in our poorest areas and surely that reflects the fact that this tax is | :48:02. | :48:05. | |
fundamentally unfair. The burden ways most heavily on those people | :48:06. | :48:12. | |
who are least able to pay. So is it not now time for us to reform this | :48:13. | :48:19. | |
tax so that it is fairer, as flood Kimmeridge had argued during the | :48:20. | :48:25. | |
election campaign back in May. We are always open to consider new ways | :48:26. | :48:32. | |
of funding local authorities. People talk about a local income tax, but | :48:33. | :48:39. | |
it would have to be collected locally so it went where they lived | :48:40. | :48:43. | |
as a poster where they work. The higher the price of the house, the | :48:44. | :48:49. | |
greater the income of the resident is, although that is not always | :48:50. | :48:53. | |
true, we understand that, but the system we have at present is one | :48:54. | :48:59. | |
that works because it is a tax that has been applied to a house. But of | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
course in the years to come there is always an argument whether there | :49:06. | :49:12. | |
might be a more effective way of funding local authorities. | :49:13. | :49:16. | |
There we are - that was First Minister's Questions. | :49:17. | :49:18. | |
If you want more more coverage of the National Assembly you can go | :49:19. | :49:21. | |
online to BBC Wales's Senedd Live page at bbc.co.uk/walespolitics. | :49:22. | :49:23. | |
Don't forget, for all the latest political news, watch Wales Today | :49:24. | :49:25. | |
later today a t6.30pm on BBC One Wales and | :49:26. | :49:28. | |
As for AM.PM though, that's it from us until September. | :49:29. | :49:31. | |
From all of us on the programme, goodbye. | :49:32. | :49:40. | |
As part of World War I from BBC Wales... | :49:41. | :49:42. | |
Welsh women helped the British win the war. | :49:43. | :49:45. | |
..historian Deirdre Beddoe explores how war may have been | :49:46. | :49:47. | |
This piece of film is 100 years old. Anything familiar about it? | :49:48. | :49:53. | |
"God speed the plough and the woman who drives it." | :49:54. | :49:56. | |
..bringing opportunity and changing perceptions for ever. | :49:57. | :50:00. | |
This was a great shock to contemporaries, | :50:01. | :50:02. | |
Some of mystery, intrigue and controversy. | :50:03. | :50:16. | |
The more you discover, the more compelling it becomes. | :50:17. | :50:21. |