14/05/2013 am.pm

The efficiency of any drug will be taken into account. I understand

officials have been working to develop a plan and could you tell

us what mechanisms are in place to ensure that is delivered.

Government officials are working on a document. A large group has been

set up. The group of officials chaired by the Chief Medical

Officer will oversee our approach. And we work with the NHS to ensure

that the response is correct. Questions now from the party

leaders. The leader of the opposition. First Minister,

yesterday that CBI said the economy was on the right track but they

also levelled accusations against your government not helping the

construction sector. And not spending the money that the

Treasury gave you wisely. You had the opportunity to speak on these

issues but declined. Would you commit on your support for the

construction sector? In the last three quarters of last year

construction increased by 8.9%. The figures speak for themselves.

CBI, which is a major industrial organisation, it clearly has

identified failures on the health of your government to support the

construction sector and in particular to spend the money that

the Treasury sense you down the M4. They also highlighted that other

parts of the UK and should benefit from proactive measures that the

Westminster government has brought in. They are said the construction

industry in the UK was finding it tough. But in Wales on Dudley it is

worse. With the shelving of pure Home Buy scheme and lack of ability

to use the money given you by the Treasury, why on earth can you not

gain the confidence of the major employer organisation like the CBI

with your economic policies? I do find it patronising when he talks

about the Treasury giving us money. Welsh people pay taxes as well. Let

me remind him of the figures once again. Welsh construction up by

8.9% in the last quarter. In all three quarters of last year

construction it. By 1.5%. That shows us we are doing something

right in Wales. It is plainly evident that from employers and

house builders, the actions you were taking are not helping the

construction sector in Wales. Any growth is down to the innovation

and the drive of the individuals concerned in the construction

sector. All you need to focus on are the comments that are levelled

at your government for their lack of delivery. Last year the CBI

pointed out again that there had been little delivery. All we're

getting is talk. We have had shelved schemes, more red tape and

letting down the people of Wales. You have failed the construction

sector and failed in your ability to improve the Welsh economy.

has dug himself into a hole and I can barely see the top of his head.

When he has lost the argument he talks for a long time. I refer him

again to the figures. Construction in the UK has gone backwards but

has improved in Wales. It is the UK government and his party not

delivering for the people of the UK. They need to do their part. First

Minister, the latest analysis of child poverty figures from the

Institute for Fiscal Studies show that on a UK level relative child

poverty will rise once again throughout the decade. You have

been First Minister for three years. Can you tell us what is happening

to child poverty, is it increasing? It is inevitable but there are

pressures on child poverty. We expect that it will increase in

line with the rest of the UK. But we will soon launch an action plan

to a blind clearly what we will do in order to alleviate poverty in

Wales. Of course we recognise that economic and social security

policies are handed down from Westminster and are damaging to

Wales. I hear you say that finally after a number of years that you're

going to introduce an action plan. But you have no real strategy to

deal with this. Coming up is the second year of the council tax

benefits cut. You have no plan. End of life's social care, you have no

plan. To deal with the impact of universal benefits, you have no

plan. Do you really have a strategy to protect the people of Wales

against all of this. Are you really standing up for Wales? Well with

council tax benefit we took a cut of 20 million and reinstated it. We

are looking to help people in the coming year as well. We have our

own universal benefits in Wales but we have protected and will continue

to do so. Many will benefit, not least from free prescriptions. I

would like to know exactly what your plans would be in the same

circumstances. We have increased school spending, make sure that

those most vulnerable in society have been protected the most. If

she has an argument with that I would love to know what she thinks

The council tax was dubbed Word Of the last minute. You clearly did

not have a plan. Dutch microdot with other Luz minutes. You're

minister for tackling poverty it appeared at the last minute, with

31% of children in Wales living in relative poverty and with many

people are unaware of the changes to social security that up on the

way, the fact that your ministers say is that your Government has no

strategy to deal with child poverty it should be a cause of deep

concern for all of ours. What is your strategy, how well you did

have that bit, and who is right on this question, is it right or your

minister for tackling poverty It is across party plan supported

by all across the government. We are left wondering what the other

party's policies actually are., will you tell us who will be

eligible for social care and services under the social services

programme. That has been developed in the passage of the assembly.

key point is to create a set of criteria as to who receives care.

Vulnerable people in Wales need to know if they qualify or not. It is

not too much to ask that the government publishes those criteria

before we're asked to vote on the She claims that secondary

legislation supersede primary legislation. I want to know, as did

the very many organisations across Wales who have responded to this

well -- Bill, we want to know who will be eligible and who will not?

It is not too much to ask for you to publish the plans before the

vote on the primary legislation. The other concern with the bill is

the issue of finances. Last week the Welsh Local Government

Association said the idea that the Bill is cost neutral cannot be the

case. Do you stand by your Minister's statement that if the

bill passes, no additional money will be needed to implement it?

is normal practice for criteria to be developed wants primary

legislation is in place, otherwise what is the point of developing

criteria? It is like to say that people need to know what the

criteria are, and they will be made available as soon as possible. The

other thing I know it is the criticism levelled at her party,

particularly their continued acquiescence and -- in reducing the

finances available for Wales as a hall. But is bound to have an

impact on finances here in Wales. When will our party stand up for

Wales and Westminster? -- how potty. The Lib Dems have kept hold off the

principles. We moved back to questions on the order paper, and

Question 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on the non-

emergency transport service? We're nearing the commission of a

national programme involving the ambulance service and the voluntary

sector. -- the completion. This will identify methods of improving

non-emergency transport for service users. A number of my constituents

have raised concerns about the joined up nature were by

appointments for treatment or not taken into account. Cannot of my

constituents have to travel long distances. But the moment the

current service is not fit for purpose because the hours are

between 8:30am and 4:30pm. Could you examine this issue as it may

well be a wider Wales issued. Palace has recently commenced its

own pilot. They have learned from the four pilots that were in place.

In terms of the next step, the Minister will receive a report on

the initial pilots next month, but report will inform our response to

non urgent patient transport. TRANSLATION: First Minister, the

number of patients, particularly in rural areas, who fail to arrive at

appointments because of cuts to bus services, and that failure to keep

to appointments leads to problems within the system more generally.

Could the Government consider giving some sort of guarantee to

people to ensure that there are arrangements in place to retain

those appointments, because this is crucial to the new system that you

Minister anticipates for the health service in Wales, and those

services in the community have to work so people do have to arrive in

time for other appointments. officer from the transport

department is collaborating with the health and social services

department to consider this issue, namely to ensure that the transport

is available, affordable and that work is on going in order to ensure

that we can deliver a better service on the Collette -- and a

collaborative one in future. TRANSLATION: First Minister, the

service is under pressure out state -- present, but the service is to

change, as all the reconfiguration proposals come to pass,

particularly in North Wales. There has been no assessment by the

Health Board in terms of the additional pressures on the service.

We do insist that these assessments are carried out, before the

services are reconfigured? It is exceptionally important that

consideration is given to how patients will travel took hospitals

across the length and breadth of Wales, and of course this is part

of the renewable process taking place in the NHS. TRANSLATION: Will

First Minister make a statement of Welsh Government policies for wind-

power? As stated in energy Wales, our aim is to make the best use of

commercially proven renewable energy sources. Wind up being of

course one -- being the most developed of these. We want to

facilitate appropriate deployment to deliver against Arndale carbon

objectives and make sure that people derive significant benefits.

You had said you want to facilitate wind-powered developments. Not

withstanding that, were you aware that one of the largest schemes for

wind power in my constituency has been put on hold, and the reason

that they have stated publicly is that -- because of the investment

climate for renewable energy in wells. They will not be investing

further in the scheme until there is a Wales -- The Wash policy on

renewable energy is clearer. Is it your intention to give a company

such as this clarification on the development of wind power in Wales?

Apache Unit things will not be a -- ' and this week have the same

situation in Scotland and Northern are then we have no hope of having

sufficient clarity. First Minister, it is stated that there is a

balance to be struck between the desirability of renewable energies

and landscape protection, and the document says that there is a case

for avoiding a situation where wind turbines are spread across the hall

of the county. What can you do to ensure that -- that local

authorities have cumulative impact assessments? In areas such as

Pembrokeshire and Commander In Show, people are putting up one, two,

three wind turbines, but when they are all together in a small period

it is by in the other standards a wind farm. Do you think it is

acceptable but in areas of rural Wales are about to become part of

the industrial landscape? One macro these are matters for local

authorities. When it comes to the larger planning applications within

the devolved competence of the National Assembly, there is an

expectation that those applications will be considered more favourably.

It is for local authorities to decide how they approach this issue,

and how they examine each planning application in terms of the impact

that application would have in the particular area. How is the Welsh

Government encouraging people to participate in sport? We are

working with local organisations to provide opportunities for people of

all ages to participate in sport. recently attended the launch of a

gym in Griffithstown which has been transformed into a fitness facility

thanks to �100,000 worth of investment from its spot Wales, the

community development programme. I was bowled all for by the

enthusiasm, knowledge and dedication of the staff and

volunteers I met, and it is a testament to all there Harrall --

hard work that Griffithstown now boasts a first-class facility. Will

you congratulate all at the gym for at the King -- fantastic work they

do day in day out promoting sporting success. Yes, I would. It

is a good example of how sport Wales or working with local

organisations. The Jim received a cash boost of the European

Development Fund, which some in the Conservative Party would not want

them to receive. We know in terms of sport of course, look at Colwyn

Bay, the water sports centre and the regeneration fund, which so

would not have gone ahead if it were not for the funding from the

regional developed -- European Development Fund. First Minister,

the actual adults survey reveals that on a 29% of adults in my

constituency participated in sport, compared with 58% in Caerphilly.

What reason can be fair -- First Minister give for such wide

variance in figures for sports participation, and what is he going

to do about it? The gym is one good example of how to increase

participation. Of the last few years it received funding but he

asked what we are going to do about it? We will not impose a tax on

people who play sport, get injured and have to pay for there on

hospital treatment. That is what the party opposite want to see.

Will the First Minister provide an update on the delivery unit? It is

working with me to ensure a streamlined delivery of priorities.

I thought I would receive a yes from you, but how many delivery

units does a Government require? You have set up one for the energy

sector, but then that recruit for the programme for Government, and

you have your own delivery unit within the First Minister's office.

How many does it take to deliver the priorities of your Government,

given the plethora of Ministers you What has been achieved by the unit

that would not have been achieved had not existed? Is difficult to

know. How would we tell people to express an opinion on that unit?

You would need to look at the report on the Programme for

Government. That is hard you can assess what the government is doing.

Will the First Minister make a statement on the applications of

the UK government legislative programme on Wales. We continued to

consider it the better to do proposals as they develop. Does -

the legislative proposals. The UK government programme seems to offer

little comfort to Wales and the welfare reforms alone are having a

devastating impact on people and communities. The rejection from

that strategy is piecemeal at best. When will your party stand up for

Wales at Westminster and unite with all the other parties to oust

Cameron and George Osborne now. Well, that is a matter for the

voters. There's not much my party can do given the numbers that we

have at Westminster. There are of course some policies against which

it is difficult to guard in Wales. The bedroom tax is one of those.

1700 people are waiting in one area for one-bedroomed accommodation. It

is iniquitous especially for rural areas where there are far fewer

one-bedroom properties. And people are having to leave villages where

they have lived all their lives and moved to towns where there are such

apartments. That cannot be right and I joined in opposing one of the

most in the grosses policies ever to come from Westminster. --

iniquitous. A lot of fuss has been made by Conservative MPs about what

has been left out of the Queen's Speech. With the ridiculous

situation of government PPSs been allowed to vote against their own

government's Programme for Government. But what does the First

Minister think about some of the other important omissions, of

minimum al mal pricing, packaging for cigarettes, which would have

had a big impact to help the people of Wales. Absolutely. What worries

me about the Queen's Speech is that it has been hijacked by the issue

of Europe. When people are concerned about jobs and economy,

when they want a roof over their heads, all we get day after day is

an obsession with Europe. Incredible narrow-minded

nationalism from UKIP. We benefit by �144 million a year from our

membership of the European Union. Anyone suggesting that Wales should

leave the European Union is not acting in the best interest of

Wales. It also means that �350 million per year given to Welsh

farmers would disappear. And Welsh farming would end, no question. At

the moment we have an obsession from the Conservative Party in the

UK government on Europe. That is nothing to do with the benefit of

the people of Wales. I will get back to the question. One of the

proposed bills in the legislative programme was the Care Bill which

proposes to cut care costs and extend the threshold of financial

assistance to reject the ball in keirin costs. I understand that

this is England only. How does the was government proposed to address

this problem? In order to protect people from those costs. We will

keep a close eye on the care bill in England. What is important is

the monetary chance there. On this issue we have to accept that there

is a cross border impact of people potentially accessing care. And so

putting Wales in a better or worse position as people might see it. So

we have to keep a close eye on the situation in England as reform it

that policy. I'm sure you'll join me in welcoming the announcement of

a national insurance contributions Bill. Your government has

consistently talked about the economy. 35,000 businesses in Wales

could benefit potentially from assistance in this respect when

they expand their workforce. What assessment has your government

taking survive to work out how you can support that and make sure the

maximum opportunities are taken up to expand the work force in Wales.

We welcome anything that helps to build the economy. We have schemes

in place already, the economic Growth Fund for Wales, a fund for

micro businesses. We work closely with business to maximise

opportunities. We have schemes in place to help businesses. We have

talked about the federal tax. It is having a devastating effect on

constituencies across Wells. The Tories still want to keep saying

that it is a proactive initiatives. We must have heard over the weekend

on the tragic case of a grandmother and mother who commit suicide over

the fact that she was having to pay more for having an additional

bedroom. Now we can see that devastating impact perhaps people

will start to realise that this tax is having an effect on people in

our constituencies. What can we do to ensure that tragedies like that

never happened in Wales. We are working with local authorities to

address this issue. We want to make sure that advice services are

available to people. But what we cannot do is change the policy,

unfortunately. It does trouble me greatly. I do have people coming to

my surgery in despair because often they do want to downsize that there

is no work for them to go. But they have to pay a penalty anyway or

face the threat of eviction. That cannot be right. If you live in

rented accommodation, where you may have lived for much of your life,

you suddenly have to pay more money even though there is nowhere else

to go. It is an especially metropolitan policy aimed at cities

like London and not taking rural Wales into account whether is not

that variety of accommodation. But just sums up were the Conservative

Party in London is at the moment. Not consider it at all what the

effect would be elsewhere in the UK. What other Welsh government's

priorities for the affordable housing construction in North Wales.

We aim to provide more affordable homes and deliver housing that

meets people's needs. North Wales faces an acute shortage of

affordable housing. One had spoken with housing associations and

private housebuilders, they express frustration at competitive

disadvantage is that they face in meeting this demand. Not least the

additional regulations which add �10,000 to the cost of each new

home when compared with England. Are you listening to the growing

number of voices in the housebuilding industry that a

telling you to rethink your government approach to house

building and what would you do to restore their confidence's well her

party voted for that legislation, I have to remind her. That is

disingenuous as far as the people of Wales is concerned. The figure

she quotes is one of many figures I have heard quoted. It is the Lord

in Wales that sprinklers should be fitted in the way described. And

the government cannot change the law passed by the assembly itself.

A refer back to the figures I gave earlier in terms of the

construction industry in Wales which do not support what she said.

Wizened a there was the discussion about stamp duty and there was

strong support for devolution of stamp duty to Wales. Using that to

help those who are new buyers in the market. The question is will

her party deliver that for Wales. If we get stamp duty there is a lot

that we can do. Will her party deliver that for Wales? One of the

frustrations that many of my constituents have raised is that

they see examples of housing development companies being given

planning permission and there is a condition for a certain amount of

affordable houses within that scheme. But then the company's

managed to reduce that. They have been examples of that in a number

of areas. Will you government either through the planning bill or

whichever medium you think would be appropriate, actually tackle but

problem to make sure the level of provision of affordable housing

that is meant to be provided is provided. I sympathise with that.

It is extremely important that we ensure that were planning % --

consent is given the that consent should stay as it was when it was

issued. Although in some circumstances there may be reasons

why it should be amended. This is a matter that can be considered

locally. If there's any means of strengthening the position of

through planning guidelines, we will consider that. There we are,

we'll leave First Minister's Questions there. But don't forget

that you can see more coverage of the Assembly online via the BBC

Wales Democracy Live page at bbc.co.uk/walespolitics. Let's pick

up on some of that with our Welsh Affairs Editor, Vaughan Roderick,

who's been watching down in the Bay. Was there more heat than light?

did not quite catch your question. It was his Berkeley Prime

Minister's Question Time and covered a wide range of subjects.

One thing that is likely to be a major issue is the question of

health service reconfiguration in South Wales. That is due to be

announced shortly. There was a question on the order paper about

that. We did not quite reach that in the broadcast. We have heard

calls today for a rethink on his potential reorganisation which

would see fewer accident and emergency units in South Wales.

That is right. We heard about the reconfiguration issues they have

been in mid-Wales and West Wales. And in North Wales. But many people

think of the controversy surrounding those proposals will be

as nothing compared to what happens when the bulb Wales proposals come

out. There are seven or eight accident and emergency units in

South Wales. That number is said to be reduced. You cannot dress up

downgrading that into something else. So there's likely to be

controversial aspect to those proposals. And Carwyn Jones a

couple of times tried to make hay over the Conservatives and they

issued with Europe. He was trying to drag that in. We have an

extraordinary situation in Westminster at the moment where the

government seems to be, or the conservative side, seems to be

yielding to its backbenchers continually. Labour are delighting

in is but one has to say that some of the opinion polls that are

driving some of the actions of the Conservative benches are as bad for

Labour as for the Conservatives. There are losing support to UK peak

in the same way. And the argument made by Carwyn Jones is that Wales

is a net beneficiary of European funds. But some would say it the UK

did come out there would be more money for the UK. It is a question

of comparing oranges and pears. If you look at the figures, wealth

does get more out of the European Union Bennett puts in. But the UK

on the other hand puts in more than it gets out. So the Euro-sceptics

would argue, you get this money but why not come out the middleman and

get the money direct from Westminster. The argument that

comes back from the government is that, look how hard it has been to

change the Barnett formula over Wales. What guarantee is there that

they would change the funding formula to make up for that

European money. That's it for today. I'll be back at the same time next

week with more coverage of First Minister's Questions. If you want