:00:20. > :00:24.Good afternoon. Welcome to our first programme back after the
:00:24. > :00:34.Easter break. We'll be bringing you questions to the First Minister,
:00:34. > :01:00.
:01:01. > :01:05.Well, business in the chamber is already underway.
:01:05. > :01:10.National Assembly for Wales is now in session. First item on the
:01:10. > :01:14.agenda is tributes to Baroness Thatcher. I am sure their members
:01:14. > :01:22.will wish to join me in offering our condolences to the family of
:01:22. > :01:26.Baroness Thatcher. First Minister. I rise to make some brief remarks
:01:26. > :01:30.following the passing of Baroness Thatcher, the former prime minister.
:01:31. > :01:35.Can I begin by expressing sympathy to her family on the loss of a
:01:35. > :01:40.mother and a grand mother. I am sure they will feel her loss keenly
:01:40. > :01:47.for some time. It has been said many times that she was a
:01:47. > :01:53.remarkable personality. She won three general elections and saw the
:01:53. > :01:58.collection of 14 Conservative MPs in Wales, the feat that has not
:01:58. > :02:03.been equalled since. She was a decisive person and often struck
:02:03. > :02:07.fear into those who served under her in her Cabinet. Perhaps her
:02:07. > :02:12.most noteworthy moment was the recovery of the Falkland Islands
:02:12. > :02:16.following their invasion by a brutal military dictatorship. Less
:02:16. > :02:21.successful, perhaps, were her dealings in Northern Ireland where
:02:21. > :02:25.she managed to alienate both sides of the community. It must, of
:02:25. > :02:31.course, have been difficult for her to deal with that part of the world
:02:31. > :02:35.after the murder of her mentor and the bombing of the Grand Hotel. It
:02:35. > :02:39.is right to say that she brought many of us in this change and --
:02:39. > :02:43.many of us in this chamber into politics. Some of the benches
:02:43. > :02:47.opposite in support of her views and others of us in strong reaction
:02:47. > :02:50.to what she did. Indeed it was what happened during the course of the
:02:50. > :02:56.miners' strike that brought me on the political path that I have
:02:56. > :03:01.taken ever since. She was a strong character but also somebody whose
:03:01. > :03:07.views were often divisive of. She inspired strong views on both sides
:03:07. > :03:11.of the argument that she would put forward. I would have to say that
:03:11. > :03:17.being decisive does not mean that somebody is necessarily right. It
:03:17. > :03:22.is right to say that there are many in Wales who still feel the legacy
:03:22. > :03:26.of her politics. The miners' strike and its aftermath are still very
:03:26. > :03:30.much felt by many of our communities and there is still
:03:30. > :03:35.great bitterness in terms of what happened at that time which has
:03:35. > :03:41.lasted to this day. He it caused great hurt when many of our people
:03:41. > :03:45.were described as the enemy within. Those comments were not easily --
:03:45. > :03:49.those comments have not been easily forgotten in the communities that
:03:49. > :03:54.were affected. Communities that fill the legacy of that time to
:03:55. > :04:00.this day, communities that were sustained by the coal industry and
:04:00. > :04:07.then lost their means of survival and then, of course, were offered
:04:07. > :04:11.no alternative employment. It is probably correct to say that the
:04:11. > :04:15.opposition to the policies that were put in place at that time
:04:15. > :04:20.caused the creation of this assembly. It provided the momentum
:04:20. > :04:26.towards devolution. I suspect that was an unintended effect to what
:04:26. > :04:29.had happened in the 1980s and the 1990s. There are many of us in this
:04:29. > :04:33.chamber who will have a great deal of disagreement with the policies
:04:33. > :04:40.that were put in place during her time as Prime Minister. Those views
:04:40. > :04:44.will be very strongly felt by many across Wales. Tomorrow, however, to
:04:44. > :04:48.a family will be in mourning. They must be allowed to grief with
:04:48. > :04:54.dignity. I will be attending the funeral tomorrow as First Minister
:04:55. > :04:59.on behalf of the people of Wales. Leader of the opposition, aren't --
:04:59. > :05:03.Andrew RT Davies. A rise to pay tribute to Baroness Thatcher and I
:05:03. > :05:06.am grateful to the presiding offer -- presiding officer to allow this
:05:06. > :05:10.opportunity for the assembly to pay tribute in its own way and the
:05:10. > :05:14.leaders will have different views on the impact that Prime Minister
:05:14. > :05:18.Thatcher made to this country. I passionately believe that she was a
:05:18. > :05:23.force for good, as many in my party, and obviously of the Centre Right
:05:23. > :05:26.persuasion do believe and the belief with considerable passion. I
:05:26. > :05:31.fully accept that, being a politician, there are two sides to
:05:31. > :05:35.every argument. When you look at the era that Margaret Thatcher
:05:35. > :05:40.served as prime minister, putting herself forward for three general
:05:40. > :05:44.elections, and being endorse that all three elections to be the prime
:05:44. > :05:49.minister, the democratically elected leader of this country, and
:05:49. > :05:54.implement the policies that did transform this country from having
:05:54. > :05:58.the sick man of Europe tag around its neck to being a vibrant,
:05:58. > :06:02.opportune place for people to succeed. Home-ownership, for
:06:02. > :06:07.example, where many millions of people were empowered to run their
:06:07. > :06:11.own property and drive economic opportunities for wood. I believe
:06:11. > :06:15.when history reflects on what Margaret Thatcher and her
:06:15. > :06:19.successive cabinets did in the 80s was to transform this country for
:06:19. > :06:24.the better. If you look at the era that Prime Minister Thatcher came
:06:24. > :06:28.into politics, in the 1950s, an era of great deference, if you like, in
:06:28. > :06:32.public life, when the role of a woman was not secured, other than
:06:32. > :06:36.thinking that the role was in the house, bringing up children, she
:06:36. > :06:39.broke the glass ceiling to break into politics and I think she
:06:39. > :06:45.continued that as you progress through her political career and
:06:45. > :06:49.her public life. When we look at, as the first Mr touched on, the
:06:49. > :06:54.liberation of the Falkland Islands in 1982, the stand against Irish
:06:54. > :06:59.terrorism, both loyalist and nationalist, let us not forget it
:06:59. > :07:03.was on both sides of the coin in Northern Ireland, and the terrible
:07:03. > :07:06.tragedies. We have seen the terrible consequences of terrorism
:07:06. > :07:10.only last night in America and you look at what Margaret Thatcher and
:07:10. > :07:16.Ronald Reagan achieved in standing up to what Ronald Reagan called the
:07:16. > :07:20.evil Empire, and bringing an end to the Cold War. Irstead fast
:07:20. > :07:25.determination undoubtedly freed the many millions of people in the
:07:25. > :07:29.Continent of Europe and contributed to a more peaceful continent and a
:07:29. > :07:33.peaceful world. Many tributes have been paid to the former prime
:07:33. > :07:39.minister but we must also remember that, as the First Minister touched
:07:39. > :07:44.on, there is a family that has lost a mother and grandfather. Whilst it
:07:44. > :07:48.is perfectly legitimate for people to raise their objections are and
:07:48. > :07:53.also to note with some sadness the policies that may be that they did
:07:53. > :07:57.not agree with her but I hope that people will be respectful at the
:07:57. > :08:02.funeral tomorrow and allow the passing of what I believe was an
:08:02. > :08:05.iconic figure of the 21st century to be noted and measured with at
:08:05. > :08:10.the service that will be held at St Paul's Cathedral. A passionately
:08:10. > :08:14.believe that the Prime Minister Thatcher put the Great back into
:08:14. > :08:18.Great Britain and history will judge her to have been the most
:08:18. > :08:23.successful peacetime prime minister this country has had. It has been
:08:23. > :08:28.issued privilege to say these few words on behalf of my assembly
:08:28. > :08:34.group and my party here in Wales. Thank you very much. The leader of
:08:34. > :08:38.Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood. Thank you, presiding officer. Whatever
:08:38. > :08:40.people's feelings are that her political legacy, and I would
:08:40. > :08:46.acknowledge there are strong feelings on both sides, a person
:08:46. > :08:50.has died and has left the family believed -- bereaved. I want to
:08:50. > :08:55.make it clear that I am not here this afternoon of to pay tribute to
:08:55. > :09:01.Margaret Thatcher or her political legacy. I am speaking here as party
:09:01. > :09:06.leader, in order to mark her contribution to public life. As
:09:06. > :09:11.with all human beings in this situation it is right to express
:09:11. > :09:17.sympathies to the family of Margaret Thatcher at this time of
:09:17. > :09:22.sadness for them. It is also right at the time of her passing that we
:09:22. > :09:28.should reflect upon the politics that Margaret Thatcher left behind.
:09:28. > :09:34.We must learn from, but not well on the past. We should use it as an
:09:34. > :09:38.opportunity to look to the future. -- not dwell on the past. Where I
:09:38. > :09:43.live in the Rhondda people's chief memory of her time in office was
:09:43. > :09:48.that of the closure of the pits. The bitter miners' strike changed
:09:48. > :09:52.industrial policy. We are still paying the price for that. The
:09:52. > :09:57.deliberate switch to a service- based economy from a manufacturing
:09:57. > :10:02.economy, the privatisation and decline of our utilities and of
:10:02. > :10:07.public transport were just some of the legacies of what we now call
:10:07. > :10:12.Thatcherism. It was a politics that took a turn away from the post-war
:10:12. > :10:18.consensus that favoured a strong, welfare straight, three at the
:10:18. > :10:22.point of need, caring for from the cradle to the grave. Thatcherism
:10:22. > :10:27.started the attempt to roll back the state and signalled the
:10:27. > :10:33.introduction of neo- liberalism into British politics, and ideology
:10:33. > :10:36.that has been fatally followed by a British prime ministers ever since.
:10:36. > :10:42.Near liberalism or Thatcherism is the cause, in my opinion, of many
:10:42. > :10:47.of the problems that we face in Wales Today. We could allow her
:10:47. > :10:53.passing to make us better. Some will show their anger by protesting.
:10:53. > :10:59.But I would urge everyone to use the energy that could be taken up
:10:59. > :11:06.mulling over her economic legacy to instead think creatively about how
:11:06. > :11:12.that legacy, that philosophy can be overturned. Instead of focusing our
:11:12. > :11:18.anger on the events of a quarter of a century or more ago, let us turn
:11:18. > :11:25.this into a time for all of us in Wales to decided collectively, as a
:11:25. > :11:29.society, that I want to create a future that is better than the past.
:11:29. > :11:34.Margaret Thatcher told us that there is no such thing as society.
:11:34. > :11:40.In Wales we do not believe that to be true. Community is important to
:11:40. > :11:45.us. Letters prove it wrong by creating a well-functioning and
:11:45. > :11:50.fairer, more equal economy, as well as a network of a vibrant caring
:11:50. > :11:54.and thriving communities. With powers over the levers that can
:11:54. > :11:59.shake our economy, we can reject and reverse the greed is good
:11:59. > :12:06.culture that comes with me and liberalism. A bereavement is always
:12:07. > :12:13.a time for reflection. My hopes for the future of Wales, as a very
:12:13. > :12:16.different woman leader, from a very different political party, are for
:12:17. > :12:21.us to create, in contrast to Thatcherism, and economy and the
:12:21. > :12:31.World Society based upon the principles of fairness, equality,
:12:31. > :12:32.
:12:32. > :12:36.peace and co-operation. Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty
:12:36. > :12:40.Williams. I wish to join other political leaders here today in
:12:40. > :12:43.remembering the life of Margaret, Baroness Thatcher. I would like to
:12:43. > :12:47.send on behalf of my party condolences to their children and
:12:47. > :12:51.her wider family and friends. Margaret Thatcher was the dominant
:12:51. > :12:56.political figure of her time and of my youth. I became active in
:12:56. > :12:59.politics when I was 15 years old at the height of her power, in large
:12:59. > :13:04.part in opposition to her government and the policies are
:13:04. > :13:12.pursued in the part of Wales where I grew up and the parts of the
:13:12. > :13:16.committee that they now represent. It was, she seems, however, an
:13:16. > :13:20.individual of immense strength which it relied heavily on when she
:13:20. > :13:25.took on the old grandees to become first an MP and then the leader of
:13:25. > :13:28.her party, at a time when I am sure that many of them thought the
:13:28. > :13:32.woman's place was in the home. Watching the many re-runs of her
:13:32. > :13:38.interviews on television in the last week I have been reminded of
:13:38. > :13:41.her forthright style and plain- speaking. I distinctly remember the
:13:41. > :13:45.bombing at the Conservative conference in Brighton and her
:13:45. > :13:51.resolve to attend a conference the next day, speaking, with composure
:13:51. > :13:55.I am sure that few of us could Buster in such circumstances. Her
:13:55. > :14:00.legacies and rightly evoked strong reactions and those legacy is,
:14:00. > :14:05.whether for good or for bad, they still affect our lives today. Our
:14:05. > :14:10.presence here in this chamber, some would argue, is one of them. It is
:14:10. > :14:17.right that those legacies are debated and their ongoing effect on
:14:17. > :14:22.our nation. Today, on the eve of her funeral, we pay her - that we
:14:22. > :14:32.pay our respects to her family and we remember a woman who devoted her
:14:32. > :14:44.
:14:44. > :14:48.agenda and the first item are questions to the first Minister.
:14:48. > :14:58.What recommendations of the Francis report are being considered by the
:14:58. > :14:58.
:14:58. > :15:01.Welsh government? A review of all 290 recommendations is underway to
:15:01. > :15:10.determine the e-learning for NHS Wales and the Minister will present
:15:11. > :15:15.a full response -- response in July. Despite the view that health is
:15:15. > :15:22.wholly devolved, there are a number of aspects still reserved in
:15:22. > :15:26.Westminster. What discussions have you had with the UK government about
:15:26. > :15:32.it being a joint policy on these or indeed for the full devolution of
:15:32. > :15:37.health? There will be a full statement in July and members will
:15:37. > :15:42.have the opportunity of understanding then what we have done
:15:42. > :15:47.to consider the number of recommendations in the report. One
:15:47. > :15:51.of the issues which was raised in the report was the pursuit of
:15:52. > :15:58.targets and financial balance at the expense of quality of care. How do
:15:58. > :16:02.you reflect on that given that over the Easter period, accidents and
:16:02. > :16:09.emergency consultants described our NHS as being on the brink of
:16:09. > :16:14.meltdown as a result of the lack of resources? We know there are
:16:14. > :16:24.difficulties at the moment in terms of unshelled jute -- unscheduled
:16:24. > :16:26.
:16:26. > :16:34.care. The Minister is considering the issue at this moment in time and
:16:34. > :16:38.will be taking action in the near future. Will you provide an update
:16:38. > :16:45.on the preventative measures taken during the recent measles outbreak.
:16:45. > :16:48.The Minister made a written statement on the response yesterday.
:16:48. > :16:53.The Welsh government and Public health boards will take all
:16:53. > :16:58.necessary measures to prevent the outbreak spreading further. I am
:16:58. > :17:03.pleased to hear about the measures taken. I raise this issue in
:17:03. > :17:13.question is when there was an increase in measles cases in North
:17:13. > :17:16.
:17:16. > :17:20.Wales, so can I be assured that the immunisation will remain a high
:17:20. > :17:26.priority for public health across the whole of Wales so we can build
:17:26. > :17:31.up immunity to these illnesses which actually can have very serious
:17:31. > :17:35.consequences. The advice I would give is that parents should ensure
:17:35. > :17:41.their children are vaccinated with the two vaccinations required to
:17:42. > :17:45.provide immunity. You will be aware of the many of the thousands of
:17:45. > :17:53.vaccinations that have been given in recent times in order to provide
:17:53. > :17:59.that level of immunity. Will he be aware that a significant challenge
:17:59. > :18:05.to get up to the 92% required for effective prevention of further
:18:05. > :18:08.spread of the measles outbreak the Minister will remember that in 1988
:18:08. > :18:18.when this inoculation was introduced, prior to that there were
:18:18. > :18:23.half a million cases every year with 100 resulting in death. With the
:18:23. > :18:33.first Minister said there will be priority to ensure there is
:18:33. > :18:34.
:18:34. > :18:40.sufficient vaccines? 95% is required for herd immunity, we are at 94.3%
:18:40. > :18:43.confirmed when it comes to the first immunisation and at 89.9% with
:18:43. > :18:50.regard to the second dose. Our intention is to ensure that both
:18:50. > :18:58.doses reach the 95% target and I believe the publicity that has been
:18:58. > :19:03.given over the past few weeks will help us to reach that target.
:19:03. > :19:11.Minister, we are seeing the effects of a vaccination rate declined that
:19:11. > :19:17.happened a decade ago and there were some members felt there was the
:19:17. > :19:22.perception of controversy and called the government to abandon promoting
:19:22. > :19:25.the vaccine. We acknowledge there are problems with the message so
:19:25. > :19:30.will the government commit to a future public awareness campaign to
:19:30. > :19:36.make sure this does not happen again? I would have to say there
:19:36. > :19:45.were some elements Indymedia which fuelled the fears of parents. --
:19:45. > :19:51.Indymedia. I know that elements of the media have a job to do but it is
:19:51. > :19:56.an element in the outbreak in Swansea in terms of the level of
:19:56. > :20:02.immunisations. What is important is that the scare that was fuelled at
:20:02. > :20:07.the time by what was claimed to be robust medical research, has been
:20:07. > :20:12.discredited and of course parents now see how important the
:20:12. > :20:18.immunisation is. None of us would wish to see the message being
:20:18. > :20:22.presented in the way it has been but certainly I believe will be a way of
:20:22. > :20:29.ensuring we see vaccination levels rise to the 95% for both
:20:29. > :20:37.immunisations. We now move to questions for the party leaders.
:20:37. > :20:42.Kirsty Williams. First Minister, who should be held responsible for
:20:42. > :20:47.figures showing that ambulances in Wales spent six years waiting
:20:47. > :20:55.outside Welsh a and E departments in the last six months? I recognised
:20:55. > :20:59.the research on this. She makes a good point. It is important we
:20:59. > :21:06.recognise it has been difficult for ambulances over the past few
:21:06. > :21:12.months. There have been pressures in terms of unscheduled care. The
:21:12. > :21:16.statement, the report that has been commissioned on ambulance services
:21:16. > :21:20.will be presented tomorrow and the Minister is considering what should
:21:20. > :21:26.be done to alleviate the pressures that have been built up in a and E
:21:26. > :21:30.departments. The figures are of little comfort to the patients who
:21:30. > :21:37.have wasted over five and a half hours in the back of an ambulance.
:21:37. > :21:39.Earlier this month, half of a and E consultants of Wales wrote to the
:21:40. > :21:45.minister saying emergency departments were on their knees and
:21:45. > :21:49.they were at the point of meltdown. When will you stop being so flippant
:21:49. > :21:56.and stop burying your head in the sand about the crisis in our
:21:56. > :22:03.emergency departments? An element of flippancy is to suggest I would meet
:22:03. > :22:08.constituents and then not follow it up. That is what the Liberal
:22:08. > :22:12.Democrat has done. It is correct to say there are pressures on a and E
:22:12. > :22:15.and the ambulance service. We do know that there has been for some
:22:15. > :22:21.months now pressure building up in that regard, we know there are many
:22:21. > :22:25.elderly people who are being referred to hospitals and that of
:22:26. > :22:31.course has led to pressure building. There are two ways of dealing with
:22:31. > :22:35.this. The first dealing with it by the ambulance service review and
:22:35. > :22:41.secondly to assess the need in terms of what must be done to alleviate
:22:41. > :22:44.the situation and that is what the Minister is doing. The reality is
:22:44. > :22:48.that those same consultants who wrote to your health minister said
:22:48. > :22:55.they are struggling to look after patients stuck in a and E because
:22:55. > :22:59.they are waiting for beds. All the reorganisation plans will see a
:22:59. > :23:04.reduction in hospital beds. The ambulance with you will not help at
:23:04. > :23:10.all. Ambulances are stacking up outside emergency departments which
:23:10. > :23:15.are full of patients with no beds to go to. Is it not the reality that
:23:15. > :23:19.the proposed changes will mean fewer beds and in the community fewer beds
:23:19. > :23:25.will mean longer waits for patients which in turn will be to longer
:23:25. > :23:32.waits for ambulances outside those departments? The leader of the Lib
:23:32. > :23:37.Dems suggests that the consultants are somehow objecting to the reach
:23:37. > :23:43.of -- reconfiguration part. They do not. They understand what needs to
:23:43. > :23:47.be done. We take seriously any letter that is sent to us by
:23:47. > :23:53.consultants, we would not want to see the service getting as bad as in
:23:54. > :23:59.England. We understand there has been a buildup in terms of
:23:59. > :24:08.unscheduled care and we are determined to tackle it. First
:24:08. > :24:14.Minister, over the Easter recess there was much talk of the mid-staff
:24:14. > :24:17.scandal and the Francis report. Argue confident the Welsh health
:24:17. > :24:24.service and in particular Welsh hospitals are not in the same
:24:24. > :24:28.position that the mid-staff found itself in? There is no evidence to
:24:28. > :24:34.suggest that hospitals are in the same position. I agree with you but
:24:34. > :24:39.you would be aware that in a certain limited number of cases there has
:24:39. > :24:44.been great concern amongst patients and clinicians about some of the
:24:44. > :24:49.aspects around mid-staff coming into wells and happening here in Wales.
:24:49. > :24:53.One of the issues that has been touched on by experts and
:24:53. > :25:00.politicians is to introduce a duty of candle into the health service.
:25:00. > :25:05.Are you minded to introduce such a Jew to fire a legal framework so
:25:05. > :25:09.that clinicians and patients can have the confidence that such
:25:09. > :25:13.debacle is that happened at mid-staff would be prevented here?
:25:13. > :25:19.The issue has been raised by a number of members and is something
:25:19. > :25:25.we will give consideration to. There are substantial recommendations that
:25:25. > :25:29.have emerged as a result of the report and there will be a full
:25:29. > :25:36.response in July. Although mid-staff is in England, it is important we
:25:36. > :25:42.are vigilant in ensuring that the Welsh health service delivers.
:25:42. > :25:46.Tomorrow is the 23rd anniversary of the death of Robbie Powell. I have
:25:46. > :25:52.met Will Powell over the Easter recess and he has been in
:25:52. > :25:56.discussions with yourself and one of the issues that he and his family
:25:56. > :26:01.have is around the medical notes that were taken at the time and the
:26:01. > :26:06.medical negligence. It is his belief that such a duty of candle which
:26:06. > :26:10.make a difference to the health service. Do you accept that the
:26:10. > :26:15.Powell family have waited so long to try and seek justice to the death of
:26:15. > :26:21.Robbie Powell and what happened to their sons and one way of
:26:21. > :26:26.alleviating some of the grief that Mister Powell feels is to introduce
:26:26. > :26:31.such a duty within the health service in Wales that would give
:26:31. > :26:37.great assistance to families such as theirs who have found themselves in
:26:38. > :26:43.the 23 year logjam of trying to seek justice around the death of a family
:26:43. > :26:49.member. It is something we would consider. Mister Powell and his son
:26:49. > :26:54.were the subject of the most appalling chain of events which have
:26:54. > :26:59.been revealed by the independent investigation. I have always been
:26:59. > :27:04.keen to ensure that whether there are lessons that can be learned, and
:27:04. > :27:13.learned. There are issues we have no control over but the duty of candle
:27:13. > :27:16.is something we will give consideration to. There have then a
:27:16. > :27:21.number of developments during the recess which have impacted on food
:27:21. > :27:25.security and applied Comrie have argued that we can help both the
:27:25. > :27:32.local economy and climate change if we can produce more locally and buy
:27:32. > :27:38.more locally. That will be made all the more difficult following the
:27:38. > :27:43.closure of the Welsh country foods processing plant in Anglesey. That
:27:43. > :27:47.will not only have a serious adverse impact on small businesses and the
:27:47. > :27:53.economy, but will have wider repercussions as there is no
:27:53. > :27:59.processing plant north of Merthyr Tydfil. Many will be forced to send
:27:59. > :28:04.their livestock across the border. As the chair says for Wales and the
:28:04. > :28:12.industry in North Wales, this is a disaster. What will you do to save
:28:12. > :28:16.those jobs and assist the farming industry to deal with the closure?
:28:16. > :28:26.It is something that is wholly unwelcome to us and to those that
:28:26. > :28:27.
:28:28. > :28:32.work there. 1300 jobs have been saved at Merthyr. In terms of what
:28:32. > :28:40.is happening, there are still discussions taking place. I do not
:28:40. > :28:43.want to raise hopes at this stage, should the worst come to the worse,
:28:43. > :28:50.people can expect the fullest level of support we can offer as a
:28:50. > :28:56.government. As someone who supports our farming industry, I am concerned
:28:56. > :29:01.that if processing moves out of Wales, this produce may not be sold
:29:01. > :29:08.as Welsh lamb despite the excellent brand name that Welsh lamb has. This
:29:08. > :29:14.will have a financial consequence. Given the possible effect of this,
:29:14. > :29:24.do you agree it is time to reconsider the financial rules that
:29:24. > :29:26.
:29:26. > :29:31.govern the redmeat levy allocation The issue is that of the levy in
:29:31. > :29:36.that is applied. This didn't used to be an issue but it was important
:29:36. > :29:40.to us in Wales. We had our own body that fully funded a Welsh mead. In
:29:40. > :29:44.terms of the way the levy is examined -- distributed, I believe
:29:44. > :29:47.this is being examined at the moment. The weather is finally
:29:47. > :29:53.starting to improve but the prolonged winter and especially the
:29:53. > :30:00.heavy snowfall in March has badly hit many of our food producers.
:30:00. > :30:03.Last week the farming and land organisations took the
:30:03. > :30:09.unprecedented step of writing to the Minister for natural resources
:30:09. > :30:13.and fruit to request additional support for the farming industry.
:30:13. > :30:19.Welsh farmers are clearly being disadvantaged, compared to those in
:30:19. > :30:23.Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Firstly, can you tell us
:30:23. > :30:28.your plans for future bad weather, and secondly, we you reverse the
:30:28. > :30:33.decision, and provide compensation for farmers who have suffered
:30:33. > :30:36.direct losses as a result of this weather? There still, there is no
:30:36. > :30:39.compensation in England. The schemes that are in place in
:30:39. > :30:46.Northern Ireland and Scotland are quite different. In Northern
:30:46. > :30:51.Ireland areas about -- hardship funding of up to 7,000 euros per
:30:51. > :30:57.farmer which includes the cost of disposal of fallen animals. The
:30:57. > :31:00.scheme works on proportion of losses per individual farm and
:31:00. > :31:05.there is no compensation there are available for structural damage to
:31:05. > :31:09.sheds or fences. In Scotland they are offering capital grants to
:31:09. > :31:14.provide support for structural damage as a result of the snow and
:31:14. > :31:17.money was made available to support farmers with a fall in stock. It is
:31:17. > :31:23.not quite a compensation scheme that the Scots have. Officials were
:31:23. > :31:29.asked last week on how they could provide further support to farming
:31:29. > :31:35.businesses and a minister has already spoken on terms of our from
:31:35. > :31:40.burial and the relief that is being given their. We will seek moves to
:31:40. > :31:44.bring forward the individual farm payment to October. In terms of
:31:44. > :31:47.what is being done to help farmers and Wales, we believe help has been
:31:47. > :31:52.provided. We are working with farming charities in order to
:31:52. > :31:59.assist them with the work that they are doing. It would not be correct
:31:59. > :32:07.to say that there is a compensation scheme, it is rather more
:32:07. > :32:10.complicated than that. What discussions has the First Minister
:32:10. > :32:13.had with the the UK government in relation to the call for UK
:32:13. > :32:20.constitutional Convention? I have had an exchange in correspondence.
:32:20. > :32:22.It was not angry. That was over my call for a convention. We agreed
:32:22. > :32:26.that there should be a constitutional convention but we
:32:26. > :32:28.disagreed over the timing. I would have preferred to have such a
:32:28. > :32:36.convention before the Scottish referendum but he thinks should
:32:36. > :32:39.take place afterwards. I was very pleased that the proposal for a
:32:39. > :32:43.constitutional convention was backed by Westminster's
:32:43. > :32:47.constitutional committee. Does the First Minister agree that it is
:32:47. > :32:52.important that such a convention it should meet swiftly and before the
:32:52. > :32:56.Scottish referendum, Aziz said, so that a positive alternative view of
:32:56. > :33:00.the future shape of the UK years on the table before such a vote takes
:33:00. > :33:05.place? I think that is by far the most sensible approach. I don't
:33:05. > :33:08.think it will happen, sadly. Looking at the opinion polls in
:33:08. > :33:14.Scotland, it seems clear to me that the appetite for independence is
:33:14. > :33:17.not strong but there is never less an appetite for greater devolution.
:33:17. > :33:22.Putting in place a robust offer in terms of devolution for Scotland
:33:22. > :33:32.and elsewhere in the UK could have helped immensely in terms of
:33:32. > :33:36.offering Scotland, not just Scotland, a secure Future. The UK
:33:36. > :33:40.is not the only country in the world that is looking at the shape
:33:40. > :33:43.of its future constitution at the moment. Will the convention be
:33:43. > :33:47.adopting lessons from other countries and other regions in the
:33:47. > :33:52.developed world in deciding how it will actually take any of this work
:33:52. > :33:57.forward? It is difficult because the UK is quite different in the
:33:57. > :34:01.sense that it is a kind of federal state and yet it is not. It has a
:34:01. > :34:05.wholly unwritten constitution which can be an advantage. The cat Spain,
:34:05. > :34:10.where the constitution is written, it is far more difficult to effect
:34:10. > :34:13.greater devolution around Spain, which makes it difficult in terms
:34:13. > :34:15.of being flexible in the level of devolution that people are
:34:15. > :34:22.comfortable with in different parts of that country, where those
:34:22. > :34:27.lessons could be learnt I am sure a convention would look at them but
:34:27. > :34:34.the UK is an unusual situation in terms of its constitution and its
:34:34. > :34:37.make-up as a state. First Minister, wouldn't you agree that they can
:34:37. > :34:41.mention of this sort would work better if some of the issues that
:34:41. > :34:48.have yet to be devolved and yet to be revolved - a resolved in terms
:34:48. > :34:51.of devolution were resolved. For example the funding floor and the
:34:52. > :34:55.borrowing powers for the Welsh government. In which sequence do
:34:55. > :34:58.you place this different issues? I believe the people of Wales would
:34:58. > :35:02.be more willing to involve themselves in a convention if they
:35:02. > :35:07.could see that the current situation had been properly
:35:07. > :35:12.resolved. The convention should not be something that is instead of
:35:12. > :35:16.silk but something that comes after it. In my opinion we should ensure
:35:16. > :35:20.that part one of Silk is moved forward and then that is the most
:35:20. > :35:25.important thing and then we moved to part to which according to the
:35:25. > :35:29.timetable we now have, we will look at devolution across the United
:35:29. > :35:36.Kingdom to ensure a settlement in all parts of the United Kingdom
:35:36. > :35:41.which is more secure than we have at present. One of the major issues
:35:41. > :35:44.of any constitutional convention would be to give coherence to
:35:44. > :35:48.justice and prisons policy. The Ministry of Justice Sneinton of
:35:48. > :35:52.Wales as one of three areas in the running for a new prison which
:35:52. > :35:56.could be worth over �70 million at 1,000 jobs to the local economy.
:35:56. > :36:02.Could you identify what work the Welsh government is doing to bring
:36:02. > :36:05.a new prison to the region? We have consistently made the case that a
:36:05. > :36:11.prison is needed in the North to allow more prisoners to serve time
:36:11. > :36:14.in Wales. I wrote to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of
:36:14. > :36:17.State for the Ministry of Justice on Friday following a property
:36:17. > :36:20.search by our officials. There are a number of sites in Welsh
:36:20. > :36:30.government ownership which could meet the broad requirements and we
:36:30. > :36:30.
:36:31. > :36:36.felt that the main candidate among those sites are was in Wrexham.
:36:36. > :36:42.Isn't the strongest argument in favour of a convention that one
:36:42. > :36:47.would have to have some sort of convention, whatever the outcome of
:36:47. > :36:53.the Scottish referendum would be. Clearly, the UK government, and the
:36:53. > :36:57.Scottish government, are going to have to negotiate the terms of
:36:57. > :37:03.their relationship, whatever the outcome? Wouldn't it be wiser,
:37:03. > :37:06.therefore, for the first ministers and the prime ministers of the UK
:37:06. > :37:11.to come together and to agree on this and to accept the suggestion
:37:12. > :37:16.made by the First Minister of Wales that recommences work as a matter
:37:16. > :37:20.of urgency. That would be entirely sensible in my opinion. At present
:37:20. > :37:25.we know what the opinion is of the Prime Minister of the United
:37:25. > :37:29.Kingdom. Even though I haven't asked to this of Alex Salmond, I
:37:29. > :37:36.know his opinion that we do not need a British constitution because
:37:36. > :37:39.Scotland may not be a part of the United Kingdom next year, so the
:37:39. > :37:44.situation is very complex in Northern Ireland but it is entirely
:37:44. > :37:48.correct to say that we will need a convention after the referendum in
:37:49. > :37:53.Scotland whatever the result is. Will the first minister make a
:37:53. > :37:56.statement on ambulance waiting times in South Wales Central?
:37:56. > :38:01.Response times are variable and that much had to be acknowledged.
:38:01. > :38:05.We have said at that improving the quality abandon its response is one
:38:05. > :38:10.of our main priorities and we know there is support for this notion. I
:38:10. > :38:15.can say that the minister is awaiting a report which is due to
:38:15. > :38:18.be submitted tomorrow as I mentioned earlier. The statistics
:38:18. > :38:23.speak for themselves but you don't seem to have wanted to engage about
:38:23. > :38:26.that. I want to talk to that an individual who wrote to me to tell
:38:26. > :38:31.me that on Mother's Day his mother fell and fractured her solder --
:38:31. > :38:34.shoulder and she was left lying on a pavement in the sub-zero
:38:34. > :38:38.temperatures for one-and-a-half hours, waiting for an ambulance
:38:38. > :38:43.with potential spinal injuries. Will you write to my constituents
:38:43. > :38:50.and explain to him what has gone wrong and apologise to him for his
:38:50. > :38:53.mother's appalling experience. course, if you provide me with
:38:53. > :39:01.information, and the nature of the complaint I will be more than happy
:39:01. > :39:07.to investigate that. First Minister, we are aware of many of the
:39:07. > :39:10.problems and we eagerly await the report. In progressing matters and
:39:10. > :39:14.is during the ambulance service does progressively become better,
:39:14. > :39:17.one of the key things that must be done is proper engagement in
:39:17. > :39:21.discussion with other people on the ground themselves, the drivers and
:39:21. > :39:26.a staff of the ambulances. Will you be meeting with in the ambulance
:39:26. > :39:32.staff and personnel to discuss their per exception of the problems
:39:32. > :39:35.and also any recommendations that may come forward? -- perception.
:39:35. > :39:42.These are matters for the minister involved and I am certain that he
:39:42. > :39:45.will want to gain a wide variety of views before taking matters further.
:39:45. > :39:49.First Minister, ever since I have been an assembly member there have
:39:49. > :39:55.been issues that ambulance response times in this assembly, raised by
:39:55. > :39:58.members from across the whole of Wales, and you have Commission
:39:58. > :40:03.close to one dozen reports since devolution started into the
:40:03. > :40:07.ambulance started. You talked earlier in response to the leader
:40:07. > :40:11.of the Welsh Liberal Democrats that you need to make assessments. What
:40:11. > :40:15.assessment has your government made of the changes that are not
:40:15. > :40:21.required to make the real improvements in ambulance response
:40:21. > :40:24.times that patients and clinicians need here in Wales, rather than by
:40:24. > :40:28.2015 or 2016 and then us getting another report into ambulance
:40:28. > :40:33.response times. Few other government and the executive
:40:33. > :40:37.leaders and it is time to sort the mess out. We await a tomorrow's
:40:37. > :40:40.report. That said, I cannot say to the chamber that the Government is
:40:40. > :40:45.content with ambulance response times because that clearly is not
:40:46. > :40:49.the case. We have seen issues regarding ambulances waiting too
:40:49. > :40:52.long at a ENT departments and I have also heard many instances of
:40:52. > :40:56.members and others saying they waited too long for an ambulance
:40:56. > :41:01.and I clearly cannot continue in the long term. I am sure this is
:41:01. > :41:03.very much on the minister's lined - - mind.
:41:03. > :41:07.There we are. We'll leave First Minister's Questions there, but
:41:07. > :41:12.don't forget that you can see more coverage of the Assembly online via
:41:12. > :41:14.the BBC Wales Democracy Live page. Let's pick up on some of that with
:41:14. > :41:22.our Welsh Affairs Editor, Vaughan Roderick, who's been watching down
:41:22. > :41:26.in the Bay. Quite a difficult balance of for some of the party's
:41:26. > :41:30.leaders there, but Edgley Plaid Cymru, Labour and the Liberal
:41:30. > :41:38.Democrats in the tributes to Margaret Thatcher. It was difficult.
:41:38. > :41:44.I don't think one of the opposition leaders actually hit quite the
:41:44. > :41:50.right note that Ed Miliband did in Westminster. There was a little bit
:41:50. > :41:54.of sourness around but maybe it was inevitable. I don't think it is any
:41:54. > :41:57.great secret that there was a lot of people in the party's other than
:41:57. > :42:01.the Conservatives in Cardiff Bay who did not feel this was
:42:01. > :42:06.appropriate, that Margaret Thatcher wasn't a member of the assembly or
:42:06. > :42:12.a Welsh politician, why should she be commemorated in this way? They
:42:12. > :42:17.stuck very much to script. Perhaps the most telling failure was a wide
:42:17. > :42:22.shot at the end of the tributes, at the start of a First Minister's
:42:22. > :42:25.questions where you could see Labour and Plaid Cymru Ms pouring
:42:25. > :42:31.into the chamber, having deliberately stayed outside during
:42:31. > :42:35.those tributes. Once we got into the meat of of First Minister's
:42:35. > :42:40.Questions, obviously the issue over measles was one of the issues that
:42:40. > :42:44.was raised. Yes, it was dominated pretty much by health all the way
:42:44. > :42:49.through today. We had ambulance waiting times, we had the question
:42:49. > :42:54.of measles and we have the question of the state of the A&E departments.
:42:54. > :42:57.That is where we were before Easter. The state of the Welsh Health
:42:57. > :43:02.Service is central to the assembly and totally central to Welsh
:43:02. > :43:05.politics at the moment. We heard a lot about the constitutional
:43:05. > :43:09.convention. This is something that Carwyn Jones has said he wants to
:43:09. > :43:14.see for the whole of the UK and looking at this issue of
:43:14. > :43:17.independence in Scotland. Yes, Carwyn Jones was the first person
:43:17. > :43:21.to call for a constitutional convention. He seemed to hint
:43:21. > :43:25.pretty strongly that David Cameron agreed that there should be one.
:43:25. > :43:30.The question is, does that take place before the referendum in
:43:30. > :43:33.Scotland or after. Really does shots will be called by David
:43:33. > :43:37.Cameron and Alex Salmond and his appears that neither of those are
:43:37. > :43:41.particularly keen on a constitutional convention before
:43:41. > :43:45.the referendum. I think it is a bit of a dead rubber but for us
:43:45. > :43:50.constitutional anoraks, the fact that it probably is on the way at
:43:50. > :43:52.some stage is good news. Keep us talking for hours! Thank you very