18/06/2013 am.pm


18/06/2013

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our weekly coverage of First Minister's Questions. There's a mix

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of topics on the agenda today, with assembly members asking about NHS

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waiting times, animal welfare and Wales' links with Cuba. That's what

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the politicians are talking about, but what do you want to talk about?

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If you want to comment on anything on the programme, or any other

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political news, get in touch with us. Well, the First Minister is

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already on his feet, so let's go over now to chamber.

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The National Assembly for Wales is now in session. I would like to take

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the opportunity to congratulate Iestyn Williams -- Esther Williams

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on being awarded the CBE in the Queens birthday honours list. Many

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congratulations, Kirsty. No special favours though! The first item this

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afternoon, questions to the First Minister. Rebecca Evans. What action

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is the word government taking to support the millennium goals of the

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United Nations? We have supported many thousands of people across

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Wales to work together through community and hospital projects,

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making a real difference to people in sub-Saharan Africa.

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particularly proud that we are leading the way in terms of fair

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trade programmes. Will you explore how we can lead the way in terms of

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enabling disabled people here and in the developing world to benefit from

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the international links? We will indeed look at that. It has been of

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great benefit to schools, two Welsh managers and leaders. Just over 100

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have been involved in projects. I have met so many of them over the

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years, particularly medics of different professions. We want to

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make sure the links are as strong as possible and involve as many people

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as possible. First Minister, one of the United Nations millennium goals

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is the promotion of gender inequality and empowerment of women.

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Rape crisis has said many women in Wales have to deal with the legacy

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of sexual violence without any support due to the standard and

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availability of services. Will the First Minister address this by

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ensuring that specialist sexual support services across Wales will

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feature in the forthcoming Bill? have the violence against women and

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domestic abuse Bill. Of course, one of the greatest barriers that will

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be erected in terms of women getting justice will be the lack of access

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they will have two legal aid in years to come. Either because they

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are not eligible as individuals or are not eligible are able to get

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advice because of the fairly ludicrous contracting system that

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has been put in place. Member -- the member is shouting that is not true.

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I can assure him, I know more about it than he does. Many women will not

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get justice in the future because they will not have access to legal

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aid. SPEAKS IN WELSH.

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update on the Welsh government's response to ash dieback? Yes, the

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most recent discovery was detected during a routine inspection at ferry

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side. Thank you for that answer. The Forestry Commission warned that the

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spread of ash dieback is unstoppable. Do we have a management

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plan in place? Can I have an update on how much recently planted in fact

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that has been removed, and have the protected zones being -- of the

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protective zones been established yet? Can I have an update on the

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embargo is regarding ash saplings and trees like Chestnut? Can I ask

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the Minister to working with natural resources Wales to create an ash

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dieback app to help people to report the disease? We have the management

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plan. It does highlight the potential benefits of removing

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potentially infected ash. The information... We know that removals

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are taking place. In terms of sweet chestnut, particularly sweet

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chestnut blight, there is no indication it is present in Wales at

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the moment. An investigation of recent findings in England are being

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conducted. An app has been developed by the Forestry Commission on the

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reporting of tree diseases, which originally included information only

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and ash dieback. It has been expanded to include information on

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other pests and diseases. There are no plans to produce an app for

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Wales. First Minister, you will know that there are vast numbers of

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history to be felled in Wales. Have you made plans for the use of this

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timber? That is a matter for those who are selling the timber. It is

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not known if that timber can be used in a normal way. Clearly, if there

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is a market for that timber, that will be the case.

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds

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SPEAKS IN WELSH. leaders. First we have the leader of

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Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood. Before I ask my questions, I would like to

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pay tribute to -- on behalf of all members of Plaid Cymru to my

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predecessor, Ian Wynne Jones, for all of the work he has done for this

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institution. For his determination to tackle the problems in this

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economy. And for all he has done to build this country of ours. And now

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to my questions. First Minister, wages have fallen in value by 8% in

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real terms since 2007. I would agree with one of your backbenchers, who

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said this morning that austerity is not inevitable, it is a political

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choice. That is why Plaid Cymru supports the TUC campaign for a

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future that works. First Minister, do you back the Wales TUC campaign?

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And if you agree that austerity is a political choice, can you please

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explain why your party will stick to Tory spending plans if elected to

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Westminster in 2015? Can I join with the leader of Plaid Cymru and pay my

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tributes to Ieuan Wyn Jones? He is somebody I have the utmost respect

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for and I wish him well in his future develop -- in his future. As

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far as my party is concerned, Westminster is in a difficult

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position in terms of the decisions it will have to take. As a Welsh

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government we do not agree with the programme of austerity that is being

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propagated by the Tories and the Lib Dems in London. We do not see that

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the evidence is there that shows what they are doing is working. We

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have put in place a number of programmes to mitigate the effects

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of what is being presented to us. But First Minister, you and your

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party cannot have it both ways. Labour cannot oppose austerity here

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and supported in London. You warn us about the effect of courts because

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of next week 's comprehensive spending review, yet Labour will not

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even commit to scrapping the bedroom tax. Labour wants to see a regional

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benefit on Social Security in Wales. Why is your party proposing a

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regional development which will mean disabled and unemployed people in

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Wales will get less money than people in the same circumstances in

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other parts of the UK? I have seen no evidence to suggest my party

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supports a as a matter of policy. suggest you would read your various

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ministers speeches, First Minister. Wales has been described as the poor

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man of Europe. The rest of the world is moving ahead so fast that if we

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do not start catching up, the legacy we will leave our children is a

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hopeless wasteland. Those are not my words but the words of Welsh

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broadcaster Vincent Kate -- Vincent Kane. Is he right and how will you

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stop his prediction? My party does not have any ministers in London. We

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do have ministers in Wales. No ministers have used such words. I do

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not believe in the gloom written description which she has given of

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the Welsh situation. She will know the schemes that have been put in

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place. The Wales economic front, the digital development fund, the life

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sciences fund... The appointment this week of the first professor to

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be appointed. Levels of unemployment have the creased. There is a long

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way to go but this government is proactive. She also says, why can't

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I have it both ways? There are several different views within Plaid

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Cymru. It would be useful for us to know if they support the

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establishment of the new reactor. now move to the leader of the

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opposition. Thank you, presiding officer. If I could join the

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sentiments expressed about the leader -- about the member for

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Anglesey. I have had the pleasure of sitting in this chamber for five

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years with him. I have known him to be a very competent minister, who

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delivers on what he says. Also a colleague who said on committees and

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has always worked in the best interests of his constituents and

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indeed Wales. He has had the opportunity to sit in Westminster

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and the assembly. A measure of his success is the progress he has made

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in moving many good causes in Wales and advancing because of Wales in

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the United Kingdom and Europe. I share the tributes. I also join in

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the congratulations to the leader of the Liberal Democrats on the honour

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given in the Queens honours list. -- Queen's 's point is that such

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importance attached on the setting of targets with regard to the

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delivery of public services? Can I join you in your comments about the

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leader of the Liberal Democrats. I have to remember that when we pay

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tribute to people sometimes, they are in fact alive. The political

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tribute are important. But I know that he has much to contribute yet

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to the public life of Wales. It is important, of course, that we have

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milestones and targets to ensure, particularly with regard to health,

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that progress can be measured. work in the drawing our attention to

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health. We know that cancer waiting times have not been met since 2008.

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AMD response times have not been met since 2009. -- A&E. We learned last

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week there are 7611 people waiting more than 36 weeks for treatment. A

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massive increase in the target. Only recently your comment put much store

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by those targets. We do not know the success of enterprise zones in

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Wales. I was interested in the response to the leader of Plaid

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Cymru, that when you listed your achievements, you did not list

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enterprise zones as being one of those achievements. We fully support

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the introduction of enterprise zones and the benefit they can bring to

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local economies. But we have tried time and time again to try to find

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out what jobs have been created, what new businesses have been

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created, and what investment has gone into enterprise owned in Wales.

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Will you be setting key targets so we can benchmark the success of

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enterprise zones? And if those figures already exist, will you make

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We will not set targets that cannot be met. As far as we're concerned,

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with accident and emergency, we are encouraged by the fact that waiting

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times have decreased, encouraged that ambulance response times have

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decreased, but there is some way to go in meeting targets. Welsh

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enterprise zones, there have been jobs created in many areas. They

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are working very well. He will have seen this week the announcement

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made by Cardiff Bay Aviation Authority. I welcome that, but we

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cannot find out how many jobs are being created. In England, I can

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find out 3,000 jobs are being created. Millions of pounds of

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extra private sector investment has been created. I am saying, from the

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side of the House, we support the introduction of enterprise zones.

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But all we have seen so far, if you take the card of enterprise zone,

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as the Welsh government buying of the space and effectively

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nationalising the office-based market in Cardiff. I note you went

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through your file and did not come up with any specific examples. Will

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you be bringing forward key targets that the people working in the

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:17:33.:17:35.

zones know that we can benchmark everything? In Cardiff, there was a

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recent announcement of 450 jobs. There are 10 job creation inquiries

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in the pipeline. There is interest in the city centre. We have seen

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the acquisition of Callaghan's Square, which is to provide support

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for the enterprise service. I see nothing wrong with that, it ensures

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that there is enterprise available. There will be excellent office-

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based brought to the city centre, and we have the creation of more

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than 200 jobs with Admiral. Do not shout me down, he wanted a list of

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:18:32.:18:38.

things! Order.There is a new �45 million campus. His own is

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maximised. That is enough for now. -- the zone. We now move to the

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Welsh Liberal Democrat leader. Thank you for you kind comments I

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have received over the weekend from colleagues in the chamber, and

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could I take this opportunity to thank a colleague for the personal

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kindness he has always shown to me while we have served here. He has

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been a true and faithful servant to his party and the people of

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Anglesey, and I wish him well in his future endeavours, presiding

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officer. Governments in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland all

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have specific schemes to support farmers operating in hills and

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upland areas. Why is Wills's the only home nation where no such

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support is available? We have a package of so bought from farmers,

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and that is very attractive. Farmers would not swap their

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position in Wales to move to England in that regard. It is also

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the case that we have previously paid farmers their money as quickly

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as possible, which is in contrast to anywhere else in the UK. Last

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week he said DEFRA did not care about a hill farmers, that they

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only cared about arable farms. Why then do they think that English

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upland farmers deserve extra support, whilst you have decided to

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put Welsh farmers at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the EU?

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I do not believe they are at a competitive disadvantage. Welsh

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farming has enjoyed a high level of support from government, through

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subsidy and government in terms of Welsh produce. I remind her that we

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were the first country to ensure that Welsh lamb arrived to in Dubai.

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It is simply a question of being proactive went other governments --

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when other governments in the UK were not being. Proactive? The food

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strategy was published in 2010, and it is now 2013, and you have not

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decided on your strategy. -- on your plan. You blame the weather

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for your Government's per performance in providing health

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care, and the ability to provide tourism. Farming is one area where

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it is rarely affected by the severe weather. There is no reason at all

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why a scheme to support hill farmers cannot be implemented in

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Wales. Will you commit today to implementing the scheme to support

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a stronger rural economy and end a run envious position as the only

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nation in the UK not to support upland farmers? -- end the

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unenvious position. The only year they did not receive their

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financial support, that was when the Liberal Democrats have their

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hands on the levers of payment. They did not pay farmers in plenty

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of time. The evidence is there. Success of the Government's have --

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other governments have delivered. I have improved -- I am police to see

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me improvement in accident and emergency departments. People are

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now waiting less than four hours, but we accept there is a way to go

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yet. Thank you. At the various meetings with the South Wales

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programme, concerns have been raised regarding ambulance waiting

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times. That is related to people waiting in accident and emergency.

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Given the way that the departments are been changed and the reliance

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on the ambulance service in relation to that programme, are you

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confident that if those proposals are brought forward, but accident

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and emergency departments around South Wales will be able to cope

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with the extra demands being put on them as a result of the changes

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being proposed? That is self- evident that that is the case. I do

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not want to discuss the proposals, and they may be decided by the

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Health Minister. With regard to changes, there are a number of

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factors that need to be taken into account, and ambulance response is

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will be one of them. -- responses. Do you realise that one of the

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reasons that accident and emergency departments are finding it

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difficult to hit the targets for the past four years in terms of the

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waiting time targets you have given, do you accept that you're record-

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breaking cuts of over �812 million by the end of the next financial

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year, do you accept that those cuts will make it even more difficult

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for those departments to hit your targets which have not been met for

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four years? We went from 500 million before, which was

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apparently a wrong, then 800 million, which was wrong, now it is

:24:49.:24:59.
:24:59.:25:00.

812 million. If we believe what the Conservatives are saying, there are

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just plucking the figures out of the air. The reality is that health

:25:09.:25:13.

spending in Wales stays constant, and the parties opposite never tell

:25:13.:25:17.

you where the money is coming from. They did not say that there are 20%

:25:17.:25:25.

of teachers and schools... They all was plucked out the figures from

:25:25.:25:28.

thin air, and they never tell the people of Wales how they will pay

:25:28.:25:38.
:25:38.:25:43.

for it. So they will never be in government. I told members are able

:25:43.:25:53.
:25:53.:25:53.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds

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to hear his reply. I found it a Will the first minister make a

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statement on the level of her is building starts in Wales? They were

:26:59.:27:08.

up 6%. You are committed to increasing the number of houses

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built, but according to recent figures, the number of new houses

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started in 2012, -- started in 2012 was less than half of that in

:27:19.:27:28.

2007/2008. Does he accept the concern addressed by the industry

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that he is increasing the burden on the availability of the Welsh

:27:33.:27:37.

housing market, putting Wales at a competitive disadvantage compared

:27:37.:27:47.

to England? That is not so prising that it is less because that was

:27:47.:27:57.
:27:57.:28:04.

before the crash. The -- it isn't He is using out of date figures. If

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he is referring to the sprinkler legislation, he voted for them. His

:28:10.:28:17.

party applauded it. Nick Ramsay stood up and welcome them profusely.

:28:17.:28:27.
:28:27.:28:31.

He cannot have it both ways. At the end of the day, you cannot argue

:28:31.:28:34.

that there is an unproven suggestions that somehow the

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regulation burden in Wales is more, when in fact the main piece of

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evidence used to support but is evidence that his party supported.

:28:42.:28:49.

They cannot get away with that. I remind them time and time again,

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there rightly supported this legislation and cannot back out of

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that now. You will be aware of the new high demand of one and two-

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bedroom properties. How many properties does your Government

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estimate are needed, and how many are they planting -- are they

:29:12.:29:22.
:29:22.:29:25.

planning to create? It will be something around 25,000. That

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cannot be done overnight, but this is a situation created by the UK

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government, and the challenge in the future is to insure there are

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sufficient properties of that size being built. We have ensured that

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there are 249 social houses being built, but there have to be ways of

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coping with the demand and the people of Wales by the UK

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government. It is important for Communities in Rural Wales that a

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housing development other organic and that smaller developments are

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more appropriate, but while they can help young people stay in their

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local communities, the high cost of using -- introducing infrastructure

:30:13.:30:18.

to those can make them not cost- effective. It is pushing the price

:30:18.:30:22.

beyond the reach of the young people who want them. Can you look

:30:22.:30:32.
:30:32.:30:42.

at ways we can help tackle those people buy houses. We are looking at

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her stamp duty can be used in the future. We have said to the

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construction industry we want to use stamp duty constructively to help

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them to provide more houses for people and more opportunities for

:31:00.:31:10.
:31:10.:31:12.

young people to get on the housing ladder.

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds

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Would be First Minister I agree that adults with Asperger's syndrome have

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great difficulty in accessing welfare benefits because of their

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communication problems? It is particularly difficult in the

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present climate because of the difficulty of getting advocates to

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work with them to get those benefits. Yes, I would. Asp urge is

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sits at one end of the state spectrum. -- Asperger's syndrome. It

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is particularly difficult for people with the syndrome to explain their

:33:38.:33:42.

position and to interact with others, to do themselves justice.

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That is why important there are advice and advocacy services are

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available to them. That is why we have made commitments to making sure

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds

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update as to whether the First Minister's delivery unit is being

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progressed? The delivery unit works alongside departments in ensuring

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that cancer patients are seen within the target times. That is one of our

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key commitments. White men's -- In January I asked

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you about the cancer waiting times. You give me a brief answer. Annoying

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question from no doubt an annoying assembly member. You anticipated the

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waiting times would be met by March. Of course, they have not been met.

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You have minister has now gone on to say that he would hope that people

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waiting a diagnosis of cancer would see a diagnosis within ten days,

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which would help to speed up the meeting of these important targets.

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We are talking about people whose lives have been utterly blighted by

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our inability to deliver cancer services on time. Rather than give

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me a glib answer, I would very much like it if your delivery unit would

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actually look at how we can bring the local health boards to seal, and

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get -- local health boards to heal and get the waiting times delivered

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on time. People are waiting tragically too long diagnoses that

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do not help them in the end. member does herself a disservice

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when she annoys herself as annoying. Her answers -- questions

:36:40.:36:44.

are always important and deserve an answer. The Minister has made his

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position very clear. We do understand that there is a need to

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make sure that the targets are met. It hasn't been easy, of course,

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given the financial situation imposed on us by the UK government.

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Nor has it been easy generally in the health service. The Health

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Minister is committed as I am to making sure that waiting times

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improve with regard to cancer. The delivery plans are in the main now

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in place. These are things that will assist people in their journey in

:37:17.:37:27.
:37:27.:37:28.

coping with cancer. White macro -- The Health Minister

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was not surprised --... The Health Minister said he would attempt to

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ensure greater consistency and quality in the plans. We are all

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aware that performance in other aspects of the health service is a

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variable between health boards. Do you think there is a need for the

:37:50.:37:53.

Welsh government to establish mechanisms to ensure that the

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performance of health boards is raised, and that the patient

:37:57.:38:03.

experience is consistent across Wales? Yes. That is why health

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boards have been tasked with producing recovery plans. A 31 day

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target will be met across Wales from this month. The 62 day target will

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be achieved from October. We will provide an assessment of the

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position after the chief executive's reading on June 18,

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today, in fact. We will ensure they are held to those plans.

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First Minister, one of the ways in which we could improve cancer

:38:38.:38:41.

services for my constituents is to allow more people to have

:38:41.:38:46.

chemotherapy closer to their home in their community hospitals, therefore

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taking pressure off some of the regional centres. Harris local

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health board and I are keen to see chemotherapy sessions. We do need

:38:58.:39:01.

capital investment from the Welsh government. The Minister and the

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finance minister have both said they would be happy to look at the

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exciting plans to develop services. Perhaps you would like to join them

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and therefore get a decision on whether the bid for �5 million worth

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of capital funding for the local health board will be successful.

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understand the point of the member is making. If the Minister is

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looking to attend, that will be a matter for him to observe what is

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happening. We have moved away from an exceptionally large

:39:36.:39:39.

hospital-based system of chemotherapy. For understandable

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reasons, it was felled chemotherapy had to take place in a hospital. But

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of course, issues tend to arrive further down the line, not when

:39:52.:39:57.

chemotherapy is being administered. I am sure the Minister will be

:39:57.:40:03.

looking with great interest at the proposals for a land of nod. With

:40:03.:40:05.

the First Minister please make a statement on the Welsh Minister's

:40:05.:40:12.

met and to improving animal welfare? Yes, and animal health and welfare

:40:12.:40:22.

strategy is moving forward across Wales. The work on programmes is

:40:22.:40:25.

continuing. We will leave First Minister 's

:40:25.:40:35.
:40:35.:40:35.

questions. You can see more coverage of the assembly online.

:40:35.:40:41.

Let's talk to our Welsh affairs editor, Vaughan Roderick. Warm

:40:41.:40:49.

tributes for a UI and Wyn Jones, who is standing down? -- I and Wynne

:40:49.:40:56.

Jones. That's right. He is to leave the assembly not, as expected, in

:40:56.:41:01.

2015, but in the next few months to take a job as head of a new science

:41:01.:41:06.

Park in Anglesey. It is a party has campaigned established. The tributes

:41:07.:41:12.

we heard came from all sides. They were genuine. He is well liked. He

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is one of those politicians who has seen his reputation go up as his

:41:16.:41:20.

career has gone ahead, rather than one who has seen his reputation go

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down. Genuine tributes from his own party and the leaders of the other

:41:25.:41:30.

parties in the assembly. Interestingly, this science Park

:41:30.:41:35.

came about from a budget deal between Labour and Plaid Cymru?

:41:35.:41:39.

That's right. It is one of the things that Plaid Cymru as for and

:41:40.:41:49.
:41:50.:41:51.

later agreed to. -- and labour agreed to. I did wonder whether the

:41:51.:41:55.

Tories or the Lib Dems would pick up on that and say there was something

:41:55.:41:59.

fishy about lobbying for a grant and then taking a job from the body that

:41:59.:42:04.

gets it. They do not seem to feel that way. Everybody seems to think

:42:04.:42:10.

the science Park is a good idea and that Mr Wyn Jones is the right

:42:10.:42:14.

person to take up the job. It appears people are not try to make

:42:14.:42:19.

an issue out of that. They may because we now face a rare

:42:19.:42:23.

occurrence in assembly terms, a by-election. He is a constituency

:42:23.:42:29.

member and he will need to be replaced. We have just had the

:42:29.:42:35.

council elections. It will be a seat to watch, wanted? That's right. That

:42:35.:42:41.

may have played a part in his decision. The independent candidate

:42:41.:42:49.

did well. Plaid Cymru did well. The other parties did poorly. That may

:42:49.:42:52.

convince him that he could give up his seat in Anglesey with Plaid

:42:52.:42:56.

Cymru having every chance of holding onto it. I wonder would he have

:42:56.:43:00.

reached the same decision if Plaid Cymru had done badly and the Labour

:43:00.:43:09.

Party had done well? Leanne Wood was quite interesting in what she went

:43:09.:43:16.

after with the austerities programme. Yes, I thought Leanne

:43:16.:43:20.

Wood had a very effective first couple of questions. She was

:43:20.:43:25.

pointing out the difference between what people are saying here and what

:43:25.:43:30.

people like Liam Byrne as saying in Westminster, about a regional

:43:30.:43:34.

benefit tax. She did not quite managed to drive that point home in

:43:34.:43:41.

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