23/04/2013 am.pm

programme and our weekly coverage of first Minister's questions. The

measles epidemic in Swansea continues to be causing concern

amongst Assembly Members. The latest figures show an increase in the

number of cases. There are also questions tabled for Carwyn Jones on

the changes to Social Security and his government's spending

priorities. That is what is on the mind of AMs but what's on your

mind? Let us know. Whether it's something on the programme or

anything else politics related, we are on Twitter or you can send us an

e-mail. Business has kicked off in the Chamber already so let's go

there now for questions to the First Minister. The National Assembly for

Wales is now in session. The first item this afternoon is questions to

the First Minister. Question one is Paul Davies. Will the First Minister

make a statement on what the Welsh Government is doing to improve

transport connect over tea in West Wales? The national transport plans

set out a number of major road and rail schemes in Wales. They will

improve collectivity in that area. Constituents have contacted me

recently expressing concerns about transport to the team in certain

areas. These legs are important to two is and the Welsh economy as a

whole. It appears that train timetables on the Irish site don't

correspond with the ferry timetables, which makes it difficult

for people to travel. I have written to the Irish government asking them

to deal with the situation but can I ask you whether you would consider

discussing this issue with the government of Ireland to ensure that

the situation is improved? I have asked this informally already and I

have raised this with them. The reason that the station has been

discussed and relation to the morning ferry, is a train link in

the morning but with the later ferry, there isn't that link. This

has been a problem for around 20 years but it isn't a situation that

is beneficial. In terms of people travelling on the trains on that

side of the sea, there are no plans to withdraw that service. Thank

you. First Minister, the work has just been completed on jewel in rail

tracks. I was pleased to visit the bridge to see the works. The impact

of this programme funded by the Welsh Government. Can you give me an

update on whether services will be met with fewer cancellations?

has been agreed is that there will be six trains stopping in every

direction during the week. There will be one service from Cardiff to

Swansea, which will be extended to lie mentally and there will be a

better service which has been agreed with Riva trains without any

additional cost to the taxpayer. That improvement that Keith Davies

has referred to is going to ensure that improved or enhanced train

services can be provided. As he given any consideration to devolving

the functions of network rail, such as the situation is in Scotland? Do

you believe that would lead to further investment in Wales? What

isn't clear is whether that would mean there would be money available

to us to be invested in the railways in Wales. We are looking to support

schemes but it's not clear. Will the First Minister please make a

statement on grass-roots sport participation across Wales?

support the developer to grass-roots sport across Wales. We want to

ensure that young people have good quality opportunities to participate

in a range of sports. I would like to thank him for his answer. Last

week I had the pleasure of hosting an event in the Senedd to mark the

launch of a report covering the first ten years of a McDonald's

grass-roots football partnership, spearheaded by Sir Geoff Hurst and

Ian Rush amongst others. I'm sure that you will share my

disappointment in News of the last 24 hours of the sad demise of

Llanelli AFC but we have seen a number of after-school sports clubs

increase by 12,000. Given the increase in success in Wales's

national football teams, which is to be commended, and the role the

grass-roots sport plays in sustaining that for the future, what

measures is your government prepared to undertake to deliver and ensure

the continuity of that success in the future? The schools and physical

activity work unfinished group -- task unfinished group has been

established. This year sport Wales will invest �5.3 million in the

governing bodies to support grassroots development. That covers

a wide range of sport and I was pleased to be in Newport last

Saturday where I opened the National football Centre at Dragon Park,

which will be a fantastic facility to develop high-level foot all and

in terms of providing access to that high-level for youngsters across

Wales. One of the issues that has arisen recently with schools and

getting kids engaging with playing soccer is the availability of land

unsuitable football pitches. With the growth of demand, local

authorities are doing an excellent job at it seems to be there is an

opportunity for a review of the availability and suitability of

sports pictures with a view to the use of public land and so on.

noticed the member used the word soccer which I think has caused a

frenzy of indignity sometimes. I think we mean association football -

let's be clear. There are difficulties in playing regular

matches, particularly when there is bad weather. Sport Wales are

currently carrying out a mapping exercise of the state of our sports

facilities across Wales and that will help to inform those partner

organisations in the future as to what resources will need to be

invested in order to bring those up to scratch. First Minister, local

amateur sports clubs and leaves in Cardiff are seriously concerned by

the Labour-controlled council decision to impose large increases

at in fees for sports facilities. These will damage grass-roots sports

and send out the wrong message at a time when health is high on the

agenda and we are trying to build on the Olympic legacy. Will the First

Minister join me in condemning these unpopular, unwise and unfair charges

on grass-roots sports in Cardiff? That is a matter for Cardiff

Council. I am and always have been a rugby fan, first and foremost, but I

don't think you need to be a big fan of football to realise the inner

equable treatment it does receive. The Welsh Rugby union reportedly

gave �27 million to grass-roots Welsh rugby clubs, with significant

millions going directly to community rugby. We've heard what you plan to

do to improve the grass-roots football game in Wales but do you

plan on beating with the two Premier League clubs and the football

Association of Wales to see how best your government, and football, can

work together to improve the game for all, to ensure that future

Gareth Bales can stay in Wales? meet with the clubs regularly and I

met with the FA last Saturday and we were able to contribute �400,000 to

the building of Dragon Park, which demonstrates the Welsh Government's

commitment to development in football in Wales. Following David

Cameron's projection of Tanni Grey-Thompson as the chair of us

ought England despite being recommended for the appointment by

the appointing panel, will there be more opportunities for Ross in Wales

to use her in grass-roots sports participation? -- rejection of Tanni

Grey-Thompson as the chair of Sport England. I hope she will be of great

use to us. We would certainly consider the best way to use her

wealth of experience in the future. We now move to questions from the

party leaders and first this afternoon, the leader of the

opposition. First Minister, last week your flagship housing scheme

was cancelled by your government after months of stalling. The day

before, your flagship employment scheme Genesis was scrapped as well

and you chose to break the UK government. Why was your housing

scheme, after months of stalling, shelled last week? Events have

overtaken us in terms of the UK government scheme. Consideration is

now being given to an interim scheme to help those who would have been

helped but clearly the scheme could not continue given the fact that the

housebuilders Federation and the Council of mortgage lenders they

couldn't support it. Thank you but that scheme would have made a

difference in a stagnant housing market where a first-time buyer

today is 36 years old. It cannot be the case that the housebuilders'

Federation did not support the scheme. The managing director of a

building company said they wanted the skin to start on June three and

said he was sure every developer in Wales still supported the scheme.

The Royal certified Institute of surveyors said, " we believe that

this scheme would have worked well in conjunction with the help to buy

as the scheme together would have addressed both the new-build market

and the second home market". Is it not the case that you clearly have

failed to offer any support to the housing market here in Wales and is

it not the case that, again, your government has failed to deliver for

the people of Wales when in your opening remarks to years ago, you

talked about the mantra of delivery for the people of Wales. -- two

years ago. His party introduced the bedroom tax so how can he talk about

putting roofs over people's heads? The Council of mortgage lenders and

the house builders Federation both said in writing, because I've seen

the letters, that they could not support the scheme in its present

guise because of the introduction of the UK scheme. No minister could

ignore that, which is why the Minister made clear that we are now

looking at a different scheme that could be fermented to prove more

attractive to those two bodies. just quoted the regional director of

a building company and he has quoted colleagues of his who shared his

discuss. -- discussed. We've also is shown what the surveyors have been

saying about this scheme. As I said to you time and time again, there is

no change in the mantra of your government and previous Assembly

Government and you are failing to deliver for the people of Wales. The

Scottish Government see no compromise in their scheme and they

are happy to run the two schemes in parallel. Why is it the case that

time and time again when you bring policies forward, they fall at the

first hurdle? �36 million last week shelved because of the Genesis back

to work programme failure and the house builders are having to face

the same inadequacies from your government. Is it not quite simply

that as the regional director of Red Row Homes said, it simply is not

good enough? If the director of Red Row Homes disagrees with

Housebuilders' Federation, he should say so. Either the Housebuilders'

Federation cars in some way untruthful or they are not

representing their members. That is something for them and Red Row

Homes. We will consider it as we continue scheme in place. We have

all seen what happens when his party runs things in London. We all see

the mess that's been made of the economy. The real problem with the

housing market is that people don't have access to credit, don't have

money, can't buy houses, and that's all down to his party. The leader of

Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood. First Minister, the secretary of state

tells us that there is a recovery taking place in Wales. However the

shadow secretary of state for Wales says that Wales's living standards

have fallen and have been falling faster than almost every other part

of Europe. Can you tell us, who do you agree with - your spokesperson

in Westminster or the UK government? I'm always asked to

agree with somebody in Westminster. I agree with the secretary of state

in terms of what he says about the economy. One of the biggest tests

the leader of the opposition will face is when and if his party decide

to support the abolition of stand duty. We could do a tremendous

amount with stamp duty to help the housing market. Will his party

deliver on it? We will wait and see whether he can deliver on something

that he supported or will his secretary of state leave him high

and dry? The reality is, with the reality is that the economy has

faced since 2008, the leader of Plaid Cymru will be fully aware of

what we have done to assist people. Under employment is part of the

productive gap in Wales that only leaves 134,000 people are under

employed, an increase of 50,000 since before the recession began.

These are hard working people who want to work or people doing jobs

for which they're overqualified. If our country cannot reach its

potential at all, if our people are not reaching their potential. A

Plaid Cymru government would work with businesses to help with child

care and fight for research and development jobs and work with small

businesses to create work. What are you doing to tackle this problem?

All these things. When we look at the past, I do believe Plaid Cymru

are guilty of some kind of amnesia, because they were in charge then.

She asked about qualifications, we have the apprenticeship schemes and

we have finance Wales the the growth fund and loans to SMEs and the

Digital Development Fund and we saw good news yesterday with the

announcement by Ford and we have helped Airbus and of course we will

be supporting Horizon as they place jobs in Anglesey. It is good to hear

you're supporting so many of Plaid Cymru's ideas. A survey by the

Federation of Master Builders said the construction industry is more

positive about the future of the economy. It is good news which could

be related to the Welsh Government's announcement in support of Plaid

Cymru's plan to have better use of the public pound. But the BBC

reports only two out of 22 local authorities in Wales are meeting

these public procurement standards. First Minister, are you now prepared

to fully back Plaid Cymru's proposals and agree to legislate to

improve public sector procurement. Sometimes it is like those people

who turn up at a bar and they're always late and say, I'm too late to

buy the round. None of these are Plaid Cymru idea, the apprentice

ship is not a Plaid Cymru idea. But I'm surprised to hear that support

for Wylfa B is a Plaid Cymru idea. That is something new. If that is

the situation, I very much welcome that. It would provide jobs in

Anglesey and beyond and we are committed to supporting it. As I

have said many times, there are many schemes in place helping businesses

in Wales and we see examples such as Ford yesterday and where more than

500 jobs were preserved as a result of Welsh Government action working

with that company. Now the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. First

Minister, could I return to the issue of help for first time buyers?

English first time buyers had a scheme announced by the Westminster

Government, discussions between Welsh Liberal Democrat and your

Government on a scheme for Wales started in January 2012 and in May

2012 you announced help would be available. 12 months down the line,

that scheme has collapsed. Why has it taken you 12 months to provide

help that first time buyers need and now that you have made reference to

an interim scheme, will you assure us that first time buyers won't have

to wait another 12 months. reality is that there was a

substantial amount of discussion with lenders in Wales and a lot of

work put in to put a scheme in. The scheme was scheduled for 3rd June.

The UK scheme then of course superseded the original scheme. But

I can say that we are now looking to see what scheme might be put in

place that would be workable as for as the council of mortgage lenders

are concerned. It is crucial you have a good working relationship

with potential house builders. You will be aware of the disappointment

expressed by Red Row about the collapse of the scheme and are you

aware that Taylor Wimpey on their web-site is still advertising a

scheme that your Government scrapped? What discussions have you

had with those people that will build these homes to ensure that we

won't see another fiasco and this interim scheme not developing into

real help? It comes down to question as to whether the householder --

house builders federation have represented the view of their

members. I have seen what has been put down, Read Row have said

something different and that is a matter for them to take up with the

house builders federation. We have to talk to the industry body. It is

useful to know there are companies who are willing to work towards a

new scheme. That is something we will with talk -- be talking to them

about. I am not clear why you have to speak exclusively to the industry

body and not to individual construction companies. So far today

we have established that it has taken your Government a year to do

nothing. And that tit has collapsed because another government has dared

to come up with something better. That aside, and given your

announcement on an interim scheme today, when will Welsh first time

buyers and the construction industry see a scheme up and working in

Wales, a simple date would be a very acceptable answer. Of course, they

will have access to the UK scheme. We work with the, with those in the

industry to make sure we have a workable scheme. The only thing I

have to say is who do you expect us to talk to, if not the industry

body. It is a simple assumption to assume they will represent their

members. Now to questions on the order papers. Well the First

Minister detail what lessons have been learned from the the failure of

Genesis Two programme? That is part of arrangements being taken forward

with local authorities and those arrangements will be evaluated this

year to see better delivery from 2014. Thank you. Lessons do need to

be learned. If you look at the figures behind the project, they are

staggering, only 5% of original tar get of helping 20,000 people into

work has been reached. It is not surprising your Government has

pulled the plug on this scheme. How can the people of Wales have

confidence in you and the Welsh Government that other schemes being

run by the Welsh Government in terms of employment are fit for purpose

and not falling at the first hurdle like Genesis Two. Jobs worth Wales

is a success. That is one example among many of where this Government

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 50 seconds

regional variations between the areas this scheme is operating? I

have been approached by people who feel it was making a big difference

and others felt it was making less of a difference. What lessons can be

learned about the difference between different urban and rural locations

in the delivery of the scheme? important that we examine why and

the member is right, there was a difference in terms of the numbers

being assisted through the scheme in different parts. As part of the

discussions with the local authorities and as part of thinking

on the way forward, that disparity will be examined in order to make

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 50 seconds

sure it does not happen to the same comparable EU figures shows is

although youth unemployment in Wales was far lower than in the borrow,

bust and bailed out nations in Greece and Spain, it was higher than

the EU average and the UK average. The latest figures show it is still

2. 5% higher than in England. For what consideration has the Welsh

government given to intergrating its on initiatives with those provided

on a UK basis in order to get best bank for the buck? The member

assumes the UK Government would want to see that sbe fwrags. --

integration. But the Secretary of State for education said he wanted a

separate qualification. What I can say in terms of informing member

what is has been... Other issues being taken forward, during the

apprenticeship work the deputy First Minister announced plans for an

additional 40 million for the programme in Wales. A one-off

payment for small businesses to cover the time and cost they said

were a barrier to recruiting apprentices and money to support

those who want to complete their training in waesh. -- Welsh. There

is a comprehensive package in place to help young people to get

employment. But we don't underestimate the scale of the task.

What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the UK

Government regarding post offices. We have had no discussion in the

last six months. Thank you. The post office in Rhyl is under threat of

being moved from a crown post office to that of a franchise. This is part

of crown post office attempts to what they say down size their

operations. The crown post office in Rhyl is vital to not the centre of

Rhyl, but to people in the area who have no access to internet and it is

in the poorest part of Wales and a lot of people use it. I stood with

the CWU members who walked out as part of their protest at what the

crown post office is trying to do. I received a lot of support from

people who want to see the post awes if kept open. What cannure

Government do to persuade those in the UK Government to listen to

people of Rhyl? It is a nod vaulter matter but what we are informed is

that the location of any franchise office would depend on the retail

partner. -- a non-devolved matter. I see no argument being put forward in

favour of change. I'm sure that's something that concerns not just

those who work at the Crown Post Office in real that the people of

Rhyl themselves and until such an argument is made with some

conviction, then I believe things should remain as they are. -- in

Rhyl. What specific actions has your government taken to ensure as many

public services as possible are delivering throughout post office

network? We have the post office diversification awards, which have

helped greatly over the years. The awards for the October 2012 rounds

were awarded recently. We have assisted post offices in terms of

their diversification. It can be difficult because so much business

is now conducted online. Rather than try to turn the clock back, what's

important is that post offices are able to find you sources of business

and thrive as a result. -- new. have a similar problem to the issue

that Anne Jones has raised in Neath. Some people say that it was put out

to the retail sector, that would be tantamount to marketisation of the

post office network. I wondered whether you had any discussions with

the UK government in regards to looking at alternative models, be it

some kind of works' buy-out, where the cashier's could have some kind

of vested interest. -- workers' buy-out. I think there is merit in

that. But this is not a matter that we have control over. But I do think

it's important where consideration is being given to the change of

business model that full consideration is to alternative

models. Once that we know are workable. They might well include

the model number has described. may be aware that a number of local

authorities in England are working with the post office to deliver a

wide range of services through local branches. This is a marvel which is

being actively marketed by the post office. Would this be transferable

to Wales? If it was, it would help to guarantee the future of a large

number of post offices while enabling a more efficient and

accessible delivery of local government services. It is

potentially transferable. It's a for local authorities in terms of how

practical such a scheme would be and how they would seek to implement it.

But if there are authorities in Wales that would consider such a

scheme, it's something we would certainly look to encourage them to

take forward. Could the First Minister confirm the position of the

Welsh Government is taking regarding the post office network and a

potential tie in with credit unions and whether those discussions are

not only taking place with the UK government and also directly with

the post office itself, especially on having a common IT platform?

These matters would help to sustain credit unions' sustainability in the

future. About 15 years ago we saw a substantial number of branch closes

and post offices were able to offer banking facilities in communities

that had lost the bank services. This would be a natural step forward

for me in terms of the ability to provide fair financial services to

those who live in those communities. What discussions as the Welsh

Government had with local authorities regarding changes to

Social Security? We've had considerable discussion with VW

nanograms, the local authorities involved in the UK government's

involved in the welfare reforms. We want to mitigate where we can impact

of those changes on Wales. Thank you. No doubt you will be aware that

some local authorities in other parts of the UK have already said

they intend to adopt and no eviction policy for those who suffer the

consequences of the bedroom tax and, of course, your government has set a

great deal about the bedroom tax in this Chamber and outside. Will you

tell us which social landlords in Wales are also going to adopt this

policy? That is a matter for local authorities to decide and I well

understand the thinking behind the no eviction policy but it is for

each local authority to decide how it wishes to approach this

inequitable situation. Some 91,000 people on the housing list in Wales

in the 2011 census. It shows many households classed as overcrowded.

In my constituency, I see many families absolutely desperate for

appropriate sized accommodation and your road housing minister in

London, in the last government, said, " we have reiterated time and

again the need to ensure that houses that are too large for people's

current needs are allocated accordingly". However here, we hear

constant scaremongering and only yesterday I note that one of your

own departments is now using the Labour pejorative, negative spin

classed as bedroom tax. The spare room subsidy is the UK

government's... Are you coming to the question? Would you please get

to it? First Minister, instead of carping, whingeing and criticising

the UK government for actually taking proactive steps, what is your

government doing to actually help these families in need? I am truly

astounded, I have to say, by that question. I can only assume the

member has not had people coming to a surgery, sometimes in tears, who

were being affected by the bedroom tax - and we use that term because

that's what people call it. We are not going to hide behind

bureaucratic jargon. To say on one hand this is a situation where we

whingeing and on the other ask what we can do to help these people

strikes me as an incredible attitude take. There are many thousands in

Wales who will find themselves in a situation where they can't afford to

sustain accommodation, put food on the table, cannot afford the

everyday necessities of life, purely because of the vindictiveness of her

party, while at the same time millionaires get a tax freeze. We're

all in it together, they say. Well, just to adapt what George Orwell

said, we're all in it together but some people - particularly at the

bottom - are more in it than others. Will he make a statement on his role

in determining the spending priorities of the Welsh Government?

I am ahead of the government so I clearly a key role. As a result of

your government's decision that you read, the NHS is facing the biggest

cuts in its history. The health trust that serves my constituency is

having to find savings of �1.5 million per week in this current

financial year. How do you expect them to meet that savings target,

given that they have already chopped back significant services which are

available to the public and that their reorganisation plans are not

about saving money. I seem to be astounded a lot this afternoon but I

am again. We have been upfront in terms of the challenges we faced

financially. His party has hidden. It has claimed that its increased

spending on health but instead, it's cut spending on health and been

found out by those bodies that monitor government. That's the

reality of the situation. We have sought to protect the health service

as best we can. Yes, it is a challenge but the reality of the

situation is that his party has no alternatives. Instead it says we

should increase Campbell tax by 20%, but education by 20%, cut services

by those who are poorest. -- increase council tax and cut

education by 20%. We'd love to know how they can do it. We have sought

to protect the health service as best we can, given the resources

that we have, whereas his party has done its best to pull the wool over

people's eyes and whenever this is pointed out to them, they whinge and

bone and whenever this is pointed out to them, they win Jan Bowmen

tried to show people down. The people of Wales know who is

responsible for the problems and the party opposite will find out in

2015. -- they whinge and moan. week, a 1200 -year-old tree, one of

Europe's oldest, and an icon of the heritage, collapsed. Will you look

at the priorities of natural resources in terms of the priority

of Heritage trees across our country, examining the strengthening

of tree preservation orders or advice for owners, and whether it

could help preserve things for the future? I understand what mechanisms

are available is currently being investigated. Depending on the

conclusions, we will look at what appropriate changes to legislation

may be required and if they are, they will be brought forward as soon

as possible. Let's leave first Minister's

questions there but you can see more coverage of the Assembly online via

the BBC Wales Democracy Life page. Let's pick up on some of that with

our Welsh affairs editor who has been watching down in the bay. What

did you make of that? It was very much a mixed bag. No great themes

coming out. A lot of argy-bargy around UK issues like the bedroom

tax and government spending cuts from Westminster. I suppose if there

was a theme, it was the issue Kirsty Williams and Andrew RT Davies went

on which is the cancellation of the scheme to help first-time buyers in

Wales. But government says that industry support had disappeared

because of the introduction of a UK scheme. The opposition crowed

builders who say they still wanted it. I have to say there were letters

which the BBC has seen that made it clear from the industry bodies that

they felt the scheme couldn't continue, so I think that's why

Carwyn Jones was referring to this issue of whether the builders should

really be taking it up with their trade bodies and what their trade

bodies were saying to the government, rather than complaining

about the government. It was interesting because it was too

different arguments, and both seemed very sure of their own ground.

That's right. Companies like Red Row have said what they have said the

government says that flatly contradicts what the government was

told by the industry trade bodies. You have to take your choice of what

happened here but it seems either that the builders didn't want it but

didn't want to be seen to be criticising or abandoning it in

public, or there was some disconnect between what their trade bodies were

telling the Welsh Government and what they were telling the trade

body. Interesting on benefit reform, as well, I thought. A full throttle

defence of the Conservative policy of the spare room subsidy, as she

calls it, and of course that discussion from Carwyn Jones about

the bedroom tax. He wouldn't be Jordan on the no hyphen eviction

policy, though. What I found interesting was the framing and the

wording of this. Those of us who remember the arguments surrounding

the poll tax /community tax charge will remember how important it was

in that that the then Labour opposition managed to get it called

the poll tax on the streets rather than community charge. That's

exactly what's happening here and it does seem that it's the bedroom tax

word that is catching on, much to the conservatives' shag run because

strictly speaking, it isn't a tax. Another message that language is

important. Thank you very much. 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 more on Welsh politics before them, join me for