Browse content similar to 26/01/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good afternoon, welcome to the programme and our weekly | :00:24. | :00:25. | |
coverage of questions to the First Minister. | :00:26. | :00:28. | |
Carwyn Jones is scheduled to take questions | :00:29. | :00:29. | |
as usual on a range of topics including questions on economic | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
development, the railways, and doctor recruitment. | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
All three opposition party leaders will ask three questions | :00:38. | :00:39. | |
Before we whisk you off to the Senedd, | :00:40. | :00:49. | |
let me remind you that you can follow all the latest | :00:50. | :00:53. | |
on Welsh politics on our Twitter feed - we're @walespolitics. | :00:54. | :00:56. | |
Well, business in the chamber is already underway, | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
so let's take a look now at today's questions to the First Minister. | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
Good afternoon. Now in session. The first item this afternoon 's | :01:07. | :01:17. | |
questions to the First Minister. First Minister, will you make a | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
statement on what support of the Welsh Government is given to provide | :01:21. | :01:24. | |
community-based treatment to people suffering from eye conditions | :01:25. | :01:31. | |
including age-related macular degeneration. Yes, the new 400,000 | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
pounds investment establishes caring out of hospital settings making it | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
more convenient for people to access the right care at the right place | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
and time. This will be to transfer services away from hospitals. We | :01:48. | :01:56. | |
will be welcoming this recent announcement. I certainly do. Moving | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
services out of hospitals and into people's homes will help them | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
enormously, especially as some of them are already suffering from | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
significant sight loss. But I can I ask you after the results of | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
currently planned schemes published, does the Welsh Government plan to | :02:16. | :02:20. | |
extend these scheme, for example Formica vigilance and across the | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
rest of Wales's yes, the overall aim is to establish models of care that | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
can potentially be replicated across other health board areas, depending | :02:32. | :02:38. | |
on what the evaluation tells us it will be extended to other parts of | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
Wales. There are currently 40,000 people accessing these services in | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
secondary care across Wales and we anticipate there will be a | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
considerable number of these people accessing primary to treatment. 29% | :02:54. | :03:01. | |
of people within the University health or do not have regular two | :03:02. | :03:05. | |
yearly eye tests with one of the primary reasons given that they have | :03:06. | :03:09. | |
not even thought about it or did not see the importance of it. Given the | :03:10. | :03:12. | |
other serious eye conditions that can be detected during a routine I | :03:13. | :03:21. | |
test, how would you work to ensure that we have a better improved | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
uptake of regular eye tests? These things are important as the member | :03:25. | :03:29. | |
has said. We are of course the first country in the world to have an eye | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
care plan, and of course we encourage people to take regular eye | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
tests. Not just to test their eye site, but to detect conditions via | :03:40. | :03:49. | |
such a test. -- not just to test their eyesight. Will the First | :03:50. | :04:00. | |
Minister make a statement on the health provision for people with | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
haemophilia in Wales? We continue to support services within the NHS and | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
the third sector. The Welsh health specialist services committee is | :04:11. | :04:13. | |
working with health boards and undertaking service planning in | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
various areas related to the future provision of services. A lot of | :04:17. | :04:23. | |
progress has been made in Wales with access to the new life transforming | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
drugs for people who have contracted hepatitis C. But there is still an | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
ongoing problem with financial support for people with haemophilia, | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
and the haemophilia community awareness are deeply disappointed by | :04:40. | :04:42. | |
the statement made by the Westminster Government towards the | :04:43. | :04:45. | |
end of last week about changes to the support given to people with | :04:46. | :04:49. | |
haemophilia. Too little, too late and not enough attention to | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
dependents. We'll First Minister personally approach Westminster and | :04:55. | :04:57. | |
speak up for the haemophilia community in Wales to try to get the | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
better settlement after such a blow to the table because community? Yes, | :05:02. | :05:08. | |
I will. We know a huge metal progress has been made in terms of | :05:09. | :05:19. | |
the treatment of -- is due progress in terms of the management of | :05:20. | :05:27. | |
haemophilia. I have been asked to raise an issue with the UK | :05:28. | :05:34. | |
Government. We now move to questions for party leaders. First the Leader | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
of the Opposition. First Minister, tomorrow the Welsh Conservatives | :05:40. | :05:43. | |
have tabled a debate on the local Government settlement and in | :05:44. | :05:46. | |
particular the inability to support rural councils, for example the 4% | :05:47. | :05:55. | |
cut in your facing. The First Minister was unable to confirm | :05:56. | :05:58. | |
whether the local Government settlement was part of the overall | :05:59. | :06:02. | |
budget agreement that you had agreed with the Liberal Democrats. You able | :06:03. | :06:05. | |
to confirm whether you did have agreement with the local Government | :06:06. | :06:08. | |
settlement should have been supported along with the main | :06:09. | :06:12. | |
budget? It is a matter between ourselves and the liberal Democrats | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
in terms of the budget agreements that has been struck. We are | :06:17. | :06:19. | |
confident that the local Government settlement that will be announced as | :06:20. | :06:22. | |
part of the draft budget in due course will be one that will be | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
acceptable. I have to say to the Leader of the Opposition that his | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
party's policy is to further cut local spending as has happened in | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
England. I think it is a legitimate question to ask whether you or your | :06:38. | :06:41. | |
Government is able to confirm whether it was part of the overall | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
budget deal. The public services Minister was unable to confirm that. | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
It shows the chaos and confusion at the heart of the Government when it | :06:51. | :06:53. | |
comes to the budget. When we will look at education, for example, and | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
the Estyn report that is out today, it shows that under 17 years of the | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
leadership of the Labour Government here on education there is still in | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
marked contrast between the quality of teaching and learning. There is | :07:07. | :07:09. | |
still a huge gap between the schools that were doing well and those that | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
are not doing so good, the gap is still considerable. And there is a | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
poll arises in the inspection outcomes for secondary schools. -- | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
depolarisation. After 17 years of Labour running education you're in | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
Wales, do you not think this report is a damning indictment of your | :07:30. | :07:31. | |
failure to improve outcomes in education? I have to say what is | :07:32. | :07:37. | |
agreed between ourselves and the Liberal Democrats is a matter for | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
us. He cannot complain in those circumstances. I bet he hasn't read | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
the Estyn report. Let me remind him what is actually in it. Levels of | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
excellence in primary schools have risen over the last five years. | :07:52. | :07:58. | |
Levels of skills to displaying some excellent has risen. Levels of basic | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
literacy and numeracy are improving. The gap between the price pupils and | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
their peers show the biggest closing of the gap in recent years this | :08:07. | :08:12. | |
year. -- between deprived pupils and their peers. Improvements have been | :08:13. | :08:15. | |
seen this year across the foundation stage and Key stages two and three. | :08:16. | :08:20. | |
The best GCSE results ever, level two inclusive, up 2.5%. You should | :08:21. | :08:28. | |
not have asked the question if you didn't want the answer. 64.4% | :08:29. | :08:38. | |
achieved a star to see in maths. In addition, we are building and | :08:39. | :08:44. | |
improving skills. Over 150 schools across Wales, the 21st century | :08:45. | :08:47. | |
skills programme, and we are proud of what we are doing. The fact is | :08:48. | :08:53. | |
when you internationally benchmark education you're in Wales, when you | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
look at the gap between other part of the United Kingdom where there | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
have been huge improvements of pupils being taught in schools with | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
far greater achievements than the direction your Government has set | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
schools in Wales, we are still lagging behind other parts of the UK | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
and Europe and this report clearly shows this. Another report out today | :09:13. | :09:15. | |
of the Public Accounts Committee report into the sell-off of land | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
that the Welsh Government held on the heart of the Welsh people. When | :09:21. | :09:24. | |
you look at the sums involved, they are actually astronomical. Selling | :09:25. | :09:33. | |
to developers to build houses on. When you look at the Lisvane land, | :09:34. | :09:37. | |
selling for ?2 million and no having a value of ?37 million. The land in | :09:38. | :09:46. | |
Abergele wassail from ?100,000, against ?7,000 that that -- several | :09:47. | :09:55. | |
thousand pounds that is awful. This is money that has been lost from the | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
Welsh first. Do you not think that is a damning indictment of the way | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
your Government and your ministers account to the Welsh people for | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
looking after their assets and disposing of them in such a cavalier | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
fashion? I am not surprised the Leader of the Opposition moved on | :10:14. | :10:17. | |
from education after his after failure to convince the people of | :10:18. | :10:22. | |
Wales of what he sees as failings in the Welsh education system. The | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
Estyn report says quite the opposite if you read it. The situation in | :10:27. | :10:30. | |
England is an unaccountable mess were nobody seems to be accountable | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
for school progress. In Wales we are seeing progress improving in our | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
schools. That is not the case in England. We are building schools, | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
and you're not building schools in England. You dropped it. If you came | :10:44. | :10:49. | |
anywhere near power in Wales, you would not build schools because you | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
have no real stake in the Welsh education system. Let me turn to the | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
issue you raise. It is correct to say that the way the sale was | :10:58. | :11:05. | |
managed fell way below the standards we would expect as the Government | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
and for that we are sorry. The concept was good but the delivery | :11:10. | :11:13. | |
was flawed. Of course the Government will give a full response to the | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
report itself which does raise serious issues we acknowledge in the | :11:18. | :11:28. | |
proper course of time. Leanne Wood. Universities and higher education | :11:29. | :11:31. | |
institutions are the backbone not only of our economy but of our | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
entire country. In your draft budget, you are proposing what is in | :11:36. | :11:41. | |
effect a ?41 million cut to Welsh universities funding. Lastly we have | :11:42. | :11:49. | |
the devastating news about job losses at Tata Steel. There is every | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
possibility that the job losses facing higher education could be | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
greater in number than those announced by Tata last week. And | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
they will impact on almost every community throughout the country. | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
Have you made any assessment as to the number of job losses as a result | :12:10. | :12:23. | |
of that Scott? -- that cut. I do not expect any job losses. It is a small | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
percentage of the total income of higher education in Wales. We know | :12:30. | :12:33. | |
that many institutions have substantial reserves, up to 100 | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
million and many beyond. We know that if the colleges to -- further | :12:38. | :12:47. | |
education colleges... We major at the situation was easier for them. | :12:48. | :12:56. | |
Higher education institutions are a far more robust in terms of their | :12:57. | :12:59. | |
reserves, in terms of the income they can attract. We will listen to | :13:00. | :13:06. | |
them, of course, but nevertheless they have an income. There will be a | :13:07. | :13:16. | |
cut. There is a reduction in the budget according to her own figures | :13:17. | :13:23. | |
from ?129 million this year to ?88 million next year. That cut could | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
translate to a 40% cut to research funding, and that is according to | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
have to go. That will not only result in job losses but also brutal | :13:36. | :13:41. | |
Welsh universities anti-competitive disadvantage when it comes to | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
research. -- will pay Welsh universities at a competitive | :13:47. | :13:51. | |
disadvantage. You will be spending more money on universities outside | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
of whales and you will be spending on the entire higher education | :13:55. | :14:00. | |
budget. Are you prepared to confirm that that is the case? | :14:01. | :14:04. | |
I do not accept there will be any job losses as a result of what is | :14:05. | :14:13. | |
being opposed. Other organisations are expected to draw on their | :14:14. | :14:17. | |
reserves, I fail to see why university should be treated | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
differently. That said, many sectors have found it difficult, but they | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
cannot be immune to cut we are seeing from the UK Government. Their | :14:27. | :14:33. | |
total income is far higher than the income that exists for further | :14:34. | :14:39. | |
education colleges. You want to stop paying the tuition fees of those | :14:40. | :14:43. | |
students in Wales whose choose to study in England which is your | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
party's policy. I do not support that in principle. It is important | :14:50. | :14:55. | |
money follows Welsh students and institutions in Wales must compete | :14:56. | :14:57. | |
for Welsh students rather than having them delivered on a plate. It | :14:58. | :15:05. | |
is important Welsh students have a choice and if they have the chance | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
to go to Oxford or Cambridge, they should go there. Why should they be | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
penalised financially for the fact they would then have to pay between | :15:14. | :15:19. | |
times as much as they pay now? I would not support a situation where | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
we should look at crudely cutting back on tuition fees supports to | :15:25. | :15:30. | |
students from Wales if they wish to study outside of Wales. This | :15:31. | :15:36. | |
questioning session is not about Plaid Cymru's policy. We will have | :15:37. | :15:45. | |
plenty of opportunity to do and discuss that. It is without dispute | :15:46. | :15:52. | |
that you will spend over ?90 million on funding universities outside | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
Wales. For the first time ever that will be more than the entire budget. | :15:59. | :16:07. | |
What is clear is you have no policy beyond the diamond review, you have | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
not confirmed what you will do for student support. The only thing you | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
have confirmed if you want to make this ?41 million cut, which is a cut | :16:18. | :16:24. | |
of 32% to Welsh universities. Do you have any intention of being open and | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
transparent with people about your intentions for higher education | :16:29. | :16:32. | |
before the election next May? Will you start that process by reversing | :16:33. | :16:40. | |
this cut? The leader of Plaid Cymru suggests I am not answering her | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
questions. I am, but she does not like the answers. She dresses up her | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
argument that we are funding universities in England to the June | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
of 90 million. We are funding Welsh students. What she objects to, and | :16:54. | :17:00. | |
it is a matter for her party, is that we should fund Welsh students | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
to study outside Wales, that is what she objects to. I do not agree with | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
that position. I do not think it is right for student in Wales to pay | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
?9,000 in tuition fees, I do not accept that. Secondly, I do not | :17:15. | :17:20. | |
accept students in Wales should be penalised because they study outside | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
Wales or study courses that are not available in Wales. She tries to | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
suggest this money is being given to universities in England, we are | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
giving money to Welsh students to study and escape the debts of their | :17:36. | :17:42. | |
Welsh colleagues. Thank you. We now move to the leader of the Welsh | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
Liberal Democrats. First Minister, today's report demonstrates that | :17:48. | :17:53. | |
schools displaying some elements of excellence are improving, which is | :17:54. | :17:58. | |
good news, but the number of skews that are viewed as unsatisfactory | :17:59. | :18:04. | |
has also increased. The report challenges you and local authorities | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
to identify and support schools that are struggling sooner and earlier. | :18:09. | :18:11. | |
Could you outline how you will address that point? We are seeing | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
some very good improvements across the sector in parts of that scheme. | :18:19. | :18:29. | |
I look that Tony Pandy and their community School has seen an | :18:30. | :18:33. | |
incredible increase in performance in just one year. From our point of | :18:34. | :18:39. | |
view we have put money into the schools that are not up to the | :18:40. | :18:42. | |
standard we would expect and we are seeing results in terms of | :18:43. | :18:47. | |
performance. Local authorities deliver education on the ground. I | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
am glad to see there are fewer local authorities who are the subject of | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
special measures and that will help to strengthen consistency. But the | :18:56. | :19:04. | |
Challenge scheme only tackles specific schools. There are schools | :19:05. | :19:10. | |
that do not get any additional support at all. Those are schools | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
who have been identified as struggling. The question is, why do | :19:16. | :19:22. | |
those schools not receive support and Schools Challenge and schools | :19:23. | :19:27. | |
not under special measures potentially do. The report also says | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
initiatives are only as good as the people who implement them. What are | :19:34. | :19:36. | |
you doing as a government to foster strong leadership and excellent | :19:37. | :19:41. | |
teaching and high aspirations in all of our schools? It is time to | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
establish a Welsh Academy of leadership to promote quality of | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
leadership and help the best leaders to work in the most challenging | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
schools. We are seeing examples of that across Wales at it is. They | :19:55. | :20:04. | |
have the initial responsibility for helping schools and they identify | :20:05. | :20:07. | |
schools quickly and make sure help is made available to those schools | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
in a timely manner and it is for the local authorities to provide that | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
help. The Challenge scheme helps to do that. It would be more useful for | :20:19. | :20:26. | |
us as a government, in terms of providing training, in terms of | :20:27. | :20:29. | |
providing a good package for teachers, if we had control of | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
teachers' pay and conditions. We cannot control it, we cannot control | :20:34. | :20:42. | |
things like that, so to be able to deliver a proper package in terms of | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
pay, conditions and leadership, we would deliver more comprehends of | :20:48. | :20:53. | |
package on top of these other schemes. You may have had the | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
opportunity to have those powers if Owen Smith had not objected | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
wholeheartedly to teachers' pay and conditions being devolved. The one | :21:03. | :21:08. | |
good piece of news in this report, which you referred to earlier, is | :21:09. | :21:15. | |
the closing of the gap between those pupils from our most deprived | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
backgrounds who qualify for free school meals and those who do not. | :21:20. | :21:26. | |
Would you agree that the outstanding success over the last couple of | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
years has been the introduction of the people deprivation ground, won | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
the Liberal Democrats had to persuade you to introduce? I will | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
give her that one in terms of the people deprivation grant. We have | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
seen the results and I have been fairly open about the fact that it | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
was suggested by the Liberal Democrats. It is one element. It is | :21:49. | :21:55. | |
responsible for improvements in some areas. We look at the highest GCSE | :21:56. | :22:01. | |
results ever and that is what we have done as a government. Literacy | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
and numeracy improvement is because of the framework and we are seeing | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
schools in Wales improved year by year which is a tribute to those who | :22:11. | :22:16. | |
work in those schools. It is a tribute to many local authorities | :22:17. | :22:18. | |
who have put in the work to improve schools in their area and it is | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
testament to the fact we have put in over a billion pounds worth of | :22:25. | :22:32. | |
investment so children can expect to be taught in the schools where they | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
want to be taught in, unlike in England where schools are crumbling. | :22:38. | :22:45. | |
Paul Davies. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve the | :22:46. | :22:50. | |
economy of Pembrokeshire? It is a priority for the Welsh Government | :22:51. | :22:55. | |
and we are taking wide-ranging action to improve the business | :22:56. | :22:57. | |
environment for Pembrokeshire and the whole of Wales. TRANSLATION: One | :22:58. | :23:03. | |
way of improving the economy is to ensure the agriculture industry | :23:04. | :23:07. | |
receives the support it deserves. I was very proud to sponsor a | :23:08. | :23:12. | |
breakfast to celebrate Welsh produce and to recognise the significant | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
contribution that agriculture and farming makes to the Welsh economy. | :23:17. | :23:22. | |
Given the importance of the industry to Pembrokeshire and the Welsh | :23:23. | :23:25. | |
economy, tackling bovine TB is crucially important and given that | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
the vaccination programme has failed, what steps is the Welsh | :23:31. | :23:35. | |
Government taking to eradicate this disease? TRANSLATION: This is under | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
consideration at present. What we know is the culling of badgers has | :23:41. | :23:47. | |
no impact. Culling actually exacerbated the problem because of | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
the method used. The vaccination programme has taken place and I know | :23:53. | :23:56. | |
the Minister is now considering how to proceed how to deal with TB and | :23:57. | :24:02. | |
this is a serious matter for the agricultural industry, but it is | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
important we have an effective system to deal with it. TRANSLATION: | :24:06. | :24:13. | |
You will know from your visit to Pembroke Dock last weekend that the | :24:14. | :24:17. | |
people of Pembrokeshire gave a very warm welcome to visitors and the | :24:18. | :24:21. | |
tourism industry is crucially important along with the | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
agricultural industry. Plaid Cymru has announced we will double the | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
budget for tourism in Wales and will give particular emphasis on tourism | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
is one of the mainstays of our economy. What do you intend to do to | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
promote the tourism industry in Pembrokeshire? TRANSLATION: I had | :24:40. | :24:47. | |
thought this was not a question session on the policies of Plaid | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
Cymru, but I will answer that question. Tourism is extremely | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
important and in 2014 it was a record year. 10 million visitors for | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
the first time ever, a 7% increase on international visits. We saw a | :25:02. | :25:07. | |
marketing campaign last year and that generated ?240 million of | :25:08. | :25:16. | |
spending in Wales, 36% up from the previous year. Steps are being taken | :25:17. | :25:24. | |
to develop a strategy for Wales to ensure that people know what Wales | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
has to offer and, of course, this year we have the year of adventure | :25:29. | :25:36. | |
to promote the outdoor sector. People want to cycle, Walker and so | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
on, and to tell people to come to Wales because Wales is a place where | :25:42. | :25:45. | |
you can have both adventure and fun and that is what we are doing this | :25:46. | :25:50. | |
year, bearing in mind the fact tourism is extremely important to | :25:51. | :25:56. | |
our economy. Question four. By the Prime Minister make a statement of | :25:57. | :26:00. | |
the remapping of the Wales and Borders rail franchise. Discussion | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
about the scope of services to be included are ongoing. No decision | :26:06. | :26:10. | |
has been going to remap any services. I am aware a joint Welsh | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
and the UK Government working group has been discussing remapping | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
services to be operated by the replacement Wales and border | :26:22. | :26:26. | |
franchise posted October 2018 and a consideration was given to splitting | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
it to the Birmingham International service trains, and I ensure you | :26:32. | :26:42. | |
will this would be detrimental and an inconvenience to passengers. It | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
would have a negative impact on the Welsh economy. Will you provide | :26:47. | :26:51. | |
instructions to officials to prioritise in any negotiations | :26:52. | :27:01. | |
passenger precedence, but to provide a commitment that services from | :27:02. | :27:05. | |
Aberystwyth to Birmingham will continue? It is our intention to | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
continue at least with the existing service. There is a threat to the | :27:12. | :27:17. | |
Cardiff-Manchester service whereby the Department for Transport wants | :27:18. | :27:20. | |
to see no service that begins in Wales and terminates in England, | :27:21. | :27:27. | |
operated by the Wales and Borders franchise. The only service run by | :27:28. | :27:31. | |
that franchise will be services that begin and end in Wales. Why? I have | :27:32. | :27:40. | |
no idea because Scotland does not have that restriction. ScotRail runs | :27:41. | :27:44. | |
sleeper chains from Euston to Scotland, but at the moment it is | :27:45. | :27:48. | |
the suggestion for the Department for Transport that they do not want | :27:49. | :27:53. | |
to see these services exist between a departure point in Wales and the | :27:54. | :27:57. | |
terminus point in England and vice versa. We are more than happy to | :27:58. | :28:01. | |
make that case to the UK Government, but that is the attitude taken so | :28:02. | :28:07. | |
far by the Department for Transport. TRANSLATION: Argued very much. What | :28:08. | :28:13. | |
preparatory work has the Welsh Government undertaken with a view to | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
having a not for profit model to be responsible for the new rail | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
franchise for Wales? TRANSLATION: This is under consideration at | :28:24. | :28:27. | |
present and we are considering whether there is any way of ensuring | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
there is a not for profit company available to take it on and to see | :28:33. | :28:37. | |
whether it is feasible model and we are considering this in detail at | :28:38. | :28:40. | |
the moment and I believe the people in Wales will wish to see any | :28:41. | :28:43. | |
company running the railroad in Wales will reinvest the profit that | :28:44. | :28:46. | |
they make back into the service. TRANSLATION: Thank you. I am also | :28:47. | :28:58. | |
concerned about the service between Holyhead and Manchester, and also | :28:59. | :29:06. | |
between Wrexham, as well as the situation to Birmingham. Can I ask | :29:07. | :29:13. | |
you if your officials are holding any discussions with the Wales | :29:14. | :29:25. | |
Office, because on the 11th of January you responded to a written | :29:26. | :29:33. | |
question saying, it is expected that services primarily serving English | :29:34. | :29:39. | |
markets will be mapped into other departments for transport franchises | :29:40. | :29:42. | |
in England and we will consult our specific proposals in due course. | :29:43. | :29:48. | |
Therefore, perhaps the member from Michael Meacher could have a quiet | :29:49. | :29:56. | |
word with his fellow member of the Conservative Party to ensure the | :29:57. | :30:00. | |
Wales Office is also fighting Wales's corner. -- from | :30:01. | :30:03. | |
Montgomeryshire. The Wales Office job is to fight four-wheeled and not | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
to explain to the people of Wales what is | :30:09. | :30:08. | |
to explain to the people of Wales not good for them. -- to fight for | :30:09. | :30:16. | |
Wales. If they are not our friends we will receive very little support | :30:17. | :30:22. | |
in Whitehall. There are many cross-border services and they do | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
generate profit, and for example the service from North Wales to | :30:29. | :30:31. | |
Manchester - if you take those services out of the franchise there | :30:32. | :30:34. | |
is less money available. I don't see any problem. With the Scots running | :30:35. | :30:42. | |
services into England, but for some reason the UK Government and the | :30:43. | :30:46. | |
Wales Office, after hearing what the member has said, have the idea that | :30:47. | :30:51. | |
it is only services which start and finish in Wales should come under | :30:52. | :30:54. | |
the franchise. This is totally unfair, irresponsible and it is not | :30:55. | :31:02. | |
something that is true for Scotland. Will be First Minister outlined the | :31:03. | :31:07. | |
action of the Welsh Government in the recruitment and retention of | :31:08. | :31:14. | |
doctors in Wales? Recruitment and retention of doctors is the | :31:15. | :31:17. | |
responsibility of health boards and trusts. We support that work in a | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
number of ways, and a ten workforce strategy is being developed which | :31:23. | :31:26. | |
will determine the shape of our medical workforce. -- a ten year | :31:27. | :31:34. | |
workforce strategy. One of the barriers to the recruitment of | :31:35. | :31:36. | |
doctors is the state of our education than system. Many doctors | :31:37. | :31:45. | |
in England do not want their children educated here. Order, let | :31:46. | :31:56. | |
the member finished. Many qualified doctors in England refused to come | :31:57. | :32:00. | |
to Wales because they do not want their children educated here. We | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
have seen massive cuts to the higher education sector in particular. In | :32:05. | :32:09. | |
high-cost subjects such as medicine which will have a huge impact on the | :32:10. | :32:14. | |
number of doctors we train. When will you get your eyes back on the | :32:15. | :32:20. | |
ball and deal with an education system which is fit for purpose and | :32:21. | :32:26. | |
not a barrier to recruitment of doctors? I absolutely reject the | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
idea that the member has put forward and that the Conservative Party's | :32:32. | :32:36. | |
line should be that the message they give to doctors is don't come to | :32:37. | :32:41. | |
Wales because of the education system. Where is there loyalty to | :32:42. | :32:49. | |
Wales? I find that extraordinary. I have to say to the party said that | :32:50. | :32:53. | |
the greatest barrier to recruitment in England is the fact that junior | :32:54. | :32:57. | |
doctors go on strike. There is no greater disincentive to doctors to | :32:58. | :33:01. | |
go to England than the fact they are treated by such disdain by Jeremy | :33:02. | :33:07. | |
Hunt and the UK Government. -- treated with such disdain. We have | :33:08. | :33:12. | |
no trouble recruiting doctors in Wales. GP numbers have increased by | :33:13. | :33:27. | |
25%. There are no over 2000 GPs serving communities across Wales. | :33:28. | :33:31. | |
More than there were ten years ago. The number of hospital consultants | :33:32. | :33:39. | |
increased annually 50% between 2004 and 2014, up by 721 to 2270. That is | :33:40. | :33:46. | |
a sign that Wales is the place to work. Doctor see it as a place they | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
want to come and study and work in the future, and I've reject utterly | :33:51. | :33:54. | |
any idea that the Conservatives won to spread around that somehow there | :33:55. | :33:58. | |
is something wrong with the Welsh education system. They have been | :33:59. | :34:01. | |
responsible for the mess we see in education and health in England. | :34:02. | :34:09. | |
TRANSLATION: First Minister, around ?50 million of funding is spent on | :34:10. | :34:15. | |
expensive courses that include medicals studies and your intent to | :34:16. | :34:19. | |
cut this budget. What assessment have you carried out on how many | :34:20. | :34:23. | |
fewer doctors will be trained in Wales as a result of these cuts or | :34:24. | :34:32. | |
do you expect universities to use their reserves to fund medical | :34:33. | :34:38. | |
education? I expect universities to use their funding, the funding | :34:39. | :34:41. | |
available to them. They have substantial income, and we also must | :34:42. | :34:45. | |
ensure that we have a continuous number of doctors. While that is the | :34:46. | :34:51. | |
case that the number of GPs in Wales have increased, that is guaranteed | :34:52. | :34:58. | |
compensation to a number of areas that have seen primary care services | :34:59. | :35:01. | |
lost or threatened because of an inability to recruit full-time GPs | :35:02. | :35:12. | |
or difficulties in accessing cover. For instance in my own constituency, | :35:13. | :35:15. | |
what steps is the Government taking to address one of the concerns that | :35:16. | :35:21. | |
has previously been raised around a single practitioner's list that | :35:22. | :35:25. | |
would cut down the bureaucracy and in Barcelona GPs to work more easily | :35:26. | :35:31. | |
on both sides of the border? -- and thus allowed GPs to work more | :35:32. | :35:39. | |
easily. If you look at the examples where GP's practices have decided to | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
cease operating, the health board takes them over and salaried GPs are | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
placed there is there. That is the practising medicine anyway. There | :35:48. | :35:50. | |
are fewer students know who want to bang into a practice. They would | :35:51. | :35:55. | |
rather be salaried because that gives them greater flexibility. That | :35:56. | :36:02. | |
is what they would want. It is true to say, and she has raised issues | :36:03. | :36:06. | |
with me in the chamber before, but in some parts of Wales there have | :36:07. | :36:10. | |
been difficulties with GP practices. That the decision of GP practices, | :36:11. | :36:14. | |
not the health service, in terms of the services they provide. We are | :36:15. | :36:18. | |
practices have decided not to operate the health board does take | :36:19. | :36:20. | |
them over and salaried GPs are in place. Will the First Minister make | :36:21. | :36:27. | |
a statement on the economy of the Swansea Bay region? The economy of | :36:28. | :36:33. | |
the Swansea Bay region as the economy of Wales is a priority for | :36:34. | :36:37. | |
the Welsh Government. We are taking wide-ranging actions. Development by | :36:38. | :36:45. | |
Swansea University and the University of Wales alongside mixed | :36:46. | :36:53. | |
developments are very important to the Swansea region. What work is | :36:54. | :36:57. | |
being done with the universities to grow the local economy in high | :36:58. | :37:06. | |
school and high wage services? Yesterday I launched the engineering | :37:07. | :37:11. | |
services Institute working closely with higher education offering | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
opportunities to study at Ph.D. Level. We are working with Swansea | :37:17. | :37:23. | |
Council to bring development under the Swansea Vale joint ventured in | :37:24. | :37:29. | |
order to see how creative sector projects can be taken forward there. | :37:30. | :37:41. | |
In the Aberavon constituency, fantastic adventure and huge | :37:42. | :37:43. | |
potential opportunities for the areas as well. The Minister for | :37:44. | :37:51. | |
economy sizes and transport has committed to work with the | :37:52. | :37:54. | |
University on developing its business collaboration as it | :37:55. | :38:01. | |
develops its new campus. The economy minister has announced her intention | :38:02. | :38:04. | |
to consider the potential for an enterprise zone around Port Talbot, | :38:05. | :38:13. | |
and as you sort the area has great appeal for engineering companies. | :38:14. | :38:17. | |
Retaining that engineering expertise any wider area would be very | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
valuable, but we have seen that there is a risk of depending on one | :38:24. | :38:28. | |
particular type of industry foreign area's economic success. The Bay | :38:29. | :38:34. | |
region is going to meet the mixed economy -- need a mixed economy with | :38:35. | :38:37. | |
the range of skills including linguistic is ill -- linguistics | :38:38. | :38:48. | |
kills. The reason why the enterprise zones are sectoral is to attract | :38:49. | :38:54. | |
clusters. So that we see companies in a similar sector clustering in | :38:55. | :39:00. | |
one area as we have seen on the M4, around Heathrow Airport as well. We | :39:01. | :39:05. | |
have written to the Chancellor with our intention to create an emperor | :39:06. | :39:10. | |
varies zone around Port Talbot. -- and enterprise zone. We have not yet | :39:11. | :39:14. | |
had a response. I hope we have your response in the next few days. She | :39:15. | :39:17. | |
is right to say it is never help you to rely on one industry alone. The | :39:18. | :39:24. | |
Secretary of State himself last week said that there are remaining person | :39:25. | :39:30. | |
will still suffering from colliery closers. It was honest of him to | :39:31. | :39:34. | |
admit that given it was his party that close them in the first place. | :39:35. | :39:38. | |
We want to broaden the Welsh economy. In Swansea Bay, we have the | :39:39. | :39:44. | |
power station, the university Bay campus, and creative industries. | :39:45. | :39:54. | |
TRANSLATION: The UK prime minister said recently that his enthusiasm | :39:55. | :39:58. | |
for the tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay was ebbing away. Is your confidence | :39:59. | :40:05. | |
still in place for that scheme, and also for the plans for other lagoons | :40:06. | :40:09. | |
around the Welsh course? TRANSLATION: Guess, it is, 100%. We | :40:10. | :40:14. | |
are the Government are extremely supportive of the plans for Swansea | :40:15. | :40:21. | |
Bay and we know there are opportunities for employment, | :40:22. | :40:23. | |
economic development and for the development of the Port Talbot area | :40:24. | :40:26. | |
and of course for tourism. We are very sorry to see... We see that the | :40:27. | :40:40. | |
United Kingdom Government are becoming tired of the project and | :40:41. | :40:45. | |
they are not as strongly and robustly painted as they used to be. | :40:46. | :40:50. | |
I can say that we have the Government are 100% behind it as a | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
project. While we wait for the UK Government to make their decision it | :40:57. | :41:02. | |
does seem an Offley long time. Can I also asked about the NOR double | :41:03. | :41:06. | |
against then further that the game which has also taken a long time to | :41:07. | :41:13. | |
come forward. I be likely to issue a license for that lagoon to go-ahead? | :41:14. | :41:20. | |
This is not a major issue. What will determine whether the lagoon goes | :41:21. | :41:24. | |
ahead or not is whether the strike price is made available to the | :41:25. | :41:31. | |
developers. We are seeing a UK Government moving away from | :41:32. | :41:34. | |
renewables, we have seen the hatchet job done on wind, the same thing | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
happened to solve. We have seen the money that has gone into Hinkley | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
Point. And we have seen fracking in England, something many members of | :41:44. | :41:46. | |
this chamber do not want to see in Wales. What is the energy policy for | :41:47. | :41:52. | |
the future? We have a tremendous resource in the channel, the second | :41:53. | :41:55. | |
highest tidal region in the world, sitting ready to be used for the | :41:56. | :41:59. | |
creation of energy. The opposition is babbling away there because he | :42:00. | :42:04. | |
has no answers. He fails to explain why his own Prime Minister cannot | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
explain why he won't go ahead with the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon, why he | :42:10. | :42:14. | |
will not support job creation around Port Talbot, while he will not | :42:15. | :42:17. | |
support renewable energy, why he will not support an object that will | :42:18. | :42:24. | |
improve the demand for steel. I know energy expert traded in many ways, | :42:25. | :42:31. | |
but the hot air he creates gives us no energy at all. -- energy is | :42:32. | :42:37. | |
created in many ways. It is clear from the responses that you agree | :42:38. | :42:41. | |
with me in developing the economy of the Swansea Bay region it is vital | :42:42. | :42:45. | |
to ensure the benefits are felt in all its constituent parts. Key to | :42:46. | :42:49. | |
this will be developing the skill base across the wider region. I | :42:50. | :42:52. | |
think the recently announced rowing workforces through learning and | :42:53. | :42:58. | |
development project is a very exciting development in this area. | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
-- growing workforces. This scheme will deliver work training | :43:05. | :43:10. | |
programmes to 100 prisoners are beating enterprises in South Wales | :43:11. | :43:14. | |
West. I would very much like to see companies in my constituency amongst | :43:15. | :43:20. | |
that 100. -- 100 companies and enterprises. | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
I am delighted that ?2.4 million through European funds will help to | :43:26. | :43:35. | |
deliver work based qualifications through employers. The announcement | :43:36. | :43:48. | |
was covered widely and I understand that further awareness will be | :43:49. | :43:53. | |
raised the opportunities through the local and regional press, the | :43:54. | :43:55. | |
website, social media taster sessions. Will the First Minister | :43:56. | :44:03. | |
make a statement on Welsh Government action to promote tourism in Wales? | :44:04. | :44:10. | |
Our tourism strategy sets out our priorities to support the tourism | :44:11. | :44:13. | |
industry, including funding and marketing. Do you agree with me that | :44:14. | :44:19. | |
one problem many tourists sites for not going back to an area is litter | :44:20. | :44:26. | |
on the streets? I am concerned about Conway County plans to go from | :44:27. | :44:35. | |
fortnightly to follow weekly intervals for the collection of | :44:36. | :44:39. | |
recipes. Many residents think it is not acceptable particularly for | :44:40. | :44:46. | |
young families with children with nappies and sanitary products, etc, | :44:47. | :44:51. | |
that might be going into the general refuse bins. What action will your | :44:52. | :44:55. | |
government take to ensure that is appropriate guidance for local | :44:56. | :45:00. | |
authorities. ? Local authorities must make decisions based on the | :45:01. | :45:04. | |
recycling targets they are asked to meet. What we do know is we cannot | :45:05. | :45:10. | |
return to the days when everything was chucked into your black bag and | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
put into a hole in the ground. The reality is unless we see more | :45:16. | :45:19. | |
recycling there will be more of a demand for energy from waste plants | :45:20. | :45:23. | |
which remain controversial in many parts of Wales. It is important that | :45:24. | :45:29. | |
recycling is made as easy and as possible for people, to make sure | :45:30. | :45:35. | |
they fully understand which containers their waste goes in, that | :45:36. | :45:39. | |
the containers are big enough as well. I know that is an issue in | :45:40. | :45:43. | |
some parts of Wales. People get used to the idea, but when it comes to | :45:44. | :45:49. | |
the black bag collection, most things will have already been | :45:50. | :45:53. | |
recycled. It is important people understand the reasoning behind any | :45:54. | :45:57. | |
changes and how they can contribute to recycling as well. There has been | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
an enormous growth in tourism in Wales over the past year and one of | :46:04. | :46:08. | |
the attractions is its growing culinary reputation and one of the | :46:09. | :46:12. | |
attractions is our traditional fish and chip shops within Wales. I | :46:13. | :46:18. | |
wonder, First Minister, if you would recognise and congratulate one place | :46:19. | :46:26. | |
in my constituency where Ryan Hughes has been voted the UK's best young | :46:27. | :46:32. | |
friar in the whole of the United Kingdom? Not only will you | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
congratulate him, but write to him and congratulate him and support the | :46:38. | :46:42. | |
Welsh industry and our culinary expertise and join me one night for | :46:43. | :46:49. | |
a fishing trip supper? Can I first of all congratulate the member on | :46:50. | :46:57. | |
the crafty display in being able to raise the issue of the shop in this | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
chamber? Can I add my congratulations to Ryan himself and | :47:03. | :47:09. | |
to the Crispy Cod who provide a wonderful service. It is not often I | :47:10. | :47:16. | |
get an invitation for a bite to eat during First Minister's questions, | :47:17. | :47:23. | |
so I am delighted to accept. TRANSLATION: Coal-mining history is | :47:24. | :47:37. | |
well known on a global medal, but this museum provides a window on | :47:38. | :47:42. | |
another incredible aspect of our industrial history when the town was | :47:43. | :47:46. | |
that the heart of the copper industry on a global level. We need | :47:47. | :47:51. | |
to share that with more people. I invite the Minister to see these | :47:52. | :47:56. | |
attractions for himself. What support will you provide to develop | :47:57. | :48:00. | |
those attractions and to share the story and to celebrate the copper | :48:01. | :48:06. | |
industry? TRANSLATION: I see I am extremely popular this afternoon as | :48:07. | :48:10. | |
regards the number of invitations I am receiving. The member is correct, | :48:11. | :48:16. | |
Powys Mountain is extremely important in our copper heritage and | :48:17. | :48:20. | |
our Welsh heritage. I visited it some years ago and it is important | :48:21. | :48:27. | |
people understand not only do heritage, but also the geography of | :48:28. | :48:32. | |
the area because it is unique as regards the geography of the | :48:33. | :48:39. | |
mountain itself. Of course it is something that Visit Wales could | :48:40. | :48:44. | |
consider, mainly how we promote Powys Mountain to attract visitors | :48:45. | :48:51. | |
into northern Anglesey. The Centenary of raw style's birth is a | :48:52. | :48:56. | |
fantastic opportunity to bring visitors to Wales and other parts of | :48:57. | :49:01. | |
the capital. Would you agree this is the perfect opportunity for the | :49:02. | :49:07. | |
creation of a permanent centre here in Cardiff to bring tourists to ask, | :49:08. | :49:12. | |
but also to inspire the next generation of Welsh writers with a | :49:13. | :49:18. | |
love of literature? It is an interesting idea, it is the finance | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
that is the question. It would need private finance to be given and it | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
would need to be self-supporting. But certainly we would very much | :49:27. | :49:32. | |
alike to work with any organisation that would wish to put in place a | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
centre and celebrate the fact that Cardiff is the birthplace of one of | :49:37. | :49:40. | |
the world's most renowned children's writers. The museum in my | :49:41. | :49:48. | |
constituency is very popular amongst tourists. I am not sure if it does | :49:49. | :49:53. | |
fish and chips, but it offers other things. As a community asset, | :49:54. | :49:59. | |
responsibility for running it was taken over from Rhondda cancelled by | :50:00. | :50:06. | |
local volunteers. As councils are increasingly resorting to these | :50:07. | :50:11. | |
transfers due to the effect of spending pressures, what advice or | :50:12. | :50:14. | |
support can the Welsh Government make available to such assets so | :50:15. | :50:20. | |
they can continue to attract tourists? One of the areas is to | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
engage with volunteers as much as possible. Many people would give | :50:25. | :50:32. | |
their time freely to museums. It is a question of councils finding it | :50:33. | :50:36. | |
difficult in terms of increasing staff, and I am sure volunteers | :50:37. | :50:43. | |
would love to do it. We know museums are not expected to make money. I am | :50:44. | :50:48. | |
sure there are volunteers who would be more than willing to volunteer | :50:49. | :50:54. | |
and give their time. There we are, that was | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
First Minister's Questions. If you want more more coverage | :50:59. | :51:01. | |
of the National Assembly you can go online to BBC Wales's Senedd Live | :51:02. | :51:04. | |
page at bbc.co.uk/walespolitics. But that's it for First | :51:05. | :51:06. | |
Minister's Questions. Don't forget for all the latest | :51:07. | :51:08. | |
political news, watch Wales Today later today at 6:30 on BBC1 Wales | :51:09. | :51:11. | |
and Newyddion at 9:00 on S4C. As for AMPM though, from all of us | :51:12. | :51:18. | |
on the programme, goodbye. | :51:19. | :51:26. |