30/04/2013 am.pm

Good afternoon, welcome to the programme and this weekly coverage

of questions to the first Minister. We are asking about health, energy

and the economy and looking at what the financial elements will be to

having Swansea and Cardiff in the premiership next season. Swansea

city's first season had generated �58 million for the Welsh economy.

What is on your mind? Let us know, we are on twitter. You can also send

us an e-mail. Business in the chamber is already underway, let's

have a look at today's first Minister questions. Questions to the

first Minister, question number one, Lindsay Whittle. Can you tell us

what progress the Welsh government has made in working with the all

Wales veteran health and well-being seminar to help people with

post-traumatic stress disorder? have reaffirmed the programme to

veteran health care last week. Our specialist health and well-being

service is unique in the UK and we are continuing to work to make sure

that the health needs of veterans are being met. Last year, the local

health boards got half �1 million to make sure they were employing an

experienced clinician to help in treating Armed Forces that runs in

Wales suffering from mental health problems, can you provide an update

on if this funding has been and is being used to provide expert care to

veterans and importantly their families also. That was part of the

ring fence allocation. I can show that reports have improved with the

waiting time falling. The average referral to treatment time is now 71

days, so the money is part of the health and well-being ring fence and

we are seeing the times are dropping. I know that you will agree

in assessing the delivery of any health service, you have to assess

the needs and assess the effectiveness of that delivery. What

is the Welsh government is doing where previous answers we have

received from the ministers have said that the Welsh governance does

not hold information on ex-forces personnel that might fall into this

category in Wales, and where I have been able to tell him under freedom

of information that I believe 24 service user feedback forms were

received by the service, but analysis is the Welsh government

undertaking to make sure the effective targeting is being met per

annum? We need to ensure there is referral when accessing services,

but in my answers that I gave to Lindsay Whittle, our specialist

service is unique in the UK and the commitment we have made was

reiterated by the health minister last week and it remains as strong

as ever. TRANSLATION: Thank you, minister a few weeks ago I met with

a charity in Bridgend that have come up with a scheme with various

different agencies in health, social care and education in order to put

before the government ideas and to facilitate and help people in this

situation. Would you be willing to meet with this charity to discuss

how they can involve themselves in how the government is doing in this

important sector? It's depends who they are. As a charity, there are a

number of charities in this area and there are approximately 400

charities at present dealing with ex-military people. Of course, it is

very important that we know who these people are to give you a firm

answer on whether I can meet them. What discussions have you had with

the UK government on devolution of the energy consensus in Wales.

a meeting in February. I had a meeting with developers of a marine

energy scheme. They have a figure of over one megawatt, it is an offshore

project and they would be considered in Westminster. It creates

uncertainty within the developers and could lead to people not

investing in Wales. Can we provide an equal footing between onshore and

offshore footings and transfer applications from Welsh water to

Welsh government? We made this points to the UK government and this

is a matter for the silk commission and we have provided energy and

evidence and we hope that there will be a sensible outcome. If you are

looking to centralise energy power with the Welsh government, I am

interested in the issue of capacity. The new permanent secretary is very

conscious about the need to develop skills within his department,

particularly commercial skills with law, energy, economics and contract

negotiation. He is also piloting outsourcing policy-making work, what

aspect of this capacity have you examined in developing your business

case and how much will developing this capacity cost? We already have

officials in place. I do not know what he means about centralising

powers that are already centralised in London. We have to have a level

playing field with Scotland. Scotland has a proper executive

control with energy consenting and it has renewable obligation

certificates which gives a planning advantage. Winces at a disadvantage

compared to Scotland and Northern Ireland. -- Wales is at a

disadvantage. Plaid Cymru has been calling for these powers and is

committed to having these powers devolved. You have said that you

made AIDS and applications ad nauseam to this government. Can you

explain if you made these bids to the last Labour government and why

were these powers not devolved at that point? Yes, this kid has been

made to applications of all colours and now we have a process and part

two of the commission and we hope that the commission will consider

this commission in making sure that Wales is on the same footing as

Scotland and Northern Ireland and England. Now, questions for the

party leaders and first the leader applied Comrie, Leanne Wood. Last

week is built to a recently retired experienced former Chief ambulance

worker who joined the service in 1979 and he said that staff are

overstretched and do not have time to train and that was confirmed by

the report reduced this morning. This has been highlighted as an

issue on the ambulance services own risk register for quite some time.

Will you agree with applied Comrie that better workforce planning would

improve the experience and save lives? -- would you agree with

applied Comrie. We will take in to account this issue when assessing

the way forward. Another reason is a lack of accountability and

communication between different parts of the health service and much

could be approved by separating patient transport from emergency

services and by improving integration. Real integration would

involve a national emergency service, which is locally or

regionally delivered, including the police and the fire services. Is

that a model you would be prepared to consider? The ambulance service

already follows this model, there would need to be a national file

service and a national police service of Wales rather than for

different police services, that would certainly take some planning.

But in principle, it would make sense to make a nationally provided

service that is integrated. We see the control centre in Saint Asser

for either is this integration of services. Thank you for that

answer. It might not be a perfect measure, but the eight minute

arrival target has been missed and not a single local area reached 65%

target. I am living, just 42.1% of ambulances arrived in the target

time. These figures are worse not in rural areas but across the valleys.

Merthyr Tydfil has 43%, Caerphilly has 43%, or gent has 45%. Targets

are one thing, but outcomes are more important. Can you say that response

times will be improved by removing casualties services serving the

valleys? If somebody has a problem with a head injury, they are taken

to one hospital, if somebody has a problem with burns, they are taken

to another hospital, not their nearest casualty unit, they go to

read the best treatment is available. In relation to response

times, there is a need for improvement. I know the Minister is

examining a number of issues in how this can be done. Now, the leader of

the opposition. I am sure you would like to join me in congratulating

the excellent Welsh representation in the British and Irish Lions

announced this morning. From a small country to have 15 players and the

captaincy and the Welsh coach provided, that would be a really

exciting summer of sport for everyone on the shoulders and I'm

sure we send out our congratulations. -- everyone on

these shores. Can you indicate what importance you attach to setting

government targets and in particular organisations that provide these

services meeting these targets? would also like to wish the best of

luck to the Lions rugby team, they travel to Australia. They usually do

better when there is a larger Welsh contingent. In targets, we have an

indicator that is made available in report shortly. One of the issues is

that all of the government targets, all of the key targets that were

released last week in cancer treatment, accident and emergency

and ambulance, they were missed, and missed by a country mile. If you

take a cancer access, that has not been hit once since 2008, and access

to accident and emergency, that has not been hit since 2009. This is the

second anniversary of you being in government, and in fairness to your

good self, you outlines that in your fourth assembly term, it would be

about delivery, but in these key indicators, you're not meeting

targets, does that mean that the first two years had been a failure

in delivery on behalf of the government? There had been financial

pressures imposed by the UK government, so the have been

difficulties in delivering the way we would want. But the help Minister

is examining the current budgets and he will want to improve the figures.

-- the health minister. You have constantly referred to the UK

government when I asked you on health issues, that cannot be an

acceptable way to respond for issues that you have direct control over.

These are your own government targets, set by yourself, and in

fairness, I paid credit. At the start of the fourth assembly, you

said this government would be about delivery and you set up a delivery

unit that you were responsible for. I gave you three targets that your

government has set, and onto targets, you have not hit them for

up to five years. If you cannot hit those targets, how can you say that

your government has been a success, and if you are not hitting those

targets, it it's time to re-evaluate your delivery so that in the next 12

months, the people of Wales could have the services delivered that

they so rightly depend on demand? spoke at the party conference and

they spoke about nothing but Wales even though they came from elsewhere

in the UK. Everybody spoke about Wales, the Secretary of State spoke

about Wales, they spent a lot of time criticising the Welsh

government, but that is fair, equally they will get criticism back

on what the UK government has done. We ask people to judge us on our

programme for government, that would be published in the next few weeks

and then we will see the progress across-the-board. Finally, the

leader of the Welsh Liberal law. Your government is issuing

guidance to improve schooling at local level because it does not

think councils do that well enough. How can you justify removing three

of your party members from committee just because they merely disagreed

with your government? This is not a matter for me as a first Minister.

The BBC are reporting that these three members... That these three

members were removed by that committee by these mysterious

sources, presiding officer. They were removed because of their views

on smacking. It is difficult to think of another explanation of why

there would be a whole scale change of personnel at such short notice.

Can you give an indication as to who did remove them from that committee

and why? Now the leader of the Liberal Democrats is saying that

because the BBC has said it, it must be right. Has she no original ideas

of her own? If I am wrong and the BBC is wrong, maybe you would tell

this chamber who removed those members from that committee, and why

were they removed? What they were doing, first Minister, on that

committee, they were scrutinising the biggest piece of legislation

this assembly term. It is making fundamental changes to children's

rights and children's services. The children's Commissioner has said

that what he expected to see on the bill was how children's and Young

people's best interests were being protected. You cannot remove the

children's Commissioner. How are you going to deal with those concerns?

Has she no original idea of her own? What a waste of three questions.

Three questions that have no relevance to the role of the first

Minister. I thought she would have learned that by now. We now move

back to questions on the order paper. Question three. What actions

are the Welsh government taken to help SMEs in South Wales Central?

offer a wide range of support, including access to the new business

Wales helpline. Thank you. One of the things the Welsh government has

done in fairness is to bring forward to enterprise zones for South Wales

Central. When you look at what the outcomes of those enterprise zones

have achieved to date, it is impossible to find out how many jobs

have been created, how much money has gone into those zones and how

many businesses have relocated? --. Will you commit to marking at those

clear indicators so that business can have confidence that when these

enterprise zones do actually get up and running to their full capacity,

they are achieving the outcomes that we support on this side of the

chamber, which is about having vibrant enterprise zones rather than

just window dressing? The enterprise zones are a Soviet style body,

according to some reports at the weekend. We have no problem with

examination of the enterprise zones and their success. We are working

hard, as is the minister, to make sure they are a success in Wales.

And of course the outcomes of those enterprise zones will be there for

all to see. I wonder if you are encouraged by the recent growth

statistics which show that Wales is outperforming the UK in production?

The last quarter was almost 1% fall in the UK but a rise of 2.7% in

Wales. Contrary to what the Secretary of State -- Secretary of

State for Wales was indicating the weekend, in construction, Wales

actually grew by 8.9%. Does he think it might be appropriate to remind

the Secretary of State for Wales of the true situation in Wales? I think

the member has just done that. Is absolutely right to say that the

construction sector in Wales is doing far better than the UK. That

does, of course, show that the common spread over the weekend about

extra regulatory burden were way off the mark. Figures released by

Finance Wales have shown that investment has fallen compared to

three years ago. In meetings with the Federation of small businesses

and with individual conversations with small business owners, the

difficulty of accessing small loans is something that crops up time and

time again in conversation. Do you agree with Plaid Cymru and the owner

of the Welch soup company, who is quoted in the Western mail this

morning, that publicly owned bank of Wales is much needed to provide

loans at competitive rates to small businesses? The idea of a bank of

Wales type model is not sufficiently attractive. It is something the

previous government looked at. There are obstacles that need to be

overcome. The fact that any bank would need �100 million in reserve

before it would even set up. These are difficult things to keep -- take

forward. In terms of Finance Wales, one of the difficulties is

businesses are looking to consolidate at the moment. �15

billion worth of funding is being kept in reserve by SMEs across

Britain. I do not see how a bank along the lines of the model

outlined by the leader of Plaid Cymru would help at this time,

particularly given the large number of obstacles that would have to be

overcome to set up such a bank. plans does the first Minister have

to enhance the environment in Cardiff North? The environment is a

key element of our programme for government. We have to make the best

possible use of and the best possible protection for our valuable

resources. The first Minister will be aware of the announcement by the

Minister of Housing and regeneration that reservoir in my constituency

has been saved from development. The banks have been protected. Traffic

access has been refused. This follows a long community and

cross-party campaign. Does the Minister agree that the next step

forward is for interested parties to get together, to start talking, to

ensure this part of Cardiff is restored and preserved for the

future? The member will forgive me because legally I cannot comment on

the application, but as a member she has been more involved than anybody

else in terms of representing the views of her constituents over this

reservoir. Somebody who has represented her constituency for

many years. What is important now is to ensure the council do develop a

local plan so that future plans for the site can be sent down as quickly

as possible. -- set down. Would you agree with me that given the

proximity of Cardiff North to the M4 and the limited amount of green

space between the two, it is vitally important that the green space is

protected and that urban sprawl does not damage some of the valuable for

a limited amount of green space we have in that part of Cardiff, and

that any plans for development need to be sensitive? These are all

factors which would need to be taken into account by the planning

authority. That is why it is important to ensure that a local

development plan is adopted as quickly as possible, so they can be

certainty over the next decade. sure we would all welcome the

announcement that the reservoir will be safe. Would you agree that it is

an anomaly that while we can protect the build part of a reservoir, we

cannot protect the water in it? Will you agree that your government will

look at that in the White Paper? That is a factor that can be looked

at, of course, but I cannot comment on the actual planning issue because

it is still within the period of time when the matter may be referred

to the Court of judicial review. I am aware of what happened there in

terms of the water levels. It is certainly something which we can

give consideration to as we proceed. TRANSLATION: what is the first

Minister's position on the right of children to -- parents to receive

information about the management of asbestos in schools? TRANSLATION: it

is important they should be aware of the location and condition of

asbestos and local authorities are required to have asbestos surveys

undertaken on their premises to enable them to handle this issue.

TRANSLATION: thank you, I received information that no service at been

undertaken for more than a decade. I know the Minister of education has

tackled this problem. It is there a risk in thinking that the Department

of education in England published new guidelines back in October of

2012, saying that they are not appropriate for Wales? That the

change between the education Department and the health and safety

Department would create problems for us here in Wales? TRANSLATION: it is

extremely important the local authorities do carry out surveys. If

they have not done that for a decade or more it would be worthwhile doing

so now. The Minister has reminded authorities in Wales to ensure that

they do undertake these surveys as as soon as possible. First Minister,

it has not been communicated to parents. I wonder if you would agree

with the comments of an international expert who appeared

before Westminster's education select committee. He said all that

matters is whether or not kids are breathing asbestos. Until you find

that out, everything else is hot air. I happen to agree with him.

Would you please ensure this comes under an overview from you, and we

make sure that parents understand about the asbestos in schools?

have been reminded of that. There is no suggestion there is any danger to

children at schools in Wales. If asbestos is there, it is safe. It is

important, of course, if parents asked local authorities about the

condition of school buildings, that they could answer and give

assurances that the asbestos is safely contained. TRANSLATION: thank

you, presiding officer. Do you agree with me that one way of easing the

concerns of parents is to make sure that as much information as possible

is available to all? For example, we received information from Powys

having appealed to the information Commissioner, that showed Powys had

carried out investigations in every school. Why isn't that information

disseminated to everybody in Wales so we can all understand the

situation and take appropriate steps to deal with it. TRANSLATION: I

believe it is completely reasonable. I do not see why we should try to

hide any surveys undertaken. And so what I would say to local

authorities is, if surveys have been undertaken, it is exceptionally

important that people understand the outcomes and results, so people can

know what the status is. What economic benefits for Wales do you

expect to see as a result of Swansea city and Cardiff city's presence in

the Premier league? As well as the direct benefits, I know that

Swansea, Cardiff and indeed Wales will benefit from the raised profile

of the global coverage of the Premier league. I hope you are

right. Swansea 's presence in the Premier league generated more than

�20 million. Only 8 million was generated in non-football club

activity. How can you help to improve the wider economic spin-off?

58 million pounds has been generated in the Welsh economy by Swansea

city. There has also been a surge in terms of students applying to

Swansea University as a spin-off of that. I think we can expect the same

of Cardiff. No doubt the member will see when she visits the liberty

stadium that a great deal of advertising encourages people to

visit Wales. That is something we support. We will look at how we can

maximise the advantage for Cardiff in the future, particularly in terms

of improving Wales's visibility in the stadium. Do you also welcome

Swansea's going into European football and the opportunity that

gives to promote Wales? A premiership football club is a high

wage business. We all talk about Wrexham getting to the play-off

final. I was asked last week in a lunch in Swansea who I would support

if Swansea played Cardiff. I said that I hope football would be a

winner. I would be glad to see a Welsh club playing in league two

next year. That would be very and we hope that the supporters will

carry on with their loyalty for a grateful ball team. Have you learned

anything as a government from the experience of Swansea and is there

an exciting venture that you, your party, your officials have in mind

to make sure that we promote football here in Wales as well?

have advertising in the stadium and also, I opened the national foot all

Centre in Newport. Dash-macro the National football Centre. We want to

promote football, not just elite football, but all football, women's

foot wall and football throughout the ages and difference levels.

Dash-macro football throughout the ages. We want to help to promote

what they do, but we want to ensure that they are showpieces for Wales

and promote them on the world stage. Who've heard already to the

sponsorship at the stand in the liberty stadium and the money that

Wales has put into Swansea, that money was very well come, now we

have to premiership teams, are you intending to continue this

sponsorship of Swansea, and do you want to split this between two

teams? Will be be promoting both teams at an equal level? There is no

aim to reduce the money spent in Swansea, we want to treat both clubs

fairly, but we want to make sure that there is extra money available

to promote Wales when Cardiff city play in the Premier league next

year. Question seven has been withdrawn, question eight, Keith

Davies. Would you outline the licence for an extra channel three

licence for Wales? We support this. We believe this is the time to have

this debate instead of waiting for the next opportunity in 2024. If

this was awarded, it is important to look further afield instead of bids

from independent producers Henri licensing the franchise. Independent

producers operate in Northern Ireland and in Scotland, and it is

important that with devolution that we have culturally relevant

programming for our identity. Given that ITV view this as commercially

viable, is its time to reinvigorate this debate and consider aid bids

from independent producers? There is no reason why these Scottish and

Northern Irish model should not be used in Wales. It is important that

television reflects the devolved nature of Wales. There is also

television in north-macro, this is half the size of Wales. It is time

to move away from the old Wales and West description that we had for so

long. We need to raise the profile in Wales. With a separate channel

three licence naked easier or more difficult is to promote government

views in intergovernmental debates. -- make it easier for you or more

difficult. The time has come and it is vital that the new licensing

system make sure that this happens in Wales. A supplementary question?

We will move on to question nine. Will the first Minister outline how

they plan to support the Welsh economy in 2013? -- First Minister.

We have plans for North Wales. of the annual public recruitment

spend in Wales goes to small medium enterprises, from 2003. Will you

outline how procurement practices in areas like north-east Wales can make

crater use of the community benefit laws approach to benefit the

regional economy in the area. made it clear that we expect

contracting authorities to adopt the divinity benefits approach in all

contracts were benefits can be realised and to approach those

contracts utilising the tools we have available. The local authority

and the NHS has outlined commitments to adopt this approach and this is

included in the compact commit on. The 855 expressway is vital to the

North Wales economy, and business and residences phase never-ending

roadworks and congestion that makes travelling and doing business and

misery. Can you confirm what plans the government has to assess the

economic impact that these constant roadworks and the company congestion

is having on the North Wales economy? What targets will you be

setting to reduce the number of days affected by roadworks so that North

Wales has the best chance to attract in word investment and generate

economic growth? This new road is very much welcome on the northern

coast, and occasionally there will be needs for roadworks, and

sometimes they can be substantial. There are rogue agents were on for a

scene works out to be carried out, but it is in good condition. --

there are occasions where there is a need for work. They say that somehow

these roadworks should be pushed away from us, but we should be able

to control and maintain these arteries that are so important as a

nation. TRANSLATION: Thank you, you say that deficiencies are not a

barrier but very often the government has reminded us that

problems on the M4 in South Wales is a problem for the Welsh economy.

Investment and infrastructure is crucial to boosting the economy and

billions are being spent on the electrification of the railway line,

and money spent on upgrading the M4 in the Newport area and the money on

Cardiff airport. When we'll be seeing investment on this level in

North Wales? This shows there is investment in the road. If nothing

occurred and the road were to decline, I know it is a problem for

people when they cannot travel, as quickly as they would hope to. But

it demonstrates that there is so much investment being put into that

road. Question number ten, please. Would he make a statement on

supporting people with multiple sclerosis? Yes, the health minister

has committed to a delivery plan for neurological conditions including

multiple sclerosis. I know that his commitment was widely and warmly

received at an event of the launch of a hard-hitting report by the MS

Society in Wales. It shows how there is a shortage of urologists in Wales

with all for being based on the M4 corridor so that only 50% of the

constituents see any role at 20 need one. How will they address this

inequality? The fact that they are based on the M4 corridor does not

mean that there is access restraint outside the M4 corridor. We would be

implementing the neurosciences review to make sure that services

are available to people where they live. In terms of the delivery plan,

we expect that to be available for consultation this summer, and the

opportunity will be there for responses to this consultation on

how we take this plan forward. you agree that you have such

differences in accessibility to these services is unacceptable, and

given that North Wales is much further away than the M4 than the

member of mid and West Wales's constituency, do you not think there

should be an appointment of a specialist urologist in North Wales,

and what consideration can you give for the need for specialist therapy

services for people with MS? -- specialist neurologist. People say

that people do not have access living in the north, but they do.

When it comes to consultant neurologists, there are not many

available in the UK or elsewhere. It is not possible to provide the same

level of service in every hospital around Wales, but nevertheless, we

want to make sure that a reasonable level of service is available across

Wales and that will be in the final address. TRANSLATION: During the

event at lunchtime I met with Aled Evans who lives in Cardiff and he

suffers with MS and he sees his specialist neurologist every six

months. He is under very modern medication and he sees expert nurses

regularly. As for their lives in Cardigan and also suffers from an

Asp and has seen a neurologist once in the last 20 years -- also suffers

from multiple sclerosis. You said that they were working on schemes

and plans, will you insure that this region hastens its work in this

region so that people in my constituency receives the same

access to MS support as anyone living on the M4 corridor? I read

about this condition, what is important is where there are

specialist in hospitals such as Morriston, that a way is found to

enable for them to travel so that people can get the services the same

as in West Wales. This is a model that is common and as part of this

plan, the health board could look at this to ensure that a specialist

does come to see them at a hospital from time to time. In a way, this

service should be provided so they do not have to travel to Swansea on

every occasion. We will leave the question is there,

you can see more coverage on the BBC political editor who has been

watching in Cardiff a, that was very interesting, a Welsh representative

was welcomed on the Welsh Lions, but they accuse the government of

dropping the ball. Yes, they had their own specific issues, the

rowers the question and ambulances, there was the question on committee

membership also. They were talking about targets more generally,

talking about things raised over the weekend at the Conservative party

conference in Swansea about failed targets and they are saying that if

the government was set up and Carwyn Jones made a point of saying that

his aim over the next five years was to deliver for the people of Wales,

and that he made delivery and reaching targets a key aim of this

government, that if they failed, then does this mean that the

government is failing as a whole? Carwyn Jones batted it off saying

that he spent the weekend of the party talking about the Welsh

government and failures, and yet he was criticised for making the point

that one of the key reasons that some targets have not been hit this

because of government cutting the money available to spend. Kirsty

Williams trying to get the First Minister speak about moving Labour

assembly members of that committee? Three Labour members removed from

the committee looking at legislation around smacking. The feeling in

Cardiff a among many opposition members is that they were removed

because of them having a view difference to that of the government

and the Minister. The Minister has not responded to this, Kirsty

Williams trying to get him to say something on the record, but he said

it was the chief whip that removed him, this is first Minister 's

questions, not achieve with questions, so no clear response.