Browse content similar to 07/03/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good afternoon. Welcome to the programme and our weekly coverage of | :00:19. | :00:24. | |
questions to the First Minister. From the order paper I can see there | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
are questions on economic development, Cardiff airport and | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
digital communications amongst other topics. We are on Twitter. Business | :00:33. | :00:40. | |
has already started so let's cross to today's questions to the First | :00:41. | :00:47. | |
Minister. TRANSLATION: I called the national Assembly to order and the | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
first item on our agenda is questions to the First Minister and | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
the first question from John Griffiths. | :00:55. | :00:56. | |
Will be First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
policy on economic developer in South East Wales? Yes, we plan to | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
support businesses in their growth, to invest in high-quality | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
infrastructure and to improve economic conditions. Newport has | :01:11. | :01:17. | |
great economic potential with its transport and economic strengths. | :01:18. | :01:24. | |
There is the mainline and coast, with the neighbour Bristol, it is | :01:25. | :01:28. | |
the hub of its wider regional economy. Would you agree with me | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
that driving economic development in Newport would be a major factor in | :01:34. | :01:39. | |
Wales achieving its great economic potential? Yes, I do. We obviously | :01:40. | :01:45. | |
need Newport to develop to its full potential. Work is under way which | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
will bring benefit to Newport including the ongoing regeneration | :01:52. | :01:54. | |
activity establishment of innovation point, and the proposals being taken | :01:55. | :02:02. | |
forward with regard to the M4. A report by the workcentre for | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
well-being identified four Southeast local authorities as ranking among | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
the highest for well-being in equality. These included tour van, | :02:09. | :02:16. | |
Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil and Caerphilly. There are a number of | :02:17. | :02:20. | |
possible solutions but we should not dismiss the indications that we use | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
which include how worthwhile people feel about their day-to-day lives. | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
Economic development will be central to addressing those very deep | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
feelings in those communities. Will the First Minister commit to | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
rejecting now a trickle-down approach to economic development and | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
instead put on record his commitment to a place -based approach so any | :02:44. | :02:46. | |
future economic plans he reveals for this country are centred on what | :02:47. | :02:49. | |
really matters which is people and their communities? Yes, it is | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
certainly not a case we accept trickle-down economics, far from it. | :02:56. | :02:58. | |
We want to make sure communities are connected and that's what the | :02:59. | :03:04. | |
south-west metro is about. And digital as well. And to ensure that | :03:05. | :03:08. | |
people have the skills that they need in order to improve their | :03:09. | :03:11. | |
incomes and to get jobs in the future and that something as a | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
government we are very much focused on. First Minister, research by | :03:16. | :03:23. | |
Lloyds bank shows that the number of new businesses starting up in Wales | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
has dropped by more than a quarter over the last five years. The number | :03:29. | :03:36. | |
of business start-ups fell by 27% in Caerphilly, more than 33% in | :03:37. | :03:44. | |
Monmouth and less than 9% in Newport and 8% in Blaenau Gwent. That | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
doesn't show a good picture of start-up businesses in south-east | :03:50. | :03:54. | |
Wales. What measures and incentives does the Welsh Government intend to | :03:55. | :03:58. | |
introduce to ensure economic conditions to encourage new | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
businesses to start up in south-east Wales? We have a record number of | :04:03. | :04:05. | |
start-ups. We are seeing more and more young people getting involved | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
in businesses and becoming very successful in business. It is right | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
to say of course that Brexit introduces an element of uncertainty | :04:15. | :04:17. | |
and these are uncertain times indeed for businesses but as a government | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
we will continue to support start-ups and are sure that many of | :04:22. | :04:29. | |
those businesses become SMEs and even larger in the future. Question | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
two, David Rowlands. Will the First Minister outlined the Welsh | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
Government's plans to improve access to Cardiff airport? We are | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
continuing with proposals to improve access to Cardiff airport by public | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
transport and car, supporting the current bus and rail arrangements. I | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
thank the First Minister for his answer and I think all in the | :04:52. | :04:54. | |
chamber welcomes the huge improvement in the airport's | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
performance since the government's intervention. But does the First | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
Minister not agree that a rail link will greatly enhance its | :05:03. | :05:17. | |
appeal to the international traveller and give a competitive | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
edge over other local airports? Can he tell us why this has not been | :05:21. | :05:23. | |
included in the metro project? And I welcome what the member has said, | :05:24. | :05:25. | |
particularly regarding the improvements the Welsh Government | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
has made since taking it over. He does asked an important question. | :05:30. | :05:37. | |
The focus is on the bus service, at looking at improving the frequency | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
on the current role in line and beyond that looking to see either | :05:41. | :05:45. | |
where we should consider a rail spur, there are issues with that. | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
There will be opposition that is true or whether in fact at some | :05:50. | :05:53. | |
point in the future the terminal itself would move closer to the | :05:54. | :05:56. | |
existing railway line. At the moment it is a question of improving what | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
is already there and looking to see if there is a way of locating the | :06:01. | :06:07. | |
terminal closer to the rail link. Adam Price. The agreement announced | :06:08. | :06:16. | |
yesterday between the Welsh Government and Heathrow Airport is | :06:17. | :06:18. | |
welcome, but in stark contrast to that published in relation to | :06:19. | :06:21. | |
Scotland, there is no concrete targets in the agreement. On the -- | :06:22. | :06:30. | |
nothing on the amount of construction spent, nothing on | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
landing charges or development fund for flights? Is that because | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
essentially the First Minister negotiated any leverage she had away | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
from announcing his support for Heathrow, without actually getting | :06:44. | :06:46. | |
these concessions, in contrast to what the Scottish government did? | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
The question is about access to Cardiff airport but I am more than | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
happy to answer the question about Heathrow. I'm surprised he's not | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
welcoming that 8000 jobs will be secured, all that investment, the | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
fact that we work with Heathrow... High pitched screaming won't help | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
him! The fact that we have secured commitment to manufacturing outside | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
Wales, we have an event on the 5th of July to ensure that Welsh | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
businesses... There is still high-pitched screaming won't help | :07:16. | :07:17. | |
him! The fact that we have secured commitment to manufacturing outside | :07:18. | :07:19. | |
Wales, we have an event on the 5th of July to ensure that Welsh | :07:20. | :07:22. | |
businesses... There is still high pitched screaming. He still hasn't | :07:23. | :07:24. | |
learned his lesson. That Welsh businesses... I think the members | :07:25. | :07:26. | |
may be screaming because the member did well these great mentor. -- -- | :07:27. | :07:40. | |
he did welcome the statement. We will ensure there is manufacturing | :07:41. | :07:45. | |
outside Wales. We will be ensuring there are routes being looked that | :07:46. | :07:49. | |
not just Cardiff and what was announced yesterday is far more | :07:50. | :07:53. | |
substantial than Scotland has achieved. Russell George. I will | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
give another welcome this afternoon. I will welcome the growth in | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
passenger numbers on the T9 bus service. I think that is fantastic | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
news to welcome. The service is a success and is now proving to be | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
sustainable in the long term, but would he commit to scrapping the | :08:16. | :08:19. | |
half a million pound Welsh subsidy for this service and instead of the | :08:20. | :08:22. | |
subsidies to other bus services which have been axed by cuts to the | :08:23. | :08:30. | |
bus operators' grants. What he seems to be suggesting is we should not | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
have a bus service to the airport. They did not want the airport to | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
succeed. At the end of the day, the Welsh Conservatives did not want the | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
airport to grow. They were happy to see the airport the climb. They | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
would have sat on their backsides to see the airport closed down. They | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
are still not happy that the airport is doing well in reality. They do | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
not want a bus service to the airport and we want to make sure our | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
service links to the airport in Cardiff and they will continue. | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
Having public transport links surely, whether they are bus or rail | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
are hugely important to the future development of any airport. I | :09:09. | :09:16. | |
welcome the partnership agreement, in relation to the fact that flights | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
want to fly out of Cardiff airport and the potential new jobs boosting | :09:22. | :09:29. | |
the Welsh economy, however, Mike concern -- my constituents have a | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
better connection to airports which serve them? Better train links form | :09:35. | :09:48. | |
a key part of the Welsh Metro plans. Reva Wales started operating | :09:49. | :09:58. | |
services in May of last year and we are working with Mersey travelled to | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
develop opportunities to deliver better services to Liverpool and | :10:03. | :10:05. | |
John Lennon airport in the next franchise. First Minister, I put in | :10:06. | :10:14. | |
a Freedom of Information request to Cardiff airport owned by the Welsh | :10:15. | :10:18. | |
public. I wanted to know how much money had been spent on lobbying | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
firms, what companies had been employed and whether or not there | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
had been a tender process gone through by those lobbying companies? | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
Now, this is owned by the Welsh public, so the public have a right | :10:32. | :10:34. | |
to know these things. The airport have refused to answer. What to make | :10:35. | :10:43. | |
of this? Well, there are ways of appealing if he feels his question | :10:44. | :10:48. | |
has not been dealt with. Neil Hamilton. While the First Minister | :10:49. | :10:55. | |
was away last week, he may have seen that the secretary of finance rate | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer about proposed public spending cuts | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
in two or three years' time which are said to amount to ?3.5 billion. | :11:04. | :11:09. | |
The government this year is running a budget deficit equivalent to ?60 | :11:10. | :11:13. | |
billion on George Osborne managed the singular achievement of | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
borrowing twice as much money in six years as Gordon Brown and Alistair | :11:18. | :11:24. | |
Darling, and the national debt is now 1000 800 billion compared with | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
1000 200,000,000,006 years ago. That is ?28,000 for every person in Wales | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
and indeed the United Kingdom. It is very easy to spend money we haven't | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
got, of course, and everybody would be like -- would like to be able to | :11:39. | :11:43. | |
borrow interminably and never pay it back. By how much does he think the | :11:44. | :11:48. | |
government's borrowing should increase on a permanent basis? It is | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
a case for borrowing to invest in the future. It has never been | :11:53. | :11:55. | |
cheaper to borrow on the world markets. We know from the experience | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
after the Second World War when the UK was in a far worse position than | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
it is now financially, that the government of the day took the | :12:04. | :12:05. | |
position that it would seek to borrow money in order to invest in | :12:06. | :12:08. | |
the future and then we saw the economic growth of the 1950s and | :12:09. | :12:16. | |
1960s. I am unashamedly Keynesian in this regard and I take the view that | :12:17. | :12:18. | |
government should be borrowing now in order to invest in order to be | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
able to pay back the cost of the borrowing and more in the future. | :12:24. | :12:27. | |
But the First Minister knows that never happens and he has only to | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
look at the recent history of the UK government's debt position to see | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
what is the reality. We have a well-being and future generations | :12:39. | :12:41. | |
act in Wales, a very good thing it is indeed but what we are doing in | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
carrying on this Rake 's progress of borrowing is to hand onto the next | :12:46. | :12:48. | |
generation and massive debt which they will have to reply. I do think | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
that is a terrible immoral position for us to hold. But there is a | :12:54. | :12:56. | |
better solution for us. We do not have to borrow that money at all. We | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
can look at what the government spends | :13:01. | :13:11. | |
money on at the moment and cut that risk to anybody in Britain being | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
disadvantaged. Let's take the foreign aid budget for example in | :13:16. | :13:17. | |
which we are spending ?12 billion this year. If we knocked 3.5 billion | :13:18. | :13:20. | |
of that 12 billion it would amount to the same sort of savings that the | :13:21. | :13:23. | |
Cabinet sector of finance wants the Chancellor of the Exchequer to avoid | :13:24. | :13:25. | |
deducting from the Welsh government's budget. There are | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
plenty of reasons why we should cut the foreign aid budget. Is the First | :13:30. | :13:32. | |
Minister putting the interests of people in foreign countries before | :13:33. | :13:33. | |
the people of Wales? There is the obvious moral question | :13:34. | :13:44. | |
of those countries who are rich helping the poor. Norway is a prime | :13:45. | :13:50. | |
example, grants set up by the Norwegian government because they | :13:51. | :13:53. | |
felt they had done well out of oil and gas and wanted to give something | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
back. That desire to help humanity is hugely strong. Looking at it | :13:58. | :14:03. | |
economically, aid, it buys friends and colleagues. -- allies. If you do | :14:04. | :14:11. | |
not do it, someone else will. There is a strong moral case for aid, but | :14:12. | :14:19. | |
in diplomatic terms, if you offer aid, they will remain your friends | :14:20. | :14:25. | |
and trade with you in the future, increasing the wealth of their own | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
people and buying the goods you manufacture. There is a humanitarian | :14:30. | :14:32. | |
case for aid and no one is against that but a lot of the aid budget | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
goes to country spending a huge amount of money on projects we would | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
not regard for a moment as humanitarian. We are increasing aid | :14:41. | :14:46. | |
to Pakistan this year by ?100 million to nearly ?450 million a | :14:47. | :14:51. | |
year and Pakistan this year is increasing its defence budget by 635 | :14:52. | :14:56. | |
million to 6.7 billion. They spend far more per capita on defence than | :14:57. | :15:01. | |
we do in the UK. They have a nuclear programme and a space programme. We | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
are increasing the amount of aid to Pakistan, it is indirectly funding | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
the space and military budgets. There are many other examples of | :15:12. | :15:15. | |
countries where people have suffered greatly, a lot of it because of the | :15:16. | :15:20. | |
ineptitude of European powers who left those countries with artificial | :15:21. | :15:23. | |
boundaries and economic incoherence, without a tradition of governance | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
and they struggled as a result. Many have good governance now. Barna, for | :15:28. | :15:39. | |
example. Governance is robust. -- Ghana. I see nothing wrong with | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
providing aid to people in order for them to survive and also to enable | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
people to develop themselves economically and of course to enable | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
those people to provide for those families. I was in Uganda two years | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
ago and what struck me was the entrepreneurial spirit of the | :16:00. | :16:00. | |
people. But they did not have capital. Offaly was the -- coffee | :16:01. | :16:09. | |
was the main cash crop. The great thing that happened was banking via | :16:10. | :16:15. | |
mobile phones. For many people around the world, they just need a | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
bit of help to prosper and that is why we give aid to people to make | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
sure they can prosper in the future and their communities can prosper. | :16:24. | :16:32. | |
On the 16th of January, you introduced the Trade Union Bill and | :16:33. | :16:35. | |
the intention is to do supply aspects of the UK Government's trade | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
union act. Light country supports this, we believe industrial | :16:42. | :16:45. | |
relations should be decided upon here and not in Westminster the -- | :16:46. | :16:54. | |
Plaid Cymru. It will be incompetence under the assembly's current powers. | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
Do you believe it will be incompetence under the reserved | :17:00. | :17:01. | |
powers model under the new Wales act? The competence will change. We | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
will pass this legislation. We will do what is right by the people of | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
Wales. It is a matter for the UK Parliament to decide whether it | :17:12. | :17:16. | |
wishes to override an act passed by the people of Wales in their | :17:17. | :17:19. | |
parliament. If they choose to do that, they will precipitate a | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
constitutional crisis. The Wales act implements a heavy list of | :17:24. | :17:27. | |
restrictions and industrial relations is one of those and we | :17:28. | :17:31. | |
heard from the constitutional and legal affairs committee yesterday | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
that the UK Government intends to legislate on industrial relations | :17:36. | :17:38. | |
once the Wales act is in force and they used the words at the earliest | :17:39. | :17:44. | |
opportunity. If you want to reduce strike action, the best way is not | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
through legal restrictions, but through negotiation, dialogue and a | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
social partnership approach that is advocated by a majority of people in | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
this assembly. You have said you still intend to take the Trade Union | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
Bill through this assembly, what is your plan to ensure that its | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
provisions are not overruled by the UK Government? We will do everything | :18:08. | :18:11. | |
we can to make sure it does not happen. We will take this | :18:12. | :18:14. | |
legislation through the assembly and we believe it will pass with the | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
support of not just the governing parties but our own party as well. | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
It is a matter for the UK Parliament, the House of Lords | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
particularly, to decide whether it is constitutionally appropriate to | :18:28. | :18:29. | |
seek to overturn legislation made in a devolved parliament by the elected | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
members of that devolved parliament acting within competence. That is a | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
serious constitutional matter that the UK Parliament will embroil | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
itself and if it goes down that line. Hankey. I wonder if we will | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
now see another Supreme Court case. -- thank you. I am sure you agree it | :18:50. | :18:55. | |
would be a damning verdict on the Wales act. Plaid Cymru voted against | :18:56. | :18:59. | |
the legislative competence motion because we were the view it could | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
lead to Westminster power grab. Would you agree that this now looks | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
like a vindication of our position on that vote must not there is | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
agreement across most of this to Chamber that the Wales act is not | :19:12. | :19:15. | |
going to provide a lasting settlement, as the UK Government | :19:16. | :19:19. | |
stated its objective was to achieve that. Will you state whether you | :19:20. | :19:26. | |
believe the Wales act 27 is unworkable and if you do think it is | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
unworkable, do you support Plaid Cymru's call for a new Wales Bill | :19:32. | :19:36. | |
immediately? It is not unworkable, but it is not satisfactory. It was | :19:37. | :19:44. | |
part of a package and parts of it we did not accept but nevertheless it | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
took this assembly forward when it was viewed as a package. Does it | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
mean there is unfinished business? Of course, the issue of jurisdiction | :19:53. | :20:03. | |
and policing is still unfinished. Yes, undoubtedly, there will be | :20:04. | :20:06. | |
another Wales Bill which will improve on the one we have had | :20:07. | :20:16. | |
recently. First Minister, today there is the startling news that | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
five people a week are dying in Wales five people a day, sorry, I | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
dying in Wales because of air pollution. It a frightening figure | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
that has been raised many times in this Chamber. Many communities would | :20:31. | :20:36. | |
rightly be looking to the Welsh Government to try to understand what | :20:37. | :20:39. | |
measures the Government will be taking to improve our quality | :20:40. | :20:43. | |
through the lifetime of the assembly -- air quality. I would be grateful | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
you could give us some understanding of the action the Welsh Government | :20:48. | :20:55. | |
is taking so that communities can take comfort from it and see real | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
improvement. It is for local authorities to review local air | :21:00. | :21:06. | |
quality. We assist them. We are considering responses to the recent | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
consultation held on the subject. It recognised the immediate and | :21:11. | :21:12. | |
long-term health benefits to be gained by reducing pollution | :21:13. | :21:19. | |
exposure. One area which has a beneficial effect on air quality is | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
to encourage more people onto public transport which is why we passed the | :21:25. | :21:30. | |
tram act for that to happen. We need more investment in public transport | :21:31. | :21:33. | |
in Wales. We are doing our bit with the Metro. We need electrification | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
to take place to Swansea as promised by the UK Government to encourage | :21:39. | :21:41. | |
more people onto the trains. The more we can reduce car use and | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
provide an alternative, the better it will be for air quality. Five | :21:47. | :21:53. | |
people a week dying because of air quality in Wales, 2000 people a | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
year, it is a frightening figure and as Public Health Wales have | :21:59. | :22:01. | |
identified, one of the biggest if not the biggest issue we face. The | :22:02. | :22:05. | |
programme today invited the Welsh Government to take part in the | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
programme and regrettably they chose not to and issued a written | :22:10. | :22:13. | |
statement. Can you understand why people are concerned they are not | :22:14. | :22:16. | |
seeing real progress in their communities when they cannot see the | :22:17. | :22:18. | |
lead coming from the Welsh Government to make these | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
improvements? The figure of infringements is eating and yet the | :22:23. | :22:32. | |
community in Caerphilly has had many more infringements of air quality | :22:33. | :22:36. | |
and yet they are still blighted day in, day out, with the pollutants in | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
the atmosphere -- the figure of infringement is 18. We need a sense | :22:41. | :22:46. | |
of the figures we can calibrate. What would you do deem a successful | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
outcome for the measures you will be taking by 2021? A reduction in the | :22:52. | :23:00. | |
amount in the atmosphere. If we look at reducing emissions, I mentioned | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
the consultation earlier, our responses to be published shortly. | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
What is our contribution? Looking at the Metro providing an alternative | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
to car use, meaning a reduction in exhaust fumes coming out of cars, | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
making sure people have that alternative, promoting cycling as | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
well, not using cars, the problem is, with the new changes to vehicle | :23:23. | :23:30. | |
excise duty coming in, after the first year of a car's existence, | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
every car, regardless of its emissions, will pay the same road | :23:37. | :23:39. | |
tax. We have had a system for years were those cars who pollute the most | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
pay the most. Now it is a flat fee and I think it is wrong. I | :23:46. | :23:48. | |
understand the UK Government having to change the system. Otherwise no | :23:49. | :23:53. | |
one would pay road tax eventually. But effectively now if you have a | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
car that has a huge amount of emissions, you pay the same as | :23:59. | :24:02. | |
someone whose car is very light in emissions. That will not help air | :24:03. | :24:09. | |
quality in Wales. Would you agree to convene a summit on this issue of | :24:10. | :24:12. | |
all the interested public bodies so there can be a joined up approach to | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
it on the basis that we do across parties want to see improvements? | :24:18. | :24:24. | |
When you have a public health issue taking 2000 lives a year, I would | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
suggest it is rated as pressing number one button in your list of | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
rarities. There seems to be an element of divergence when it is | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
delivered in Wales -- list of priorities. Will you agree to host a | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
summit to make sure progress can be made on this agenda item so that we | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
can see genuine improvements across Wales, but importantly, improvements | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
to make sure we do not continue to see the number of people dying from | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
poor air quality going up in Wales? One of the issues increasingly a | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
problem is cars idling in traffic jams are leaving the engines on. It | :25:05. | :25:13. | |
creates a particular low air quality. One way to deal with it is | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
making sure the blockages are removed. It means of course is also | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
looking at ways of promoting electric cars. As part of the | :25:22. | :25:28. | |
response to the consultation taking place, we will look to be as | :25:29. | :25:31. | |
inclusive as possible in our approach. We have to work with local | :25:32. | :25:38. | |
government as well, as the main monitors of local air quality, to | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
make sure we can continue to improve the air the people of Wales breeze. | :25:44. | :25:50. | |
-- breeze. How is the Welsh Government helping to reduce | :25:51. | :25:54. | |
barriers to employment for people with long-term fluctuating health | :25:55. | :26:03. | |
problems? We have a plan to support low activity groups including | :26:04. | :26:07. | |
support for those with longer term health conditions. After action for | :26:08. | :26:15. | |
any delivered employment support programme for people with any for | :26:16. | :26:24. | |
the North Wales, Bristol NHS -- ME. How will you ensure the Welsh | :26:25. | :26:28. | |
Government looking at the good practice across the border will | :26:29. | :26:36. | |
address the barriers faced by people with long-term fluctuating | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
conditions such as ME and ensure these are produced code productively | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
in borders with the social and well-being act when you 14? I have | :26:48. | :26:53. | |
mentioned the employability plan. In terms of healthy working Wales, | :26:54. | :26:59. | |
there are three -- 3000 organisations engaged with healthy | :27:00. | :27:05. | |
working Wales. 33% of the working population. An investment of | :27:06. | :27:09. | |
?800,000 per year in the programme. We are also supporting workplaces to | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
tackle Eskimo nation associated with mental health problems through the | :27:14. | :27:21. | |
Time To Change. -- to tackle discrimination. I welcome your | :27:22. | :27:26. | |
reference to mental health issues which is what I was going to raise. | :27:27. | :27:31. | |
One effective measure in treating mental health problems is talking | :27:32. | :27:34. | |
therapy which can reduce the need to prescribe medication which would | :27:35. | :27:41. | |
itself enhance the ability of people to enter the job market. What is the | :27:42. | :27:45. | |
Welsh Government doing to assist with the provision of talking | :27:46. | :27:53. | |
therapy in Wales? We recognise that they cannot all be pharmaceutical | :27:54. | :27:57. | |
intervention. Counselling is important, as is exercise and | :27:58. | :28:01. | |
exercise is available in most of Wales in terms of it being | :28:02. | :28:06. | |
prescribed to people. Our delivery plan, for mental health, is there to | :28:07. | :28:14. | |
help people become more resilient and be able to tackle poor mental | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
well-being when it occurs. Looking as part of that plan, we look at | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
different therapies to help people in different and more effective | :28:25. | :28:24. | |
ways. Will be First Minister make a | :28:25. | :28:37. | |
statement on digital communications in Wales? Less, with our superfast | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
Camry project and ongoing negotiations with the UK government | :28:42. | :28:45. | |
we have access to fast fibre broadband to over 60,000 Welsh | :28:46. | :28:52. | |
premises and achieved 90% of coverage in Wales by the end of this | :28:53. | :28:58. | |
year. Can I congratulate the Welsh Government in rolling out superfast | :28:59. | :29:02. | |
broadband. It is clear that the Tobruk fee of Wales, beautiful as it | :29:03. | :29:07. | |
is, poses particular challenges to digital connectivity and we need | :29:08. | :29:11. | |
greater proportional access to reach the same level of coverage -- the | :29:12. | :29:19. | |
topography. I hope there are steps to press operators to share with the | :29:20. | :29:24. | |
structure. We'll be First Minister confirm that how the publicly owned | :29:25. | :29:31. | |
land can be used to help locate digitally connected infrastructure | :29:32. | :29:35. | |
and how we look post-Brexit to how we can use public funds to support | :29:36. | :29:40. | |
land management? At how we can use programmes to incentivise the | :29:41. | :29:44. | |
digital structure in rural and semi rural areas where they can make a | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
difference to connectivity worldwide? We can look carefully | :29:50. | :29:56. | |
with the forthcoming mobile action plan to see how best this could | :29:57. | :29:59. | |
support the targeted delivery of Communications of the structure on | :30:00. | :30:06. | |
the more regional basis. -- communications infrastructure. We | :30:07. | :30:11. | |
know some parts of Wales, the island of Anglesey for example, where there | :30:12. | :30:16. | |
appears to be coverage but it is not powerful enough to deliver data | :30:17. | :30:20. | |
coverage so there are issues that will need to be resolved for the | :30:21. | :30:24. | |
future and using regional economic funding is one-way. TRANSLATION: | :30:25. | :30:34. | |
Thank you very much. First Minister, I have received complaints from | :30:35. | :30:38. | |
representatives of the business community on the quality of Wi-Fi | :30:39. | :30:42. | |
services on trains running from Swansea to Paddington. This is often | :30:43. | :30:46. | |
because of a poor signal on route. As this is a crucially important | :30:47. | :30:50. | |
service for us in Wales, what is your government doing in connection | :30:51. | :30:53. | |
with the Welsh Government and the private companies have to improve | :30:54. | :31:00. | |
the signal along this route and other routes across Wales? | :31:01. | :31:03. | |
TRANSLATION: Well, as one who has used that service many times, I have | :31:04. | :31:07. | |
to say that the majority of the time it doesn't work and when it does | :31:08. | :31:12. | |
work it doesn't work effectively. We are in touch with great Western of | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
course to ensure that the service will ultimately improve. I know it | :31:18. | :31:20. | |
is possible, I have seen it on other trends where the system works well | :31:21. | :31:25. | |
and we wish to ensure that by considering the franchise next year, | :31:26. | :31:30. | |
that this is something that will be quite normal in every train in | :31:31. | :31:36. | |
Wales. First Minister, you mentioned fast fibre in your initial question. | :31:37. | :31:43. | |
I will start with good news that the village of Tintern in my | :31:44. | :31:47. | |
constituency has been recently connected to a superfast broadband | :31:48. | :31:51. | |
box which is pleasing the village no end. On the flip side, in the rural | :31:52. | :31:57. | |
hinterland in a village just outside, they haven't benefited from | :31:58. | :32:02. | |
that box. BT seem to be under the impression that the whole area is | :32:03. | :32:06. | |
now being served by superfast broadband and the problem has been | :32:07. | :32:13. | |
dealt with. Can you liaise with BT that when a village in a rural area | :32:14. | :32:16. | |
is connected, that a neighbouring village is not felt to be dealt with | :32:17. | :32:19. | |
in the same way because then those people don't have any hope for any | :32:20. | :32:23. | |
end date for their broadband problems. I will investigate the | :32:24. | :32:28. | |
issue and write to the member with a response. I think mine is a | :32:29. | :32:33. | |
straightforward question with a straightforward answer. There is | :32:34. | :32:44. | |
fantastic work being done by superfast Wales in their workshops | :32:45. | :32:47. | |
and road shows across the country. They are raising the potential on | :32:48. | :32:49. | |
how to get those connections up. But the one place that is missing is one | :32:50. | :32:52. | |
of the Hartland is of great industry in South Wales and it is Bridgend. | :32:53. | :32:58. | |
Could I suggest that through his good offices on mine they might be | :32:59. | :33:02. | |
able to bring one of the road shows to Bridgend, possibly north of the | :33:03. | :33:12. | |
M4. Standing here, I cannot comment on behalf or Bridgend but I hope the | :33:13. | :33:16. | |
member's words will find resonance with that member. Question five, | :33:17. | :33:31. | |
Angela Burns. Good afternoon. What what plans does the First Minister | :33:32. | :33:36. | |
have to address the barriers that are facing GP recruitment in Wales? | :33:37. | :33:44. | |
We are investigating the money which was announced at the weekend. I work | :33:45. | :33:51. | |
with organisations that represent all facets of the GP work sphere and | :33:52. | :33:55. | |
the issue of professional indemnity is one of the points that comes | :33:56. | :33:59. | |
across as a barrier for getting more GPs who are currently thinking of | :34:00. | :34:03. | |
retiring, work part time, to release more of their GP hours and going to | :34:04. | :34:07. | |
GP practices which would help with all of the queues and the problems | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
we see in GP practices. I am aware that some of that ?27 million is | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
earmarked to help offset some of that indemnity but what I really | :34:18. | :34:21. | |
wanted to know is that I understood the Cabinet secretary had issued a | :34:22. | :34:35. | |
report into this report -- had compiled a report into this issue. | :34:36. | :34:40. | |
This is something which is under active discussion with the | :34:41. | :34:42. | |
profession in order to move that forward. I can say that the package | :34:43. | :34:46. | |
which was announced on the weekend is designed amongst other things to | :34:47. | :34:51. | |
increase the contribution towards the rising costs of professional | :34:52. | :34:54. | |
indemnity, as well as dealing with things like the increasing costs of | :34:55. | :34:59. | |
pensions administration and the general uplift to deal with | :35:00. | :35:05. | |
increasing practice costs. Adam Price. TRANSLATION: One of the | :35:06. | :35:10. | |
frustrations is that qualifying students from Wales to want to be | :35:11. | :35:17. | |
trained in Wales in our medical schools, but do not have the | :35:18. | :35:19. | |
opportunity to undertake that training. If you look at the | :35:20. | :35:24. | |
percentages in England, 80% of the students in medical schools are from | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
England, 50% in Scotland, but only 20% in Wales. Can we guarantee that | :35:30. | :35:37. | |
all Welsh domiciled students who have the ability to study can access | :35:38. | :35:41. | |
a training place here in Wales and of course that has a great impact | :35:42. | :35:49. | |
then with the ability to retain them in our health service. TRANSLATION: | :35:50. | :35:54. | |
Well, I must say that he has said the same thing that people have told | :35:55. | :35:58. | |
me they have seen examples of young people who have not received an | :35:59. | :36:02. | |
offer to study in Cardiff, but have received an offer to study in | :36:03. | :36:05. | |
England, and this is something which concerns me, because if they are | :36:06. | :36:09. | |
good enough to go to England, then they should be good enough to attend | :36:10. | :36:15. | |
a Welsh university. This was being considered recently but I will write | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
to the member on this subject. I have heard people telling me this | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
and I'm sure he said the same and it is important that we understand the | :36:25. | :36:29. | |
selection system for students in order to ensure that Welsh students | :36:30. | :36:36. | |
receive fair play. There is strong evidence -based suggesting that | :36:37. | :36:39. | |
medical students are more likely to want to practice in the long term | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
where they have trained. Therefore I welcome a health board's initiative | :36:45. | :36:48. | |
where in partnership with Cardiff medical School, 60 medical students | :36:49. | :36:51. | |
each year have experienced the early part of their training in GP | :36:52. | :36:55. | |
surgeries in the south Wales valleys. Do you agree that giving | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
medical students this exposure to general practice early on is crucial | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
to promoting it as a career choice and how else can we promote the | :37:04. | :37:09. | |
values as a good place for GPs to work? This is something which is | :37:10. | :37:12. | |
hugely important as the member says. We look at the Rhondda cluster. That | :37:13. | :37:17. | |
has been particularly active in terms of recruiting. It is hugely | :37:18. | :37:23. | |
important that a student goes some warrant has a positive experience, | :37:24. | :37:26. | |
and that is why it is important that we are able to do that. If we look | :37:27. | :37:30. | |
at the Rhondda cluster as an example, they have a cluster | :37:31. | :37:33. | |
communications officer to build up the Rhondda as a great place to | :37:34. | :37:38. | |
work. They developed the website which describes the lifestyle and | :37:39. | :37:46. | |
career available in the Rhondda and they have developed a recruitment | :37:47. | :37:49. | |
survey and analysis. That is one example that can be used or adapted | :37:50. | :37:54. | |
by other clusters in order to make sure that when students actually do | :37:55. | :37:57. | |
their GP training in Valley areas that they feel they are coming to a | :37:58. | :38:01. | |
place that is forward thinking, that is well resourced and has GPs who | :38:02. | :38:11. | |
are dedicated to their community. Question six, Jayne Bryant. Will the | :38:12. | :38:16. | |
First Minister make a statement on midwifery practices in Wales? Every | :38:17. | :38:23. | |
woman has a named midwife to provide individual care during pregnancy. | :38:24. | :38:29. | |
The ?95 million funding package announced recently introduced an | :38:30. | :38:34. | |
increase in midwifery training places and that is the highest | :38:35. | :38:41. | |
number. Thank you. The Royal College of Midwives report this year | :38:42. | :38:44. | |
highlighted the growing age of the midwifery workforce and the need to | :38:45. | :38:47. | |
replace those highly skilled and dedicated workers when they retire. | :38:48. | :38:56. | |
The increase of student places and the continuing support for bursaries | :38:57. | :39:00. | |
is very welcome. Commitment like this is essential to ensure that our | :39:01. | :39:04. | |
maternity services attract more midwives over the coming years so | :39:05. | :39:09. | |
they can deliver safe, high-quality care for women and babies. Will the | :39:10. | :39:13. | |
Welsh Government pay tribute to the dedicated workforce we have and will | :39:14. | :39:16. | |
the government worked with health boards and trade unions to make sure | :39:17. | :39:20. | |
those approaching retirement can pass on their valuable skills and | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
experience to the next generation of midwives? Absolutely. It's why we | :39:26. | :39:29. | |
have increased the number of midwife training places. We know it is | :39:30. | :39:32. | |
important to invest in the workforce of the future by making that | :39:33. | :39:36. | |
investment now rather than wait for a time when we find we have a | :39:37. | :39:43. | |
demographic problem with the workforce and we are making that | :39:44. | :39:48. | |
commitment now. TRANSLATION: Thank you, I will also draw the First | :39:49. | :39:53. | |
Minister's attention to a letter from AWI branch in my constituency, | :39:54. | :39:59. | |
which makes the case for investment in midwifery services. They | :40:00. | :40:02. | |
optically concerned about the sustainability of the workforce, and | :40:03. | :40:07. | |
yes, you say there has been investment in more training places | :40:08. | :40:13. | |
but does the First Minister agree with me that unless we see a | :40:14. | :40:17. | |
significant increase in the training places available in Wales, that it | :40:18. | :40:21. | |
will be impossible for us to provide for mothers and their families in | :40:22. | :40:24. | |
the future, the kind of care that they need and deserve. Well, yes, we | :40:25. | :40:31. | |
have invested to ensure there are more places available. We have seen | :40:32. | :40:38. | |
a 40% increase in the number of training places available, and as I | :40:39. | :40:44. | |
said earlier, that since -- that is since 1979. First Minister, you will | :40:45. | :40:50. | |
be aware of the massive campaign a couple of years ago to ensure we had | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
appropriate midwifery services and a consultant led maternity ward. We | :40:57. | :41:03. | |
previously welcomed the development proposals of the unit and it would | :41:04. | :41:07. | |
be really great if you could update members here on how well that is | :41:08. | :41:11. | |
progressing and how that will lead to providing a first class | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
consultant led midwifery service in North Wales? Well, that unit is a | :41:17. | :41:24. | |
specialist unit. The original proposal was to move those services | :41:25. | :41:28. | |
to Arrow Park. I took the view that we had to review that decision to | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
see if it was possible and safe for that service to be delivered in | :41:33. | :41:35. | |
Wales and sure enough that unit is the result of that. It is | :41:36. | :41:40. | |
progressing well in terms of recruitment and building and I look | :41:41. | :41:50. | |
forward to opening. Caroline Jones. First Minister, during the previous | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
Assembly, the Welsh Government increased the number of student | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
midwifery places. However, in the latest stated midwifery services, | :42:00. | :42:03. | |
the Royal College of Midwives state it is no longer appropriate to | :42:04. | :42:08. | |
maintain a steady number of training places at the midwifery population | :42:09. | :42:11. | |
is ageing. What plans does your government have two increase the | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
number of training places for student midwives in Wales? | :42:16. | :42:20. | |
The funding package announced recently includes a 40% increase in | :42:21. | :42:33. | |
midwifery training places. Will the First Minister make a statement on | :42:34. | :42:36. | |
enforcement action under the animal welfare breeding of dogs Wales | :42:37. | :42:43. | |
regulation 2014? The enforcement is the responsibility of the local | :42:44. | :42:45. | |
authorities but officials are working with the heads of trading | :42:46. | :42:49. | |
standards in Wales on a partnership delivery programme to capture data | :42:50. | :43:05. | |
to assess the effectiveness of the regulations. Information received | :43:06. | :43:06. | |
from anti-puppy farming campaigner says local authorities do not have | :43:07. | :43:06. | |
the resources to enforce the legislation. The committee | :43:07. | :43:12. | |
recommended the Government in the UK ban third-party sales of dogs and | :43:13. | :43:15. | |
dogs should only be available for licensed regulated breeders or | :43:16. | :43:22. | |
approved re-homing organisations, it would go a long way to shutting down | :43:23. | :43:27. | |
the puppy farming industry. The UK Government has decided to ignore the | :43:28. | :43:31. | |
recommendation. If the First Minister has the devolved powers to | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
do so, does he intend to ban third-party dog sales in Wales and | :43:36. | :43:40. | |
if he doesn't, how does the First Minister propose to take this issue | :43:41. | :43:44. | |
further? We must separate out the issue of puppy farming and | :43:45. | :43:49. | |
legitimate third-party sales. I do not accept there is no difference. I | :43:50. | :43:54. | |
think there are those who sell us third-party... The third-party | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
route, I think there are those who are dedicated to their animals. | :44:00. | :44:05. | |
There are those who don't and they are the puppy farmers. What is | :44:06. | :44:09. | |
hugely important is that local authorities devote the resources | :44:10. | :44:13. | |
they should to ensuring the regulations are enforced and the law | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
is observed and I know there was a recent court case in Ceredigion | :44:18. | :44:20. | |
where the council did just that and they didn't force the law, followed | :44:21. | :44:28. | |
the judicial process -- they did enforce the law. It lead to | :44:29. | :44:32. | |
prosecution and they have also ensured suitable arrangements have | :44:33. | :44:36. | |
been made for dogs removed from the premises. Local authorities are | :44:37. | :44:42. | |
enforcing the law and it is hugely important those who are the real | :44:43. | :44:45. | |
rogues, the puppy farmers, are dealt with and the law provides the means | :44:46. | :44:53. | |
to do that. On a wider issue, of animal cruelty, it is widely | :44:54. | :44:57. | |
established cruelty to animals is considered a gateway behaviour to | :44:58. | :45:01. | |
violence against people, many of those perpetrators, as with other | :45:02. | :45:07. | |
things, would deny their responsibility in these acts of | :45:08. | :45:12. | |
violence, but what are you doing to consider this as part of wider | :45:13. | :45:15. | |
animal abuse legislation and would you support the call I and others in | :45:16. | :45:22. | |
this Chamber have asked of your animal Welfare Minister to have an | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
animal abuse register for Wales? If we can track these perpetrators who | :45:27. | :45:30. | |
are taking part in the violence against animals at the early stage, | :45:31. | :45:35. | |
if they then go on to perpetrate against people, we can try and | :45:36. | :45:40. | |
deflect from the seriousness of the potential things they may do in | :45:41. | :45:44. | |
these positions, I would urge you to consider this seriously and to carry | :45:45. | :45:49. | |
out research in this area. Can I give that consideration? It is an | :45:50. | :45:52. | |
idea that is worth investigating. I do not know the practical issues but | :45:53. | :46:00. | |
I wouldn't -- I would want to consider it further. I will write to | :46:01. | :46:10. | |
the member. First Minister, I appreciate the Government gathers | :46:11. | :46:15. | |
data at the moment which will steer any review into these regulations. | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
Under these circumstances, can you give us an idea when this review | :46:20. | :46:24. | |
will be held and can you also publish a timetable on this issue? | :46:25. | :46:32. | |
There is no timetable in place at present but this is something of | :46:33. | :46:35. | |
course the Minister will issue to the assembly once it is decided. | :46:36. | :46:39. | |
That was First Minister's Questions. If you want more coverage of the | :46:40. | :46:44. | |
assembly, you can go online to BBC Wales Senedd live page. That is it | :46:45. | :46:51. | |
from us this week. We will be back next week. Thank you for joining us. | :46:52. | :46:59. | |
How well do you know your Six Nations? | :47:00. | :47:01. | |
OK, then. Fingers on the keypads, everybody. | :47:02. | :47:04. | |
Who's made most appearances in the Six Nations in an England shirt. | :47:05. | :47:08. | |
Scott Gibbs scored our last ever Five Nations try. | :47:09. | :47:12. | |
Who scored our first ever Six Nations try? | :47:13. | :47:14. | |
2011 was the first time an Italian player has been named | :47:15. | :47:18. | |
Player of the Tournament. Who was it? | :47:19. | :47:22. |