Browse content similar to 09/05/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good afternoon and welcome once again to our weekly coverage of | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
questions to the First Minister. Carwyn Jones is expected to be asked | :00:30. | :00:36. | |
about Brexit, he is most weeks, debts owed to local authorities and | :00:37. | :00:39. | |
when children will be taught computer code. You can follow all | :00:40. | :00:48. | |
the latest on: Finau, business is under way, let's take a look at | :00:49. | :00:51. | |
today's questions to the First Minister. | :00:52. | :00:57. | |
I call the National Assembly to order. The first item on our agenda | :00:58. | :01:01. | |
this afternoon is questions to the First Minister and the first | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
question is from Lee Waters. When will every child in Wales be taught | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
how to call? We will ensure that children in Wales have the skills | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
they need for the future by developing code skills in our young | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
people. We will be making a statement in June. My daughter was | :01:22. | :01:28. | |
nine yesterday and she asked for a raspberry pie, which is not a fruit | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
-based pudding but in fact as you know, a small computer manufactured | :01:33. | :01:40. | |
in your constituency. In your area. When she leaves | :01:41. | :01:48. | |
education, the ability to programme computers will be an essential | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
skill, from everything to programming a manufacturing line to | :01:53. | :01:55. | |
designing the next innovation but the chief inspector of schools found | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
that standards are strong in only a very few schools and not enough | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
understand the potential of digital learning to aid teaching and | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
learning. Teaching children code should not rely on the enthusiasm of | :02:10. | :02:12. | |
the odd teacher or the parents ability to buy a raspberry pie. It | :02:13. | :02:17. | |
must be a key part of what schools do. The curriculum will of course | :02:18. | :02:24. | |
address this but more than 150,000 young people will graduate without | :02:25. | :02:27. | |
this basic skill before that is fully commented. Would you consider | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
what interim measures you can put in place to ensure that every child in | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
Wales gets the opportunity to learn computer coding as soon as possible? | :02:38. | :02:43. | |
I will wish your daughter happy birthday for yesterday. We want to | :02:44. | :02:52. | |
encourage coding skills. We fast-track the publishing of the | :02:53. | :02:59. | |
framework. Many schools have already introduced | :03:00. | :03:02. | |
coding skills into the classroom. We have invested 670,000 to the techno | :03:03. | :03:10. | |
camp and teach programmes to deliver workshops to pupils and teachers in | :03:11. | :03:13. | |
secondary schools in Wales and we have made a commitment to expand | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
coding clubs in every school in Wales before the announcement next | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
month. We do need to be part of the coding revolution. It is important | :03:24. | :03:26. | |
our young people learn the skills but one of the problems they have | :03:27. | :03:31. | |
got is being able to do homework in relation to coding because there is | :03:32. | :03:34. | |
inadequate access to the superfast Cymru broadband. You made a | :03:35. | :03:45. | |
commitment in your manifesto which gave a pledge to roll out broadband | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
to all residential premises and businesses by 2015. That was a | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
broken promise. Don't you think it's about time you delivered on that | :03:56. | :04:04. | |
promise? Our promises to deliver to 96% of promises by the summer of | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
this year, in contrast to his party who made no promises at all. | :04:10. | :04:18. | |
If we have the money to be spending on IT, shouldn't that money be | :04:19. | :04:25. | |
better spent on literacy and numeracy in schools, which is being | :04:26. | :04:31. | |
failing for a while? I see that 1951 has dawned in the corner over there. | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
Of course literally and numeracy are important but so are IT skills. We | :04:36. | :04:40. | |
know as members here that actually we could not function properly in | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
our jobs if we did not have at least basic IT skills. It is important our | :04:46. | :04:49. | |
children have better I skills compared to other children in the | :04:50. | :04:57. | |
world. Will the First Minister provide | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
details of the oversight that Welsh Government has over debts owed to | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
local authorities by third parties? Each local authorities responsible | :05:06. | :05:08. | |
for the collection of its debts as part of its own effective financial | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
management process. I am disappointed with that answer. I | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
thought you would like to know what you're local authorities are not | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
recovering at a time when they are claiming austerity is depriving them | :05:21. | :05:24. | |
of any money. I am sure you will congratulate the newly elected | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
councillors at Bridgend Council and hopefully the new council will be | :05:31. | :05:35. | |
able to reply to requests within the statutory time limit so I can ask | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
questions like this with full information to hand. Can you tell me | :05:41. | :05:43. | |
how much I'm claimed the debt is owed to local authorities and the | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
reasons that local authorities give you for not pursuing them? I can say | :05:48. | :05:55. | |
that 2015-16, they collected 97% of council tax build, the highest level | :05:56. | :06:04. | |
since this tax was introduced. They have mitigated levels rising in | :06:05. | :06:11. | |
council tax debt in Wales. We know it is lower than in England and the | :06:12. | :06:17. | |
Tory government there. Collection rates are now at 97.2%. They Alaw | :06:18. | :06:26. | |
Werin England. -- they are lower in England. | :06:27. | :06:34. | |
Would the First Minister recognised Welsh Labour's victory in Caerphilly | :06:35. | :06:37. | |
county borough is a testament to Keith 's leadership, his sound | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
financial management and a lifetime in public service? Could I join the | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
membrane expressing my regards of course to Councillor Keith Reynolds' | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
family. The illness was short. It was unexpected. And of course, I am | :06:54. | :06:59. | |
sure that people in Caerphilly would recognise the work that he and so | :07:00. | :07:02. | |
many others did over the course of the last five years. Would the First | :07:03. | :07:09. | |
Minister agree that the third party that owes the biggest debt of all to | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
Welsh local authorities is the Westminster government? It has cut | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
over a third in spending on adult care since 2011, which has had | :07:20. | :07:28. | |
severe financial consequences in Wales and obviously terrible | :07:29. | :07:30. | |
consequences in terms of the human cost to the elderly, the sick and | :07:31. | :07:36. | |
the disabled. If this callous Conservative government is | :07:37. | :07:39. | |
re-elected as seems increasingly likely on June the 8th, we need a | :07:40. | :07:46. | |
plan to defend Wales. Where is it? What is it? Who is going to lead it? | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
On the evidence from yesterday, we are in a dire position if it is | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
going to be him. According to you lastly, was him. We will happily | :07:57. | :08:03. | |
stand up for Wales. We do not want to see a future Conservative | :08:04. | :08:05. | |
government walk all over Wales and we have stood up for our people as | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
the election last year showed and indeed in 2011. He is right to point | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
out the cuts that have taken place. We have lost the equivalent of the | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
entire budget for health in the whole of North Wales. Despite that, | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
we have maintained spending and maintain health and social at 6% per | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
head higher than in England, showing a Welsh Labour government delivering | :08:29. | :08:31. | |
for the people of Wales in the face of Tory austerity. We now call on | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
the party leaders to question the First Minister. The leader of Plaid | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
Cymru, Leanne Wood. You launched your election campaign yesterday | :08:43. | :08:44. | |
talking a lot about unity but you could not bring yourself to utter | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
the name of your reader. Is Jeremy Corbyn still your candidate for | :08:51. | :08:57. | |
Prime Minister? Yes. Yesterday you had a chance to put Wales on the | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
critical landscape but instead and I am sure that Theresa May will be | :09:01. | :09:06. | |
breathing a huge site -- huge sigh of relief -- political landscape. | :09:07. | :09:08. | |
Three of your major pledges are defiled and they were promises made | :09:09. | :09:14. | |
before last year 's election and a fourth pledge on policing could have | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
been devolved if only Labour MPs had not had their own way. The next few | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
years will define the future of Wales and the UK. You should have | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
made clear Welsh demands to give Wales a voice, to defend Wales, but | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
you failed to do that. We will now have to rely on Plaid Cymru MPs... | :09:36. | :09:47. | |
OK, calm down. Let the question continue. We will now have to rip -- | :09:48. | :09:58. | |
rely upon Plaid Cymru MPs to best set out how we can defend Wales. Why | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
did you choose to let Theresa May off the hook? They don't like the | :10:04. | :10:08. | |
slogan standing up for Wales. That is the one of the things I have | :10:09. | :10:17. | |
noticed. We are proud of our pledges and she will find more to come in | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
the manifesto that will be pledged in due course. They were promises | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
you pledged before the last election. You should have already | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
delivered on some of those pledges. The reality is you have pushed your | :10:29. | :10:35. | |
leader out of this campaign. You have ever came out of this campaign | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
because you know that Labour cannot win. You want to make the election | :10:39. | :10:45. | |
about your record and the record of the Welsh Government and we all know | :10:46. | :10:48. | |
why you are doing that and that is why most of your recycled election | :10:49. | :10:54. | |
pledges are within default context. Therefore then if you lose this | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
election in Wales as many polls are suggesting that you might, does that | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
mean it will be a verdict on you, will it be your fault, and if you | :11:06. | :11:11. | |
become the first Labour leader to work loose Wales, the first time in | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
100 years, will you be prepared to take responsibility or can we expect | :11:16. | :11:18. | |
you yet again to blame somebody else? Well, we had all this last | :11:19. | :11:24. | |
year and we saw the result. People trust us to stand up for Wales. We | :11:25. | :11:29. | |
saw Plaid Cymru 's results in the local elections, going backwards in | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
Caerphilly. Only last week in this chamber, the member for South Wales | :11:35. | :11:40. | |
Central was claiming he would be the leader of Cardiff Council. And they | :11:41. | :11:46. | |
won three seats. He is not here. I recognise that. He is claiming that | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
Cardiff West was a great victory for Plaid Cymru. Well, with three seats | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
on labour on 12, I am happy to concede that victory to then if that | :11:56. | :12:01. | |
is their definition of it. We have an election to fight. We have put | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
our policies forward to the people of Wales. We will be standing up for | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
Wales. Thank you, presiding officer. Last | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
week in the news, First Minister, there were some serious concerns | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
raised about the progress being made on the reporting system around the | :12:21. | :12:28. | |
disaster, I would call it, where the previous report talked about being | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
treated like animals and other shocking renovations and families | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
showing real concern over the progress that the information is | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
coming back to them to satisfy themselves over the way their family | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
and loved ones will looked after and there has been a call for the | :12:45. | :12:47. | |
mortality report to be brought forward because Betsi Cadwaladr have | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
identified that some premature deaths could be associated to the | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
levels of care that were around the Tawel Fan unit at Ysbyty Glangwili | :12:58. | :13:03. | |
damp the head of the committee health counselling North Wales has | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
called for this report to be made available because it has been | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
finished. Will you commit to making that report available, given that | :13:12. | :13:14. | |
Betsi Cadwaladr are in special measures and you are responsible for | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
that health board? We will give full consideration to that on the basis | :13:20. | :13:22. | |
that we want to be as open and transparent as possible and that is | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
what people would expect. Consideration will be given to | :13:27. | :13:28. | |
releasing the report went it is appropriate. The head of the | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
community health council believes it is appropriate. It may stop any of | :13:34. | :13:40. | |
this bad practice appearing any liberal elsewhere, in his words. You | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
are spending ?5 million a year of additionally running Betsi Cadwaladr | :13:47. | :13:48. | |
because it is in special measures. You are responsible when families | :13:49. | :13:54. | |
and concerned clinicians want to see this data so they can fully | :13:55. | :13:57. | |
understand what went on within that unit. Why on earth are you not | :13:58. | :14:02. | |
allowing that report to come forward? Because it would add a huge | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
amount of comfort to the families and to the individuals who have | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
heard such horrific stories over the care within that unit and in | :14:13. | :14:15. | |
particular I draw your attention to the fact that it has already been | :14:16. | :14:18. | |
said, patients were treated like animals. Well, the report as I | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
understand it is with the independent overseer and that the | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
right time, consideration will be given to releasing the report. It is | :14:30. | :14:32. | |
important that as much information is released as possible so that | :14:33. | :14:34. | |
lessons can be learned. I'm really disappointed you're not | :14:35. | :14:44. | |
giving firm indications of when that report will be available. This is a | :14:45. | :14:48. | |
politician saying the report should be available but the head of the | :14:49. | :14:53. | |
community council along with family members and clinicians. I would be | :14:54. | :14:56. | |
grateful, if you are not in a position to give the timeline today, | :14:57. | :14:59. | |
that you would indicate that you would write to me, to allow me to | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
have sight of the Timeline that you, as the Government, are working to. I | :15:05. | :15:08. | |
think that's the very least someone could expect, given the concerns | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
raised last week. But also I would ask you to confirm, are you | :15:14. | :15:18. | |
satisfied with the level of debt capacity in North Wales for mental | :15:19. | :15:21. | |
health patients, because it has come to our attention that there is the | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
sofa system that is working in North Wales, where a bed isn't available | :15:28. | :15:31. | |
in mental health, people are put on sofas to try and meet the targets. | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
That cannot be right. It is putting vulnerable people in a position | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
where they could be exploited, and how can anyone feel that a sofa | :15:41. | :15:46. | |
system meets the requirement of providing safe and secure bed | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
capacity in the North Wales health board area? If the leader of the | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
Welsh Conservatives has evidence of the sofa system, we would like to | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
see that evidence. I will of course write to him along the lines he has | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
asked for, providing him with more information regarding the timescale, | :16:05. | :16:07. | |
in terms of any release of the report. Ukip group, Neil Hamilton. A | :16:08. | :16:20. | |
policy of increasing income taxes people earning as low as ?11,000 a | :16:21. | :16:27. | |
year. The Labour Party nationally is apparently going to stand on a | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
policy of increasing the top rate of income tax from 45p to 50p. Does he | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
agree with the Shadow Chancellor that we have a great deal to learn | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
from Karl Marx and does he feel raising the top rate of tax is | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
likely to raise more money? Yes I do. I think that raising the top | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
rate of tax will raise more money. I don't think we have much to learn | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
from Bass capita, those who have read it and understand what it says. | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
We would stand on a platform of ensuring that those who can afford | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
to pay a little bit more, do pay a little bit more, in order to ensure | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
we have the public services people would expect. Am I to take it from | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
that response is now the policy of the Welsh Government when taxpayers | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
are devolved, to us in this assembly, to follow the Labour | :17:19. | :17:22. | |
Party's manifesto nationally of increasing top rates of tax in | :17:23. | :17:25. | |
Wales? The evidence from the last time that this happened, in 2013, | :17:26. | :17:33. | |
was that reducing the tax rate from 50p to the current 45p led to an | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
enormous increase in revenue, about ?8 billion. So it seems to be rather | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
counter-productive to stand on a policy which increases tax rates and | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
reduces revenue, makes it less likely that the Welsh Government | :17:48. | :17:51. | |
would be able to put more money into the national health Service. As far | :17:52. | :18:04. | |
as the Welsh rate of income tax is concerned, we have already pledged | :18:05. | :18:06. | |
we will not increase the rate of income tax in the course of this | :18:07. | :18:09. | |
assembly. I'm delighted to hear that. Whether that means the First | :18:10. | :18:11. | |
Minister accepts that raising rates doesn't necessarily lead to | :18:12. | :18:13. | |
increasing revenue. It offers Wales a great opportunity to make our | :18:14. | :18:16. | |
country into a kind of tax haven within the United Kingdom which | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
would help us, which would help us to reverse the economic trends of | :18:21. | :18:27. | |
many, many decades in Wales and give us a significant advantage, in the | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
same way as Southern Ireland has used differential rates of | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
corporation tax to kick-start the Celtic Tiger economy, which was very | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
successful in that country. He raises an interesting point about | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
corporation tax. There are no proposals to devolved corporation | :18:44. | :18:50. | |
tax. Tax havens tend to have poor public services, like health | :18:51. | :18:53. | |
services, because they cannot raise money to pay for public services. I | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
don't think the future of Wales lies in being a replica of the British | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
Virgin Islands or the Channel Islands. We have a different model, | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
the Channel Islands don't have a health service along the model we | :19:07. | :19:10. | |
would understand. Getting the balance right between revenue and | :19:11. | :19:13. | |
expenditure on public services to the level people would expect is of | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
course a matter for governments to balance. Question three, Julie | :19:17. | :19:24. | |
Morgan. What is the First Minister's assessment of the first stage of | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
negotiations with the EU? Posturing on both sides. I hope that comes to | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
an end pretty soon so that the task of ensuring a sensible Brexit is | :19:34. | :19:40. | |
taken forward. I thank the First Minister for that response. Although | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
the UK Treasury has guaranteed funding for European structural | :19:45. | :19:50. | |
projects before the UK leads the EU, does the First Minister agree it is | :19:51. | :19:53. | |
absolutely crucial but after the UK leads the EU, the total sum of money | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
that has been available in the past for these projects in Wales is added | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
to the Welsh budget and is under the control of the Welsh budget? | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
I do. First of all, we know that structural funds are guaranteed for | :20:10. | :20:16. | |
2020. Farming subsidies also but nothing beyond. Nothing at all in | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
terms of support beyond that time. I have an easy answer, that is quite | :20:22. | :20:24. | |
simply for the pot of money to be made available, as it is now, for it | :20:25. | :20:28. | |
to be distributed as it is now, to provide the certainty that | :20:29. | :20:33. | |
structural funds provide so far, and particular we certainly for our | :20:34. | :20:36. | |
farmers. It's a good way of ensuring farmers don't have to suffer as a | :20:37. | :20:40. | |
result of Brexit. Although Jeremy Corbyn has joined | :20:41. | :20:43. | |
the Conservatives in saying he wants Brexit to deliver a fairer society | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
and upgraded economy, we realise there are tough negotiations ahead. | :20:50. | :20:51. | |
How do you respond to his statement at the issue of Brexit is set up? It | :20:52. | :20:59. | |
is settled because Britain is leaving the EU and that question has | :21:00. | :21:02. | |
already been answered. What I don't see if any semblance of any kind of | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
plan from the UK Government, nothing. I have sat in meetings, | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
I've asked and try to see what the plan is. There isn't one. Last | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
Thursday we saw panic on the part of the Prime Minister, when she started | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
to worry about what Brexit would mean for ordinary working people. | :21:20. | :21:22. | |
She is right to be concerned about that. You cannot say one hand no | :21:23. | :21:25. | |
deal is better than a bad deal and say, but we need a deal to make sure | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
we don't see an economic downturn. What is hugely important is the bass | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
string of last week goes, that we have ideas as to what Brexit might | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
look like. She was a remain, let's not forget that. She is someone like | :21:39. | :21:44. | |
me who has accepted the result and it's hugely important for those who | :21:45. | :21:47. | |
have ideas to work together to take those ideas forward, because we've | :21:48. | :21:50. | |
had nothing at all in terms of ideas for those who campaign for Brexit. | :21:51. | :21:55. | |
Will the First Minister agree with me the kind of language being used | :21:56. | :21:58. | |
by the Prime Minister to attack our friends and neighbours on the | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
continent helps nobody, in terms of the negotiations that are to come? | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
And it doesn't just tarnish Theresa May's government but threatens to | :22:08. | :22:10. | |
tarnish the reputation of Wales. The First Minister is asking for editing | :22:11. | :22:16. | |
going forward to mitigate the potential of tarnishing Wales' good | :22:17. | :22:19. | |
name around the world because of the language used by Theresa May. Will | :22:20. | :22:23. | |
he commit to implement a new international policy for Wales, | :22:24. | :22:27. | |
which would include designating a member of his Cabinet as the | :22:28. | :22:30. | |
external affairs Cabinet member for country in order to rebuild the | :22:31. | :22:33. | |
bridge is Westminster are so determined to burn down? | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
The language was undiplomatic. I think both sides were guilty of | :22:39. | :22:43. | |
posturing, actually. That needs to come to an end. This is not war, | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
nobody has invaded anybody else. We're not to face each other, stare | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
at each other across the Channel or the Irish border. We want to be | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
friends and allies and trading partners at the end of the day. We | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
have started to look at our international policy, in particular | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
where we need to beef up our international presence. We know we | :23:04. | :23:07. | |
have been successful at the Qatar Airways, that is another example of | :23:08. | :23:10. | |
where the Welsh Government has been able to support the airports, to get | :23:11. | :23:15. | |
that route. The next age buses to make sure we look to having a | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
sufficient presence and an increased presence in those markets that will | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
become important to us. Will the First Minister make a statement on | :23:27. | :23:32. | |
the development of district shopping centres in cities. We have existing | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
shopping centres as sustainable centres for local development. We | :23:38. | :23:46. | |
need strategies and policies to maintain these commercial centres. | :23:47. | :23:55. | |
There are other district shopping centres in Swansea and Wales. I | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
would like to stress the importance of shopping centres. We have lost | :24:00. | :24:03. | |
banks, public houses and shopping diversity. Will the First Minister | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
agree with me there should be a major bank in each one of these | :24:08. | :24:09. | |
district shopping centres? Ideally we would like bank branches within | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
shopping centres that these are ultimately matters for the banks. It | :24:16. | :24:18. | |
is important businesses and customers have the ability to pay in | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
money and make cash withdrawals within their communities. Where the | :24:23. | :24:25. | |
banks are failing to accommodate this, the Post Office is serving an | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
important role, with 95% of bank customers having access to their | :24:32. | :24:34. | |
accounts by the Post Office. What I am more concerned about is closing | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
Post Office branches, because that would lose the only banking function | :24:40. | :24:46. | |
that remains in many communities. First Minister, footfall has | :24:47. | :24:54. | |
decreased in Welsh high streets to out-of-town shopping centres, which | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
has increased 4.6% according to information from last year. The | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
Welsh retail Consortium has called for Local Authorities and retailers | :25:03. | :25:08. | |
to work together to market a high-street identity. Can I ask, and | :25:09. | :25:15. | |
also they want Local Authorities to have more flexibility in regards to | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
the planning system. Can I ask you, how do you think the planning system | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
can help to be more supportive to high streets? | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
Well, we know that it's hugely important Local Authorities develop | :25:30. | :25:36. | |
their identities and look how they assist existing retail centres. It | :25:37. | :25:39. | |
is hugely important for town centre is to develop their own identity. | :25:40. | :25:43. | |
Having tabs on the website. If I were to go to a town in Wales, can I | :25:44. | :25:48. | |
find out what's that? Is there a website, have the traders got their | :25:49. | :25:51. | |
own website question what the reason people go to out-of-town shopping | :25:52. | :25:55. | |
centres is convenience, they are open, particularly on Sundays when | :25:56. | :25:58. | |
most people these days tend to shop. It is hugely important high-street | :25:59. | :26:08. | |
retailers look at that as well. People are shopping at six and seven | :26:09. | :26:11. | |
o'clock at night, on Sundays when a lot of high streets are closed. | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
Needs to be some flexibility with traders, to make sure they are lying | :26:15. | :26:17. | |
their opening hours. There is a limit to what they can do a sole | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
traders, but align their hours with the work patterns people have now, | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
not the work patterns people had 30 or 40 years ago. Hugely important | :26:27. | :26:32. | |
room is given to more living accommodation and more office space | :26:33. | :26:36. | |
as well. You have the office workers and footfall during the day to help | :26:37. | :26:46. | |
the retailers. Mike Edgers mentioned the closure of high-street banks and | :26:47. | :26:50. | |
you mentioned post offices. Another important part of the district | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
shopping areas is sometimes the local pub. I wondered, was there any | :26:56. | :26:59. | |
update regarding the Welsh Government's talks about how to | :27:00. | :27:10. | |
protect community pubs? It is a tricky issue. We know that in | :27:11. | :27:14. | |
planning terms it's not difficult to change the use of a pub to another | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
commercial or retail use. That said, quite often pubs are not sold and | :27:21. | :27:24. | |
they become derelict because they are empty after a while. This was | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
not an easy issue to resolve. We note there are still too many pubs, | :27:30. | :27:35. | |
given people's current social habits to stop what is hugely important is | :27:36. | :27:40. | |
to be able to work with the market leading pubs, there are many of | :27:41. | :27:44. | |
them, some big sunspot, to provide a good example to others. But | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
ultimately, it's a question of ensuring that the pubs are able to | :27:50. | :27:57. | |
offer the widest range of services. Some double up as shops. Looking at | :27:58. | :28:04. | |
ways in which pubs can also act as business hubs in communities, if a | :28:05. | :28:08. | |
local shop or a post office, that's one way forward, to ensure pubs have | :28:09. | :28:15. | |
a viable future. Will the First Minister outline the actions the | :28:16. | :28:20. | |
Welsh government is taking to improve the mental health of people | :28:21. | :28:24. | |
in Wales? We have a mental health strategy on the 2016-19 delivery | :28:25. | :28:30. | |
plans sets out our priorities for improving the mental health and | :28:31. | :28:33. | |
well-being of people of Wales. Two weeks ago I was proud to speak | :28:34. | :28:36. | |
alongside the Health Secretary at the first year celebrations of a | :28:37. | :28:40. | |
community project which seeks to improve emotional well-being through | :28:41. | :28:44. | |
mindfulness and stress control courses. It has helped nearly 2000 | :28:45. | :28:50. | |
people during their first year and mental health awareness week seems | :28:51. | :28:53. | |
an appropriate time to celebrate the success. With one in four people | :28:54. | :28:57. | |
experiencing mental health issues, what best practice can the Welsh | :28:58. | :29:01. | |
Government draw from and promote among other health boards across | :29:02. | :29:07. | |
Wales? Value steps is an innovative approach, improving mental health | :29:08. | :29:12. | |
and reducing prescription drug prescribing. We want to look at | :29:13. | :29:19. | |
innovative models of this to look at collaborating models. That would | :29:20. | :29:24. | |
form new initiatives, including the initiative of the well-being bond. | :29:25. | :29:29. | |
We will consider the work of organisations such as value steps in | :29:30. | :29:35. | |
order to ensure that what we are doing has strengthened as a result | :29:36. | :29:36. | |
of looking at that experience. First Minister, a number of deaths | :29:37. | :29:46. | |
by suicide have occurred in the recent past in schools in my | :29:47. | :29:51. | |
constituency. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | :29:52. | :29:55. | |
made an announcement that every secondary school in England should | :29:56. | :30:00. | |
be offered mental health first aid training which teaches people how to | :30:01. | :30:03. | |
identify young people who might be developing a mental health issue and | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
this policy has been very well received by charities and | :30:09. | :30:11. | |
professionals. Especially and we must remember that many young people | :30:12. | :30:18. | |
do struggle with issues such as anorexia and self harming, as wet as | :30:19. | :30:24. | |
-- as well as suicidal thoughts. Would you consider a similar | :30:25. | :30:29. | |
initiative in our schools to prevent these wasteful deaths quiz remark I | :30:30. | :30:37. | |
noted the Prime Minister 's answer recently, it was a mistake on her | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
part and the idea is one worthy of examination but of course what I | :30:42. | :30:48. | |
will remind the member is that we have a councillor in schools already | :30:49. | :30:51. | |
able to provide that service. The trick is not just to provide the | :30:52. | :30:57. | |
counsellor but make sure that young people feel able to go and see them. | :30:58. | :31:01. | |
That is a more difficult nut to crack. That can be quite a step. We | :31:02. | :31:09. | |
already have councillors in schools but that is not enough of itself. We | :31:10. | :31:13. | |
need to make sure that young people are able to access assistance | :31:14. | :31:22. | |
outside of school as well. Thank you, prose and force. Does the Prime | :31:23. | :31:28. | |
Minister understand how much of a crisis there is facing us in terms | :31:29. | :31:33. | |
of mental health care in Wales? On Anglesey, I understand that there is | :31:34. | :31:36. | |
now not a single psychiatric consultant for mental health | :31:37. | :31:42. | |
patients between 18 and 65 years old. Health professionals are you | :31:43. | :31:47. | |
working under huge pressure is that they cannot work with. They fear | :31:48. | :31:50. | |
that they are having to make decisions which will be a risk to | :31:51. | :31:56. | |
patients, the shortage of beds means that people are taken as far as | :31:57. | :32:00. | |
London to be treated or receive care. There are dozens of children | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
and young people who are sent to England for treatment and over 200 | :32:05. | :32:11. | |
mental health patients in North Wales have been transferred out of | :32:12. | :32:17. | |
Wales in the last 22 months. Now, the whole system is on its knees. | :32:18. | :32:20. | |
When will the government take action in order to safeguard some of my | :32:21. | :32:28. | |
most vulnerable constituents? I do not accept the figures that the | :32:29. | :32:33. | |
member has listed in the chamber. First of all the funding for mental | :32:34. | :32:40. | |
health has gone up to 629 million for the ensuing financial year and | :32:41. | :32:44. | |
that is safeguarded. Health boards have attained and actually exceeded | :32:45. | :32:50. | |
their targets as regards mental health services. In some areas over | :32:51. | :32:56. | |
the past 12 months and of course although more people are transferred | :32:57. | :33:03. | |
into Kalms, the health boards are confident that the situation will | :33:04. | :33:10. | |
demonstrate that every Kalms service in every part of Wales attained the | :33:11. | :33:15. | |
28th day target before they get a new appointment. And so very many | :33:16. | :33:21. | |
improvements have taken place in the past months. When will the First | :33:22. | :33:27. | |
Minister meet with the first ministers of the UK's other devolved | :33:28. | :33:32. | |
governments to discuss their relationship with the European | :33:33. | :33:36. | |
Union? Well, of course, there is business to be discussed before the | :33:37. | :33:42. | |
8th of June. But I do discuss EU issues with bilateral and trilateral | :33:43. | :33:50. | |
meetings with first ministers of Scotland and Northern Ireland and | :33:51. | :33:52. | |
the Deputy First Minister is of Northern Ireland. Wouldn't the First | :33:53. | :33:59. | |
Minister agree that the discussions are more important than ever, given | :34:00. | :34:05. | |
what is contained within this white paper with the sky blue cover on | :34:06. | :34:09. | |
Exeter and the European Union, produced by the UK Government which | :34:10. | :34:14. | |
mentions the situation post Brexit that the powers that the EU | :34:15. | :34:22. | |
currently has in terms of common frameworks will return to the UK, | :34:23. | :34:29. | |
allowing the rules to be set their by democratically elected members. | :34:30. | :34:32. | |
What is happening to us in this place? How are our views in the | :34:33. | :34:36. | |
devolved administrations to be part of those discussions? Well, my view | :34:37. | :34:41. | |
is those powers should come to the people of Wales and should not be | :34:42. | :34:45. | |
retained in Westminster or Whitehall. It is crucial to have | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
frameworks in some parts such as the fisheries for example but those | :34:51. | :34:52. | |
frameworks should actually be agreed and not imposed upon people without | :34:53. | :34:58. | |
their consent. We must remember that if we are going to have a single | :34:59. | :35:03. | |
market within the UK and we agree with that, we have to have rules but | :35:04. | :35:07. | |
if we do not have ownership of the rules, nobody is gone to pay any | :35:08. | :35:10. | |
attention to them and secondly there is the question on who is going to | :35:11. | :35:14. | |
police those rules without having a court of law is to refer to. Some | :35:15. | :35:20. | |
people in the UK think it will move back to how it was pre-1972 but that | :35:21. | :35:24. | |
is not the same United Kingdom that we have now. We do not have just one | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
government. There is a great deal of work to be done to ensure that these | :35:30. | :35:32. | |
powers will be transferred from Brussels to Wales and not via | :35:33. | :35:38. | |
London. When the external affairs committee visited Brussels last | :35:39. | :35:41. | |
year, we met with the Canadian trade delegation and I was struck by the | :35:42. | :35:45. | |
role of the Canadian provinces in the negotiation. We also know since | :35:46. | :35:54. | |
then the role -- role of the parliament in negotiating the deal. | :35:55. | :35:57. | |
Negotiations are going to become increasingly important for Wales and | :35:58. | :36:02. | |
the UK and they are much more than about foreign affairs and Crown | :36:03. | :36:05. | |
prerogative. They are about the bread-and-butter issues of daily | :36:06. | :36:08. | |
economic life. Future negotiations with the EU and beyond should | :36:09. | :36:13. | |
declare a voice for Wales and the other devolved administrations...? | :36:14. | :36:21. | |
Yes, even though trade per se is not devolved, it is hugely involved that | :36:22. | :36:25. | |
we have a strong voice. That's hugely important. Even if we might | :36:26. | :36:33. | |
oppose any part of the trade agreement. That is hugely important. | :36:34. | :36:38. | |
For example, if there were to be a free-trade agreement with Australia | :36:39. | :36:40. | |
or New Zealand, that would have a massive impact on our farmers. Even | :36:41. | :36:49. | |
though that is not devolved. We have heard voices in Australia over the | :36:50. | :36:54. | |
last few weeks single was not possible to have a free-trade | :36:55. | :36:57. | |
agreement with Australia and protect the interests of Welsh hill farmers. | :36:58. | :37:05. | |
It is hugely important that the Welsh Government and disassembly is | :37:06. | :37:08. | |
able to express a strong view and influence and reject actually part | :37:09. | :37:14. | |
of trade agreements that will have an adverse agreement on our own | :37:15. | :37:18. | |
farmers. The issue raised by the member is | :37:19. | :37:22. | |
crucial and it has been identified for several months now that the | :37:23. | :37:28. | |
future governments will give an indication of the future of the | :37:29. | :37:31. | |
Constitution of this government 1-macro country. What progress have | :37:32. | :37:38. | |
you made in terms of persuading his counterparts to agree that the | :37:39. | :37:41. | |
future internal market should be governed jointly by the nations of | :37:42. | :37:46. | |
the UK patent should not be imposed upon us by Whitehall? There are | :37:47. | :37:49. | |
differing views amongst the government. The view in Scotland is | :37:50. | :37:52. | |
basically independence will resolve the issue. The view in Northern | :37:53. | :37:58. | |
Ireland is mixed. Certainly I know and have heard... Now we have to | :37:59. | :38:07. | |
come to a position which I think is perfectly reasonable where we all | :38:08. | :38:12. | |
say where powers are transferred back from Brussels they come to the | :38:13. | :38:14. | |
devolved administrations and I see no reason why that cannot happen. My | :38:15. | :38:22. | |
view is and I have not heard a voice dissenting from this, if we are to | :38:23. | :38:26. | |
have an internal single market, those have to be agreed and they | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
have to be policed by an independent adjudication of body, not the UK | :38:31. | :38:37. | |
Government. We have to have a clear system, we have to have faith in a | :38:38. | :38:41. | |
system that is seen as genuinely independent, not as we have now. | :38:42. | :38:47. | |
Wherever there is a dispute between ourselves and the UK Treasury, | :38:48. | :38:50. | |
ultimately it is resolved by the UK Treasury. Those days have to go. | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
This can done perfectly sensibly and properly in order to safeguard the | :38:55. | :39:01. | |
interests of Wales. Will the First Minister make a statement on pupil | :39:02. | :39:05. | |
and seven -- student safety on foreign trips? The advice is | :39:06. | :39:08. | |
produced by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. That is | :39:09. | :39:11. | |
signposted in the all Wales guidance for education visits. That is | :39:12. | :39:20. | |
accessible from the Welsh Government website. I have implored on the | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
government to intervene in the case of Glyn Summers who lost his life in | :39:26. | :39:33. | |
a trip to Spain. His parents have demanded transparency following the | :39:34. | :39:37. | |
woeful investigation that followed his death. In his last letter to me | :39:38. | :39:44. | |
on this matter, the First Minister said he did not believe there is | :39:45. | :39:49. | |
anything further that he can do with regard to their concerns. But since | :39:50. | :39:53. | |
then the public services ombudsman has found that the investigation | :39:54. | :39:57. | |
into the death was flawed. The ombudsman has called on the local | :39:58. | :40:01. | |
authority to apologise to the parents and has further called on | :40:02. | :40:04. | |
the Welsh Government to review its policies further. Will the First | :40:05. | :40:09. | |
Minister say sorry and will he reconsider his opposition to the | :40:10. | :40:13. | |
right to a full and independent investigation into the death and | :40:14. | :40:16. | |
serious injuries and 1-macro on foreign field trips? | :40:17. | :40:22. | |
First of all, it was an awful event that occurred and it has been a | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
hugely difficult few years as we can all imagine for the parents. The | :40:28. | :40:32. | |
matter has rested with the ombudsman. The ombudsman has now | :40:33. | :40:36. | |
reported. There are recommendations for us as a government and we will | :40:37. | :40:39. | |
take those recommendations exceptionally seriously. I will keep | :40:40. | :40:52. | |
it as an open question. I think these things have to be looked at | :40:53. | :40:57. | |
carefully and as a result of the ombudsman 's findings, I will look | :40:58. | :41:00. | |
once again to see if there is anything more that can be done | :41:01. | :41:08. | |
following the report itself. I would like to echo those concerns and also | :41:09. | :41:13. | |
offer my condolences to the family of Glyn Summers. I think the | :41:14. | :41:17. | |
question is how can the Welsh Government ensure that schools are | :41:18. | :41:21. | |
able to reflect on occurrences, those rare occurrences, when | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
something happens on school trips? And the First Minister said he would | :41:27. | :41:30. | |
keep it as an open question. Would he be willing to elaborate on how | :41:31. | :41:33. | |
schools can learn from each other in the circumstances? The ombudsman 's | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
recommendations is that he will invite us as a government to | :41:39. | :41:41. | |
consider reviewing our policies and guidance in respect of educational | :41:42. | :41:46. | |
visits abroad. As part of that process of review, it is hugely | :41:47. | :41:50. | |
important to understand where the best practice lies and consult once | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
again with the outdoor education advisors panel in order to make sure | :41:55. | :41:57. | |
that the recommendation the ombudsman has put two is satisfied | :41:58. | :42:06. | |
in full. I share the concerns expressed in the chamber and of | :42:07. | :42:09. | |
course the sympathy to the family of Glyn Summers but would you agree | :42:10. | :42:13. | |
with me we need to get the balance right in respect of any changes that | :42:14. | :42:16. | |
might need to be made going forward to improve the risk assessment | :42:17. | :42:22. | |
processes regarding school trips because we don't want people to be | :42:23. | :42:29. | |
able to access and enrich educational experience by taking | :42:30. | :42:32. | |
part in trips so to board had any changes to guidance, local education | :42:33. | :42:38. | |
authority guidance, is something which does not prohibit trips from | :42:39. | :42:43. | |
taking place and it is fair and in proportion to all those taking part. | :42:44. | :42:47. | |
I couldn't disagree with the words the member has used but in the | :42:48. | :42:54. | |
circumstances there has been a... As much transparency as possible, as | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
much information as possible is used in order to strengthen policies as | :42:59. | :43:02. | |
far as the future is concerned but yes, of course, nobody would want to | :43:03. | :43:05. | |
see a situation where school trips don't take place because of what are | :43:06. | :43:13. | |
seen as regulations that are overly burdensome but it is important in | :43:14. | :43:16. | |
the circumstances we have today that a full investigation leads to a full | :43:17. | :43:25. | |
set of recommendations... To minimise any potential risk in the | :43:26. | :43:31. | |
future. Following the re-enactment of the | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
Wales act 2017, what further powers should be devolved to Wales quiz | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
remark they are to be found in our draft Bill which we published. | :43:40. | :43:47. | |
I noted earlier you pledge not to increase income tax but will you saw | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
pledge to use your devolved powers to reduce costs to businesses so | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
that employers can start being attracted to Wales and provide | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
much-needed jobs. I am not sure which powers you are referring to. | :44:02. | :44:06. | |
Business rates are but in terms of National Insurance or corporation | :44:07. | :44:13. | |
tax, they are not devolved. But from our perspective, we have | :44:14. | :44:20. | |
unemployment that is lower than England, Scotland and Northern | :44:21. | :44:23. | |
Ireland and we have recently had the best figures from foreign investment | :44:24. | :44:28. | |
in 30 years. As Michelle Brown has just said, the | :44:29. | :44:33. | |
Wales act will of course deliver a new range of fiscal powers for the | :44:34. | :44:37. | |
Welsh Government, ranging from borrowing and income tax powers and | :44:38. | :44:44. | |
stamp duty? Whatever you want to do will be dependent on a strong Welsh | :44:45. | :44:48. | |
revenue authority and that is in the process of being setup and the | :44:49. | :44:50. | |
Finance committee has been looking at that. Are you happy the progress | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
being made and what mechanisms do you have in place to make sure that | :44:56. | :45:00. | |
progress keeps on track? We have no concerns about the progress of the | :45:01. | :45:04. | |
Welsh revenue authority. We know that it will be in place in good | :45:05. | :45:08. | |
time for next year. Of course, we need to ensure that when taxes are | :45:09. | :45:12. | |
devolved there is an authority in place to make sure they can be | :45:13. | :45:15. | |
collected. We have understood there is a pressure on government and that | :45:16. | :45:19. | |
pressure we have met and we are confident that when the time comes | :45:20. | :45:22. | |
next year, the Welsh revenue authority will be in place and will | :45:23. | :45:30. | |
work. Will you distance yourself from | :45:31. | :45:36. | |
comments made by Diane Abbott who told BBC radio Wales last week that | :45:37. | :45:40. | |
the Labour Party did not think it was right at this time to devolved | :45:41. | :45:45. | |
policing to Wales? Have you asked Diane Abbott why she feels that the | :45:46. | :45:51. | |
Welsh Government uniquely is less capable than the Scottish and | :45:52. | :45:55. | |
Northern Ireland executives in terms of delivering police services? The | :45:56. | :45:59. | |
Welsh Government packed full of Labour representatives, and the | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
Scottish and Northern Ireland executives have no such lumbered | :46:05. | :46:09. | |
encumbrances. I am fully aware of the fact that the people decided | :46:10. | :46:15. | |
there should be a Labour led government in Wales last year. I do | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
not agree that policing should not be devolved. Policing should be | :46:20. | :46:24. | |
devolved. There is a debate in this chamber tomorrow afternoon when the | :46:25. | :46:27. | |
issue will become clear. There is no reason at all why policing should be | :46:28. | :46:34. | |
devolved for Scotland and Northern Ireland, Manchester, London, but not | :46:35. | :46:39. | |
to Wales. There is no rational reason for that to be the case. We | :46:40. | :46:45. | |
know that there will need to be cooperation in terms of | :46:46. | :46:48. | |
counterterrorism. When it comes to community policing, why is it that | :46:49. | :46:51. | |
Wales is seen as a second-class nation by the Tories? | :46:52. | :46:57. | |
There we are. That was First Minister's Questions for this | :46:58. | :47:08. | |
afternoon. More coverage online: there is an election special after | :47:09. | :47:12. | |
the ten o'clock news tomorrow evening but from all of us, thank | :47:13. | :47:15. | |
you for watching. Good afternoon. | :47:16. | :47:21. |