Browse content similar to 14/02/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to our weekly coverage of questions to the First | :00:19. | :00:26. | |
Minister. A little later this week because of the snooker but Carwyn | :00:27. | :00:30. | |
Jones has been asked about economic development, train services and the | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
role of the third sector in Wales. We are an Twitter and look at the | :00:37. | :00:44. | |
website for all the latest on Welsh politics. Let's head over to the | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
Senedd for the questions. TRANSLATION: The first item is | :00:51. | :01:01. | |
questions for the First Minister. Will the First Minister make a | :01:02. | :01:15. | |
statement on the scams. I do not believe that we can overestimate the | :01:16. | :01:19. | |
problem with scams both by phone and in person. This can have a serious | :01:20. | :01:25. | |
effect on people's lives and can lead to a shortening of their life. | :01:26. | :01:32. | |
There are devices which monitor and block phone calls, there is a firm | :01:33. | :01:39. | |
in my constituency that makes them. Will the Welsh government convened a | :01:40. | :01:42. | |
conference of all interested parties to see what can be done to address | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
this problem. I don't believe it can be solved but we can try to reduce | :01:48. | :01:53. | |
it. Scams are increasingly sophisticated, particularly online | :01:54. | :01:56. | |
and we are working closely with trading standards on a variety of | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
scams, dealing with a variety of scams relating to counterfeit goods | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
and illicit and illegal tobacco. There is a growing focus on | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
cybercrime. We're working with crime commission is on this issue. This | :02:11. | :02:18. | |
would be a productive use of this time and we will look to do so. One | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
of the other things that can be done to combat scams is the establishment | :02:24. | :02:31. | |
of no cold calling zones. This has been extremely successful in my own | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
constituency where we have imposed a townwide one. What work can we do | :02:38. | :02:44. | |
here to make Wales the first no cold calling nation in Britain? An | :02:45. | :02:50. | |
interesting idea. We have provided funding to increase the number of no | :02:51. | :02:56. | |
cold calling zones in Wales to protect vulnerable people from | :02:57. | :03:07. | |
scams. As the member has commented, we have looked to reduce the number | :03:08. | :03:13. | |
of cold calling and then we can declare ourselves a note cold | :03:14. | :03:22. | |
calling nation. Question two, Julie Morgan. We plan to invest in | :03:23. | :03:32. | |
high-quality infrastructure and improve economic conditions. There | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
has been good news on jobs recently. I welcome the fact that the EBI is | :03:39. | :03:45. | |
staying in Wales with an increase of numbers. That means that jobs are | :03:46. | :03:53. | |
leaving at the same time as there are plans for S4 seek to move to | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
Central Square Cardiff and to Carmarthen, at the same time there | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
is the tax office is planning to move to Central Square so there a | :04:03. | :04:10. | |
huge exodus of jobs into a very small area of the constituency. I | :04:11. | :04:14. | |
wonder if you have any suggestions as to what strategies can be | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
undertaken to make sure that area continues to be a mixed area with a | :04:19. | :04:22. | |
possibility of getting local jobs because this is a big change to the | :04:23. | :04:29. | |
job scene there. I am aware that Cardiff seeks to deliver 40,000 jobs | :04:30. | :04:37. | |
in the period to 2026 providing a choice of jobs, homes and supporting | :04:38. | :04:48. | |
infrastructure. It's today the UK cyber Security Centre is being | :04:49. | :04:52. | |
opened in London and the Minister will be aware of the excellent cyber | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
Security Academy. It's disappointing that the UK centre is going to be | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
located in London as if London hasn't got enough support from the | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
UK Government in that respect. What representations did the First | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
Minister make to try and get the UK centre to locate alongside the cyber | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
Academy in Newport so that our country could have benefited from | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
the jobs that will come? Looking to the future, will the First Minister | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
commit to designating you bought the cyber security capital of Wales so | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
that we can in future leveraged great opportunities to that | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
community. An interesting idea that I will look into. I will write to | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
the member regarding representations about the cyber security academy. It | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
is an issue in principle that we have supported. I will write with | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
further details as to how the Academy was established and why it | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
was in London. Cardiff continues to create jobs and attract many | :05:54. | :05:57. | |
visitors, we see more congestion on the roads. I notice that there is a | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
proposal to examine the feasibility of looking in the Taff and the Bay | :06:03. | :06:09. | |
as arterial routes around the city. Already popular for tourists, it | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
might have a commercial application in moving commuters. Is the | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
government prepared to look at it? I did see that. It's a matter for | :06:19. | :06:21. | |
Cardiff Council in terms of their management of the waterways. In the | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
summer, the service is very successful, in the winter, less so. | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
People see the service as a tourism service rather ban a commuting | :06:32. | :06:34. | |
service but there are examples elsewhere, around the world, where | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
water bus services have been successful. Certainly, I would look | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
to work with the operators and the City Council and others to see | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
whether the service could be future -- feature will in the future. | :06:52. | :06:57. | |
Although the Welsh revenue authority is being created, nearly all the | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
staff are being recruited in London because we don't have skilled people | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
here in Wales and this is a persistent problem. It begs the | :07:08. | :07:10. | |
question about what your government has been doing about skills and | :07:11. | :07:18. | |
training over the last 17 years. The Welsh revenue authority was not even | :07:19. | :07:22. | |
a twinkle in the eye 17 years ago. This has never been performed in | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
Wales before. We should not be afraid of bringing in skills from | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
elsewhere to set up the authority and train our own people in order | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
that they are able to provide those skills in the future. To criticise | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
others for not having the foresight 17 years ago, in terms of | :07:41. | :07:43. | |
establishing an authority that no one ever thought would be | :07:44. | :07:46. | |
established I think it is stretching things too far. Questions now from | :07:47. | :07:56. | |
the party leaders. Do you support the aspiration to achieve a million | :07:57. | :08:03. | |
Welsh speakers by 2050 and how would you intend to meet that aspiration? | :08:04. | :08:09. | |
She knows I do. It is a manifesto commitment on the part of my party. | :08:10. | :08:16. | |
One of the ways is making sure that the Welsh education strategic plans | :08:17. | :08:18. | |
across authorities deliver what they should be doing. I agree that the | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
aspiration is a good one. I'm glad that you have mentioned education. | :08:25. | :08:30. | |
In your consultation on creating a million Welsh speakers you explain | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
how education must play a central role, your main objective and what | :08:35. | :08:38. | |
you are asking local authorities to achieve is" a significant increase | :08:39. | :08:44. | |
in the number of children and young people educated through the medium | :08:45. | :08:47. | |
of Welsh or bilingually in order to create more Welsh speakers" and that | :08:48. | :08:54. | |
they should "Move schools along with the language to increase the | :08:55. | :08:59. | |
availability of Welsh medium school places". Do you accept it is | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
government policy and that means local authorities have to increase | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
the number of Welsh medium schools and Welsh medium school places in | :09:10. | :09:13. | |
their area? They are expected to show how they will do that by their | :09:14. | :09:19. | |
strategic plans. Those plans are subject to approval by ours. We | :09:20. | :09:22. | |
intend to make sure that those plans are robust and will deliver. You | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
will know that national policy has informed the position in Ysgol | :09:29. | :09:36. | |
Llangennech to convert a school from dual stream into Welsh medium. That | :09:37. | :09:42. | |
decision needs a decision from you and calm explanation to residents. I | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
have serious concerns that the frankly toxic atmosphere that has | :09:49. | :09:57. | |
emerged on this question and am aware that a group of residents | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
campaigning against the decision, there are some people standing for | :10:02. | :10:15. | |
the Labour Party in Llangennech and claim to be working with Ukip | :10:16. | :10:22. | |
checking... Can we hear the question please? Is it acts double -- | :10:23. | :10:29. | |
acceptable to you that Labour Party candidates are working closely with | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
Ukip on the question of Welsh medium education and do you agree with me | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
that the campaign against Carmarthenshire County Council | :10:40. | :10:43. | |
decision has become toxic and unacceptable and will you outline | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
what action you will take regarding Labour Party members working with | :10:48. | :10:50. | |
Ukip to undermine your own Welsh language policies? I agree that the | :10:51. | :10:59. | |
situation in Llangennech has become toxic. I do not think that the words | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
used by the leader of Plaid Cymru have helped the situation in terms | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
of turning this into a party political issue. Some comments have | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
been made that I do not agree with. I think it is hugely important now | :11:15. | :11:21. | |
that calm prevails that the toxicity and some of that which we last saw | :11:22. | :11:28. | |
some years ago is now reduced and that the council is able to explain | :11:29. | :11:36. | |
to people in Llangennech... It is your policy. It was implemented by | :11:37. | :11:44. | |
the council. She may want to listen to the answer to the question. She | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
has rightly said that the toxicity needs to be reduced. The council has | :11:49. | :11:55. | |
been trying to explain what its policy is with regard to Llangennech | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
but it is not for us to explain, it is for the Council to explain and it | :12:00. | :12:06. | |
is for us, of course, as a government to enable local | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
authorities to produce Welsh in strategic plans to continue to | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
support the language, as we do, and we continue on our quests to make | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
sure we have a million Welsh speakers by 2020. The leader of the | :12:21. | :12:28. | |
Welsh Conservatives. There is an urgent question coming on the | :12:29. | :12:37. | |
finding of the Kancoat report. I want to ask something else on this | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
particular issue given that you were the First Minister when these | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
decisions were taken, as that is an important consideration. Even the | :12:46. | :12:52. | |
warnings that were given, that there was a week business plan, that due | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
diligence was ignored, that the finance was an acceptably high risk, | :12:58. | :13:02. | |
what an earth would you suspect possessed the then business and | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
enterprise minister to agree to the release of this money, despite all | :13:09. | :13:11. | |
the lights flashing on the dashboard showing that this was such a risky | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
investment? It has to be remembered that the investment panel | :13:18. | :13:19. | |
recommended approval of the investment. At the First Minister | :13:20. | :13:28. | |
was guided by that information. This money was released over time. Time | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
and time again, those lights were flashing on the dashboard, ?3.4 | :13:33. | :13:38. | |
million was released to this company and it has been lost, in effect. No | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
jobs were safeguarded, that site is now empty, you as a government-held | :13:43. | :13:48. | |
liability for that site because the lease was offered as security | :13:49. | :13:52. | |
against the loan made available, the government is on the line to turn | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
that site back, ready for the landlord to take possession, so | :13:57. | :14:02. | |
there is ongoing liabilities, as I said, ?3.4 million were lost. Every | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
indication shows that it was, in the first place, the decision might have | :14:08. | :14:11. | |
been taken in the best interests of securing that business but as | :14:12. | :14:14. | |
applications were made to release more money, more and more warning | :14:15. | :14:19. | |
lights were coming on and yet the decision was taken to release more | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
money into this company. Do not think taxpayers are owed an apology | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
for the loss of money and in particular the inability to | :14:29. | :14:31. | |
safeguard any jobs by the 3.4 million put into this company? | :14:32. | :14:39. | |
Generally, we deal with heavy goods and businesses. Some of them fold. | :14:40. | :14:48. | |
We cannot possibly say that every business we help can be successful. | :14:49. | :14:53. | |
No banker could do that and it is the same for any government. Of the | :14:54. | :14:58. | |
projects that we have supported, only 2.4% of them have failed to | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
deliver on the objectives that were attached to their request for | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
financial support. We have a success rate of well over 90% in supporting | :15:09. | :15:14. | |
businesses. That means there are some businesses that are not | :15:15. | :15:17. | |
exceptional but they are the exception. We should not continually | :15:18. | :15:27. | |
review the way that we do due diligence. It needs to be put into | :15:28. | :15:33. | |
context. The vast majority of businesses we have helped our | :15:34. | :15:37. | |
successful which is why unemployment in Wales is so low. You will be | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
First Minister at the time and I do accept these decisions are based on | :15:44. | :15:46. | |
risk and some will go wrong. The point I had made with the two | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
questions, there were numerous warnings highlighting the risk to | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
the government and to the taxpayer by releasing the money into this | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
company. Finance Wales which is a lender of last resort said it was | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
too risky to release the money on a lonely business from themselves. The | :16:05. | :16:08. | |
remit of operation is to be a lender of last resort after commercial | :16:09. | :16:13. | |
banking has been exhausted. I do take that point that ultimately | :16:14. | :16:17. | |
there is an element of risk in all decisions you take. It is a fact | :16:18. | :16:24. | |
that ?3.4 million has been lost. Not one job guaranteed or protected. And | :16:25. | :16:32. | |
the taxpayer is out of pocket and the Welsh Government have | :16:33. | :16:34. | |
liabilities. Do you think there should be an apology on your behalf | :16:35. | :16:37. | |
from the Welsh Government to the Welsh taxpayer. I offer that | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
opportunity again. Will you apologise for this loss of the money | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
that is taxpayers money in this instance when so many warnings were | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
made and so many warnings were ignored by your then Minister and | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
ultimately the taxpayers lost out? I accept what the leader of the Welsh | :16:57. | :16:59. | |
Conservatives has said, he understood the situation in terms of | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
the initial grant of support. This was a start-up business which is | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
inherently risky. There must be risk by government or else we would not | :17:10. | :17:13. | |
support anything. It is the same for commercial banks. They will find | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
themselves in that situation from time to time. This organisation, the | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
business was set up at the time when the economic security -- economic | :17:23. | :17:27. | |
situation was precarious in the near aftermath of the financial crisis. | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
The Cabinet Secretary will go into detail in terms of the timetable. I | :17:33. | :17:38. | |
can say that we are proud to say that unemployment in Wales is so | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
low. It is lower than Scotland and Northern Ireland. Historically that | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
is a tremendous achievement. We have supported over 1000 businesses to | :17:48. | :17:51. | |
bring jobs to Wales, to bring investment to Wales. The best | :17:52. | :17:56. | |
figures for 30 years. It is correct to say that on occasion businesses | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
will fail and the decision is then for the money to be returned to | :18:01. | :18:08. | |
government. 97.6% of the businesses we support our successful in | :18:09. | :18:11. | |
providing jobs for the people of Wales. | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
It is quite clear that the policies of the American government is going | :18:17. | :18:22. | |
to change in many respects as a result of the election of President | :18:23. | :18:26. | |
Trump. Not least in respect of policies on climate change. The | :18:27. | :18:40. | |
nominee has been removed from the climate change website for America. | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
Given that the United States, China and India between them are | :18:47. | :18:52. | |
responsible for more than half of the carbon dioxide emissions in the | :18:53. | :18:55. | |
world and China have not signed up to any absolute reduction in levels | :18:56. | :19:01. | |
of those omissions, regardless of the view of whether climate change | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
is man-made or not, does it make sense for Britain and Wales in | :19:07. | :19:12. | |
particular, which is responsible for only 0.05% of world carbon dioxide | :19:13. | :19:18. | |
emissions, to be saddled with an energy policy that is a millstone | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
around the neck of manufacturing industry, with the steel in | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
particular? I look at the weight of evidence. It is overwhelmingly in | :19:30. | :19:36. | |
favour of showing that the climate change is happening and that human | :19:37. | :19:40. | |
activity is causing it to happen or to be ex-aspirate -- exacerbated. | :19:41. | :19:46. | |
I look at the weight of evidence and it is clear to me... He was a lawyer | :19:47. | :19:54. | |
once, he knows to look at the weight of evidence and not select what best | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
support your argument when it flies in the face of scientific reality. | :19:59. | :20:04. | |
It is right to say that China and India faced challenges. China is up | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
to the challenge and is investing heavily in alternative fuel sources, | :20:09. | :20:13. | |
it knows it has a problem. Anybody who has been to Chinese cities knows | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
that is a problem with air pollution and the Chinese government recognise | :20:18. | :20:21. | |
this. That is why they are looking for alternative fuel sources. They | :20:22. | :20:25. | |
know they can not continue with the current situation. Whilst they are | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
going in the right direction, my fear is the US will go in the | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
opposite direction of flying in the face of scientific evidence. My | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
question is not to do with the argument about whether man-made | :20:40. | :20:43. | |
climate change is a reality are not. My question relates to what | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
difference does it make if we sign up to targets that are going to | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
impose enormous costs upon us, not just in costs for industry but also | :20:53. | :20:58. | |
on ordinary people. Nearly one quarter of the households in Wales | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
are in fuel poverty, spending 10% of the income is keeping themselves | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
warm and the winter. This is a burden on poor and vulnerable | :21:08. | :21:14. | |
people. It makes no difference to the terms of global emissions, by | :21:15. | :21:19. | |
degrees saddled ourselves with these enormous bills? China and India are | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
not signed up to reduce the absolute level of the omissions, they have | :21:25. | :21:28. | |
signed up to the Jews energy intensity. That takes into account | :21:29. | :21:32. | |
the rate at which they expect the economies to grow, and they will go | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
to a greater extent than reducing the field intensity. Emissions will | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
increase in China and India and the full stack are paying the bills. | :21:43. | :21:50. | |
That view can only be accepted if you're happy to see environmental | :21:51. | :21:53. | |
degradation and air quality reducing. I remember the era in | :21:54. | :22:04. | |
Salford being flammable. And the river would have different colours | :22:05. | :22:07. | |
in my hometown depending on what had been thrown into it. The journey | :22:08. | :22:14. | |
away from seeing climate change is unimportant is seeing the | :22:15. | :22:17. | |
environment is not important. People do not accept climate change is | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
happening and do not accept there is the need for environmental | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
regulation. This is not something we can dismiss. We cannot say it is | :22:26. | :22:28. | |
something we can put to one side. Nor do I accept that it imposes | :22:29. | :22:36. | |
costs. I had heard him argue for more coal-fired power stations. The | :22:37. | :22:41. | |
call would have to be imported. There are issues of energy security. | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
Should we not invest in wind power offshore or tidal energy? Rather | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
than over relying on energy sources that have to be imported into | :22:52. | :22:56. | |
Britain. Energy security and mitigating climate change, to be | :22:57. | :22:58. | |
imported into Britain. Energy security and mitigating climate | :22:59. | :23:01. | |
change, toonie, run hand-in-hand. The First Minister is refusing to | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
address the issue behind my question. Wales is responsible for | :23:06. | :23:11. | |
0.05% of global carbon dioxide emissions. It is not a flammable | :23:12. | :23:17. | |
gas. What he said about the air quality in Peking is irrelevant. | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
Salford omissions are completely different. The argument about | :23:23. | :23:30. | |
particular it everybody accepts. -- Salford. Everybody is in favour of | :23:31. | :23:37. | |
the clean air act. This is a different question. My point is that | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
Wales is one of the poorest parts of Western Europe. We have nearly one | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
quarter of households in full -- fuel poverty. They have to spend | :23:47. | :23:50. | |
hundreds of pounds they can ill afford every year paying for our | :23:51. | :23:54. | |
renewable obligations under EU directives. If the United States is | :23:55. | :24:02. | |
now going to move away from commitments to reduce emissions. If | :24:03. | :24:06. | |
China and India are not signed up to it anyway, what is the sense in us | :24:07. | :24:11. | |
making a small difference to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in | :24:12. | :24:15. | |
the world? It is an obligation which is causing real harm and a real | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
poverty in the households in Wales. I do not think I said that the era | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
in Beijing was flammable. I do not think the hydrogen or oxygen content | :24:27. | :24:31. | |
is so high that the ear would catch fire or explored. I was referring to | :24:32. | :24:35. | |
the river, the contacts of which is well known. I do not accept that | :24:36. | :24:45. | |
regulations for the environment is a burden on industry. The wind is | :24:46. | :24:51. | |
free. The tide will be there as long as there is the Britain in the sky. | :24:52. | :24:57. | |
Once the infrastructure to generate energy in place, the generating | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
costs are very low. He talks about call. He did his best to wreck the | :25:03. | :25:09. | |
coal industry. We will never produce enough coal in Britain now to suck | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
ply our energy needs. We would have to imported from Australia. We would | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
have to import natural gas from countries not looking to do us a | :25:20. | :25:25. | |
favour. Whilst I know the energy mix in the UK is going to continue in | :25:26. | :25:32. | |
the future. 25% of natural gas in the UK... That'll continue in the | :25:33. | :25:37. | |
future. I do not see the wisdom in seeing what we need to do is go back | :25:38. | :25:40. | |
to the technology of yesterday with the pollution of yesterday and look | :25:41. | :25:48. | |
to ignore the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and put our | :25:49. | :25:54. | |
heads in the sand. He is somebody who he says is proud to be British. | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
Let him display his pride by saying he wants the UK to lead the way when | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
it comes to dealing with climate change. | :26:03. | :26:08. | |
Will the First Minister make a statement on what the Welsh | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
Government is doing to help economic activity in south Wales Central? We | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
are delivering a range of actions to help new and existing businesses to | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
help to grow and support. Advice, support and investment in digital | :26:25. | :26:28. | |
transport infrastructure. I am not sure why the backbenches are | :26:29. | :26:29. | |
muttering. I have commended the Welsh | :26:30. | :26:40. | |
Government previously for the money they have made available for | :26:41. | :26:43. | |
transitional relief around the business rates scheme. They made an | :26:44. | :26:50. | |
announcement on December the 17th of an additional ?10 million to assist | :26:51. | :26:57. | |
in the revaluation exercise for businesses in South West Central and | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
across Wales. No more information has came from the Welsh Government | :27:02. | :27:05. | |
about how that money will be delivered despite us on these | :27:06. | :27:09. | |
benches and others and the chamber pressing for more information. We | :27:10. | :27:12. | |
were told that information would come out in early February. That | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
information has not been forthcoming from the Welsh Government. When will | :27:17. | :27:19. | |
the Welsh Government be coming forward as to how you will | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
distribute that money so that businesses can make decisions ahead | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
of the new financial year? By the end of this week. In the climate | :27:29. | :27:35. | |
change committee we have evidence that businesses who have done the | :27:36. | :27:39. | |
right thing and put solar panels on their roofs have been charged | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
additional business rates. My question is, what levers does the | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
Welsh Government have to support businesses that have a positive | :27:50. | :27:53. | |
social and environmental impact? Such is healthy food establishments. | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
And discourage businesses with the negative impacts such as betting | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
shops, payday lenders and other organisations that were raised | :28:05. | :28:10. | |
earlier by Mike Hedges. The procurement policy for Wales | :28:11. | :28:12. | |
encourages the public sector to apply approaches for social | :28:13. | :28:17. | |
benefits. Social clauses are important to criteria. The contract | :28:18. | :28:24. | |
awards can be verbose suppliers were strong evidence of is the loving | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
towards social requirements. It can be an effective tool in encouraging | :28:30. | :28:30. | |
good business practice. First Minister, the real question | :28:31. | :28:41. | |
you should be cancelling is what you are going to do to try to restore | :28:42. | :28:46. | |
some credibility in the Welsh Government after getting the | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
business community in Wales this reasons to lose faith in you. At | :28:52. | :28:56. | |
least ?53 million is how much your your government has lost in gross | :28:57. | :29:02. | |
incompetence with business support and land deals. ?53 million lost at | :29:03. | :29:07. | |
least. When will a thorough investigation take place? | :29:08. | :29:17. | |
97.6% of the businesses we support our successful and that is an | :29:18. | :29:25. | |
excellent record. Will the First Minister make a statement on how the | :29:26. | :29:30. | |
Welsh government is promoting job creation in Newport? We are | :29:31. | :29:37. | |
safeguarding quality jobs in Newport and through the whole of Wales. A | :29:38. | :29:45. | |
data science campus is being opened in March which will act as a hub for | :29:46. | :29:49. | |
the analysis of big data allowing collaborative work between | :29:50. | :29:54. | |
academics, government, the public sector and third sector partners who | :29:55. | :29:59. | |
wish to push the boundaries of delivering services providing rich | :30:00. | :30:02. | |
informed measurement and analysis on the economy, the global environment, | :30:03. | :30:07. | |
wider society and the campus will become a world-class facility. The | :30:08. | :30:11. | |
aspiration to create a Silicon Valley for Wales is the intention | :30:12. | :30:16. | |
and it will be a hub for innovative data science research and create | :30:17. | :30:21. | |
jobs and attract investment. Will the Welsh government work with | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
partners and the ONS to create a Silicon Valley for Wales? Yes, we | :30:28. | :30:35. | |
will. We know that where there is existing expertise, clustering new | :30:36. | :30:39. | |
businesses and new innovations in that area helps everybody and | :30:40. | :30:42. | |
Newport is acquiring very rapidly a good reputation for the software and | :30:43. | :30:49. | |
more generally. It is something we aim to encourage in the future. | :30:50. | :30:57. | |
Newport is one of the worst performing towns or cities in the | :30:58. | :31:02. | |
United Kingdom when it comes to empty shops. More than a quarter of | :31:03. | :31:07. | |
shops in the city were empty in the first half of 2016, according to a | :31:08. | :31:12. | |
local data company. What scheme does the Welsh government offer to | :31:13. | :31:18. | |
provide an incentive in terms of tax break to open new businesses in | :31:19. | :31:22. | |
areas where there are large numbers of empty shops, such as Newport to | :31:23. | :31:29. | |
create jobs and regenerate our city centres? Councils do a good job of | :31:30. | :31:32. | |
encouraging businesses but landlords have to play their part. Landlords | :31:33. | :31:38. | |
have to understand that the days of charging unrealistic rents for | :31:39. | :31:43. | |
long-term leases are gone. It's important that landlords are | :31:44. | :31:48. | |
flexible and look to encourage pop-ups, businesses that want to | :31:49. | :31:51. | |
test the market for three months but don't want to get involved with long | :31:52. | :31:58. | |
leases. Landlords will find that by doing that they will potentially | :31:59. | :32:06. | |
fill their swaps. -- shops. It's also important that landlords work | :32:07. | :32:11. | |
flexibly to provide opportunities for businesses for the 21st-century. | :32:12. | :32:17. | |
Will the First Minister make a statement on the role of the third | :32:18. | :32:23. | |
sector in Wales? The third sector plays an important roles in Wales, | :32:24. | :32:34. | |
there are over 3000 organisations providing services. Are you aware | :32:35. | :32:37. | |
that public affairs Cymru that lobbyists have been asked | :32:38. | :32:56. | |
not to say certain things that the Welsh government does not agree | :32:57. | :33:04. | |
with? I and fought lobbyists had no contact with the government. Your | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
government is leaning on organisations and is undemocratic. | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
In the light of these scandalous allegations, why won't you | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
investigate this matter? I don't know if he is suggesting that the | :33:18. | :33:25. | |
third sector is involved in this. The question was to do with the | :33:26. | :33:32. | |
third sector. I think this is mainly in his own mind, what evidence is | :33:33. | :33:36. | |
given to a committee is for them to consider. Not to say in the middle | :33:37. | :33:45. | |
of an enquiry, it is not appropriate to comment on the process ongoing in | :33:46. | :33:52. | |
the middle of an enquiry. As far as we are concerned, we don't tell | :33:53. | :33:56. | |
organisations what they should or should not say, otherwise there | :33:57. | :33:59. | |
would be little point having organisations whose job it is to | :34:00. | :34:03. | |
hold governments to account, as well as this assembly. Will the First | :34:04. | :34:10. | |
Minister join me in celebrating the recent anniversary of one of the | :34:11. | :34:16. | |
leading third sectors organisations in my constituency, tiddlywinks, | :34:17. | :34:25. | |
which is the first of its kind in Wales and is now a self-sustaining | :34:26. | :34:30. | |
social enterprise. I was with the Minister for lifelong learning | :34:31. | :34:37. | |
yesterday to see them providing key childcare services and a source of | :34:38. | :34:42. | |
important. Willian knowledge the invaluable role of the third sector | :34:43. | :34:47. | |
in providing childcare both in Neath and across Wales and does he agree | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
that a vibrant third sector can shape policy and deliver services to | :34:53. | :34:58. | |
our community is making them more resilient and as he agree with me | :34:59. | :35:01. | |
that it is and should be a priority for the Welsh government to support | :35:02. | :35:08. | |
the sector? I would like to congratulate the staff, trustees and | :35:09. | :35:12. | |
volunteers who have been part of the journey of Tiddlywinks over the | :35:13. | :35:20. | |
years. I hope they are able to continue in the future. First | :35:21. | :35:32. | |
Minister, fair trade fortnight runs from 27th of February to the 12th of | :35:33. | :35:35. | |
March. We should be proud that we are a fair trade than she. 93% of | :35:36. | :35:45. | |
universities are fair trade status. 150 schools and 50% are registered | :35:46. | :35:51. | |
on the fair trade school scheme. The Welsh government has fair trade | :35:52. | :35:55. | |
status but concerns have been raised about ambiguity about how you are | :35:56. | :36:00. | |
applying the fair trade model. Will you look into this to ensure that it | :36:01. | :36:05. | |
isn't just a status, that there is a culture of fair trade | :36:06. | :36:08. | |
acknowledgement, in terms of procurement within your own | :36:09. | :36:10. | |
departments across the Welsh government. If the member could | :36:11. | :36:15. | |
provide me with further information I would be pleased to look at this | :36:16. | :36:22. | |
for her. The third sector and its army of volunteers save the public | :36:23. | :36:27. | |
purse millions of pounds each year and provide valuable services which | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
the public sector cannot. The third sector protectors when we go to the | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
beach or the run in and provide valuable research into numerous | :36:36. | :36:39. | |
diseases and conditions, campaign for better rights, housing and a | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
whole host of other services. Without the third sector, our lives | :36:45. | :36:48. | |
would be much poorer. What more can the Welsh government do to ensure | :36:49. | :36:55. | |
the third sector can continue to thrive in Wales and provide | :36:56. | :36:57. | |
recognition and thanks for the volunteers who drive this sector? | :36:58. | :37:03. | |
Research suggests that the value of the third sector employs 79,000 | :37:04. | :37:12. | |
peoples and works with a startling number of volunteers. Nearly one in | :37:13. | :37:17. | |
three people in Wales volunteering in some capacity. We provided 4.4 | :37:18. | :37:23. | |
million pounds in 2017 as core funding to voluntary councils across | :37:24. | :37:31. | |
Wales. We are in a good position to assist voluntary organisations in | :37:32. | :37:36. | |
understanding where they should go to seek financial help and that | :37:37. | :37:39. | |
money goes a long way in terms providing support to so many | :37:40. | :37:43. | |
organisations who provide so many services so many people. Will the | :37:44. | :37:50. | |
First Minister make a statement on rail services in south-east Wales? | :37:51. | :37:56. | |
We are procuring an operating and development partner for Wales and | :37:57. | :38:02. | |
border services in 2018. That process is includes discussions with | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
bidders on how services in the south-east Wales may best be | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
delivered as part of the Wales metro. As you are well aware, the | :38:10. | :38:20. | |
Newport- Ebbw Vale rail link remains a top priority for many people. | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
There is impatience that it is not yet established. Are you able to | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
provide further reassurance today that that rail link between Newport | :38:30. | :38:34. | |
and Ebbw Vale remains a priority for worse government and are you able to | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
provide any timings as to when it will be in operation? It's not | :38:39. | :38:44. | |
possible to give a time as to when the service might be in operation I | :38:45. | :38:49. | |
give the member and operation assurance that the service is being | :38:50. | :38:53. | |
examined as part of our project. He has emphasised over the years the | :38:54. | :38:58. | |
importance of the service going to Newport and that is very much part | :38:59. | :39:03. | |
of the developing thinking over how the Metro will operate in the | :39:04. | :39:10. | |
future. The renewal of the Wales and West border franchise is fast | :39:11. | :39:13. | |
approaching. Has the Welsh government at least begun the | :39:14. | :39:18. | |
process of ordering or considering ordering new rolling stock for that | :39:19. | :39:22. | |
franchise? I asked the question because although given it takes up | :39:23. | :39:33. | |
to four years to share my concern is that the new rail operator will have | :39:34. | :39:38. | |
two rely on existing stock at the start of the franchise and will end | :39:39. | :39:42. | |
up refurbishing it which would hardly be the fresh start for the | :39:43. | :39:45. | |
new franchise that the public would hope to see. | :39:46. | :39:49. | |
It would be cleared as part of the proposals that rolling stock should | :39:50. | :39:56. | |
be modern, not 40 years old as some stock is. That stock should provide | :39:57. | :40:02. | |
facilities to passengers such as Wi-Fi that is not provided at the | :40:03. | :40:06. | |
moment. I can give the member Anna Sheridan is that this is very much | :40:07. | :40:09. | |
part of the proposals for the new franchise. -- I can give the member | :40:10. | :40:24. | |
and assurance. Following on from the question from John Griffis, the Ebbw | :40:25. | :40:31. | |
Vale line is at full capacity with those wanting to travel to Cardiff. | :40:32. | :40:38. | |
Only a twin track through to Ebbw Vale would relieve this problem, are | :40:39. | :40:44. | |
there any problems to implement this option? It can be double track or | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
partial double track and it can be signalling which makes the | :40:49. | :40:52. | |
difference. The good news is that the service is so well used that | :40:53. | :40:56. | |
vacancy needs to be increased and these things are amongst things we | :40:57. | :41:01. | |
have looked at working with organisations such as network rail. | :41:02. | :41:05. | |
That is very much part of the thinking on the Metro and the new | :41:06. | :41:13. | |
franchise. We'll be First Minister make a statement on support for the | :41:14. | :41:17. | |
shellfish industry following the decision to leave the European | :41:18. | :41:23. | |
Union? We are working with the industry and Kyleakin to the UK | :41:24. | :41:27. | |
Government the fundamental need to secure unfettered access for Welsh | :41:28. | :41:36. | |
shellfish after the exit from the EU. In 2015, Emma Green agriculture | :41:37. | :41:47. | |
was worth ?10 million to the Welsh economy. -- Marine agriculture. It | :41:48. | :41:53. | |
is a big employer in my constituency and the ability to sell in a single | :41:54. | :41:59. | |
market without controls is and important contribution to the future | :42:00. | :42:04. | |
of the industry. 98% of the banger muscles produced are exported to the | :42:05. | :42:16. | |
Netherlands. -- 19%. Leaders who have praised the negotiations | :42:17. | :42:20. | |
internally in Wales since the vote but he has said that he fears the | :42:21. | :42:26. | |
worst for Wales because of the fact that Wales, Scotland or Northern | :42:27. | :42:30. | |
Ireland will not have a direct voice in the negotiations on exiting the | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
European Union. Can the First Minister tell us what the Welsh | :42:35. | :42:37. | |
Government's strategy will be to try to safeguard the future of this | :42:38. | :42:46. | |
industry? 90% of the fish caught in Wales are exported. Any tariff or | :42:47. | :42:54. | |
obstacle will be bad for the export market. We know the United Kingdom | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
market is too small to secure a future for them. That is why it is | :42:59. | :43:03. | |
so important to ensure that the United Kingdom government sticks to | :43:04. | :43:07. | |
its word to ensure that there is a strong voice for Wales, Scotland and | :43:08. | :43:14. | |
Northern Ireland over the ensuing discussions. I hope that the Cabinet | :43:15. | :43:21. | |
secretaries meeting in April will be fruitful in promoting shellfish to | :43:22. | :43:24. | |
the rest of the world, not just the European Union. The levels of | :43:25. | :43:31. | |
parasites in cockles are higher than expected. If we are to meet the | :43:32. | :43:36. | |
global demand we need our cockles to survive. The European Court of | :43:37. | :43:39. | |
Justice took action to limit the amount of spells in the area to | :43:40. | :43:43. | |
limit the rise of certain bacteria but because of the disease affects | :43:44. | :43:47. | |
cockles reaching maturity is still unclear. I hope the environmental | :43:48. | :43:53. | |
laws will go some way to protect the health of cockles after the great | :43:54. | :43:58. | |
repeal bill but we need some further study on the causes and prevention | :43:59. | :44:04. | |
of early cockle death. I can say about investigations into cockle | :44:05. | :44:11. | |
mortality will continue. The information will be released by | :44:12. | :44:14. | |
natural resources Wales. We are working with the industry to develop | :44:15. | :44:21. | |
the management and sustainability of the government managed cockle | :44:22. | :44:25. | |
fisheries as well. It is a complex issue. I remember direct shellfish | :44:26. | :44:30. | |
poisoning affecting the cockle beds but there was never a clear reason | :44:31. | :44:39. | |
for what happened. The affliction was in the cockle beds. It is | :44:40. | :44:42. | |
important that a thorough investigation is finished in good | :44:43. | :44:46. | |
time so we have an answer. Once we have answers we can provide the most | :44:47. | :44:50. | |
effective legislative response possible. The First Minister is a | :44:51. | :45:01. | |
way as Minister for fisheries and agriculture how crucial the | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
shellfish industry is to the Welsh coastline. The shellfish industry | :45:06. | :45:15. | |
was never part of the core moral fisheries policy or the common | :45:16. | :45:21. | |
agricultural policy. Is it reasonable to expect that this | :45:22. | :45:26. | |
industry could continue to sell into the European continent as it has | :45:27. | :45:30. | |
done for years. It is important because we know that shellfish is | :45:31. | :45:33. | |
important to the fisheries industry in Wales. The majority of votes that | :45:34. | :45:44. | |
we have are relatively small. -- boarding vessels. They do not go far | :45:45. | :45:50. | |
from the coast and there is a strong market in Europe. If anything was to | :45:51. | :45:55. | |
happen to weaken their position in that market, they do not have any | :45:56. | :46:00. | |
alternative means of making the same profit. That is why it is important | :46:01. | :46:05. | |
to ensure that the European market is open on the same terms in the | :46:06. | :46:11. | |
future as it is now. The 21st-century schools programme. The | :46:12. | :46:20. | |
local authority has over ?86 million earmarked for the 21st century | :46:21. | :46:23. | |
schools education programme that extends until 2019. Over ?66 million | :46:24. | :46:30. | |
have been approved with six projects either under construction or getting | :46:31. | :46:36. | |
under way. I was delighted to welcome the Cabinet Secretary for | :46:37. | :46:39. | |
education to officially open two new primary schools. These have been | :46:40. | :46:48. | |
constructed as part of the 21st-century schools programme. The | :46:49. | :46:59. | |
investment combined will be ?20.5 million. Will you join me in | :47:00. | :47:04. | |
welcoming the commitment and investment by the council and by | :47:05. | :47:08. | |
Welsh Government who are working in partnership to deliver first-class | :47:09. | :47:11. | |
education facilities for our children? Indeed. More than ?20 | :47:12. | :47:18. | |
million invested in schools is a good example of the local authority | :47:19. | :47:21. | |
working with the Welsh Government to deliver the best for our children. | :47:22. | :47:27. | |
Another example of the Welsh Government and the Labour-controlled | :47:28. | :47:29. | |
local authority delivered in schools that are fit for the 21st century | :47:30. | :47:37. | |
and good for the children. Existing sixth forms in St Albans will be | :47:38. | :47:50. | |
phased out soon. Six from staff from the schools will have to compete for | :47:51. | :47:54. | |
jobs that the new centre. Though the First Minister advise how many | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
redundancies are expected as a result of this reorganisation and | :48:00. | :48:03. | |
what discussion his government has had with the Council in this regard? | :48:04. | :48:08. | |
Local authorities are responsible for the organisation of education in | :48:09. | :48:13. | |
the areas. They are looking to provide the best and most modern | :48:14. | :48:19. | |
provision possible. That was First Minister's Questions. If you want | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
more coverage of the National Assembly you can go online to our | :48:24. | :48:30. | |
Senedd live page. Let me remind you that The Wales Report will be on | :48:31. | :48:35. | |
tomorrow night after the Ten O'Clock News on BBC One Wales. We will not | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
be here next week for First Minister's Questions as the Assembly | :48:42. | :48:46. | |
is in recess. We will see you in two weeks' time at 1:45pm. | :48:47. | :48:58. | |
Make your own bottle rocket. Search BBC Terrific Scientific. | :48:59. | :49:13. | |
# I knew you were trouble when you walked in | :49:14. | :49:16. | |
# Now I'm lying on the cold, hard ground | :49:17. | :49:20. |