14/11/2017 First Minister's Questions

Good afternoon, welcome to the

programme and coverage of questions

to the First Minister. In a sombre

mood today as the session began with

tributes to the fallen and Carl

Sargeant following his death last

week. Then they moved on to the

usual session, First Minister's

Questions and you can follow the

latest on our Twitter feed. Business

in the chamber has been going on all

afternoon, so let's take a look now

at today's questions to the First

Minister.

TRANSLATION:

I call the assembly to

order and the item on our agenda is

questions to the First Minister on

the first question is Jalen

Saunders. Full stop procurement

policy is meeting the challenge of

austerity. Creating sustainable

jobs. As you are aware, the number

of people waiting more than a year

for surgery in Wales has increased

this year by 400%. In order to get

those last stand, health boards are

forced to procure some services and

health treatments outside of Wales.

In my own health board, I'm aware of

several referrals to the Priory

clinic for those wishing to access

vital mental health services and

treatment. To reduce the waiting

list for operations that cannot be

performed in good time in Wales. Our

NHS is now spending £255 million

procuring that treatment for people

outside of Wales in one year and the

total number of patients is 46,000

patients. We have had their volition

now -- devolution and we still

procure much-needed health services

outside of Wales. What steps will

you be taking to ensure that our

patients receive the treatment they

require in good time, and most

importantly in their own locality

and more available than it is

currently?

I know you have expressed

strong views that you agree with

that people should not be prevented

from accessing treatment from across

the border and I think it's

important that were treatment is

available, people should seek access

to it and not available or treatment

in and some special treatment has to

be accessed from bigger cities where

we can provide treatment, we will.

The original recommendation was to

move the service out of Wales, I

commissioned a review as a result of

that review it was possible to move

ahead with it. A recount, we will

but we should not be afraid from

procuring services outside of Wales.

First Minister, how does the Welsh

government time to use procurement

levers in the context of providing

task force delivery plan to create

jobs and improve prosperity in the

northern valleys.

The valleys task

force plan, we can exploit the job

creation potential of the major

infrastructure investments we have

in Wales. The major road schemes,

the M4, the ongoing a 465. We want

to ensure that outcomes are closely

monitored so that communities get

the maximum benefit from the scheme

is moving forward.

What assessment

has a First Minister made of the

impact that the UK Government's

austerity programme has had in

Wales?

With the £1 billion less to

spend on services in Wales there is

a great deal of pressure and be

called on the UK Government to end

this period of austerity and I hope

that's a message that will be heard

by the Chancellor Alex Cejka at the

end of this month. -- the Chancellor

of the Exchequer. Philip Hammond

will deliver his budget.

The Welsh

and Scottish finance ministers

jointly met with Treasury officials

at the finance meeting in London. At

that meeting, the Welsh and Scottish

finance ministers delivered a clear

and unambiguous call for the UK Tory

government to set up plans to lift

the public sector pay gap and

reverse the 3.5 billion of

unallocated cuts expenditure in

2019-20. What message does the First

Minister have for the Chancellor of

the Exchequer in advance of the

budget for the need of the Tory

government to abandon this

ideological impact of austerity

considering the Welsh government has

seen its budget cut in 7% in real

terms.

It is important the £3.5

billion when allocated and we have

to be in a position where we got

there the extent of those cuts and

it is hugely important for the

economy to have more money to make

sure there is more money for

investment, to make sure jobs can be

created and to enable the Welsh

government and the Scottish

Government to be able to invest in

the infrastructure that Wales and

Scotland need.

He described your approach to the

public finances on the 23rd of

April.

You were asked, the Shadow

Chancellor John McDonald said 500

billion more borrowing is needed to

give the economy a boost -- Joe

it is ten times the UK deficit, do

you think that would be sensible and

have a big impact?

I believe it is

hugely important that at that time

and borrowing has not quite as cheap

as it was but it is historically

cheap and it is reasonable and

responsible for governments to

borrow money in order to pump that

money into the economy. I adhere to

that and I take the view that now is

the time for government to borrow

that money, inject money into the

economy, create jobs we need and

create the tax receipts that will

pay them.

If that is the case, I

agree with you, First Minister

because of the historic low interest

rates that we are facing,

notwithstanding the recent decision

to have a slight increase, why are

we borrowing at the full amount

available to us? We're not in

drawing dead in the next financial

years, the four and 25 billion we

could borrow would be 50 billion

short of that, we could be doing

more through the mutual investment

models. Why are we not using the

borrowing powers? We have to balance

the power we have to borrow money

against the need to pay it back.

Moving ahead with a mutual

investment model, we will explore

all models of borrowing to deliver

for the people of Wales.

Questions

from the party leaders.

Recently we had allocations pipped

by a former cabinet minister and a

senior special adviser that in the

last assembly government that you

were First Minister two, there was

bullying, mind games, favouritism,

delivered personal undermining,

delivered personal undermining and

allowing that culture to flourish

unchecked. Also, the special adviser

cited the behaviour as being pure

poison. Can I ask you to comment on

those allegations. If that is

correct, there is no way like that

run a government.

First of all I

heard the allegations, I listened to

what he had to say and heard what

Steve Jones had to say and what I

will say is this. The people wish to

come forward to me and explain

things to me of their experience, I

am more than willing to do that and

they can come to my office or the

office of the Home Secretary.

The

allegations levelled very much at

your office and the allegations, the

people making the allegations state

clearly that the reason these

allegations with you on numerous

locations and just give up. They

believe they were not being taken

seriously on these issues were not

being addressed and indeed an

assembly written question to my

colleague Darren Millar who act the

question in October 2014 that you

actually responded to him by saying

that no allegations had been made.

How can people have confidence that

if they do choose to raise these

serious concerns with you that they

will be taken seriously and in the

absence of them having had

confidence, would you commit to

referring these allegations for

investigation by an independent

third party so that we can fully

understand whether they are serious

allegations that stack up and

actually require they have no

substance and they can be discarded.

It is surely important that where

people have concerns, they are able

to express those concerns to a

confidential process. I don't think

doing it in the public domain is the

way to do these things I invite

people to come forward with any

concerns they might have, contact my

office or the permanent secretaries

can make an assessment of what was

supposed to be happening at that

time.

The credited at these

allegations were raised with you at

the time because both individuals,

senior individuals within the

government are categorical in their

allegations that they said they were

raised on numerous occasions with

you, not just on one-off occasion is

but numerous occasions with you.

Indeed, they were levelled at your

office. They were not levelled at

the wider government but at the

office of the First Minister. So can

you confirm that not like the answer

you gave Darren Millar back in 2014,

that these allegations were raised

with you and you did investigate

them at that time. If they do stack

up, will you commit to referring

them to an independent person so

they can be looked into it and

actually these actions addressed?

What I can say is that any issues

brought to my attention at the time

were dealt with, that is the answer

that was given and that answer is

correct in 2014. If there are other

issues that people want to bring

forward, they are welcomed to do so.

When these issues or any issues

raised with me dealt with? The

answer is yes they were dealt with.

Leader of the UK group.

The First

Minister would have seen on Wales

online the piece about the subject

of the Leader of the Opposition has

raised and he said he was invited to

a dinner in late 2014 with senior

Welsh Labour figures and give him a

disturbing insight into the aspect

of the Welsh government he wasn't

familiar with. He said he was

shocked to hear of the poisonous

atmosphere that existed at the heart

of Welsh government, claims of

instances of undermining and petty

sniping and you had been told of

these problems but did nothing about

them. Does that not fly in the face

of what you have just said to the

opposition.

I cannot possibly

comment on issues I have no

knowledge of. If others want to come

forward and share what they have

said unknown to me, with me, I will

happily listen.

I'm sure the First

Minister will agree that out of the

tragedy of the last few days, it is

important we should learn lessons

and arising out of Carl Sargeant's

dismissal and the processes involved

in that, the First Minister as a

barrister experienced in criminal

law and procedure said he acted by

the book. Carl Sargeant was given no

opportunity to answer to him the

allegations which were made because

no details were given. That flies in

the face of one of the most

fundamental principles of natural

justice. To hear the other side of

the argument before somebody is

disadvantaged. Also, because the

sacking was inevitably public and

the fact that allegations were

understated had been made of sexual

impropriety, the publicity generated

was inevitably prejudicial, which

again imperils the presumption of

innocence. If the First Minister

acted by the book in this instance,

does he know think that book should

be thrown away and replaced by

another which is informed by of

fairness? Two things here, with the

independent enquiry and with the

inquest, the whole story is told

that once. I'm not able to comment

on various things that have been

said. It's hugely important the

whole story is there for all to see

rather than in bits and pieces and

that would be the right process.

Secondly, do I think there are

lessons for all parties to learn, I

think it's important that we as

political parties do that. Politics

is a very difficult business. People

can be sacked from cabinets, they

can be put into cabinets, people can

go to an election count and they can

find themselves in a job and then

find themselves out of a job. What

cheering crowd applauds the fact

they are not in a job. It is a

brutal business.

We have to make it less brutal than

it actually is and that is something

all parties may consider in the

future. I have got personal

experience of being sacked and I can

confirm it is not pleasant, but

nobody in politics can complain with

any justice about being sacked

because there is no justice in

appointments in the first place. But

the point about this, the sacking

was associated with the allegations

that were made. There is another way

to First Minister could have dealt

with this. Carl Sargeant was

governed by the ministerial code of

conduct as well and is expected to

behave in a principal way that

uphold the highest standards of

propriety. Damian Green has been

made subject of allegations of

sexual impropriety and those are

being investigated not by an

internal party investigation, but by

Sue Gray, the director-general of

the civil service propriety and

ethics team. By contrast the route

which the First Minister chose was

to send a special adviser to speak

to the complainants. The solicitors

now acting for Carl Sargeant's

family say that to appoint a

political activist in these

circumstances with no specialist

expertise in undertaking a

disciplinary investigation actually

prejudices the outcome of this

process. It is as unfair to those

making the allegations as to those

who are subject to them. If there

are uncertainties now about the

credibility and the evidence that is

caused by that because the solicitor

for Carl Sargeant's party says there

is a real case of the evidence being

manipulated and this creates

uncertainty about the credibility,

it undermines the whole process for

everybody involved in it. Would it

not be better in the future for

these things to be investigated

independently of the political

process itself.

The real possibility

of manipulation is a very serious

suggestion and they would need

strong evidence to back that up. The

family have asked for an independent

enquiry. I have ensured that steps

are now going ahead for the

independent enquiry to move forward.

It would not be right for the family

if I were to go into the detail of

events because it would seem

convenient to do so for me. I am not

prepared to do that. Rather than

allow the inquiry to take its full

course and then for all events to be

examined at that time. I realise

that there are some who will think

the evasive as a result of saying

that, but it is hugely important

that all of this is examined. I have

said it is important, I understand

it is important for the family and

it is important this is examined and

a full picture is presented at the

right time and the family is owed

that.

First Minister, I have already

set out my view over the weekend

regarding the difficult situation

facing the worst government and of

course Welsh politics as a whole.

Plaid Cymru is not prepared to make

premature statements about anyone's

political future. The issues have

not yet been dealt with and the

decisions that were made have not

yet been examined. Would you believe

that questions must be answered and

we do believe that and we support

and call for the independent

enquiry. With the inquest having

already begun can you confirm the

timescale for the independent

enquiry into the circumstances

leading up to Carl Sargeant's death?

The first thing to do is for a QC to

be appointed. The terms of reference

have to be set and that is entirely

a matter for the QC who will act at

an's length. That will proceed as

quickly as possible. One of the

comments of the coroner made

yesterday was that he seemed to

indicate that the enquiry would

influence one of the outcomes of his

inquest. We need to clarify what

that means, whether he wants the

enquiry to conclude before the

inquest or not. That needs to be

clarified. From my perspective I

want to make sure that matters now

proceed as swiftly as possible.

I

think we can take it that when

information becomes available you

will be prepared to share it with

the Assembly as well. Following last

week there are questions over how we

can ensure that disclosures are

dealt with in a way that is fair to

everyone involved. I found myself

asking how do we as political

parties have the resources and the

trained personnel to deal with

allegations and to operate in a

transparent way. Or could they be

dealt with in a more independent way

in the future? An independent and

neutral authority might be more

trusted, more impartial, more

transparent, and political parties

are able to be. The office of the

standards Commissioner may not have

the resources at present to deal

with disclosures of harassment or

other misconduct in full. There is

also a question about sanctions,

what kind of sanctions could be

placed on people? Do you believe the

office of standards Commissioner

could be equipped with better

resources and that they should also

look at meaningful sanctions to deal

with such disclosures?

The leader of

Plaid Cymru has raised an important

point. That is how can we create a

complaints process that is

different, not weaker, but

different? A complaints process that

supports all parties. This is a

small country and we are all small

parties. There is great merit in

exploring with the Presiding Officer

had the standards Commissioner might

change roles from the current role,

that is a useful discussion to be

had amongst the parties.

We know

that sexual harassment occurs

elsewhere in politics and in other

industries as well. In fact we can

say that it exists in almost every

walk of life. It remains a problem

experienced by many people not

exclusively but mainly women and it

is an issue that needs to be

tackled. One point we need to

consider is how we can create the

conditions and the culture for those

who have experienced sexual

harassment to be able to make

disclosures safely in the future.

Looking beyond the issue of

disclosure and anonymity, can you

tell us what steps need to be taken

to ensure that attitudes change so

that harassment can be prevented

from taking place in the first

place?

I think that is a question

for all parties working together to

resolve. We have to create a system

where complainants can come forward

and we have to create a system that

is fair, everybody understands that,

and from my perspective I want to

make sure that we can together as

political parties that we can create

the correct atmosphere and also to

make sure of course that we are able

to ensure that the processes, if

they are new processes in the

future, that they apply to all

parties equally. There are many

questions. The leader of Plaid Cymru

is right to say there are bound to

be questions, I accept that. Those

are questions people want answers to

and I accept that as well. As

political parties we need to see

whether there is a way of changing

the way the Assembly deals with

these issues and those are

conversations we may need to have

over the next few weeks.

Question

three. How will the Welsh Government

deal with the anticipated spike in

child poverty in Wales as a result

of changes to welfare benefits?

I am

concerned about the significant

projected increase driven by the UK

Government's planned tax and benefit

changes. Our strategy sets out

objectives for tackling child

poverty to ensure that every child

gets the best start in life.

The

Institute for Fiscal Studies has

calculated that in Wales we will see

a spike of 7% as a rate of increase

in child poverty which is

statistically huge. We know that

those on working age benefits are

seeing a real cut in the amount of

money they get to live off. What do

you think can be done to mitigate

the policies of the UK Government

that obviously are not of our

making? What can we in Wales do to

try and mitigate the appalling

impact that this is likely to have

on children in this situation?

Let

me give my colleague a number of

ways in which we are dealing with

that issue. The early inflammation

of the childcare offer is taking

place in several authorities

starting in September, December, and

we have invested £38 million in the

family 's first programme. We have

allocated a budget of £400,000 for

2017-2018 for positive parenting.

Those are just some examples of what

we are doing in order to alleviate

child poverty.

We know that the

figures show that children growing

up in working households do better

in school and in adult life. How

would you respond to concerns

expressed since the recent

publication of the Office of

National Statistics figures for 2016

showing the number of children

living in long-term workless

households filled by 92,000 across

the UK last year and went down in

Scotland and Northern Ireland and

England and it is down by half a

million since 2010, but increased in

Wales?

First of all, if we look at

our figures historically we have

seen an increase in the rate of

unemployment in Wales and the

decrease in regular employment. But

it is not sufficient simply to look

at whether people are in work or

not. We have to look beyond that and

understand what people are burning.

We used to say if people found the

job, it was a route out of poverty,

yet we know the in work poverty is

one of the scourges we have. We have

heard of stories of nurses using

food banks. That is why it is

important for there to be a

loosening of the bonds of austerity

by the UK Government, for the

devolved governments to make sure

that we can improve the income of

our public sector workers, many of

whom have struggled in terms of

their pay rises for some years.

Question four.

Will you make a

statement on the future of

enterprise zones in Wales?

It has a

strong track record with 10,000 jobs

having been supported across the

eight zones in Wales.

Thank you for

that answer. In July the statement

was made that stated the enterprise

zones continued to benefit Wales.

The strategy for Port Tolbert is

based around established employment

size in the area which has

significant capacity for supporting

further business investment and it

says the Welsh Government is

continuing to build on a

world-class, advanced money

factoring skills in that area. I

fully support that ambition. I want

to see it come to fruition

particularly as the long-term future

of the steelworks is still unclear.

Press Minister, the enterprise zone

in Port Talbot actually includes

industrial Park which has a covenant

which says it must be used for

industrial purposes. Can you listen

to the voices of my constituents and

reject the quotas by the Ministry of

Justice to not use that land, but to

use all the land to support business

investment and deliver economic

growth and job creation.

My friend

has been a staunch advocate for

views and those of many in his

constituency. As a government we

have written a letter to the

Ministry of Justice. We have sought

clarification in terms of the number

of questions we have asked. I have

not yet seen a response. The

response to that letter will inform

our further consideration in terms

of how the land might be used.

First

Minister, since the creation of the

Ebbw Vale enterprise zone 94.6

million has been spent to create,

safeguard or assist just 390 jobs.

That is figures published by the

Welsh Government. That is a cost of

around a quarter of a million per

job. Given that the key plank of

enterprise zones is job creation,

these figures indicate to me there

is a huge level of investment which

has not been good value for money.

Can Wales afford another five years

of investment on this kind of scale

for the kind of return that I have

highlighted?

What I will say to the

member is that enterprise zones take

time to come to fruition. The huge

amount of investment is going to the

ever Vale area. He will know we are

investing a substantial sum in

developing a technology park in the

area. Enterprise zones have to be

judged on the long term rather than

the short-term.

Thank you very much.

Local people do not want a super

prison on the site and as the

landowner, the Welsh goal can

prevent it. What are you doing to

stop selling this land to the

Ministry of Justice?

We have written

to the Ministry of Justice with

questions, we have not seen the

response. The response to those

questions will form part of our

future consideration. They revolve

around what the plans are for the

site in terms of the type of prison,

they revolve around what the future

is for Swansea and Cardiff prisons

and we are not in a position to

proceed further with this until we

get answers to those questions on

those answers must be satisfactory.

First Minister, enterprise zones

should be a fantastic way of

regenerating some of Wales's most

deprived regions but the reality is

somewhat different. Some of the

zones are working well. Attracting

private investment and rejuvenating

the local economy. Others are simply

operating because the government

support a handful of jobs. If the

enterprise zones were truly

successful, there wouldn't be the

land available to build a prison in

one of those zones. What does the

government planned to do differently

to ensure that all enterprise zones

attract private sector and

infrastructure investment into their

respective regions and create new

jobs for local people.

Some will

agree more than others. There will

be some parts of Wales because of

their locations, they will find it

easier than other enterprise zones.

It is there to overcome some of

those difficulties. We must judge

them on what they do in the longer

term because as much investment is

put into that and it is often put

into training and it is through the

development of that investment that

we see jobs being created long-term.

Gareth Bennett.

What steps is the

Welsh government taking to alleviate

the increasing congestion on

motorways and trunk roads in South

Wales Central?

We follow advice from

party leaders, reducing immigration

would be the key to do this! We'll

continue to work for transport of

Wales to deliver transport system in

Wales, high-quality, safe and

affordable transport for all.

I

agree that integrated transport is

crucial. One aspect I wanted to

touch on was a information. Many

motorists have observed that the

major roads in England there is

often better information available

on digital road signs than in Wales.

Estimate travel times to particular

junctions which can warn motorists

of imminent congestion. Would you

agree that more digital information

could be made available and can the

Welsh government help to provide

this?

I am aware of the signs we see

in England but I have to say they

are not accurate often. I have time

to myself so when they see those

signs, they cannot provide for what

is ahead what might happen, a number

of things can interfere with the

flow of traffic. That said, of

course we continue to keep under

review was further information might

be available for drivers in order

for their journeys to be made

easier.

First Minister, flexible

working patterns could provide one

key to alleviating pressure on our

motorways and trunk roads in key

terms. What worked as the government

done to speak to employers about the

benefits of flexible working?

This

is something we want to ensure it is

very much part of working in the

future. In terms of flexible

working, we have funded a travel

plan and they have worked with

employers across Wales to encourage

sustainable travel. Travel planner

coordinators work from organisations

and local sectors. Anchored

companies and regionally important

companies across Wales and the

provide advice and support them and

measures that could be adopted and

support sustainable travel and as

part of those measures, advice was

given to promote active travel, car

sharing, video conferencing,

home-working.

First Minister, I

would welcome the investment on

areas such as the 4119, but no

matter how much we invest in the

roads, they are becoming congested

and Lewis in the area in terms of

traffic and it only real solution

has got to be the extension of the

Metro that has been outlined in

respect to that. Can you confirm

those plans still feature as part of

the government's metro plans in

order to resolve that, particularly

bearing in mind the extent of

housing development in those areas.

It was the Metro's designed to be

expandable, of course the initial

phase of the metal, we looked at

what was in place. I don't know if

it is entirely intact between the

mainline. Level crossing a

stillbirth. It is -- the level

crossing is still there. How can we

look at bringing services to areas

where previously there were not

services. What services are

appropriate for communities as they

grow, how can we create a

sustainable travel we want to see by

putting in place good value and

frequent alternatives and as far as

this is concerned looking at that in

the longer term will be part of

those plans. Will Minister make a

statement to attract GPs do not

Wales?

The government is committed

to increase GPs in all parts of

Wales, including Northern Wales. One

of the practical difficulties

causing problems is the situation in

terms of the cost of indemnity

insurance for doctors, a cost of

£10,000. Clearly I wouldn't expect

them not to have that cover but it

can be a very practical problem in

trying to attract retired doctors

act to assist in certain areas. The

BMA raised this regularly with

assembly members and they have

received clear messages to that end.

Can I see what the government will

do to try to tackle that practical

problem?

This is an important point

and I would imagine there had been

an increase in the cost of indemnity

insurance, may I write to the member

to give him the details that would

come as regards this?

And as regards

the British Medical Association.

Many of my own constituents have

faced receiving letters to the post

regarding their own local surgeries,

particularly in the Colwyn Bay area

being vulnerable to changes and some

of the GPs have handed back their

contracts to the local health

boards, another Welsh government is

working with health boards to try to

overcome some of these challenges in

the short term but do you accept

that one of the reasons we are

facing this shortage of GPs is

because of successive Welsh

government is having failed to train

sufficient numbers in the past and

are you now confident that you have

the systems in place to be able to

attract the number of GPs that Wales

will need going forward?

Yes I am.

The Cabinet Secretary will make a

statement shortly to members on the

definitive numbers recruited to the

GP training scheme. This will show

positive for the recruitment better

than the initial rate of 91% which

has been reported in this chamber.

That will represent significant

improvement in the Welsh GP training

numbers.

Will the First Minister

make a statement on preparatory work

on the franchise?

The further

statement issued by the Cabinet

Secretary for economy and transport

on the 6th of November regarding the

service procurement.

I think the

First Minister and I have read that

statement. It was released as a

result of the fact that the trains

had withdrawn from the franchise

process.

Reading between the lines and

reports around that, then it turns

around the fact that a reader had

decided there was no commercial

value in that franchise, including

the Metro and building another Metro

and it reflects the fact we were

still reliant on a subsidy from

Westminster and responsibility being

transferred from Westminster because

this process hasn't been completed

by your government. What can you do

us today -- tell us today which can

give passengers assurances and the

staff on these trains that those

jobs will remain in place and the

services will remain in place and

there will not be any problems in

providing this franchise as you have

pledged to? First of all, there are

issues to be discussed with the

Department for Transport in London.

There is no dig problem as far as I

know as regards preceding with the

process, it is not unusual for a

company to withdraw and we know that

there are companies that are still

part of that process. May I say that

what we would have preferred to see

is that a situation where the

finance and the funding would have

been transferred and that we could

then direct Network Rail that hasn't

been given to us and would be given

an opportunity to run the franchise.

That is something which has been

made available to Scotland but not

gifted to us and we are completely

angry about that. There is no reason

know why this should not proceed and

of course it is something we want to

ensure to see a better service for

the people of Wales.

You're quite

right to say the decision of them to

drop out of the bidding process. It

does happen, we shouldn't get too

worked up about it deciding that

it's not for them. At what point did

you know that they were dropping

out, was sudden, did they give

advance warning and I'm wondering,

did the Welsh government receive any

feedback from the company and the

staff involved that would be

beneficial now moving forward with

the rest of the process because

clearly, if other franchise

businesses were to drop out, we

could end up in a tricky situation

down the line so to speak.

The exact

date that a they withdrew... That is

not unusual and they have done this

for their own commercial reasons.

There are some issues I cannot

disclose for commercial reasons.

A

few weeks ago it became apparent

that new trains for the great

Western Railway service won't

include any bilingual signage or

announcements and as expected there

were a number of complaint is made

to the company by passengers

following this news, condemning the

decision taken, including by the

former Welsh language minister. The

company's excuse was that these

trains served areas of England as

well as Wales and therefore using

bilingual signage and making

bilingual announcements would not be

appropriate. Some passengers in

England have expressed support to

having Welsh services talking about

their experiences of travelling from

one country to another and in Europe

pursuing the language change

regularly. Ensuring bilingual

signage and announcements on trains

as a matter of fundamental respect

for the Welsh language is, so can

you commit to ensuring that language

standards will be introduced by the

government in the transport sector,

standards that have been on the

government's desk for almost one

year and therefore companies such as

GW are would be able to provide

services and the respect that Welsh

speakers deserve. I ask the Minister

therefore to write to you about this

issue.

They are able to offer the

service now, of course.

It seems

like the story has been told in the

way that suggests it is not possible

at present, but it would be possible

in my view because the train company

have used the Welsh language on

their trains, although the trains

travel through England, they don't

physically change the language on

the signage as they travel through

England, so there's no reason

whatsoever why the great Western

Railway shouldn't do both Welsh and

English and its writers or people

would respect the that both

languages are used and the people of

England would be better to see at!

Will the First Minister confirmed

that his policy of the Welsh

government not to allow any new

opencast development in Wales?

We

will be consulting early next year

on amendments to plan policy Wales

to prevent that.

I thank the First

Minister for that confirmation. We

have seen a number of instances

where companies involved in the

opencast industry have failed to

honour their obligation to reinstate

sites, either partially or wholly

once activities have ceased. It's

incredible that the company

previously owned has been allowed to

rescind its guarantee of some £50

million. The council Institute in

its place, an escrow account which

the owners which will be expected to

pay into, swapping and guaranteed

sum of money to one dependent on the

efficacy of the new company. Is the

First Minister able to shed any

light on what seems to be an

extraordinary decision.

The council

have the responsibility for the

enforcement of planning. I have seen

instances elsewhere. The mining has

finished and the site had not been

restored because it is an issue with

the bonds that the companies were

required to produce in the days when

call was privatised, there was a

limit placed on the bonds they

required and it was not sufficient

to cover the restoration of the

land. That is an historic problem.

It comes to explain, I'm not aware

of the circumstances on why they

have taken the decision that they

have?

Will the Prime Minister make a

statement on the proposed white

paper language Bill.

The

consultation closed on the 31st of

October and we are currently

analysing the responses and will

make a further statement in due

course.

Many organisations have been

in touch with me in order to express

concerns about your intention to

abolish the role of the Welsh

language Commissioner and to weaken

the fundamental rights of Welsh

speakers. Unfortunately your

government has accused the language

organisations of being too

conservative. Groups are doing a

great deal to assist the language.

Given the concerns expressed by many

organisations and specialists in

this area is it now time for you to

reconsider the decision to abolish

the role of Welsh language

Commissioner?

Well, we have

naturally consulted on the bill

itself and we will now analyse the

responses we have received. It is

rightly important that they are

considered in detail and became of

the government is to improve the

situation and reinforce and

strengthen the rights available to

speakers to ensure that we can

attain the target of a million Welch

speakers by 2050 and so what we are

now doing is considering the views

of organisations and other bodies to

see whether we can understand their

concerns.

I wonder if you can tell

us whether on examining the case for

the new body to replace the language

Commissioner the government has

considered how carefully for any

staff might be affected and whether

there will be transfers of staff.

Can you tell me whether officials

have already scoped the lengthy

costs of TUPE and the costs

associated with managing

individuals' data protection?

Can I give assurances that when it

is change we want to make sure and

we are in the situation where

people... We want to get comfort to

people as soon as possible. Any

regulatory assessment of the bill

will follow process and members will

have the opportunity to scrutinise

them. Our new political programme is

on tomorrow, BBC Wales at 1030. For

more coverage, you can go online to

BBC Wales news page, the address for

that. From all of us on the

programme, thanks for joining us,

goodbye.