Browse content similar to 28/02/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good afternoon. Welcome to the programme. Our weekly coverage of | :00:21. | :00:25. | |
questions to the First Minister. There is a change to the usual | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
format today, Carwyn Jones is in the United States so the Leader of the | :00:31. | :00:33. | |
House is standing in. She is expected to be asked questions on a | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
range of issues from agriculture to the Welsh Government's support for | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
start-up businesses. We're on Twitter. At Wales politics is the | :00:42. | :00:48. | |
address. For now, let's take a look at today's questions to the First | :00:49. | :00:55. | |
Minister. TRANSLATION: I call the National | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
Assembly to order and the first item on our agenda this afternoon is | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
questions to the First Minister and I have received notification | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
understanding order 12.58 that the Leader of the House Jane Hut will | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
answer questions today on behalf of the First Minister. Thank you. Will | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
the minister replacing the First Minister make a statement on recent | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
discussions with the UK Government regarding agriculture and | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
countryside policies following the decision to leave the European | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
Union? We continue to actively engage with the UK Government in | :01:30. | :01:32. | |
relation to agricultural and countryside policies. The Cabinet | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
secretary for environment and rural affairs met with ministers from both | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
the UK Government and devolved administrations on 23rd February in | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
Edinburgh. I thank the Minister for Her reply. | :01:46. | :01:49. | |
I have been interested in what happened in that meeting in | :01:50. | :01:56. | |
Edinburgh. The Scottish rural economy, Fergus Ewing said today's | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
meeting did not achieve anything. There was no factual information on | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
any of the serious matters raised by farmers. The Environment Secretary | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
in Scotland said the meeting had been a deflection at the meeting by | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
Andrea Leadsom when the devolution issue was raised and Scotland's | :02:15. | :02:18. | |
Brexit Minister said that Andrea Leadsom may have been at a different | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
meeting than everyone else. Does the UK Government actually understand | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
what devolution of agriculture and environmental policies means? Is the | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
minister in place of the First Minister able to give assurances | :02:32. | :02:35. | |
that the Welsh Government will not allow any land grab of our devolved | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
policies by the UK Government? Well, I can certainly assure Simon Thomas | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
of that as he would agree with me and the Welsh Government in relation | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
to the future of agriculture and environment policy in Wales is that | :02:49. | :02:51. | |
the Government we have been engaging with stakeholders for the last six | :02:52. | :02:57. | |
months, through our round table meetings and the implications of | :02:58. | :03:03. | |
exiting the European Union. We've underlined how essential it is that | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
devolved administrations play a full part. Of course, the Cabinet | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
secretary for finance and Local Government only attended the EU | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
joint committee council only ten days ago with the colleagues of | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
course from Scottish Government and Northern Ireland devolved | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
administration. The health experts are now telling | :03:27. | :03:30. | |
us that we shouldn't just eat five a day, but we need to eat ten a day if | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
we want to live a long-life. What discussions have been had around | :03:36. | :03:39. | |
food security in the light of the reduction of the value of the pound | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
and in particularly in relation to makes us more self-sufficient across | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
the UK in the production of fruit and vegetables and I wondered | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
whether that has been at all discussed in the UK negotiations? | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
Well, this is crucially important and of course, we have got our | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
action plan for the food and drink industry working closely with food | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
security and food safety stakeholders, partners to sustain | :04:06. | :04:08. | |
and enhance the food production base in Wales and working with the | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
industry and that's about improving resilience, productivity, | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
competitiveness of food and farming businesses adding value to our | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
supply chains and clearly, the food production does put us at a | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
competitive advantage for Wales. Ideally suited, of course, in terms | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
of I shall ceasing the variety of our food products, but looking to | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
our own needs and that's where Wales' farming businesses make a | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
critical contribution to safeguarding the UK's food security. | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
TRANSLATION: Thank you. The Leader of the House, the Cabinet secretary | :04:45. | :04:52. | |
responsible for agriculture has said that the UK-wide agricultural | :04:53. | :04:55. | |
framework maybe appropriate. So in light of this can you tell us what | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
kind of framework Government would want to see introduced and can you | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
tell us what the Welsh Government's objective is when it comes to such a | :05:06. | :05:10. | |
framework? We will play an active part in developing frameworks and | :05:11. | :05:13. | |
with the other devolved nations. I think we need to look at where UK | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
frameworks and structures are needed to replace those currently set by | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
the EU. But we see these as big collectively developed and agreed of | :05:23. | :05:25. | |
the that's crucially important, collectively developed and agreed | :05:26. | :05:28. | |
and not imposed and most importantly, there must be an | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
independent arbitration mechanism to resolve disputes over interms. | :05:34. | :05:42. | |
-- interpretations. Secretary, the library of Wales series, thanks to | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
Welsh Government assessment... You need to ask the question on the | :05:47. | :05:52. | |
order paper. Would the minister tell us how the | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
library of Wales series has been promoted in schools? The Welsh | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
Government continues to fund the library of Wales series through the | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
Welsh Books Council, gifts sets of one copy of each title are being | :06:07. | :06:13. | |
secondary to all secondary schools and colleges. Thanks to the Welsh | :06:14. | :06:18. | |
Government investment of ?600,000 over the last ten years, 46 | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
important literary works are now back in print in English. The most | :06:24. | :06:33. | |
two recent books Ride The White Stallion are an impressive addition | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
to that. Before the recess John Gower and I held an event where we | :06:38. | :06:43. | |
discussed the books with local sixth form students. Having invested so | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
much in the titles, it is vital that local people get to know about the | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
works, about the communities and John Gower is of the view that every | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
community within Wales has a title that can tell them something about | :06:58. | :07:01. | |
their community and about their past that can help us reflect on our | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
common heritage. I'd welcome any further initiatives to make sure | :07:06. | :07:08. | |
that schools and colleges make use of the copies they have so we can | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
reflect on this important investment. | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
Well,ual' glad that the member has drawn attention to that most | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
interesting, I'm sure, visit with John Gower and draw attention to the | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
fact that William Glyn Jones is featured in the new series. It is | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
important that it isn't just gift sets going to schools. Clearly, they | :07:30. | :07:33. | |
have to be, those books have to be used widely. They need to be | :07:34. | :07:39. | |
borrowed, shared, read, shared and discussed throughout schools and | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
colleges. I think as the member has said, the fact that we have brought | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
this new generation of series to readers, 46 titles being published, | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
is vitally important, but it actually is also crucial that we see | :07:53. | :07:58. | |
this as part of our world developing our world-class education system | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
geared to equipping our children and young people to thrive amid the | :08:02. | :08:07. | |
challenges of the 21st century. Cabinet secretary, whilst I welcome | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
the continued commitment to the national Wales series, are you aware | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
of the report that was published last week which talked about the | :08:15. | :08:17. | |
reading trends and reading ability of pupils across the UK in that | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
particular report, it demonstrated that Wales had seen a slump in | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
reading ages. So that actually in terms of the situation against | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
chronicle age, pupils in secondary schools are a full year behind on | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
average than their actual chronicle, their chronological ages and wonder | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
what action the Welsh Government is going to take to address this | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
particular problem in terms of addressing these reading ages in our | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
secondary schools? Well, in March we published our national literacy and | :08:50. | :08:53. | |
numeracy programme. That plan gave us a clear vision of our strategy | :08:54. | :08:58. | |
for literacy and numeracy going forward. It ensures there is | :08:59. | :09:04. | |
significant on going support for numeracy and literacy. The report | :09:05. | :09:07. | |
showed that standards are improving in Wales and we will work to | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
maintain that momentum. TRANSLATION: Questions now from the | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
party leaders. The leader of the Welsh Conservatives. | :09:16. | :09:23. | |
We were all horrified by the story about Ellie May Clarke, the death | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
over the weekend, and the tragedy that led up to the sequence of | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
events that her mother went to the GP surgery, ultimately sought the | :09:34. | :09:36. | |
appointment and given the medical history of little Ellie should have | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
been seen by the GP. No right minded person could fail to be horrified by | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
what led to those tragic events. I'd be grateful to understand what the | :09:48. | :09:50. | |
Welsh Government is doing and I'm not blaming the Welsh Government | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
here, what I'm saying is as the Government of Wales, and this | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
happened in Wales, what is the Welsh Government doing to work with the | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
regulator to address the matters that were raised in the report that | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
looked into this incident? Well, I thank you for that question | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
because we are all aware here today of the tragic death of Ellie May and | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
my thoughts are with her family at this difficult time. It is a | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
professional regulatory matter for the GMC who oversee such cases that | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
the UK level as the leader of the Welsh Conservatives will recognise | :10:27. | :10:30. | |
and as you've acknowledged, it is what role can we play? It would be | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
appropriate for Welsh Government to intervene, but I think we have to | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
say that from our understanding, the GMC's investigation of the GP's | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
actions underlines the need for high standards of care to be delivered at | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
all times. I'm also aware that the Crown is now investigate and an | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
inquest is due to be held. Leader of the House, it is quite clear if The | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
Mail on Sunday hadn't under taken an investigation this report would have | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
been buried in the deep, deep recesses of the GMC report. And | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
wouldn't have come to light and we owe The Mail on Sunday a great debt | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
of gratitude because they have informed the family of the outcome | :11:09. | :11:11. | |
because as I understand t the family had not been informed of the outcome | :11:12. | :11:14. | |
of the investigation, but it cannot be right that when you look at these | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
circumstances, these types of investigations, are conducted behind | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
closed doors and that the family and those concerned with these matters | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
are not fully informed of the process and the outcome. Do you | :11:28. | :11:33. | |
believe, like me, Leader of the House, that the GMC's procedures in | :11:34. | :11:36. | |
these matters leave a lot to be required and addressed and not fit | :11:37. | :11:43. | |
for purpose? I think the case was reviewed in accordance with the | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
current GMC procedures and it is important also say this afternoon | :11:50. | :11:52. | |
that the health board took the action to refer the doctor to the | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
GMC following their own internal investigation, that's again where we | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
must recognise that responsibility that action that was taken. I mean I | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
also noticed that Sir Donald Irvine, the former president of the GMC | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
himself was calling for greater transparency as a result of this | :12:13. | :12:13. | |
tragic case. May be what aren't De Angelis it is | :12:14. | :12:23. | |
a proactive approach from Welsh government toy identify that these | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
purposes are not fit for purpose and many times the Welsh government is | :12:29. | :12:31. | |
called to make representations on various matters, I would look to you | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
to try and encourage the Cabinet Secretary for health to write to the | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
GMC to address its protocols and procedures because the GMC is there | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
not to look after its own but to look after everyone. In this case in | :12:47. | :12:52. | |
particular it has fallen down and I hope in responding to my first | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
question you indicate that the Welsh government will be writing to the | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
GMC to ask them to address the deeply, deeply, deeply held concerns | :13:01. | :13:05. | |
of members of this institution and the wider public in this specific | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
case which really has led the families down and above all is | :13:11. | :13:18. | |
letting Ellie and her memory down. We are certainly going to be looking | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
at this case in terms of the GMC, but I think it is important that you | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
put your point on record today and I'm sure that those points can be | :13:31. | :13:33. | |
made and will be made across this chamber. Leader of Plaid Cymru | :13:34. | :13:42. | |
Leanne Wood. You will be aware over the past few years I have pressed | :13:43. | :13:46. | |
the First Minister on the question of widening access for drugs and | :13:47. | :13:51. | |
treatments in Wales. Today we have some people in the public gallery | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
who are living with multiple sclerosis and I would like to | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
welcome them to the Senedd. They have asked me to take forward an | :13:59. | :14:03. | |
issue which is of utmost importance to the quality-of-life. Everyone in | :14:04. | :14:08. | |
the chamber is aware of the difficulties in accessing drugs and | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
treatment specifically for MS. Leader of what was the Welsh | :14:13. | :14:15. | |
government's review on the availability of those drugs and | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
treatments? Clearly there is an opportunity now as a result of the | :14:21. | :14:23. | |
discussions that we have had to look very carefully at the opportunities | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
for those judged to be made available and of course this is part | :14:28. | :14:35. | |
of the way forward in terms of the review of the prescribing of those | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
drugs. Thank you, Leader of the House. We know that Wales was the | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
first country in the UK to approve the cannabis -based drug in 2014, | :14:46. | :14:53. | |
the evidence from patients is consistent and clear. It is | :14:54. | :14:58. | |
effective, it reduces pain and spasms but access to Sativex is | :14:59. | :15:06. | |
patchy. The survey found only 1% of the blue said they were eligible for | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
Sativex actually had access to it. The survey also suggests that a | :15:12. | :15:15. | |
number of people living with MS who take disease modifying therapies | :15:16. | :15:18. | |
appears to be lower than in Scotland or England. There is a real concern | :15:19. | :15:24. | |
that other new drugs and treatments coming through the system will be | :15:25. | :15:27. | |
equally as difficult to access. If you accept there is a patchy | :15:28. | :15:36. | |
availability of these drugs and that is a major obstacle to the | :15:37. | :15:41. | |
quality-of-life of citizens Wells, what resources is the Welsh | :15:42. | :15:44. | |
government prepared to allocate to the infrastructure around MS, MS | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
nursing and neurology, in order to help patients get support they need? | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
I very much welcome the engagement of the MS Society, an organisation | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
that has represented patients with MS so effectively in Wales. And of | :16:01. | :16:07. | |
course their evidence is vitally important and the considerations of | :16:08. | :16:13. | |
very clear clinical arrangements in terms of prescribing of drugs. But | :16:14. | :16:22. | |
it is important we look at the impact and availability of access in | :16:23. | :16:25. | |
terms of those medications such as Sativex which you have just raised. | :16:26. | :16:32. | |
I think your second point also relates to the wider services we can | :16:33. | :16:38. | |
provide to MS sufferers. Much progress has been made in terms of | :16:39. | :16:42. | |
availability, in terms of research, and drugs and appropriate | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
treatments. But it also has to be the wider care pathway is way. I | :16:49. | :16:56. | |
very much hope we do see of extra resources. The lack of availability | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
Sativex has led people to pursue alternatives of their own. I | :17:02. | :17:08. | |
recently went with the 60th -- 64-year-old woman who has primary | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
progressive MS, and she experiences pain and spasms every day. Her daily | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
drug regime includes morphing, coding, paracetamol and diazepam. | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
Because Sativex is not available in her area she uses cannabis as a | :17:24. | :17:26. | |
replacement, obviously risking problems with the law. How is it OK | :17:27. | :17:34. | |
to take morphine but by buying cannabis she risks prosecution? On | :17:35. | :17:42. | |
every tenth following a government review, we joined many countries | :17:43. | :17:44. | |
around the world in recommending that cannabis should be legalised | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
for medicinal use. There is also support for this in Scotland and we | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
have heard at least one police and crime commission for Wales | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
recommending that the same thing happens here. Will the Welsh | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
government follow our Irish and Scottish counterparts and advocate | :18:00. | :18:07. | |
the decriminalisation of cannabis to relieve the symptoms of multiple | :18:08. | :18:11. | |
sclerosis and other conditions? What I would like to do is ensure that we | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
can make those medications and drugs are available such as Sativex which | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
obviously has proven benefits. I certainly would want to ensure from | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
your questions today that we look very carefully at access and | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
availability of those proven and clinically beneficial medications | :18:33. | :18:44. | |
for people with MS in Wales. The leader of the Ukip group Johannsson. | :18:45. | :18:47. | |
If you exclude the leader of Plaid Cymru raised -- Neil Hamilton. The | :18:48. | :19:04. | |
First Minister appealed for calm. Is then the leader of Plaid Cymru has | :19:05. | :19:08. | |
interpreted calmness in a rather unusual way. Plaid Cymru have said | :19:09. | :19:11. | |
that internet trolls upon the activists who want to maintain | :19:12. | :19:17. | |
medication in the village and have twisted innocent Facebook posts in | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
an attempt at character assassination. Jonathan Edwards, the | :19:23. | :19:27. | |
MP for Carmarthen East supported by the leader of Plaid Cymru has | :19:28. | :19:32. | |
engaged in a public campaign of intimidation for having the temerity | :19:33. | :19:39. | |
to seek my help as one of the AMs in the fight against Plaid Cymru | :19:40. | :19:42. | |
intolerance and indeed the leader of Plaid Cymru has even published on | :19:43. | :19:45. | |
her Facebook page a photograph of one of them following which this | :19:46. | :19:52. | |
lady has been verbally abused in the street and spat at. As Leader of the | :19:53. | :19:57. | |
House will you defend our collective rights as members in this assembly, | :19:58. | :20:02. | |
as representatives of the people of Wales to seek redress and grievances | :20:03. | :20:09. | |
on half of all the -- all our constituents and condemned the | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
attack on the constitutional rights of all my constituents to seek help | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
on the future education of their children? I have to say I'm | :20:18. | :20:20. | |
concerned that the leader of Ukip is not helping to reduce the toxic | :20:21. | :20:30. | |
situation, in fact the maybe as has been described. This is something | :20:31. | :20:33. | |
where in terms of our responsibilities and indeed your | :20:34. | :20:35. | |
responsibilities, we must be very clear here, the Welsh government | :20:36. | :20:43. | |
can't comment on any proposals for change that are under consideration | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
by a local authority. It is the responsibility for the local | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
authorities, the planning of school places rests with them. I fully | :20:52. | :21:00. | |
accept that but the process by which the decision was arrived at in the | :21:01. | :21:03. | |
county council has wide imprecations and calls for change in legislation. | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
There was a consultation exercise which was carried out which was a | :21:08. | :21:14. | |
complete sham. There was 1418 responses, 698 responses in support | :21:15. | :21:21. | |
of the proposal, 720 against. But one of the responses against had 757 | :21:22. | :21:28. | |
signatures, that was regarded as one vote. You do not have to provide an | :21:29. | :21:36. | |
address or postcode if you respond to the consultation, 27 of these | :21:37. | :21:44. | |
were anonymous, not even a name. In these circumstances given that there | :21:45. | :21:47. | |
is clearly a very substantial opposition within the catchment area | :21:48. | :21:53. | |
to the imposition of Welsh language only instruction surely there is a | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
case here for a stay in the proceedings whilst we consider | :21:58. | :22:00. | |
whether this change, which in the longer term may be desirable, should | :22:01. | :22:07. | |
be brought in so that public opinion can come with us rather than | :22:08. | :22:10. | |
fighting it. These are as I have said matters for Caernarfonshire | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
Council. As a gum and we are supportive of the Welsh language you | :22:16. | :22:21. | |
want to see an extension of it and more children involved. But it is | :22:22. | :22:24. | |
for the Council to justify the decisions it takes. Clearly | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
sensitive to the fact that local authorities must comply with the | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
School standards and organisation Wales act 2013 and the code and look | :22:35. | :22:37. | |
at the range of factors when proposing change. It is true they | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
must comply with the legislation but they can comply with the letter of | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
the whilst wholly ignoring its spirit which is exactly what has in | :22:47. | :22:50. | |
this case. There hasn't been a consultation, there has been a | :22:51. | :22:58. | |
nonsultation because the decision was arrived at before the | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
consultation exercises. Isn't it time for a proper consultation | :23:03. | :23:04. | |
exercise which is independently conducted of all those within the | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
catchment area alone and ignoring the responses which are nothing to | :23:10. | :23:12. | |
do with the area which is most concerned. Again I have to say it is | :23:13. | :23:19. | |
not a matter for Welsh government to intervene. Of course it is important | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
that any local authority does take into account the views of those who | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
live locally. And indeed the consultation was held between | :23:28. | :23:34. | |
January 28 and 18 of March last year to which there were 267 responses. | :23:35. | :23:40. | |
It is now for us to elect the process redress in terms of the | :23:41. | :23:48. | |
legislation. The School standards act 2013 and the school organisation | :23:49. | :23:56. | |
code. Question three, Dawn Bodenham. Will the Cabinet Secretary please | :23:57. | :23:59. | |
make a statement on the Welsh government support for start-up | :24:00. | :24:04. | |
business. We continue to provide support through the business Wales | :24:05. | :24:08. | |
service and we encourage business start-up from a young age through | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
our big ideas campaign. 'S thank you for that response. Last week I met | :24:13. | :24:22. | |
with representatives from the borough council and training to talk | :24:23. | :24:25. | |
about the support they gave to new businesses in the area. One of those | :24:26. | :24:34. | |
successes is the meanwhile use programme which replaces funding and | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
under that scheme the enterprise centre encourages local landlords | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
with vacant properties to let them out to new businesses. That enables | :24:47. | :24:54. | |
new enterprises to test out and amend their business models based on | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
working experience. And allows the landlord to realise the potential | :25:00. | :25:02. | |
benefit of letting out vacant premises for business to the | :25:03. | :25:05. | |
element. This has enabled seven new businesses to start-up up in vacant | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
premises in the town centre. Additionally through the effect | :25:10. | :25:13. | |
programme Merthyr Tydfil enterprise Centre has given support to around | :25:14. | :25:18. | |
170 businesses in the area, creating 51 jobs and safeguarding a further | :25:19. | :25:24. | |
151 jobs. Does the Cabinet Secretary agree with me that it is support | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
like this which is contributing to the situation where Merthyr Tydfil | :25:30. | :25:32. | |
has become the leading growth Centre for new business in Wales and can | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
she gave an assurance that funding under vibrant and viable places, | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
which has been so crucial to the success of these schemes, will | :25:41. | :25:43. | |
remain a key component of the Welsh government strategy to encourage new | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
start-ups for small businesses? Dawn Bodenham illustrates a very good | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
way, constructive way in which we have been able to invest the vibrant | :25:55. | :26:01. | |
and vital places investment in investment in Merthyr Tydfil | :26:02. | :26:03. | |
obviously in partnership with the local authority and other partners. | :26:04. | :26:07. | |
I think in terms of the way forward, if there is a flagship regeneration | :26:08. | :26:15. | |
programme over ?124 million capital funding, in 18 areas across Wales, | :26:16. | :26:23. | |
and forecasting a programme to and deliver more than 2000 jobs and | :26:24. | :26:28. | |
support my Busby bling to work. So this of course takes us forward with | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
regards to the future particularly with regard to the capital | :26:35. | :26:36. | |
regeneration programme. Data shows the number of new | :26:37. | :26:49. | |
businesses starting up across Wales has fallen by a staggering 26% over | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
the last five years. Can I ask what the Welsh Government is doing to | :26:55. | :26:57. | |
reverse this trend and also can I ask what the Welsh Government is | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
doing to encourage younger people to consider starting up their own | :27:02. | :27:04. | |
business as a positive life choice following leaving school? Well, I | :27:05. | :27:10. | |
don't know where those figures that rustle George quotes this afternoon | :27:11. | :27:16. | |
are emmating from in terms of the evidence, but I'd like to put the | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
record straight that the latest data shows the number of business births | :27:21. | :27:24. | |
in Wales has grown every year since the financial crisis and in 2015 | :27:25. | :27:32. | |
reached a record high of 11525. I'm sure Russell George will agree with | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
me that the results are extremely encouraging and they demonstrate a | :27:37. | :27:38. | |
climate in Wales where businesses are confident to start, grow and | :27:39. | :27:46. | |
thrive. A group of London-based investors | :27:47. | :27:53. | |
accelerate me are looking to create a new fund with four million of | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
their own money, hopefully backed by ?6 million of Welsh Government money | :27:59. | :28:05. | |
to back Welsh start-ups and create a home-grown version of the highly | :28:06. | :28:13. | |
successful start-up accelerator programme. Does the Leader of the | :28:14. | :28:19. | |
House agree this kind of approach supporting indigenous business and | :28:20. | :28:23. | |
connecting them with external capital and knowledge should be at | :28:24. | :28:27. | |
the heart of the Welsh Government's new economic strategy and on that | :28:28. | :28:31. | |
basis would she urge her Cabinet colleagues to meet with the | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
proposals of the idea? Well, I don't think there is a word I would | :28:37. | :28:41. | |
disagree with. I think the Cabinet secretary would only be too | :28:42. | :28:44. | |
delighted to meet with the London-based investors. I think it | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
is important you mention indigenous businesses and we are continuing to | :28:50. | :28:53. | |
support indigenous business and we have got a record number of | :28:54. | :28:58. | |
enterprises headquartered in Wales and Wales has the highest number of | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
new businesses in over a decade and to date ?13 million has been | :29:04. | :29:09. | |
invested and 1703 start-ups in Wales through the start-ups loan company. | :29:10. | :29:12. | |
This is encouraging that there are more who want to invest in Wales. | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
TRANSLATION: Question four is withdrawn. John Griffiths. What | :29:18. | :29:23. | |
steps will the Welsh Government to strengthen Wales' international | :29:24. | :29:29. | |
relationships? This week the First Minister hosted the London-based | :29:30. | :29:32. | |
diplomatic core and will be visiting and is visiting the United States, | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
the Cabinet secretary for environment and rural affairs and | :29:37. | :29:41. | |
finance and Local Government are in Dubai and will be in Brussels this | :29:42. | :29:46. | |
week and last week the Cabinet secretary for infrastructure visited | :29:47. | :29:48. | |
China. Thank you for that. Cabinet | :29:49. | :29:54. | |
secretary, the European Union is a great economic social and political | :29:55. | :30:00. | |
force in the world and leaving the European Union threatens to greatly | :30:01. | :30:06. | |
diminish the standing of Wales and UK in the world. So could you | :30:07. | :30:10. | |
reassure me that as far as Wales is concerned, Welsh Government must | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
find new ways of working with the European Union and European Union | :30:16. | :30:19. | |
member states in the run-up to Brexit and beyond and that the UK | :30:20. | :30:25. | |
Government should commit through its Brexit negotiations to securing | :30:26. | :30:30. | |
continuing participation in key European Union programmes open to | :30:31. | :30:37. | |
non member states such as Horizon 2020 and Erasmus Plus and secure | :30:38. | :30:43. | |
continuing participation in trance national economic development | :30:44. | :30:45. | |
programmes particularly with our close neighbour, the Republic of | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
Ireland. I thank John Griffiths for that | :30:50. | :30:52. | |
question because we make it very clear in our White Paper, securing | :30:53. | :30:57. | |
Wales' future, Wales is leaving the EU, but not Europe and we strongly | :30:58. | :31:01. | |
believe that Wales and the UK should continue to participate in those key | :31:02. | :31:06. | |
EU programmes. You mention Horizon 2020. That's supporting research and | :31:07. | :31:12. | |
development projects between higher education, private sector, partners, | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
erasious Plus again, those education exchanges that can transform the | :31:18. | :31:19. | |
prospects and opportunities of young people. We want to see a | :31:20. | :31:24. | |
far-reaching and far clearer commitment from the UK Government to | :31:25. | :31:27. | |
securing this outcome from the Brexit negotiations and of course, | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
they form part of the negotiations which Cabinet secretaries are | :31:33. | :31:35. | |
engaged with, but you also mentioned our Ireland. That is also crucially | :31:36. | :31:42. | |
important because we have the Ireland-Wales programme which we are | :31:43. | :31:46. | |
responsible for and which also includes a number of very important | :31:47. | :31:53. | |
R D projects and indeed, projects and initiatives that can improve and | :31:54. | :31:59. | |
constructively help Wales as well as Ireland. | :32:00. | :32:04. | |
It is clearly vital that we develop stronger economic links across the | :32:05. | :32:07. | |
world in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union. And if we | :32:08. | :32:13. | |
could still in some way access schemes such as Horizon 2020 and | :32:14. | :32:17. | |
similar programmes following Brexit in some way then that would be a | :32:18. | :32:20. | |
bonus. I was pleased to hear you mention that. However, I would say a | :32:21. | :32:23. | |
trade mission and the First Minister is away on a trade mission at the | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
moment, a trade mission only works if enough planning has gone into it | :32:28. | :32:31. | |
and the right companies have been unviteded in good time and the | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
mission is clear about its objectives, that didn't happen | :32:36. | :32:39. | |
entirely in 2012 on the previous US mission of that time. Has it | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
happened this time around? Who is on that mission with the First Minister | :32:44. | :32:47. | |
and have they been given adequate preparation time? Well, I am | :32:48. | :32:53. | |
disappoint that you speak of trade missions disparagingly and don't | :32:54. | :32:56. | |
welcome the trade missions and I will go on to your point about the | :32:57. | :33:01. | |
US trade mission, but mean last week, I'm sure he'd welcome the fact | :33:02. | :33:09. | |
that the Cabinet secretary actually had an important visit to China. | :33:10. | :33:23. | |
With two new investments announced with the creation of 38 hi-tech jobs | :33:24. | :33:28. | |
and two new stores in Wales by Flooring Republic. The clear links | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
with the US in terms of the fact that we have not only those US | :33:34. | :33:39. | |
companies based in Wales, who are informing our trade mission, but | :33:40. | :33:44. | |
also demonstrating the impact that we can have for a leader, a Welsh | :33:45. | :33:51. | |
Labour First Minister, going to the States saying that Wales is clearly | :33:52. | :33:58. | |
open for business. TRANSLATION: Thank you. As chair of | :33:59. | :34:04. | |
the cross party group on Wales internationally it has been good to | :34:05. | :34:09. | |
see a consensus developing across the parties on the need to develop | :34:10. | :34:16. | |
relationships and to develop the potential of close links between | :34:17. | :34:23. | |
Wales and its diaspra. There was agreement on the need for the Welsh | :34:24. | :34:29. | |
Government to develop a clear strot gee on how to secure that and that | :34:30. | :34:37. | |
in addition to the kinds of international relationships that's | :34:38. | :34:39. | |
currently undertaking and trade visits and so on and so forth. Does | :34:40. | :34:42. | |
the Leader of the House agree with the group on this point and what | :34:43. | :34:47. | |
steps are being put in place by Government to ensure that those | :34:48. | :34:53. | |
links with the Diaspra are developed? It is important that we | :34:54. | :34:57. | |
have a cross party group and you are chairing that and bringing together | :34:58. | :35:01. | |
that consensus that we need here in this chamber to support our First | :35:02. | :35:05. | |
Minister who is in the US. Welsh Government has always promoted Wales | :35:06. | :35:09. | |
around St David's Day and that's a key focus of these visits. And also, | :35:10. | :35:15. | |
indeed, not only in terms of visits to USA, China, Dubai, Brussels, | :35:16. | :35:22. | |
there are also events happening in embassies, high commissions across | :35:23. | :35:27. | |
Europe and elsewhere. I think it is important that we recognise that for | :35:28. | :35:33. | |
example, the First Minister his programme in the US includes | :35:34. | :35:36. | |
business and political meetings. He'll make a statement as Cabinet | :35:37. | :35:41. | |
secretary's always do on their return from the trade missions and | :35:42. | :35:48. | |
recognise it is with the Diaspra that we engage, it is with the | :35:49. | :35:53. | |
companies in Wales that are US companies, but also that the trade | :35:54. | :35:58. | |
mission and cultural visiting delegation visiting China also | :35:59. | :36:02. | |
provided a profile. So I've already given you some outcomes from the | :36:03. | :36:06. | |
Chinese trade mission. I'm sure we will have outcomes from the US visit | :36:07. | :36:13. | |
by the First Minister in due course. TRANSLATION: Question 16, Neil | :36:14. | :36:15. | |
Hamilton. Will the First Minister make a statement on what the Welsh | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
Government is doing to assist park home residents who face paying a 10% | :36:21. | :36:26. | |
commission on the sale of their homes. It delivered important | :36:27. | :36:34. | |
safeguards for park home residents. As the Cabinet secretary knows there | :36:35. | :36:39. | |
will be a review of the 2013 legislation this year. Will the | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
Welsh Government be contributing to that and will the Welsh Government | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
intend to do anything about this 10% commission which is compulsorily | :36:51. | :36:55. | |
extracted from those who want to sell their homes in exchange for | :36:56. | :37:01. | |
which mobile home park owners do nothing. Since the 2013 Act they | :37:02. | :37:07. | |
have no role in the sale of the mobile homes. It is a significant | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
inhibition on people from selling their homes especially if they tend | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
to be elderly and on low incomes, it is a significant problem. I | :37:17. | :37:20. | |
appreciate that Neil Hamilton wasn't here during the session when we have | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
supported and the Welsh Government supported the mobile homes | :37:26. | :37:27. | |
legislation presented by Peter black. It then became the mobile | :37:28. | :37:31. | |
homes Wales Act 2013 which you refer to. I just need to remind the member | :37:32. | :37:38. | |
that this legislation consolidates previous legislation relating to | :37:39. | :37:42. | |
park or residential homes and it is much further than legislation in | :37:43. | :37:49. | |
England. We require all seats to be relicensed and for site managers to | :37:50. | :37:54. | |
fit a proper person test. The Welsh Government did commission an | :37:55. | :37:56. | |
independent review of the economics of the park home industry in 2015. | :37:57. | :38:03. | |
The report has been published and clearly the Cabinet secretary is | :38:04. | :38:08. | |
looking at that and the options. I think it is very important that we | :38:09. | :38:14. | |
have a system that is transparent and fairly reflects the costs that | :38:15. | :38:19. | |
site owners have and also the ability for people who, the | :38:20. | :38:23. | |
residents of mobile homes to, you know, have a knowledge of what the | :38:24. | :38:26. | |
costs are to and to challenge them if necessary. At the moment it is | :38:27. | :38:31. | |
very opaque and it seems very unfair and in terms of where the power is, | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
it is lauded against the mobile homeowners. Well, there is a | :38:37. | :38:45. | |
balanced view about the site owners and those, of course, who are | :38:46. | :38:51. | |
purchasing those homes on the park home sites and I am I aware that | :38:52. | :38:57. | |
there is a lot of concern that's been raised. There is a petition | :38:58. | :39:02. | |
that's also come forth. I think it is very important to, again repeat, | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
that we have done more to protect park home residents which is crucial | :39:08. | :39:10. | |
than other parts of the UK. All park home sites in Wales have had toy | :39:11. | :39:16. | |
afor a new licence and I have said about the fit and proper person | :39:17. | :39:23. | |
tests and we have allowed time for a stricter regulatory regime resulting | :39:24. | :39:26. | |
from the mobile homes Wales Act which was supported by the whole | :39:27. | :39:30. | |
Assembly as it came through and in fact I remember Peter black was | :39:31. | :39:36. | |
congratulated by Mark I shaller wood when the Bill came through, but we | :39:37. | :39:40. | |
must look at the points that's been raised this afternoon and that's | :39:41. | :39:44. | |
what the Cabinet secretary is doing. A mart majority of park home | :39:45. | :39:49. | |
residents in Wales are over the age of 55 and the most recent report | :39:50. | :39:54. | |
suggests they are on average 71 years old and they don't envisage | :39:55. | :40:00. | |
leaving or selling their homes in the foreseeable future. Increase in | :40:01. | :40:03. | |
pitch fee to say cover losses incurred by park owners which would | :40:04. | :40:07. | |
result from the reduction of sales commissions is not a good long-term | :40:08. | :40:11. | |
solution and what considerations has your Government given to this? Well, | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
the independent report didn't actually recommend that removal of | :40:17. | :40:20. | |
the commission rate, but the Cabinet secretary obviously is looking at | :40:21. | :40:25. | |
the recommendations of the report. He's not bound by them. He's | :40:26. | :40:28. | |
considering a range of options on whether further action is merited. | :40:29. | :40:36. | |
TRANSLATION: Question 7. Will the First Minister make a statement on | :40:37. | :40:40. | |
concessionary travel schemes? Our concessionary bus travel scheme is | :40:41. | :40:47. | |
hugely popular with 760,000 older or disabled pass holders resident in | :40:48. | :40:52. | |
Wales and we are continuing to support the discounted bus travel | :40:53. | :40:56. | |
arrangements for 16, 17 and 18-year-olds throughout Wales while | :40:57. | :40:59. | |
we design a different scheme over the coming months. | :41:00. | :41:03. | |
TRANSLATION: Thank you for that response and further to that, | :41:04. | :41:09. | |
naturally there has been some concern particularly among young | :41:10. | :41:12. | |
people following that uncertainty that you've already mentioned | :41:13. | :41:15. | |
surrounding the My Travel PASS scheme. I was pleased to hear the | :41:16. | :41:20. | |
statement by the Cabinet secretary for infrastructure talking about the | :41:21. | :41:22. | |
Government had committed to establishing a similar scheme as | :41:23. | :41:25. | |
we've mentioned to encourage young people to use busesment now, we need | :41:26. | :41:29. | |
assurances in this area. So when can you expect the consultation on the | :41:30. | :41:33. | |
new scheme to commence? Well, as you say, the Cabinet secretary for | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
economy and transport did issue a written statement on 21st February. | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
He outlined his plans. We have agreed with local authorities and | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
the bus industry that the existing discounted travel arrangements will | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
continue. As I said in answer to your first question, we have | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
accepted the offer to come forward with proposals for a new marketing | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
campaign because we know we needed to increase the uptake of passes. We | :42:04. | :42:08. | |
intend to launch a new travel pass from 2018. We will be consulting | :42:09. | :42:09. | |
over the summer. Could I ask what assurances you can | :42:10. | :42:20. | |
give under the preparation for the end of the current funding agreement | :42:21. | :42:25. | |
on concessionary fares next year, discussions with the bus industry | :42:26. | :42:28. | |
and local authorities will be given plenty of time so that the stability | :42:29. | :42:34. | |
of the scheme is maintained. I mean I think in terms of the commitment | :42:35. | :42:39. | |
we have made to concessionary bus fares over the years, the fact that | :42:40. | :42:45. | |
we are estimating local authorities reimburse bus operators in 2016-17 | :42:46. | :42:53. | |
between 65 million and 70 million including ?10 million from their own | :42:54. | :42:55. | |
budgets for carrying older and disabled pass holders for free, we | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
are continuing of course with a scheme for young people. And clearly | :43:00. | :43:07. | |
this is an important plank of our Welsh Labour government 's | :43:08. | :43:13. | |
programme. We had a petition delivered to the assembly last year | :43:14. | :43:19. | |
by a pupil at Treorchy comprehensive, this petition calling | :43:20. | :43:23. | |
for rail travel to and from school to be restored, free rail traveller | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
should say, to be restored by Arriva trains who had decided to end the | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
scheme. With the rail franchise for renewal next year I wondered if Ford | :43:33. | :43:36. | |
be given by the government to giving Arriva shove towards restoring the | :43:37. | :43:39. | |
free fares scheme they previously offered. I think rail concessionary | :43:40. | :43:47. | |
travel is a very important way particularly where bus services are | :43:48. | :43:50. | |
limited. It is of course concessionary travel passes can be | :43:51. | :43:55. | |
used on certain train lines and the rostrum has ensured that. | :43:56. | :43:58. | |
Concessionary rail travel is available on some routes, which you | :43:59. | :44:04. | |
will be aware of particularly in Wrexham, Swansea, and the heart of | :44:05. | :44:15. | |
Wales. As you know we have no powers to injuries mandated tree schemes | :44:16. | :44:21. | |
but we do fund voluntary concessionary schemes with Arriva | :44:22. | :44:24. | |
trains Wales. But clearly this is an area where we will be looking at | :44:25. | :44:31. | |
future prospects. What actions is the Welsh government taking to | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
support people from disadvantaged communities? We will take forward a | :44:38. | :44:40. | |
cross government all Wales approach focused on helping people into | :44:41. | :44:43. | |
decent jobs, giving people the best chance in life and ensuring local | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
people are engaged in the design of local services. On February 14 there | :44:49. | :44:56. | |
was a statement regarding these actions and in that statement there | :44:57. | :45:00. | |
was the ambition to get to those furthest from the Labour market. | :45:01. | :45:04. | |
Unfortunately some of those furthest from the market in skills are also | :45:05. | :45:09. | |
physically furthest because they live in communities that are not | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
served by services. What are you doing to actually get jobs closer to | :45:15. | :45:22. | |
them or get them to jobs? The national transport financial plan | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
published in July 20 15th sets out investment for transport | :45:27. | :45:30. | |
infrastructure services across Wales. It has to provide | :45:31. | :45:35. | |
comprehensive solutions for local transport needs. But as the member | :45:36. | :45:43. | |
says it is about improving local public transport and I think an | :45:44. | :45:47. | |
integrated transport type in your area will be a major significance | :45:48. | :45:54. | |
and importance. But we also have very important jobs closer to home | :45:55. | :46:01. | |
initiative and enables people to access jobs. Of course we will hear | :46:02. | :46:06. | |
more from the Cabinet Secretary for economy and transport very shortly | :46:07. | :46:08. | |
in terms of the future of bus services. Will the Minister make a | :46:09. | :46:20. | |
statement on female genital mutilation protection orders. | :46:21. | :46:23. | |
Gunnestad until September 2016 no protection orders were issued in | :46:24. | :46:27. | |
Wales. The Welsh government does not tolerate any form of violence | :46:28. | :46:31. | |
against Wales including FGM and together with our partners we are | :46:32. | :46:34. | |
working hard to tackle this heinous crime. I thank you. It is somewhat | :46:35. | :46:43. | |
amusing that there have been no protection orders whatsoever issued | :46:44. | :46:50. | |
and then consequently no prosecutions for FGM in Wales. It is | :46:51. | :46:54. | |
a crime against the Person and it is the brutal abuse of minors and we | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
need to really in my opinion call it out for what it is. It is child | :47:00. | :47:05. | |
abuse. Nothing more, nothing less. What I am going to ask the Cabinet | :47:06. | :47:13. | |
Secretary is, according to the charity currently supporting 788 | :47:14. | :47:18. | |
families affected one way or another by FGM in Wales whether the | :47:19. | :47:24. | |
government will work more closely with them to see if that support can | :47:25. | :47:32. | |
be increased to allow those people to move forward if it is required. | :47:33. | :47:42. | |
To seek some pretension orders. So that we can actually start | :47:43. | :47:48. | |
prosecuting people in this country and send a very clear message that | :47:49. | :47:52. | |
this will not be tolerated, because it seems at the moment that it is | :47:53. | :47:58. | |
being tolerated. I thank Joyce Watson for the leadership she has | :47:59. | :48:01. | |
taken in terms of addressing this and also I thank Jenny Rathbone who | :48:02. | :48:08. | |
chaired the recent events which was attended by many members here today. | :48:09. | :48:16. | |
It is crucial that we enable and support the leadership group, which | :48:17. | :48:23. | |
concerns data collection, ensuring we have FGM safeguarding leads in | :48:24. | :48:25. | |
all our health boards, ensuring that we develop effective FGM care for | :48:26. | :48:32. | |
Wales so we can have referrals into primary health care or third sector | :48:33. | :48:37. | |
provision. Public Health Wales is revising and updating image is | :48:38. | :48:41. | |
worth's safeguarding training and also we have the social services and | :48:42. | :48:45. | |
well-being at strengthening safeguarding procedures. While all | :48:46. | :48:49. | |
of this of course will lead to the point where we feel that mandatory | :48:50. | :48:53. | |
reporting and the ability to take things forward to protection orders | :48:54. | :48:59. | |
will be much more easily facilitated. STUDIO: There we are, | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
that was First Minister's Questions this week. If you want more coverage | :49:06. | :49:12. | |
you can go online to the Senedd live page one our website. More Welsh | :49:13. | :49:19. | |
politics this week, the Wales report after the Ted Ginn news tomorrow. -- | :49:20. | :49:26. | |
ten o'clock news. But from all of us on this programme, thanks for | :49:27. | :49:27. | |
watching. | :49:28. | :49:30. |