0:00:11 > 0:00:17Good evening and welcome to Ebbw Vale, you are watching The Hour, the
0:00:17 > 0:00:21brand-new debate programme for Wales which puts people back at the heart
0:00:21 > 0:00:28of politics. Tin out which we are at the GS Yuasa factory which provides
0:00:28 > 0:00:36370 jobs in an area which needs them, I am Catrin Nye, we are here
0:00:36 > 0:00:44talking work. 70% of us do not feel any better off than we did five
0:00:44 > 0:00:50years ago. Three quarters of us say that worrying about work or money is
0:00:50 > 0:00:55affecting our mental health. Tonight on The Hour we ask, is Wales
0:00:55 > 0:01:04working?
0:01:08 > 0:01:12APPLAUSE.
0:01:12 > 0:01:20APPLAUSE. With us here in Ebbw Vale we have an audience of local people,
0:01:20 > 0:01:25experts and some of our elected politicians. In Wales, unemployment
0:01:25 > 0:01:29is actually going down, the economy is slowly growing but we have found
0:01:29 > 0:01:34out just days ago that we have the lowest pay in the whole of the UK.
0:01:34 > 0:01:46First, let's look at some of the history that got us here.And so
0:01:46 > 0:02:01today there were mixed emotions as the last mine was in the Rhondda.
0:02:01 > 0:02:12With out the dirty conditions, they are a good clean industries.It is
0:02:12 > 0:02:21the young ones you feel sorry for. Cheer up! Cheer up by!
0:02:30 > 0:02:35And all those who work hard and make this country what it is, I say this,
0:02:35 > 0:02:42if you have a job but don't always have job security, I am backing you.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48Hello? And to all the decent men and women and families you meet on the
0:02:48 > 0:02:51streets of countless towns and villages across Wales and the
0:02:51 > 0:03:00country, I am backing you.We don't just want jobs, we want better jobs,
0:03:00 > 0:03:06it is down to Labour to recognise the changing patterns of work and
0:03:06 > 0:03:10the opportunities of new technologies and the security that
0:03:10 > 0:03:22stalks to many people.So, the first results of our poll has told us that
0:03:22 > 0:03:27a massive 70% of us do not feel any better off than we did five years
0:03:27 > 0:03:32ago and that was at the height of the impact of the recession. So, why
0:03:32 > 0:03:36is that? I will come to the audience and stir with you. Why do you think
0:03:36 > 0:03:41we were in a situation where people do not feel better off?Six years
0:03:41 > 0:03:45ago I was earning a salary equivalent to my qualifications and
0:03:45 > 0:03:52experience and I have many years of experience in primary and secondary
0:03:52 > 0:03:59education as a teacher. What happened was, I had a really good
0:03:59 > 0:04:04job, learning about £670 a week, and then when that job finished, I did
0:04:04 > 0:04:09it for a year, I have good pay and conditions, the following year,
0:04:09 > 0:04:16because the government decided to change the way, let people work on
0:04:16 > 0:04:23supplies for schools, that they would decide to use agencies. One
0:04:23 > 0:04:28preferred agency that everyone had to go to if they wanted to get a
0:04:28 > 0:04:35job. What did that mean? It halved it straightaway. I was employed in
0:04:35 > 0:04:41Newport at £85 a day. It was the same job on someone on £40,000 a
0:04:41 > 0:04:49year and my tax return said I was earning £15,000. It became really
0:04:49 > 0:04:56bad, over the following few years, I experienced extreme stress. I did
0:04:56 > 0:05:01not have enough money to pay my rent, the fact that I needed to get
0:05:01 > 0:05:11to work, for my travelling and also for food. The sort of thing I did, I
0:05:11 > 0:05:15sublet rooms, casual people came in, my landlord said that was OK, but
0:05:15 > 0:05:19eventually because during the holidays it was very difficult for
0:05:19 > 0:05:24me to get extra work, even though I did as much as possible, I did
0:05:24 > 0:05:28things like working on building site and I took at nursery work which is
0:05:28 > 0:05:33far below my qualifications but I didn't mind because I was still
0:05:33 > 0:05:38working and eventually I lost my home.That is incredibly extreme.I
0:05:38 > 0:05:44was homeless and I had to live in a van and I was teaching secondaries
0:05:44 > 0:05:49school children and I replaced a head of Department, I had no holiday
0:05:49 > 0:05:54pay, no sick pay, nothing at all, no pension, my pension rights were then
0:05:54 > 0:06:02gone.Thank you very much. We have got Amanda, you run a pub. Does that
0:06:02 > 0:06:09mean something to you?I am probably worse off now than 15 years ago.
0:06:09 > 0:06:21Yes. Obviously, I do not get as many customers as they used to, so we are
0:06:21 > 0:06:29feeling the pain of that.Thank you. I will come to you. Do you recognise
0:06:29 > 0:06:33what you are hearing? 70% of people not feeling better than they did
0:06:33 > 0:06:40five years ago?For us it is slightly different, we have seen
0:06:40 > 0:06:45significant growth and been able to secure several large contracts which
0:06:45 > 0:06:51has enabled us to take on local people and upscale them and we have
0:06:51 > 0:06:57been able to increase their wages and work on job security. We have
0:06:57 > 0:07:03had to work hard on that. We have been able to provide in-house
0:07:03 > 0:07:14training. I cannot say I have seen the same sort of things.Do you
0:07:14 > 0:07:22think that hard work still pays? It has for me. Thank you. Let us dig
0:07:22 > 0:07:28deeper into those statistics. Here is our social media man, Steffan
0:07:28 > 0:07:38Powell.Thank you. Hello to everyone watching. Let us get stuck into the
0:07:38 > 0:07:43results. We spoke to over 1000 people in Wales and we have some
0:07:43 > 0:07:47revealing insights into the mood amongst Welsh workers. Let us look
0:07:47 > 0:07:53at one of our major findings. 71% of us say we do not feel better off
0:07:53 > 0:08:00than we did in 2012. 29% think they are worse off, 42% about the same.
0:08:00 > 0:08:06When we think about 2012, that is when the impact of the reception was
0:08:06 > 0:08:09really biting, unemployment was pretty high and this is significant
0:08:09 > 0:08:14because it is saying that five years later, despite that, we do not feel
0:08:14 > 0:08:19better off on we can break this down into age, let us look at how we feel
0:08:19 > 0:08:26in age groups, 61% of the younger age groups, it is higher in the
0:08:26 > 0:08:30older age groups but 61% is significant and we can break it down
0:08:30 > 0:08:38by social class, look, ABC ones, they are your managerial and
0:08:38 > 0:08:45professional jobs and then your manual, skilled and unskilled
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Labour, people from working-class backgrounds, they are saying there
0:08:47 > 0:08:51are more likely to say that they are not better off than they were five
0:08:51 > 0:08:55years ago. One of our other big findings is about how much you're
0:08:55 > 0:08:59getting paid next month. Are you worrying about how much you are
0:08:59 > 0:09:06getting paid? 28% of us said they are not sure how much they will be
0:09:06 > 0:09:11earning from month to month, it is not sex, that is probably a
0:09:11 > 0:09:14reflection of the fact we have more short-term and temporary contracts
0:09:14 > 0:09:18and proportionally there are more poor Bill -- Macklemore people on
0:09:18 > 0:09:25zero hours contracts and the rest of the UK. It is something you have
0:09:25 > 0:09:31been talking online about. Let us go to Louise on Facebook. She said that
0:09:31 > 0:09:34£25,000, the average earnings for someone in Wales would be fantastic
0:09:34 > 0:09:40for her, she is not earning anywhere near that because she is on zero
0:09:40 > 0:09:46hours contract. I want you at home to do me favour. You probably have a
0:09:46 > 0:09:50phone close to you, I want you to use it, get in touch and be part of
0:09:50 > 0:09:55the conversation. We are on Facebook and Twitter, let us know what you
0:09:55 > 0:10:03think. Lots of you have already done that, thank you to that. You are one
0:10:03 > 0:10:07of them on Facebook, she says there is worse to come. Do we think that
0:10:07 > 0:10:12London cares about wages in Wales? We have Natalie on Facebook going
0:10:12 > 0:10:18back to zero hours contracts, they are taking advantage, they should
0:10:18 > 0:10:23offer people job security. Thank you for getting in touch. You should be
0:10:23 > 0:10:27doing it as well. Lots for people to be in the audience getting their
0:10:27 > 0:10:34teeth stuck into.We heard that statistic, 28% of people not knowing
0:10:34 > 0:10:42what they will learn from month to month, what is that like? What is
0:10:42 > 0:10:48like not knowing what your wages might be?It is very insecure. When
0:10:48 > 0:10:57I first left the mining industry, I went to a local employer, I was
0:10:57 > 0:11:03taken on as a temporary employee. It became clear after about ten miles,
0:11:03 > 0:11:10if it did, you're taken on by the company, years service was backdated
0:11:10 > 0:11:13from the time you started as a temporary employee and you fell a
0:11:13 > 0:11:20lot more secure, getting all the company benefits and bonuses.Thank
0:11:20 > 0:11:25you. One thing about this room, people are hearing quite a loud
0:11:25 > 0:11:32noise, we are in a factory. We have also got Debbie here. I note that
0:11:32 > 0:11:38you work for the housing association and you have a unique perspective
0:11:38 > 0:11:42over a lot of different people and their arrangements, their work
0:11:42 > 0:11:47arrangements.That is right. We will have some people who are not working
0:11:47 > 0:11:51well quite a lot of our tenants are in work we make the assumption that
0:11:51 > 0:11:58people are work they would be better off, and sends over the last couple
0:11:58 > 0:12:01of years we have been able to get more data about financial
0:12:01 > 0:12:08circumstances, we note that significant amounts of them are in
0:12:08 > 0:12:15financial distress, 60% of them are actually work.Is it these kind of
0:12:15 > 0:12:20contracts?Yes, absolutely, when we did more digging, for example, we
0:12:20 > 0:12:24looked at one tenant who has been suffering rent arrears and
0:12:24 > 0:12:31difficulty in paying rent and over the last 18 months they have been
0:12:31 > 0:12:34insecure employment, zero hours contracts and it makes it hard for
0:12:34 > 0:12:40people to budget on a month by month basis.The opposite argument to what
0:12:40 > 0:12:44we are hearing is that the gig economy, these different contracts
0:12:44 > 0:12:48were you may not know quite what you're going to turn allows
0:12:48 > 0:12:53flexibility. I want to come over here. Do you have an opinion on the
0:12:53 > 0:12:58giga economy?The vast majority of people in the gig economy say that
0:12:58 > 0:13:04they value the flexibility, in Cardiff there are large sum of
0:13:04 > 0:13:08students and young people that valued the flexibility that it
0:13:08 > 0:13:14gives, they can work certain numbers of hours and we know that in places
0:13:14 > 0:13:21like London, companies like Uber operate, they work to the
0:13:21 > 0:13:26flexibility that there are family lives and social lives demand. They
0:13:26 > 0:13:32can take on side projects. You cannot speak about individual cases,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36but across the board, most people stay on zero hours contracts that
0:13:36 > 0:13:37they value the flexibility.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Obviously these statistics are showing people feel inflexibility.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51I'm going to come over here. Listening to the stories so far, are
0:13:51 > 0:13:55you worried about the state of working Wales?We've known for a
0:13:55 > 0:14:00long time the economy is working pretty well for a small number but
0:14:00 > 0:14:04not for a large number. I think that the consistent -- that is the
0:14:04 > 0:14:09consistent picture over a number of years. The question is, how do you
0:14:09 > 0:14:12change that?You've got a roomful of people in here living in this
0:14:12 > 0:14:16country not feeling like it is working for them. You've been in
0:14:16 > 0:14:20power for 18 years.This is the consequence of the global economy
0:14:20 > 0:14:28that we have and we've seen through the rise of Trump and the vocal
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Brexit, people feel left out and left behind and the economic system
0:14:31 > 0:14:33doesn't work for them. As politicians, we've been desperate to
0:14:33 > 0:14:37find answers, and they are not simple answers. -- the vote for
0:14:37 > 0:14:43Brexit. What we've been trying isn't working. We've been plastering the
0:14:43 > 0:14:47wall hoping something will stick. And it's doing the same thing over
0:14:47 > 0:14:52and again. The Welsh economy has been bumping along the bottom for
0:14:52 > 0:14:58100 years. This is not a recent phenomenon. The peak of Welsh
0:14:58 > 0:15:02employment was in 1910, 1911, and since then the economy has been on a
0:15:02 > 0:15:06downward slope and we've been desperately trying a whole range of
0:15:06 > 0:15:11things for 20 years or more to try to change that. But let's be frank,
0:15:11 > 0:15:16we've been running to stand still. There are successes to point out, of
0:15:16 > 0:15:20course there. This factory we are in today is one of them. And there's a
0:15:20 > 0:15:24whole range of things I could rattle to you to give you a politician's
0:15:24 > 0:15:28odds of things that are working, but I'm more interested in the bigger
0:15:28 > 0:15:32picture, which tells me we are doing the same thing over and over again
0:15:32 > 0:15:36and expecting a different result and it's not working. We need to think
0:15:36 > 0:15:43afresh.This is an admission that Labour has been in power in Wales
0:15:43 > 0:15:48for 18 years and everything needs to change.We have been able to keep
0:15:48 > 0:15:55things stable but we are running to stand still. Let's be brutally
0:15:55 > 0:15:59realistic - the powers we have in Wales, we talk up our ability to
0:15:59 > 0:16:04shape the economy. The powers we have are actually pretty limited.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08The powers the UK Government has to shape the economy are pretty
0:16:08 > 0:16:12limited. This is a global economy. It's a system which is leaving
0:16:12 > 0:16:16behind a bunch of people who, frankly, don't have any other
0:16:16 > 0:16:21option.One of the things I've heard many times, because we've been
0:16:21 > 0:16:25talking to people here and on social media, saying that Wales hasn't come
0:16:25 > 0:16:31up with a big idea, that you've been good at... Like, you've admitted
0:16:31 > 0:16:34chucking money at different project but there's nothing that sets Wales
0:16:34 > 0:16:38apart and says, this is what we are going to be good at in Wales, this
0:16:38 > 0:16:43is what this country will be.I don't think there's a magic bullet
0:16:43 > 0:16:49and I think politicians are seduced by a transformative project. I'm fed
0:16:49 > 0:16:53up with that because it doesn't work. The situation we're in is the
0:16:53 > 0:16:58result of a lot of very complicated global forces, which is very
0:16:58 > 0:17:01difficult to push back against, and I think we need to take a hard look
0:17:01 > 0:17:06about where we are at in Wales and what has worked and hasn't and do
0:17:06 > 0:17:11things differently.Thank you. We also have Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Thank you for coming. Listening to Lee there, what is your reaction?
0:17:15 > 0:17:21Could they have done better?I think it's too easy to surrender
0:17:21 > 0:17:24everything to global forces. That has an impact but we've had devolved
0:17:24 > 0:17:29government in Wales for 18 years now and what has been tried clearly is
0:17:29 > 0:17:35not working for the majority of people. We've got wages in Wales 10%
0:17:35 > 0:17:39behind the UK average and we've got the largest number of people on
0:17:39 > 0:17:47minimum wage jobs, so even though unemployment doesn't look terrible,
0:17:47 > 0:17:52given that those wages are low... It's the quality of work?Yes, and I
0:17:52 > 0:17:58would say we need to try something very different now.What, though?
0:17:58 > 0:18:05We've tried the overheating of the cities, the M4 corridor. But we've
0:18:05 > 0:18:07not really given proper investment to other parts of the country and I
0:18:07 > 0:18:12think we need to start at the grassroots of the community level
0:18:12 > 0:18:17and not try to get everybody to go to work in Cardiff for Newport or
0:18:17 > 0:18:18Swansea. APPLAUSE
0:18:18 > 0:18:23And there has been success in other areas. Edinburgh, Sheffield, there
0:18:23 > 0:18:26were places -- they were places where they previously had a coal
0:18:26 > 0:18:30industry and then they had a regeneration of infrastructure and
0:18:30 > 0:18:33they've done much better economically than we have here, so
0:18:33 > 0:18:37there has been a failure to invest in skills and infrastructure.But
0:18:37 > 0:18:42we've heard that before. We need more skills, better infrastructure -
0:18:42 > 0:18:49what does it mean?It took four and a half hours last week to get to
0:18:49 > 0:18:54Cardiff from Caernarvon. We are a relatively small country
0:18:54 > 0:18:57geographically speaking. We should be able to travel within our country
0:18:57 > 0:19:00much quicker. That investment hasn't happened and that's why I think it's
0:19:00 > 0:19:06time for a new government, but we won't go there!Who would you blame
0:19:06 > 0:19:11for that, that lack of investment? Labour has to take some blame, being
0:19:11 > 0:19:17in power for 18 years, but the Tories in Westminster haven't helped
0:19:17 > 0:19:20because the austerity they've been pursuing has allowed the rich to get
0:19:20 > 0:19:24richer and the poor to get poorer. APPLAUSE
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Thank you for coming, Jane Pratt. Taking a lot of flak in the room
0:19:28 > 0:19:32already tonight expect we just heard austerity mentioned, a lack of
0:19:32 > 0:19:36infrastructure. Do you think that the people who really need help in
0:19:36 > 0:19:43Wales are getting it? Listening to the room?I would like to see
0:19:43 > 0:19:46everybody here, not under contract the gentleman is describing over
0:19:46 > 0:19:50there, but in order to do that you need to have investment and
0:19:50 > 0:19:53enterprise, and perhaps the most significant thing that has happened
0:19:53 > 0:19:57this year has been our Secretary of State getting rid of the bridge
0:19:57 > 0:20:01tolls, which is a fantastic opportunity. And what do the Welsh
0:20:01 > 0:20:06Government go and do, they bring in a tourist tax! So we've heard from a
0:20:06 > 0:20:12lady over there who works in a pub. What you are going to do is create a
0:20:12 > 0:20:16very difficult situation for people in restaurants, pubs and have got
0:20:16 > 0:20:22accommodation. If you're a parent and you are going to take your
0:20:22 > 0:20:26family on holiday and it's cheaper to go to Yorkshire water Sussex
0:20:26 > 0:20:31rather than come to Wales, that's what they are going to do. -- to
0:20:31 > 0:20:36Yorkshire ought to Sussex. You have had your say, perhaps you would like
0:20:36 > 0:20:42to let me have my know. I would also like to say to Leanne, we've
0:20:42 > 0:20:46introduced the living wage, which has taken 300,000 people in the
0:20:46 > 0:20:52United Kingdom out of very low wages.It's not a real living wage,
0:20:52 > 0:20:57though, is it?They are also £1000 better off because of the tax breaks
0:20:57 > 0:21:04people have had, and here in Ebbw Vale, unemployment has gone down by
0:21:04 > 0:21:1020%. We have the lowest unemployment rates in the United Kingdom and the
0:21:10 > 0:21:16greatest investment and an economy that is strong since 1975. So our
0:21:16 > 0:21:19policies are working. But what we need to see is a Welsh Government
0:21:19 > 0:21:26with ambition that is going to grasp the nettle and look outwardly,
0:21:26 > 0:21:31because I've only read just today that exports to countries like
0:21:31 > 0:21:34America and Japan are falling behind. The Welsh Government needs
0:21:34 > 0:21:39to get its act together and needs to get out there with their envoys and
0:21:39 > 0:21:42sell Wales. APPLAUSE
0:21:42 > 0:21:48Can we have some people to the audience?She's entitled to her
0:21:48 > 0:21:56opinion, not to her own fax. -- facts. Welsh exports are up and
0:21:56 > 0:22:00there is no tax on tourism. The Tories have been hammering for years
0:22:00 > 0:22:10what they have called embassies, overseas. Cutting tolls will
0:22:10 > 0:22:14increase traffic by 20%. These are disjointed policies and that was
0:22:14 > 0:22:18just a greatest hits of political cliches! Will need to do better than
0:22:18 > 0:22:27this.Thank you, Lee. Let's go over here.I firstly wanted to talk about
0:22:27 > 0:22:33what was said about zero contract. I study in London, I'm from this area,
0:22:33 > 0:22:37so I've seen both sides of the coin. The thing with zero hours contracts,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39I'm from this area, so I've seen both sides of the coin. The thing
0:22:39 > 0:22:42with zero hours contracts, and more than happy to take on one of those
0:22:42 > 0:22:45if it means the people who are struggling on these contracts can
0:22:45 > 0:22:47have those opportunities to budget, to be able to have that job
0:22:47 > 0:22:50stability, to know what they've got coming in every month, every week,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54so they don't have to make these really difficult choices we are
0:22:54 > 0:22:58seeing people make, but then I also just wanted to add, you know, I
0:22:58 > 0:23:03agree with what Leanne says. We've tried these big ideas. It's got to
0:23:03 > 0:23:08be on a community level. We've got things like co-operatives and
0:23:08 > 0:23:13community cohesion projects that are shown to have worked and I think
0:23:13 > 0:23:17until all three major parties start investing in those, we won't see any
0:23:17 > 0:23:26progress.So take it smaller?Yes, and put the power to the people.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30Co-operatives are all about letting people make their own decisions
0:23:30 > 0:23:34about their working environment, and it should be across the country and
0:23:34 > 0:23:39the world to work and investment in those projects would have a massive
0:23:39 > 0:23:44impact, especially post-Brexit. Thank you. Thank you for being
0:23:44 > 0:23:50patient. This lady.If you go back 20, 30 years ago, when the heavy
0:23:50 > 0:23:55industry we had here, go back 100 years, the people in our area will
0:23:55 > 0:24:00use to their brawn and not their brains. They weren't encouraged to
0:24:00 > 0:24:03actually better themselves. So you had a workforce there that was just
0:24:03 > 0:24:08happy to go out to work. What happened when the coal industry
0:24:08 > 0:24:15disappeared? What of the Welsh office do? What did the Welsh
0:24:15 > 0:24:20Assembly do? Did they give forward thinking of what was going to be the
0:24:20 > 0:24:25next type of employment that could come to these valleys? Such as
0:24:25 > 0:24:29technology? No. There was no forward-thinking by what was the
0:24:29 > 0:24:34Welsh Office and the Welsh Assembly. You had thousands of people between
0:24:34 > 0:24:39the ages of 30 and 60 who were put on a scrapheap.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44APPLAUSE Bigger ideas. Bigger ideas? We are
0:24:44 > 0:24:48hearing a lot of that. Let me come over here. A lot of strong views in
0:24:48 > 0:24:51the room and conflicting views as well. As we always have in these
0:24:51 > 0:24:58debates. Thank you for coming in. An economist at Swansea University.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03David, we want to make sense a bit of what's going on in the room.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Unemployment is down, people don't feel any better than five years ago.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13What's going down?This is not just across Wales, it's across the UK, so
0:25:13 > 0:25:17what we've seen is that earnings haven't kept pace with inflation
0:25:17 > 0:25:21over the last ten years, so we've seen the inflation figures at 3%, a
0:25:21 > 0:25:26lot of workers won't be getting that 3%. Across the UK we've seen zero
0:25:26 > 0:25:38hours contracts go upfront just over 100,000 -- go up from just over 1000
0:25:38 > 0:25:44to 90,000. Some are happy to take those but zero contract workers are
0:25:44 > 0:25:50more likely to be young, female and minorities, and a significant
0:25:50 > 0:25:54proportion want to work full-time. So we have seen a quarter of a
0:25:54 > 0:25:58million new jobs in Wales since the beginning of this century, so that
0:25:58 > 0:26:02is a story. The unemployment only tells part of the story because the
0:26:02 > 0:26:07employment rates in Wales are much lower than in England, so we have
0:26:07 > 0:26:11what we call high levels of economic inactivity, and as the lady over
0:26:11 > 0:26:17there said, we have what economists call discourage workers. Those who
0:26:17 > 0:26:22opted out of the market and are no longer looking for jobs. The
0:26:22 > 0:26:25politicians are partly right and partly wrong. It is not that one
0:26:25 > 0:26:28side has got it right. What we do need is an investment in skills of
0:26:28 > 0:26:34people. Whether we've done that correctly in the past, I'm not sure.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38There's a lot of people saying it has been got wrong. What do you
0:26:38 > 0:26:42think the right plan is?We know you have to start at school level.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45That's not great for politicians because they don't vote! But we have
0:26:45 > 0:26:52to get it right in our schools and it feeds through. We have seen
0:26:52 > 0:26:55funding money from Europe and over a quarter of a million people get
0:26:55 > 0:26:59skills, but the question is, did they get the right skills for the
0:26:59 > 0:27:03labour market? Somebody else said, they are right, there is only so
0:27:03 > 0:27:07much the government can do. They cannot transform the economy but bad
0:27:07 > 0:27:10policy can make a big difference. Thank you very much.
0:27:10 > 0:27:17APPLAUSE OK, so let's turn to some more
0:27:17 > 0:27:23results of our poll. We got some really interesting insight about
0:27:23 > 0:27:29what work is doing to our health. We have indeed. Let's move on and
0:27:29 > 0:27:34look at some of those poor results in detail. We've had some really
0:27:34 > 0:27:39striking ideas here about the human cost of the pressures about the way
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Wales is working at the moment and how jobs make us feel.
0:27:45 > 0:27:51The main want to come out is that 74% of us are worrying about work
0:27:51 > 0:27:54and money and it is affecting our health. That's nearly three quarters
0:27:54 > 0:27:58of us saying our mental health is being affected by worrying about
0:27:58 > 0:28:03money or work. We can break that down by age as well, and we can see
0:28:03 > 0:28:08it is affecting younger people. Younger people more than people in
0:28:08 > 0:28:13the older age bracket. 80% of them say worrying about work or money is
0:28:13 > 0:28:17affecting their mental health. It might be that there is less stigma
0:28:17 > 0:28:20of people in that age category talking about mental health issues,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24it could be that they have unique challenges facing them. Whatever it
0:28:24 > 0:28:28is, it is a significant figure and is really quite striking. If this is
0:28:28 > 0:28:32something that has affected you or somebody you love or care about at
0:28:32 > 0:28:37home, get in touch with us. We are on Facebook and Twitter. It's
0:28:37 > 0:28:41something that can have a big impact on people'slives, as we are about to
0:28:41 > 0:28:42see.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58I am a designer of closing. I feel like I could get more support
0:28:58 > 0:29:02because I am is trying to start my own business, I am trying to make
0:29:02 > 0:29:08something of myself as well as creating jobs for other people. From
0:29:08 > 0:29:12starting off until now, I'm still funding at myself in trying to get
0:29:12 > 0:29:18there. That is how passionate I am. I wish I received a grant, it would
0:29:18 > 0:29:24make my life easier. My husband has worked for the Council as a housing
0:29:24 > 0:29:29benefit officer for three years, I think. He was told he would be made
0:29:29 > 0:29:33redundant. That was awful. The thing, what went wrong because he
0:29:33 > 0:29:40was doing so well. He said it was because of cutbacks. He found
0:29:40 > 0:29:43another job with the council, this time it was security, night work,
0:29:43 > 0:29:50which was held. Again, he was made redundant. I am pregnant and now he
0:29:50 > 0:29:55is redundant and we are panicking, we have our second baby on the way,
0:29:55 > 0:30:01what will we do? There is only so much you can borrow from family. The
0:30:01 > 0:30:14only thing we can do is go onto benefits. I hate having to do that.
0:30:14 > 0:30:21It is not like we are lazy people or that we wanted this. It has caused a
0:30:21 > 0:30:26lot of issues, strain on the relationship on finances and the
0:30:26 > 0:30:31baby is now eight months old and having to do with my own issues like
0:30:31 > 0:30:36postnatal depression, it makes it ten times worse. When you think
0:30:36 > 0:30:47about it,... Yeah. I do not want to cry, really. To just have a small
0:30:47 > 0:30:53house with a garden, not having to worry, of how we will pay this bill
0:30:53 > 0:30:59are what meal we will have tomorrow, that is what makes the -- makes me
0:30:59 > 0:31:02happy, it does not sound very dreamy, but that is what makes me
0:31:02 > 0:31:12happy.She is here tonight. Thank you very much for making that film
0:31:12 > 0:31:18for us, very personal film. Can I ask you first, who do you think is
0:31:18 > 0:31:26responsible for your situation?The system, I think. Obviously, being
0:31:26 > 0:31:35made redundant twice, my husband, not myself, yes.And you talked a
0:31:35 > 0:31:40bit in the film about the impact on your life more broadly, what is like
0:31:40 > 0:31:44finding yourself in that situation, because you did not want to claim
0:31:44 > 0:31:52benefits?We never wanted to claim benefits and that is why we borrowed
0:31:52 > 0:32:00from friends and family first rather than straightaway claim. We were
0:32:00 > 0:32:04made redundant for the second time and I was pregnant with our second
0:32:04 > 0:32:10baby and we had to do that. I think at the time, we thought, we need to
0:32:10 > 0:32:18do what we need to do, just to make the best out of the situation and
0:32:18 > 0:32:24think, we will work ten times harder and trying get another job. We don't
0:32:24 > 0:32:29even want to work for anyone now, we want to be self-employed and that
0:32:29 > 0:32:33has motivated us more to be self-employed rather than work for
0:32:33 > 0:32:37anyone else.He said the impact was more than just your finances, it had
0:32:37 > 0:32:43an impact on your health and mental health.It was such a strain. I
0:32:43 > 0:32:47suffered with postnatal depression the first time and I suffered with
0:32:47 > 0:32:50it the second time and it was much worse and I think a lot of that is
0:32:50 > 0:32:56to do with finances, because of bills on top of bills and thinking
0:32:56 > 0:33:01how are we going to pay for this and that and a second child on the way,
0:33:01 > 0:33:06I think that added to the stress and the mental health and the issue I
0:33:06 > 0:33:16was dealing with. It did not really help the situation.OK, we have got
0:33:16 > 0:33:24Julian En from their mental health charity Mind. That statistic, three
0:33:24 > 0:33:27quarters of people saying that work and worrying about money is
0:33:27 > 0:33:32affecting their mental health, that is staggering.Definitely. Protect
0:33:32 > 0:33:41their the valleys, we are seeing people not being employed, it having
0:33:41 > 0:33:47an impact on their mental health and well-being and Mind recently
0:33:47 > 0:33:50launched and report on thriving at work, looking at how employers can
0:33:50 > 0:33:57support and assist people who are experiencing mental health and
0:33:57 > 0:33:59emotional well-being needs in the workplace and we are calling on
0:33:59 > 0:34:06government to develop a mental health action plan to support people
0:34:06 > 0:34:10at work and changing cultures across the employment sector and having
0:34:10 > 0:34:13conversations about mental health and supporting their later work.
0:34:13 > 0:34:19Thank you. We will come to this gentleman.You have got the access
0:34:19 > 0:34:25to work, it is fantastic, if an employer wants to employ a disabled
0:34:25 > 0:34:32person, they can apply for a grant for that person, but because that is
0:34:32 > 0:34:36being taken away, employers can no longer apply for that, which means
0:34:36 > 0:34:43employers are less likely to employ disabled people. Disabled
0:34:43 > 0:34:47politicians say they are doing more to help the disabled get into work,
0:34:47 > 0:34:52but they are doing all it can to stop them, from my opinion, more
0:34:52 > 0:34:56people are in employment than years ago, that may in the case, but lots
0:34:56 > 0:35:02of people are employment are using food banks. There are lots of
0:35:02 > 0:35:06disabled people using food banks, you can have a whole debate just on
0:35:06 > 0:35:17that topic.Thank you very much. APPLAUSE. Going around the room this
0:35:17 > 0:35:24evening we are hearing a lot of evidence of distress. And I wonder
0:35:24 > 0:35:29if the promise that if you work hard you will do better and your kids
0:35:29 > 0:35:35will do better and your life will be better has been somewhat broken. You
0:35:35 > 0:35:42are from Ukip, how do you feel about that?Personally, I believe that the
0:35:42 > 0:35:46greatest asset any nation has is his people and if you listen to the
0:35:46 > 0:35:50audience here today, what we are learning is that everybody has
0:35:50 > 0:35:55worked and everybody has to feel worth and if we are not in
0:35:55 > 0:35:58meaningful employment then it is affecting mental health, two thirds
0:35:58 > 0:36:04of the population say it is going to affect them, that is a terrible
0:36:04 > 0:36:09statistic. What we need to do, Lee Waters mentioned about the fact
0:36:09 > 0:36:13there is not this one big thing, this one big issue, because they
0:36:13 > 0:36:18have tried and tried to find that as a government, what I want is for the
0:36:18 > 0:36:22government to stop throwing sticking plasters that things but actually to
0:36:22 > 0:36:26grasp and have faith in the Welsh people. What is wrong with having
0:36:26 > 0:36:31ambition?We need to have ambition. Thank you very much.
0:36:31 > 0:36:36APPLAUSE. The Liberal Democrats over here, Alex Meredith, thank you for
0:36:36 > 0:36:41coming. What is your opinion? One of the things I thought was interesting
0:36:41 > 0:36:46that you said Nathan is about having meaningful work, what is meaningful
0:36:46 > 0:36:50work? What kind of jobs to people need to have to make sure they do
0:36:50 > 0:36:55not feel like that?Everyone will have their own definition. It is
0:36:55 > 0:36:58right to say that everyone has their own story and their own journey that
0:36:58 > 0:37:02they want to travel on we have heard some very inspirational stories, but
0:37:02 > 0:37:08a couple of things stand out. In a situation where someone is suffering
0:37:08 > 0:37:10from mental health difficulties, in Wales there are not getting enough
0:37:10 > 0:37:14support, it has been promised but it is not delivered on we need to
0:37:14 > 0:37:19invest more in that support, and I think the postnatal depression in
0:37:19 > 0:37:24particular is an area where we need to do better. We see people with
0:37:24 > 0:37:29inspiring ideas for small businesses and I think these guys are an
0:37:29 > 0:37:34example of this being penalised through the Universal Credit system.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38It is penalising the self-employed and not encouraging them to build
0:37:38 > 0:37:44businesses. We have got a number of policies at government level and
0:37:44 > 0:37:50national level that are penalising the enterprise culture that exists
0:37:50 > 0:37:53and the people can make this a strong economy. There is one person
0:37:53 > 0:37:58who I can think of who is doing their very best to address that and
0:37:58 > 0:38:01that is Kirsty Williams as Education Secretary offering radical solutions
0:38:01 > 0:38:06to the curriculum but also grounds for people to study both as
0:38:06 > 0:38:10undergraduates and as postgraduates and part-time. We are the only
0:38:10 > 0:38:15country in Europe that does that, we have radical solutions that will
0:38:15 > 0:38:18help us build that pro-enterprise economy in Wales.Thank you.
0:38:18 > 0:38:28APPLAUSE. We have heard about the situation in Wales now, but we are
0:38:28 > 0:38:34in a time of quite immense change, so what is next? First let us hear
0:38:34 > 0:38:38from someone who firmly thinks that his industry should be part of the
0:38:38 > 0:38:46future and not just a memory of the past.My name is Andrew O'Connor, I
0:38:46 > 0:38:54work in Tata Steel. I have been there for almost 32 years. When
0:38:54 > 0:39:00people mention Port Talbot they tease about that smoke and
0:39:00 > 0:39:04pollution, it is something we are proud of, it is what we put up with,
0:39:04 > 0:39:09it is part of what we do. It is a proud tradition in our family, my
0:39:09 > 0:39:14parents spent all their working lives in the steelworks, it is in
0:39:14 > 0:39:19recruitment, it tailed off a little bit over the last 15 years, it has
0:39:19 > 0:39:26not been that fathers and sons chain if you like. Working 12 hour shifts
0:39:26 > 0:39:32is tough, it takes its toll on you, but we have got a team working
0:39:32 > 0:39:35environment where we all work together to produce this deal at the
0:39:35 > 0:39:41end of the day. If we do not work with each other and watched the
0:39:41 > 0:39:43safety, the worst-case scenario, you would not be going home at the end
0:39:43 > 0:39:49of a shift. Recently the workforce were faced with a difficult choice,
0:39:49 > 0:39:54there was a ballot held whether to accept the changes in our pensions
0:39:54 > 0:39:59or run the risk of possible plant closures so with a heavy heart, the
0:39:59 > 0:40:05workforce voted strongly in favour of the changes. It was a very
0:40:05 > 0:40:11emotive time for everyone. But the effect on the town and the area
0:40:11 > 0:40:17would be massive if anything did happen to the planned. If I was
0:40:17 > 0:40:21allowed to ask a question in Westminister, what other plans for
0:40:21 > 0:40:25the steel industry, they say they have an industry of strategy but we
0:40:25 > 0:40:29would like more meat on the bone and see whether there would be
0:40:29 > 0:40:33investment in Port Talbot, all it needs his faith and commitment and
0:40:33 > 0:40:42we could secure this industry for future generations.Andrew's story
0:40:42 > 0:40:46there, looking back at what has been happening in Port Talbot and looking
0:40:46 > 0:40:50forward to our poll which has been asking questions about the future.
0:40:50 > 0:40:55Let us get into the results. We start with Brexit, would you be
0:40:55 > 0:41:00better or worse off? Considering Wales voted for Brexit last summer,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04what we are seeing here is that 32% of us think we will be worse off as
0:41:04 > 0:41:11a result of Brexit, 54% think we will be the same and only 14% think
0:41:11 > 0:41:16we will be better off. That could be because people think that they did
0:41:16 > 0:41:20not vote for Brexit for economic reasons or they think that they will
0:41:20 > 0:41:24take the short-term hit for long-term gain. Nathan Gill has
0:41:24 > 0:41:32mentioned this, we asked about what people, whether they were worried
0:41:32 > 0:41:35about whether automation could take their jobs in ten years' time and as
0:41:35 > 0:41:41we can see, 28% of us think that we are worried about the fact that
0:41:41 > 0:41:45robots could be taking our jobs in the future. We will break that down
0:41:45 > 0:41:52by age group, 16-34 -year-olds are more likely to be worried that their
0:41:52 > 0:41:57jobs might be automated or taken by robots in the future, will be think
0:41:57 > 0:42:00about it, given that they have longer to go on the jobs market,
0:42:00 > 0:42:04they are further away from retirement, that makes sense. The
0:42:04 > 0:42:09future is something that you have been talking about on social media.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Michael has been optimistic, he has been in touch, he thinks Wales is
0:42:12 > 0:42:19the best place to working, swings and roundabouts and ups and downs.
0:42:19 > 0:42:25He optimistic about the future. 71% of people agreed with Michael that
0:42:25 > 0:42:31there was optimism about future. Not everyone agrees. Laura got in touch
0:42:31 > 0:42:36with us and she said there is a talent drain in Wales and it is a
0:42:36 > 0:42:41disgrace, people will go to Bristol and London to achieve their
0:42:41 > 0:42:46ambitions and Charlotte agrees. She said, I left, it is that simple,
0:42:46 > 0:42:51there is a whole world outside South Wales. Laura and Charlotte
0:42:51 > 0:42:56suggesting you have to leave and get out of Wales if you want a brighter
0:42:56 > 0:43:02future. Pretty controversial. Do you agree with them? Get in touch with
0:43:02 > 0:43:07us on Facebook and Twitter.Thank you. I will go straight to someone
0:43:07 > 0:43:15who I know has left Wales to further themselves. You work in London, do
0:43:15 > 0:43:18you agree with those people saying you have to get out?
0:43:23 > 0:43:28You don't have to get out. I chose to get out because the industry I
0:43:28 > 0:43:29wanted, those jobs are in London.
0:43:34 > 0:43:40Hundred and 50 years ago, people moved out because there were
0:43:40 > 0:43:44industry is being built. The industries of the future will be in
0:43:44 > 0:43:49automation and you've got to seize those opportunities. The way the
0:43:49 > 0:43:53government can help isn't in central planning, which we know fails, and
0:43:53 > 0:44:01it fails everywhere it is tried, but it is in getting out of the way,
0:44:01 > 0:44:05bringing tax rates down so entrepreneurs can take risks, making
0:44:05 > 0:44:10sure there are networks being built. Cardiff University has one of the
0:44:10 > 0:44:14greatest research centres in the West. Swansea does as well. But it
0:44:14 > 0:44:18doesn't necessarily translate into private businesses. You need those
0:44:18 > 0:44:21private businesses to grow the new economies that Wales will be reliant
0:44:21 > 0:44:26on in the future.Thank you. We've also got Matthew. Thank you for
0:44:26 > 0:44:37coming. You are a massive employer in Wales. Tell us what you do.Go
0:44:37 > 0:44:44Compare is based in Wales. Entirely in Wales.How can the government
0:44:44 > 0:44:51future proof Wales?We need to bring talent into the region but it needs
0:44:51 > 0:44:56to be a 3-way piece of teamwork between private enterprise, us,
0:44:56 > 0:45:02investment by the government and then into skills and talent coming
0:45:02 > 0:45:05through schools, primarily. And thirdly, the relationship with
0:45:05 > 0:45:10universities and academia needs to be strong. We see around the world,
0:45:10 > 0:45:14everything from the west Coast in the US to Germany, that teamwork
0:45:14 > 0:45:17works well and you create an environment in which business can
0:45:17 > 0:45:20flourish, because you are taking great people and developing them
0:45:20 > 0:45:24further. Then you are able to work with academia to create great ideas.
0:45:24 > 0:45:30But you need academia to be flexible and then you need business to invest
0:45:30 > 0:45:34in people. I can relate to a lot of the comments here this evening
0:45:34 > 0:45:38because you can't just tell people who work for you, don't worry, it'll
0:45:38 > 0:45:42be fine. You need to invest in them. For example, we have things like men
0:45:42 > 0:45:50touring schemes, inclusion and diversion -- diversity initiatives,
0:45:50 > 0:45:54to help them develop. -- we have development schemes. They then feel
0:45:54 > 0:45:59better about themselves and feel stronger as a result, developing
0:45:59 > 0:46:02their talent, but we do need that talent in software engineering and
0:46:02 > 0:46:08data sides of our country.Listening to the other results we've had,
0:46:08 > 0:46:12people feeling quite lukewarm about the economic impact of Brexit. How
0:46:12 > 0:46:17do you feel about that?Just trying to ignore it! Because what we need
0:46:17 > 0:46:22to do is, we have a couple of hundred people employed here and we
0:46:22 > 0:46:25are very focused on making sure that business is competitive for today
0:46:25 > 0:46:30and tomorrow. We do not let things like that impact our long-term
0:46:30 > 0:46:34investment in the business and in the people because I think the
0:46:34 > 0:46:38business we have has a great future and needs to keep investing now, so
0:46:38 > 0:46:43I try not to let it way on our minds, because I think hopefully we
0:46:43 > 0:46:47will keep on helping people save money anyway. That's what we do.I'm
0:46:47 > 0:46:51sure there are some people who are very excited about Brexit in the
0:46:51 > 0:47:01room. You were a Remainer, Jane Pratt. How are you feeling now?
0:47:01 > 0:47:04Excited?Our Prime Minister has to get on with it and deliver for the
0:47:04 > 0:47:10people of the United Kingdom, and certainly people here, the people
0:47:10 > 0:47:16voted for Brexit. I think we've got to make the most of the
0:47:16 > 0:47:19opportunities it brings us, especially here in Wales, and I
0:47:19 > 0:47:23think we will be able to make the most of those opportunities as the
0:47:23 > 0:47:30United Kingdom. But I agree with Nathan. We have got to really look
0:47:30 > 0:47:34at... I mean, I'm the great granddaughter of one of the stinkers
0:47:34 > 0:47:41of the Cambrian colliery in the Rhondda, but that was the last
0:47:41 > 0:47:48Industrial Revolution. -- one of the sinkers. We now have to prepare for
0:47:48 > 0:47:58the next revolution. It is fantastic that all the Apple phones of the
0:47:58 > 0:48:01future will have a semiconductor that's been made in Newport, and
0:48:01 > 0:48:07there's been investment in that. But we need the talent, we need the
0:48:07 > 0:48:10young people in our technical colleges and in our universities who
0:48:10 > 0:48:17are going to be able to get those good jobs, which are going to be
0:48:17 > 0:48:21jobs that £40,000 plus, and they will take people from the age of 16,
0:48:21 > 0:48:25so I think there are some fantastic opportunities and we've got to make
0:48:25 > 0:48:32the most of them.Thank you. Nathan, are you worried about the statistics
0:48:32 > 0:48:34saying people aren't very excited about Brexit for their jobs and
0:48:34 > 0:48:42futures? From the study?I think it's likely negative from that. More
0:48:42 > 0:48:47people are positive or agree it's not going to have a negative impact,
0:48:47 > 0:48:53which is a good thing...54% of people think it'll be the same, only
0:48:53 > 0:48:5914% that they will be better off. The proof of the pudding is always
0:48:59 > 0:49:04in the eating, and once we leave and discover we can forge those links
0:49:04 > 0:49:07with countries all over the world that we've been denied from doing...
0:49:07 > 0:49:13I mean, we're never going to be able...You think that will be for
0:49:13 > 0:49:18Wales?We will never compete on agriculture but Wales land is the
0:49:18 > 0:49:23best in the world and we can compete on those markets. I think the
0:49:23 > 0:49:27problem is a lack of vision.You feel embarrassed when you hear those
0:49:27 > 0:49:32sorts of comparisons with Scotland? Scotland is a different country, and
0:49:32 > 0:49:37if you remember when devolution began, Scotland started with a raft
0:49:37 > 0:49:42of extra powers that we never had, so the criminal justice system, for
0:49:42 > 0:49:46example, is devolved in Scotland. They have much stronger power base.
0:49:46 > 0:49:51So they have more tools, basically, to try to affect things. But if I
0:49:51 > 0:49:59can come back to this point about Brexit. The most liberal biggest
0:49:59 > 0:50:02question people are facing is uncertainty, whether it is
0:50:02 > 0:50:07agriculture or other fields. Will encourage to hear the employer there
0:50:07 > 0:50:13saying he won't allow it to detract from his investment decisions. -- I
0:50:13 > 0:50:19am very encouraged to hear the employer saying. But many are saying
0:50:19 > 0:50:23they won't invest in the way they should be, so we need some kind of
0:50:23 > 0:50:27certainty that the Brexit the government pursues is going to be
0:50:27 > 0:50:30good for Wales, because the one I've seen so far doesn't give me much
0:50:30 > 0:50:34confidence in that regard.You've had your hand up for quite some
0:50:34 > 0:50:42time. What did you want to add?The Conservative Party has cut tax,
0:50:42 > 0:50:46increased the personal allowance, but Wales has had an uninterrupted
0:50:46 > 0:50:51Labour Party government. How can we capitalise on the great
0:50:51 > 0:50:56opportunities provided by Brexit to bring in high wage, high school
0:50:56 > 0:51:01jobs? I find it almost insulting that the representative of the
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Liberal Democrats would point at somebody like Kirsty Williams as an
0:51:03 > 0:51:10ideal Education Secretary, because exam grades are down, we're not
0:51:10 > 0:51:13getting anywhere in terms of our skills gaps, and we need to copy
0:51:13 > 0:51:16some of the policy from the Conservative Party and change the
0:51:16 > 0:51:21fact that not all students are the same. So let's not pursue a single
0:51:21 > 0:51:24stream comprehensive education system.
0:51:24 > 0:51:30APPLAUSE Lee Waters, a lot of people talking
0:51:30 > 0:51:33about this skills gap from all different levels of the audience.
0:51:33 > 0:51:39How do you feel about what he was saying?I think the one thing
0:51:39 > 0:51:46devolution has done is to do things differently. -- is allowed us to do
0:51:46 > 0:51:49things differently. Many schools in massive debt have been taken over
0:51:49 > 0:51:55and handed back to the government. I'm not interested in point-scoring.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59There are strengths in our education system and weaknesses. I go around
0:51:59 > 0:52:03schools all the time. There are world-class schools in Wales and
0:52:03 > 0:52:06mediocrity as well, and we need to drill down and make sure we get good
0:52:06 > 0:52:11quality leadership and that we invest, and the trouble we have is
0:52:11 > 0:52:15that after seven years of austerity from Westminster, the pressure on
0:52:15 > 0:52:20council budgets in particular is intense. And the ability to invest
0:52:20 > 0:52:24in education is being squeezed.Do you think people get fed up of the
0:52:24 > 0:52:30buck being passed by the government in Wales?I get fed up of that on
0:52:30 > 0:52:35all sides!It's quite easy for Westminster to say, that's because
0:52:35 > 0:52:41of the Welsh Government, and you can say, that's because of the
0:52:41 > 0:52:45government in Westminster.That's the nature of politics! I'm trying
0:52:45 > 0:52:51not to get drawn into that.We need to be clearer about the lack of
0:52:51 > 0:53:04skills. Some people on clearer about the role of devolution.Yes, we need
0:53:04 > 0:53:12to show a real commitment to skills. With the finite resources we have,
0:53:12 > 0:53:20we should be putting our focus and change coming is rapid. Overall
0:53:20 > 0:53:23there will be benefits but lots of people will be displaced and put out
0:53:23 > 0:53:28of work. 28% of people are worried about automation and more should be
0:53:28 > 0:53:32worried because the data shows that a third of all jobs in Wales are
0:53:32 > 0:53:38vulnerable to automation. It is not a new thing...How are you going to
0:53:38 > 0:53:42protect people?We can't really protect people.But you have to
0:53:42 > 0:53:48think long term about the future of the country.We need to get all over
0:53:48 > 0:53:53it. We have put an awful lot of money into infrastructure which
0:53:53 > 0:53:58doesn't address the problems of the future. The problem of the future
0:53:58 > 0:54:02isn't long car journeys, it is automation. It is the fourth
0:54:02 > 0:54:04Industrial Revolution coming and displacing huge amounts of work that
0:54:04 > 0:54:09we've come to take for granted, and in particular, women are vulnerable
0:54:09 > 0:54:15to this. So for everyone new job created, three jobs will be lost.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18But for everyone new job created, five female jobs are going to be
0:54:18 > 0:54:24lost.Aren't going to have to stop you there because we have another
0:54:24 > 0:54:28politician in the room. -- I am going to have to stop you. Do you
0:54:28 > 0:54:34have some better ideas in the Green Party?I think what we struggle to
0:54:34 > 0:54:38do in Wales is recognise that most of our industry is going back to
0:54:38 > 0:54:43coal-mining, a lot of the wealth is leaving. I'm working, many people
0:54:43 > 0:54:49are working like ants, and is not local -- it is not local people
0:54:49 > 0:54:54getting the money, it is people offshore. The fourth Industrial
0:54:54 > 0:54:56Revolution, that will be nano-technology and renewable
0:54:56 > 0:55:02energy. Rather than spread ourselves so thinly, we should look at the
0:55:02 > 0:55:05tidal lagoons in Swansea, have all that revenue in Wales, staying in
0:55:05 > 0:55:10Wales. But one of the fundamental things I'm noticing as well from the
0:55:10 > 0:55:14stories is we have an economy that works against people rather than for
0:55:14 > 0:55:19them, so shouldn't we start thinking about how we become much more...?
0:55:19 > 0:55:26Like, civic pride. How'd we work for other? How do make sure people who
0:55:26 > 0:55:34end up caring for their mothers or parents aren't penalised? -- how do
0:55:34 > 0:55:40we work for each other? And then a universal income. Everybody gets
0:55:40 > 0:55:45paid a standard salary every week. If we can stop these tax loopholes
0:55:45 > 0:55:49and implement some really progressive taxes so that if you
0:55:49 > 0:55:53have a £10 million house or a £3 million house, you pay significantly
0:55:53 > 0:55:58more tax. It is possible to do. By doing that, we can potentially work
0:55:58 > 0:56:02less. Maybe that can help with our mental health crisis. We need to
0:56:02 > 0:56:07start coming up with some big, big solutions. Otherwise we will
0:56:07 > 0:56:08continue to struggle. APPLAUSE
0:56:08 > 0:56:14Thank you. We are coming close to the end of the show and I want to
0:56:14 > 0:56:20hear from some use in the room. No offence to anyone else. -- from some
0:56:20 > 0:56:23young people. Because you are the future. What do you want politicians
0:56:23 > 0:56:30to do to secure your future?It was really interesting hearing people
0:56:30 > 0:56:33saying about investing in young people. In a way, we're talking
0:56:33 > 0:56:36about quality of jobs. I think there's something about allocation
0:56:36 > 0:56:41of jobs as well, because I've chosen to go to university and leave the
0:56:41 > 0:56:45area, but there are people in my year at school, I went to a local
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Welsh school, who have so many amazing skills but they are being
0:56:48 > 0:56:53pushed to go to university. That's not the best option for them. So we
0:56:53 > 0:56:56really need to... And I'm seeing a lot of this being discussed at the
0:56:56 > 0:57:00moment. We need to invest in apprenticeship programmes,
0:57:00 > 0:57:04internships, different kinds of things. And we also have a situation
0:57:04 > 0:57:09in the UK and Wales where we have refugees and asylum seekers coming
0:57:09 > 0:57:12in and we are putting someone who is an expert in agriculture in Cardiff
0:57:12 > 0:57:19and somebody who works in the food industry in Abergavenny. These
0:57:19 > 0:57:24allocations don't make sense and we need some real strategic work, not
0:57:24 > 0:57:29just around young people but around everyone as to how we can make sense
0:57:29 > 0:57:35of it some more.Thank you. OK, another comment.I just wanted to
0:57:35 > 0:57:38follow up because I currently work for the Cardiff volunteer centre,
0:57:38 > 0:57:47which is the biggest centre, and we get an influx of many young people
0:57:47 > 0:57:50and the skills gap has not been taken care of. That's the issue I
0:57:50 > 0:57:55have with politicians in general, because it seems the solutions are
0:57:55 > 0:58:02not being pursued based on feedback from the population. They are not
0:58:02 > 0:58:06listening. So what happens is, for people, they are looking for a way
0:58:06 > 0:58:10to a means. They need to have a good job, money on the table to feed
0:58:10 > 0:58:18their family. The other way round for politicians it -- is it as a
0:58:18 > 0:58:22means to weigh, to make the statistics look good. Look at
0:58:22 > 0:58:26Silicon Valley. 75% of workers there have been from diverse backgrounds
0:58:26 > 0:58:31and the of money that has come. So there are resources in the country
0:58:31 > 0:58:39but it is not being used at optimum level.Thank you. We really do hope
0:58:39 > 0:58:43that the politicians here in the room tonight are listening. Thank
0:58:43 > 0:58:48you so much to everyone here for having us. To everybody that has
0:58:48 > 0:58:52contributed this evening as well. The very first of our debates. This
0:58:52 > 0:58:55programme is about putting people back at the centre of politics. I
0:58:55 > 0:58:59hope we've started to do that. There's so much more to say, so
0:58:59 > 0:59:06carry on the conversations on social media.Yes. On Facebook and Twitter,
0:59:06 > 0:59:13#BBCTheHour. And remember that this debate show is on the road as well.
0:59:13 > 0:59:16Yes, so keep a lookout because we might be coming to somewhere near
0:59:16 > 0:59:22you very soon. Good night.