, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Diolch, Sioned. We are shaping healthier urban environments through our Transforming Towns programme. Green infrastructure is encouraged in placemaking support proposals, improving biodiversity, quality of life, whilst helping tackle climate change. We…
, Plenary
The Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023
I just move the regulations and hope Members will support them.
, Plenary
The Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Members will have witnessed the emerging and alarming situation in Khartoum and across Sudan and the subsequent evacuation by the United Kingdom's armed forces of more than 2,000 British nationals and others caught up in the violence…
, Plenary
Motion to suspend Standing Orders
I formally move the motion.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Absolutely, and all of the usual stuff that we shouldn't let the excellent get in the way of the good, and all that kind of stuff. So, I agree with that. We've just had a brief conversation with the Chair at the intermission, or whatever it is we call the…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
—and quite a lot of people think that's awful. [Laughter.] So, it's very subjective, you know? It's very subjective. So, trying to get that—. I don't like it all the time, you know, it's just—[Laughter.] But sometimes I like it. And that's also the point…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Well, you know, there's—. So, the point is that it's subjective, isn't it? I don't know if the committee knows this, but I have appalling taste in music, so I like something called death metal—
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
I completely agree with all of that and, as I said before, much of this is subjective and you experience it subjectively. Also, ambient noise is an interesting issue here. I live in a very quiet village—even though I represent the centre of Swansea, I live…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
I think it absolutely is. There's no doubt at all that mental health is very beneficially affected by access to nature, natural sounds and so on. We know that just access to small green spaces or tiny forests, or anything else, makes a real difference to…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
It's a first step on a journey. Again, I don't want to leave anyone in Wales under the illusion that, as soon as this Bill gets Royal Assent, we'll be able to do something about very noisy air conditioning fans opposite. But over the course of the five-year…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Yes, it is. We're going to be going out to consultation, so we're imagining we'll get quite a lot of responses about that, but there's an enormous emerging body of evidence about the benefits to mental health of natural sounds—birdsong and so on. So, what…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Yes, absolutely, Delyth. We're going to have a noise and soundscape plan, and we'll consult on that as part of the strategy. We'll be doing that before the summer recess. That will have the international standard definition inside it. We haven't deliberately…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
If you're stationary, and your engine is on, you're idling.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
If you stop, and your engine is running, you're idling.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Both of those.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
We're leaving it to the local authority who they authorise to be able to institute the penalty. So, there will be a provision to allow the local authority to give the power to any one of its employees—it doesn't have to be the traffic enforcement officer; it…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
There are two things here. First of all, the current penalties are too low, in our view, and aren't necessarily acting as a disincentive for this. But also, there's a big education piece here as well, and it's about the how the enforcement might take place…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Yes, 'definitely' is the answer to that. And, further to that, in doing the regional planning and regional transport plans that the CJCs now have to do, we expect them to take into account our plans and their own plans for this kind of regional infrastructure…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
'Definitely' is the answer to that. We'd never do anything like this without having consulted the relevant local authorities. All the trunk roads go through a local authority area—
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
As I understand it, local authorities already have—. We're doing it for trunk roads because the Welsh Government doesn't have the power at the moment, and we're the trunk road agency. Local authorities do have the power to put road charging schemes in place…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Very much so. As I say, you'd have to do an extensive public consultation process for any charging scheme to be put in place. You'd have to do a full socioeconomic impact and environmental impact of that. You'd have to put a business case together for it…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Well, they can be an effective mechanism. What we're actually trying to do, as I'm sure Members have noticed, is that all over Wales, there are a number of measures across a number of roads, around variable speed controls, and so on, that are designed to…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
So, I'm sure the committee can do its own research in this, but I think specific consultation requirements are sometimes included in primary legislation where there are very specific groups that the primary legislation in question wishes to ensure are…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
Sure. For example, an active travel scheme is a very good example of this. So, if you were to put an active travel scheme in place, and the rationale for the active travel scheme had a range of things in it, one of which was air quality, one of which was…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill - evidence from the Minister for Climate Change: part 2
So, we expect any revenues from a road charging scheme to be used, in the broadest sense, to improve air quality. The difficulty with hypothecation is that it tends to be very narrow, and there's every possibility that there would be something that we wanted…
