, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you for that question. Llywydd, the Welsh Government's policy is to secure access to the wider primary care team as part of a modern range of ways in which patients can secure the right help in the right way.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, let me just make one point before addressing the Crown Estate issue. I have never made the argument that Wales could not be independent because we couldn't afford it. I think, if people in Wales want to be independent, then that's the decision…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I'm certainly not surprised to find that there's no commitment to a reform of Barnett in the current King's Speech, and, of course, the leader of Plaid Cymru is right—Joel Barnett himself disowned the Barnett formula many, many times, many years after…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
The King's Speech is the thinnest of documents. I myself believe it's a clearing-of-the-decks-in-advance-of-an-election document. And Wales wasn't mentioned once in that speech. I mention that particularly, because Northern Rail was mentioned in it, and yet…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth, and I agree, of course. The legislative programme was put before House of Commons and House of Lords today. There is nothing in that programme that is going to make things in the lives of people here in Wales better, and it…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I think the fairer way of putting it is that deletion may have taken place. I know, in my case, I've never had any deletion arrangements on the phone, because I would have no idea how to make it happen. [Laughter.] I don't use WhatsApp either.FootnoteLink…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Let me make three points if I could, Llywydd. First of all, the Welsh Government did not rely on informal means of communication in order to make decisions during the COVID period. I cannot think of a stronger contrast between the way in which business was…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, we're not in receipt of such an order at this point, but that is because module 2A, which is the module that will focus on the Scottish experience, comes before module 2B—the Welsh experience—which will be examined by the inquiry, we believe, in…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Can I begin by thanking Jane Dodds for recognising the extraordinary efforts that NRW staff make, not just in the most recent storms, but whenever communities are at risk. These are the individuals that you see out there on the ground clearing stuff, making…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I thank Russell George for that, and I know that he's got a long-standing interest in the management of the Clywedog and the Vyrnwy reservoirs. I know that he raised exactly some of the points he has raised today back during the flooding in 2020. So…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Russell George, Llywydd, for that. We have provided over £75 million for flood risk management activity across Wales in this financial year, with £5.25 million in revenue and £12 million in capital funding available to all lead local flood…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I certainly agree with Delyth Jewell, Llywydd, that the history of Wales is one of the exploitation of our natural resources, where not only coal was extracted but wealth was extracted and taken far beyond the shores of Wales, leaving the communities…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, that legislation will come in front of the Senedd next year. It will go broader than coal tip safety because it will look at the many other forms of disused tips that, unfortunately, are characteristic of Wales's participation in the industrial…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I thank Hefin David for those further points. He's right, of course, that Caerphilly has a particular concentration of disused coal tips. We have 40 per cent of all the disused coal tips in the United Kingdom here in Wales—over 2,500 of…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I thank Hefin David for the question. We are implementing an inspection and maintenance programme and modernising the legislative framework. That's the basis of our programme for securing coal tip safety in Caerphilly and across Wales.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I welcome some of the proposals put forward by the latest Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, and we will certainly be engaged with them to see how those proposals would have an impact here in Wales. In Wales, we're in a position to…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, prisons in Wales are primarily the responsibility of the UK Government. There are currently acute population pressures in the prison estate. It is the view of His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service that prisons in Wales are operating effectively…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank the Member for that question, and I do indeed share in his congratulations to all those who were winners at the Powys business awards. Powys is full of fantastic businesses and people who invest enormously their own time and their own resources in…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, steps taken to grow the economy of mid Wales have contributed to a 41 per cent growth in average weekly earnings for adults in full-time work in the area, at a time when wages growth across the UK has stood at only 28 per cent.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, the continuous work on the Heads of the Valleys road has been sustained for 15 years. What a contrast between our determination to see through that project over successive Senedd terms compared to the utter fiasco of decision making where the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, completion of the A465, the Heads of the Valleys road, will support businesses across Blaenau Gwent. In the meantime, as the Member noted on the floor of the Senedd last week, 12 different Blaenau Gwent companies have benefited from the Welsh…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, the renewable energy of the future, including hydrogen and other forms of renewable energy, will require a capacity to store the energy that is produced in that way, so that its use can be then smoothed across the many demands that happen over…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I thank Ken Skates for that further question, and indeed I am aware of the possible application for that factory facility, and of concerns that are expressed in the Member's own constituency. The first safeguard has to be early engagement with…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, proposals for stand-alone battery storage schemes are determined by the local planning authority. Proposals associated with large renewable energy schemes can be determined through the development of national significance process, and that, then…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I don't agree with the Member that it is a failing scheme. It's had over 500 applications, and I don't the scheme application time is—. If it was a failing scheme, why are 500, as a minimum, farmers applying for it? That doesn't seem to me to be a very…
