, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Winter fuel payment
Laura Anne Jones rightly said how disappointing it is to see so many empty Labour benches on this key issue. And as she said, the only black hole we've seen recently is the black hole in Keir Starmer's wardrobe. She pointed out that 1.6 million disabled…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Winter fuel payment
Keynesian economics is a two-sided coin, and, when the economy slows down, you increase spending to stimulate demand and the economy. The reverse of that is that, when an economy is growing, you're supposed to reduce the spending so that, when there's a rainy…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Winter fuel payment
Yes.
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Winter fuel payment
Diolch, Llywydd. Thanks. I'll start by thanking Joel James for opening this essential and key debate by referring to this short-sighted and callous decision, which has blindsided millions of pensioners, causing fear about their ability to pay fuel bills this…
, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Could I call for a single statement, please, on support for the north Wales economy? The leader of Wrexham council has said it would be truly disappointing if the £20 million town fund allocated to Wrexham is scrapped by the Labour UK Government, which was…
, Plenary
Nomination of the First Minister under Standing Order 8
Andrew Davies.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Motion under Standing Order 17.42 to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting
I note that all Members are content. I'd be grateful if we could be taken into private session.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Motion under Standing Order 17.42 to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting
That brings us, therefore, nicely ahead of schedule, to the next item on our agenda. But before we move to that, I propose, in accordance with Standing Order 17.42(ix), that the committee resolves to meet in private for the remainder of today's meeting. Are…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
Okay. In that case, we shall note that letter.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
Members, do you have any comments at this stage?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
Okay, thank you. If there are no further comments—I can't see any other indications—we'll move on to our fourth paper to note, another letter from the Auditor General for Wales. He has written to us providing a brief factual update based on evidence that…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
Content to note. Yes. Okay, we shall—
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
And Members, do you have any comments, or are you otherwise content to note the response?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
Okay, then, we’ll move on to our third paper to note. The chief executive of Digital Health and Care Wales has written to us to provide an updated response to our recommendation for a realistic plan for increasing its engagement with the social care sector…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
We will.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
Thank you. Members, do you have any comments?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
Content to note. Right, I’ll take that as collective contentment and move on. So, our second paper to note is a letter from the gentleman to my left, the Auditor General for Wales, to the Chair of the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Papers to note
In which case, we have a number of papers to note. The first of which is a letter from the Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd, written to us with further updates in response to our report on the scrutiny of accounts for 2022-23. This provides an update…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
Introduction, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Bore da, croeso. Good morning and welcome to this morning’s meeting of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee in the Senedd. The meeting is bilingual. Headsets are provided for simultaneous translation on channel 1 and sound amplification on…
, Plenary
Finance Committee Debate: Welsh Government's spending priorities for the 2025-26 budget
The Finance Committee report highlights, as we've heard, the lack of affordable housing and notes that housing and homelessness were mentioned this year more frequently than in all previous years. In 1999, when Labour first came to power here, there was no…
, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
I call for a Welsh Government statement on the social value provided by the further education sector. April's report for CollegesWales, 'Demonstrating the Social Value of Further Education Colleges in Wales', states that, although 12.3 per cent of learners at…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I am in the middle of the question—I asked what cost-benefit analysis has been undertaken—about penalising homeowners because not enough affordable homes have been built.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
The Finance Committee now has found that, for young people, particularly in rural areas, to be able to live and work in their communities, greater priority needs to be given to creating sustainable jobs and building affordable housing. Little has changed…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Topical Scrutiny
Could I just comment? There will be a real concern, and you've dismissed the real concern expressed as 'scaremongering', so what discussions have you had or will you have with the companies potentially affected, and, more broadly, what action will you take to…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Topical Scrutiny
Thank you; you almost caught me unawares there. As you’ll be no doubt be aware of the science in this context, with the UK Government proposing a substantial increase in energy from wind, we currently lack any economic means to store surplus electricity on…
