David Rees: Thank you for the answers, Cabinet Secretary, and I also endorse the issues and the need to change regulations. But let’s look beyond the issue of the stockpile at Heol y Cyw, because there are many biomass plants that operate similar stockpiles—I’ve got two in my constituency, and a third one is proposed, one of the biggest in Wales. We want to also ensure that the planning regulations...
David Rees: 12. Will the Minister identify the Welsh Government’s priorities in the Fifth Assembly for supporting the voluntary sector across Wales? OAQ(5)0051(CC)
David Rees: Diolch, Lywydd. I will be brief. Minister, you’ve identified broadband in the industrial areas by Airband contract. Can you confirm that there are no more industrial areas that will be requiring additional contracts, which is critical? Can you also tell us what market will be in those industrial areas once they have been connected up, so that we can get the message out to people as soon as...
David Rees: Cabinet Secretary, infrastructure projects in South Wales Central, and across Wales, are a unique opportunity to actually use local industries and local businesses, particularly local steel infrastructure projects. Will you ensure that procurement contracts that you put in place for these developments actually try to focus on using British steel, and particularly Welsh steel?
David Rees: Diolch, Lywydd. Last week, we held the first meeting of the cross-party group on steel, and I very much appreciate the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure attending that and providing an update. During recent months, steelworkers have been working hard to increase production levels and hit their targets. To the public, it appears that the issues around steel have dissipated; they...
David Rees: First Minister, the city deal is exciting and innovative. It’s actually focused on ICT and the next generation. Of course, the region has been built upon the traditional industries and manufacturing. What are you doing to ensure that that part remains a focus on city deals so that the manufacturing that’s existing, and advanced manufacturing, particularly research areas, will be supported...
David Rees: I thank the Member for taking the intervention. I totally agree with you. We need to look at the placements because the placements are going to be crucial in developing that practical expertise, but we also need to look at, therefore, the staffing available to mentor the students in those placements. So, there is a wide-ranging issue that needs to be addressed here.
David Rees: I start my contribution by thanking Plaid Cymru for tabling today’s debate on the retention of the nursing bursary in Wales. We’ve already heard how in England the UK Government decided to no longer provide bursaries for nursing, midwifery and allied health professions’ students. They are bursaries that pay for tuition fees as well—it’s not just living grants that they include. The...
David Rees: Can I also congratulate the Chair and the committee on looking at innovative ways of engaging with the public and the committee? You mentioned media, and it’s been discussed quite a lot, but we tend to focus on the BBC and S4C an awful lot in the media, and in your statement you didn’t mention the hyperlocal media and the loss of the ‘Port Talbot MagNet’. You and I have both supported...
David Rees: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement this afternoon? I very much appreciate the effort that’s gone into this. In the fourth Assembly, the Health and Social Care Committee looked at the cancer delivery plan, and one of the recommendations was that we needed a review of the IPFR process, with a view that, perhaps, we would have a single panel to look at...
David Rees: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for the statement and can I join others in thanking Sir Ian and his panel for the work they did? Can I also thank her predecessor, Huw Lewis, who actually was one of the leading instigators of this? We’ve got to recognise the work he put into that as well. Cabinet Secretary, you’ve answered many questions today, so I’ll try and keep mine as short as...
David Rees: Before I start, can I declare an interest in that my wife’s a radiographer in ABMU, but I won’t discuss the warmth or the coldness of her hands? First Minister, ABMU’s in targeted intervention because of cancer services and unscheduled care. Both parts of those rely upon diagnostic services. We have seen problems with diagnostic services in the past, with waiting lists being perhaps of...
David Rees: Will you take an intervention?
David Rees: I thank you for taking the intervention. You went to have teacher training, I did teacher training, and believe you me, I knew every single pupil I taught. I didn’t need photographs—
David Rees: In comprehensive schools. I went to a comprehensive—
David Rees: I taught in a comprehensive, I knew the pupils and, what’s more, the education they received was second to none. It’s not about grammar school education, it’s about the delivery of education.
David Rees: Cabinet Secretary, in the last financial year, we saw circumstances arise, such as in my constituency when Tata made the announcements in January, which required instant action by the Welsh Government. Obviously, the business support to the businesses that feed into Tata was critical in that aspect. Will there be planning in the future to ensure that there are sufficient funds within that...
David Rees: Following on from that, First Minister, clearly, the councils are facing difficulties because of Westminster austerity cuts being passed down to them; they are looking at the services to provide and community libraries are one of the ways in which it’s happening. You, yourself, have visited Briton Ferry library and have seen the work being done by the community there—Taibach and Cymmer...
David Rees: Will you take an intervention?
David Rees: I thank you for taking the intervention, and I don’t wish to distract from the issues about GP recruitment, which I’m sure you will come on to in a short while. But, from what you have discussed so far, the Choose Well strategy that the Welsh Government proposed last year, or last session, and prudent healthcare is actually the right way to tackle some of the issues that you have just...
