Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I'd like to just use the opening Adam Price has offered to pay tribute again to the team from Ukraine and their supporters in the ground. When you think of the background to that game, they were fantastically committed. The team never gave up, right to the very end to the game, and you could see just how much it mattered to them as well. I thought they were an absolute credit...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Adam Price for that question. It was a privilege to be present in the stadium on Sunday evening, and the feeling in the stadium was so strong behind the Welsh team. But not just for the Welsh team, the respect that people showed towards the people who were there to support Ukraine as well, that was something that struck me while I was sitting in the stands in the stadium. Where I was...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, the leader of the opposition will, I know, understand that even if a decision had been made to go ahead with an M4 relief road, it would have made absolutely no difference at all over the last weekend, because it would, even from today, be another five years before such a road could be opened. So, it's not a solution to the problem that he has identified. Where the real solution...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I make a distinction between the two points that the leader of the opposition has made. I think, on capacity, it is genuinely difficult to expect a train company, with fixed assets and a fixed pool of staff able to provide those services, to turn the tap on in a major way around any sort of event, and that's particularly true of train services. You simply can't magic trains out of...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question, and it's undoubtedly the case that the confluence of two major events in Cardiff and the start of the half-term holiday resulted in very high volumes of traffic all trying to arrive in Cardiff in a limited period of time. Whenever there is a major event in the city, there is a team of people who meet afterwards to review the experience and to see what...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Peter Fox for that additional question, Llywydd. I know that he's got expertise of his own; he was the leader of Monmouthshire County Council when the council created a solar farm, a scheme that the Welsh Government was very pleased to support. So, I know that he will have seen for himself the balance that has to be struck between renewable energy developments, which are absolutely...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I thank Jayne Bryant for that. I remember her contribution of that time ago, because, as I recall it, it was in the context of the new powers that were being provided to local authorities to tackle fly-tipping—proposals brought forward by my colleague Lesley Griffiths. And I know that, in turning the road to nowhere into a road to nature, those powers have been used by Newport...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I thank the Member for that question. Our Local Places for Nature programme has created over 300 green spaces across Wales in the last year alone. Twenty-two of them have been developed in Newport, including the work, which I know the Member will be familiar with, undertaken at the Pill community allotments.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, every nine months, the Prime Minister appoints more people to the House of Lords than we propose adding to the membership of the Senedd—every nine months. Where's the referendum on that, I wonder? Now, I agree entirely with what my colleague Alun Davies has said. You cannot find an independent report into the representation the people in Wales need in order to take the...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, the public have already had their say. They elected Members to this Senedd in a sufficient number to bring about, as Darren Millar said, the greatest reform of the Senedd since its inception. Those of us who stood on manifestos in favour of reform look forward to taking this to a conclusion.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, the Welsh Government will seek to implement the conclusions of the Senedd on this matter.
Mark Drakeford: Congratulations to Wrexham on achieving city status. Wrexham’s significant contributions to society and culture in Wales, and beyond has now been recognised. This Government continues to invest in the area with £25m grant funding for delivery of the Wrexham Gateway providing benefits to communities and its people.
Mark Drakeford: I am pleased that our NHS workforce grows year on year and is now at record levels with over 104,000 staff employed by NHS Wales. We are investing record amounts in education and training; HEIW’s Workforce Strategy also sets out plans for a reformed and sustainable workforce for the future.
Mark Drakeford: Adoption of local roads is the responsibility of Local Authorities and developers. Existing roads can also be adopted by a Local Authority where the owner of the road and Local Authority agree and the road is at the required standard.
Mark Drakeford: We are committed to building on Wales’ success in hosting major events. Whilst I was hugely disappointed Wrexham missed out on City of Culture 2025, I was pleased to see Focus Wales and the Anglesey Trail Half Marathon taking place recently delivering economic, cultural and social benefits to North Wales.
Mark Drakeford: Now, next week, Llywydd, many throughout Wales will use the opportunity of the extended public holiday to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee—from a concert in Cardiff castle to a picnic in Llantrisant, a tea party in Burry Port to a regatta in Tremadog bay. Llywydd, it's part of the responsibility of being First Minister in this Senedd to become a member of the Queen's Privy Council and, as...
Mark Drakeford: Having said that, Llywydd, some things have not changed. During 70 years of huge change, Her Majesty the Queen has been ever present in the lives of the people of Wales and beyond. We think of the way in which she has committed to carrying out her duty. She has been faithful to the pledge that she took at the time of her coronation. We also think of dignity and good nature that she always...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Well, 70 years ago, 1952 did not begin well in Wales. On 10 January, an Aer Lingus flight going from Dublin to London crashed in Snowdonia, killing its 22 passengers and all three crew. Less than a month later, King George VI was dead, and what the Prime Minister of the time, Winston Churchill, called 'a new Elizabethan age' had begun. In the intertwining of those two...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, first of all, I'd like to thank John Griffiths for the work that he has done in chairing that group, and the group has achievements already, to its credit, in habitat restoration and management, and particularly in the points that John Griffiths made in terms of community engagement. Together with my colleague Julie James, there is more we know that we can do to support the...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, at the heart of the three-year budget approved by this Senedd there lies £1.8 billion capital investment in creating a national forest, sustaining biodiversity, decarbonising housing, prioritising renewable energy and preventing flooding. These are amongst the actions we are taking to tackle the climate emergency.
