Mike Hedges: As someone who was made redundant by British Steel in the 1980s, I have huge sympathy and huge empathy with those who have been affected, many of whom are my constituents, and some of whom I actually know and will meet over the next week or so. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for the action that he has taken. I don't think that we could ask for any more. I'm very pleased about the taskforce,...
Mike Hedges: Will the Cabinet Secretary join with me in congratulating Welsh local government on the way they have coped with reducing Welsh Government support year on year and the quality of provision that they are providing despite those reductions? And will he commit to working collaboratively with Welsh local government in the manner of his predecessor?
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her response? Last week I attended an event run by the Institute of Welsh Affairs regarding the harnessing of renewable energy in the Swansea bay city region. I want to stress again the importance of the tidal lagoon to the region, and ask what support the Welsh Government is giving to improving battery storage, because that really is the answer when...
Mike Hedges: 4. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on progress towards making the Swansea Bay city region an energy self-sufficient area? OAQ52123
Mike Hedges: Will the First Minister make a statement on progress made by the Welsh Government in reducing obesity levels?
Mike Hedges: House prices are driven by scarcity. It's in the large house builders' interests to reduce supply below the demand, as that will increase prices. The converse would also be true, and if you visit Spain you'll see a lot of semi-built houses because supply started to exceed demand. It's also in the interests of landowners to reduce the supply of land for houses so as to increase the value of...
Mike Hedges: I strongly support the principle of a national development plan and a strategic development plan sitting above the local development plans. I think that we too often look at areas in isolation, and for those who know the area near where I live, you have Parc Trostre and you have Fforestfach retail park, which are both three or four miles apart. They have an effect on each other, but they're...
Mike Hedges: I very much welcome the statement by the Cabinet Secretary, who I'm sure agrees with me that the choice is often between austerity or growth and what austerity is doing is strangling growth in the British economy and the Welsh economy. Could I also say that it wasn't serendipity that Wales has got low PFI? It was good decisions taken by the Welsh Government at the time. They could've...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank you for that response? As you know, the 1945 to 1951 Labour Government had housing and health in the same ministry, led by Nye Bevan, somebody who we both hold in very high regard. Poor housing has a serious effect on health. People, especially the old and young, become more susceptible to illness when living in cold and damp conditions. Poor conditions mean that people can't be...
Mike Hedges: 4. What assessment has the First Minister made of the relationship between housing and health? OAQ52079
Mike Hedges: Sorry—
Mike Hedges: Will you take an intervention?
Mike Hedges: How does that compare against the rest of western Europe?
Mike Hedges: I thank Nick Ramsay for—
Mike Hedges: Can I thank Nick Ramsay for his comments? I don't think these proposals are the right way forward. That's all I will say. [Interruption.] Because, ICT, people are under contract, they need to be updated or closed down on merger and sometimes you pay—[Interruption.] Sometimes you pay—
Mike Hedges: —so much per 1,000 or 10,000 items in your database or in your structure, and that means that merging doesn't necessarily save you any money, because, if you go from 10,000 to 15,000, you don't say, 'Oh, we've merged two', you actually—. And you have to produce the same number of payslips. You're not going to pay fewer people because you've merged. All these are up-front costs and whilst...
Mike Hedges: The Welsh local government reorganisation of 1974 created eight county councils and 37 district councils, ending county boroughs, which were unitary authorities. The reason? We needed larger authorities and uniformity, and many of the urban district councils and rural district councils were too small. Then, in 1992, 22 principal councils were formed, and it's these unitary authorities that...
Mike Hedges: Will you take an intervention?
Mike Hedges: All I was going to say is that exactly the same has been done in the Swansea city region.
Mike Hedges: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to congratulate the Baptist Union of Wales on its hundred and fiftieth anniversary. I speak as a member of Seion Newydd, the Welsh Baptist chapel based in Morriston. Yesterday, I attended an event in the Pierhead to celebrate the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Welsh Baptists, and I'm very pleased that so many Members, including...
