David Melding: Can I welcome that initial response there? As you know, the review concluded that indifference and ignorance led to a race to the bottom in building safety practices, with costs prioritised over safety. It was also said that a new standards regulator should be the centrepiece of a reformed system, but the use of combustible materials was left unclear. Flammable insulation and cladding...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, we in the Welsh Conservatives launched our urban strategy last week, and we put in place some measures to improve air quality, such as the requirement on all schools and nurseries to have air quality monitoring on their premises. I wonder what sort of conversations you're having with your Cabinet colleagues, particularly the Cabinet Secretary for the environment, to start...
David Melding: I'm pleased also that this decision is being reconsidered, and I also made representations in writing and by meeting the senior figures in the Vale of Glamorgan Council. I think there's been some confusion locally as to the presumption against the closure of rural schools, which you outlined in the consultation on the revised school organisation code, and I stressed to the council that I...
David Melding: 2. What is the Welsh Government's response to the final report of Dame Judith Hackitt's independent review of building regulations and fire safety? 180
David Melding: First Minister, radioactive waste management is a devolved issue, and we currently have no high-level waste disposal site in Wales. Now, a consultation was launched in January to see if anywhere in Wales would volunteer to be the home of a nuclear waste disposal site. Have you had any responses and can you report any progress to the Chamber?
David Melding: I thank Jenny for bringing this important subject to our attention this afternoon. We have a very clear approach, I think, from the left side of politics and you make some interesting and powerful points. I agree with you on a couple of issues. The housing market is, in areas, certainly dysfunctional and there are a number of reasons for that. We have this phenomenon of generation rent, where...
David Melding: Will the Member give way?
David Melding: It's interesting only half of eligible people are getting the screening, but I've also had a constituent who's regularly gone for the screening, or done the screening test, and then, at age 75, it just stops, and it really causes a great deal of anxiety. I wonder if there is any evidence emerging that, actually, continuing screening beyond 75 is also beneficial.
David Melding: I agree with a lot of what has just been said by Lee Waters, but I do thank Rhun for bringing this forward as a legislative proposal, and I certainly agree with the broad objective. Whether we need a legislative vehicle—sorry to use the pun—I'm unsure, but it's good that we are discussing these issues. As Lee Waters said, we need to remember that the way we generate energy is key here,...
David Melding: Can I just add our support to efforts to increase the capacity of credit unions? At the moment, according to the Money Charity, we spend £139 million per day on repayments and personal debt. It's absolutely incredible. And credit unions are a key part, I think, certainly for people in limited financial circumstances, but more generally as well, potentially. So, it's organisations like...
David Melding: What consideration does the Cabinet Secretary give to local government when allocating funding in the budget?
David Melding: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd, and I'm pleased to move the amendments, and I'm pleased to take part in this debate. I'm not sure we discuss planning very often, but it's very, very important. To reciprocate the generosity of the Minister in bringing this forward this afternoon, I'd like to start in an area where there is undoubted agreement, and that is that good planning and development of...
David Melding: I do think how we control the supply of land is a really important issue; I'm not convinced this is going to be a particularly productive way to do that, but I'm certainly open to evidence. There's a real public interest here—the greatest windfall, I should say to you, Minister, of course, is when land is zoned for building when it had a previous use, especially if the previous use was...
David Melding: There wouldn't have been an EU in the first place if that particular interpretation of sovereignty had not been reassessed. As Monnet said, we need to go through the barrier of narrow national sovereignty, and we need to create, in the UK, something analogous to the shared governance in the EU. Your approach is antithetical to that and that's the whole problem here this afternoon.
David Melding: Okay, I'll take one more.
David Melding: Can I say, Rhun, I'm genuinely pleased that you've made that point because I want to now move to my conclusion, which I do think is an area, we may find, that more unites us? As I said at the start, the inter-governmental agreement is really important. It's only the start, however, of our concept of shared governance and this does require an overhaul and it will be the ultimate test of...
David Melding: If this is really a roll-back of devolution, as Plaid and the SNP claim, the public seem very sanguine. I will give way.
David Melding: Well, you see, that's the whole point, isn't it? You argue, 'Yes, we need them', but you won't agree any process or give reasonable consent to them being constructed. You want a national veto. You want to preserve what you see as your absolute sovereignty.
David Melding: I'm pleased to support the motion before the Assembly this afternoon. As the CLAC report notes, central to the recommendation to approve the LCM is the inter-governmental agreement, and I want to return to that later. This, together with the amendments to the original clause 11. As the CLAC report states: 'The amendments tabled by UK Ministers to clause 11 of the Bill indicate an important...
David Melding: First Minister, over the three winter months, 1,860 people who were classified as amber, and you will know this includes people suffering from a stroke or a heart attack, were made to wait over six hours for their ambulance. Now, this is, surely, unacceptable and we need to ensure that, next winter, some of these very basic standards are met.
