Mark Drakeford: Increasing participation in sport and physical activity is a key commitment in our programme for government. We are investing in accessible and attractive facilities to encourage people of all ages and abilities to engage in sport and physical activity.
Mark Drakeford: More than £248 million has already been invested through the NHS recovery fund to help health boards tackle waiting times and transform the way they deliver services. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board received over £20 million in addition to their targeted intervention financial support. The investment will target improving capacity to treat patients through winter.
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I read the Member's powerful contribution to the debate two weeks ago, and, of course, I am aware of the very concerning reports of what happened in the case of Lowri Davies. I can assure the Member that these points have already been raised directly with South Wales Police. I'm assured that an investigation is under way into what is said to have taken place. For now,...
Mark Drakeford: Can I thank the Member for that, Llywydd? The Welsh Government's anti-racist efforts are set out in our race equality action plan. Over 330 responses were received when consultation on the plan closed in the summer. These responses are currently being independently analysed and the results will be used to strengthen the plan still further.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, thank you to Alun Davies. It's a great privilege to be here in Glasgow and to be able to contribute a Welsh perspective to the debates here and to learn from others. I've seen a great deal since I'm here about the transport of the future. I'm very glad to see that there will be 16 new electric buses in Newport, 36 new electric buses in Cardiff, and I again had the privilege,...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Alun Davies for that, Llywydd. The way we travel will have to change if we are to secure a carbon-neutral Wales. Significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from transport will be needed, secured by reducing demand and encouraging modal shift, supporting the switch to low-carbon technologies and through energy efficiency measures.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I too welcome the DST initiative to revive the idea of marine energy in Swansea. The original Swansea bay tidal lagoon, despite being powerfully endorsed by the former Cabinet Member that the Conservative Party set up to advise them on that, was abandoned by the Conservative Party, and there was nothing at all in last week's budget to give us any sense that the Government was...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, we must end our reliance on fossil fuels and shift to clean, renewable energy if we are to meet our climate change goals. Net Zero Wales sets out the actions we will take over the next five years to accelerate the energy transition here in Wales.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, we do give priority to supporting rural towns to overcome the impact of coronavirus and face the challenges that are to come. We use a number of the powers that we already have. There is funding available through the LEADER programme, and that invests in rural towns—Llanybydder is the latest one to use the funding available through the LEADER programme. And through the RDP,...
Mark Drakeford: Well, may I thank Cefin Campbell for that question, Llywydd? The Welsh Government takes a strength-based approach to the recovery of towns in mid and west Wales. Working with local authorities, third sector organisations and others, we look to shape a future based on the many assets that these communities already possess.
Mark Drakeford: Well, I thank Adam Price for that final question, Llywydd. He’s right to describe tidal power as a nascent technology. It was deeply disappointing to me in the comprehensive spending review that we heard nothing from the UK Government about how it is to help to solve the single greatest barrier to liberating the contribution that can be made from tidal power by creating a pathway to...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, can I just say that we are confident that we will achieve the 2020 target? We measure these things over five years because the target is very vulnerable to single-year distortions. The leader of Plaid Cymru is right that there was rapid progress in the first part of the first five-year programme, less so in the second half. But that is just in the nature, I think, of the way...
Mark Drakeford: May I thank Adam Price, Llywydd, for that question? I am supportive of the purpose of the Bill that Liz Saville Roberts has presented to give greater options and to put those options in our hands so that we can deal with issues here in Wales. The CCC said that approximately 40 per cent of the issues that count towards our objectives for 2050 still remain here in Wales, whereas 60 per cent...
Mark Drakeford: The Welsh Government's response to the committee's investigations is of course set out in our net zero plan published last week. Just for a moment, it's important, because, in the way that Paul Davies said, I want to come away from COP giving people in Wales confidence and hope that, by acting together, this problem does not lie beyond us. And what the plan shows is that we are confident now...
Mark Drakeford: Let me begin by again agreeing with what Paul Davies said about the importance of countries working together. My day at this conference began by sharing a platform with the Prime Minister, with the First Minister of Scotland, and the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. That was a deliberate decision amongst us all to appear together to emphasise not just the work we...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the leader of the opposition for that point. It's a point I agree with. I think I said in answer to an earlier question that the Climate Change Committee tell us that about 60 per cent of the actions needed to reach net zero in Wales by 2050 will rely not on the things that Governments do, or even on what great corporations do, but on what each of us do in our individual lives. COP...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I'm afraid the Member's contribution is not only ungenerous, but it's largely nonsensical as well. I've had an opportunity—I wonder whether she has—to actually read the document to which she refers. It's actually a hugely heartening document, Llywydd. It sets out pledges from right across Wales, from individuals right through to our largest organisations in the public sector and...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I thank Joyce Watson for that, and for the welcome that she offered to the £150 million-worth of additional investment, which my colleague Lee Waters has been able to announce today, to improve the energy efficiency of existing social homes in Wales. But Joyce Watson is right that we have, as well, to persuade both private rented properties and home owners to take the actions,...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Joyce Watson for that question. Llywydd, our actions are set out in the Net Zero Wales plan, which we published last week. The plan shows the range of matters for which this Senedd has responsibility, setting out actions in transport, housing, the rural economy and renewable energy amongst others.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I heard the bulk of Mr Kurtz's question—enough, I hope, to be able to agree with him that the increased numbers of visitors to the Welsh countryside does bring with it a different obligation on people to make sure that they do so in a way that is respectful of what is required of them. I thank the CLA for the work that they have done in refreshing the countryside code. Teaching...
