Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for your generosity. I would also like to thank John Griffiths for giving me a minute in this debate. There are traditionally two legal routes out of poverty. One is via sporting prowess and the other is via education, but education is not a level playing field, and it has become less so with the development of technology. I had access to every book that...
Mike Hedges: What steps is the Welsh Government taking to protect the rights of the deaf community?
Mike Hedges: The super Swans. [Laughter.]
Mike Hedges: Can I thank Jack Sargeant for giving me a minute in this debate? I'm very pleased to see Wales qualify for the world cup finals, but footballers start playing when they're in primary school, usually in their school and the local club. Without those teachers who freely give their time and those who coach and run junior football teams, there would not be a successful national side. Every...
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Mark Isherwood, for bringing this statement to the Senedd today. I think it's important that issues of this kind are brought out in public in front of the Senedd. The public accounts committee has undertaken scrutiny of the accounts of various public organisations on an annual basis for very many years. The work is very important, although not usually headline-grabbing. This work...
Mike Hedges: I speak as someone who strongly supports devolution, and I'm really pleased that we've got devolution of powers to the large English cities. But does the Minister agree with me that asymmetric devolution does not work, that the primacy of Westminster means that it can override any Welsh law and also interfere with any Welsh laws, that we need an agreed devolution settlement, with a proper...
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Minister, for that response. Like many Members of the Senedd, I strongly supported the introduction of the Welsh version of Lucy's law, which you brought in in the last Senedd. I, like many Members here, support the Justice For Reggie campaign, calling for the regulation of online sales of dogs, with the regulation of all websites where animals are sold, for websites to be required...
Mike Hedges: 6. What assessment has the Minister made of the effectiveness of Welsh legislation in protecting dogs? OQ58244
Mike Hedges: I very much welcome the statement. I and my constituents are also disappointed the UK Government chose to pursue its building safety pledges on an England-only basis. Didn't we used to have a lot of LCMs from them? I have two areas of my constituency that have buildings affected. I agree with the principle that developers should contribute towards the cost of fixing these problems—they were...
Mike Hedges: I would like to request a Welsh Government statement on pollution. In Swansea East, the River Tawe suffers from sewage being regularly released from the Trebanos pumping station. Further into the constituency, we have plastic being burned off wire and the pollution attached to that. We have pesticides polluting soil and rivers. Finally, we have nitrogen oxides from cars along the main roads....
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Minister for that response? Too often, the only discussion of social care is about its effect on hospital discharge. It's far more important than that; social care is important not just for hospital discharge, but the quality of life for the people receiving it, and, dare I say, about stopping people having to go into hospital because they've been dealt with in their own homes...
Mike Hedges: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on the shortage of care support workers in Wales? OQ58157
Mike Hedges: I thank the Minister for bringing this statement today. It is very expensive to be poor. You pay more for energy via tokens, you are more likely to live in a very poorly insulated house, you go to bed early to avoid heating costs, and in winter you wake up to windows with ice from your breath on the inside. Rent has gone up, gas has gone up, electricity has gone up, the general cost of living...
Mike Hedges: First of all, I'm requesting a Welsh Government statement on this year's A-level, AS-level and GCSE examinations, and in particular, GCSE Welsh second language; French GCSE, which included a question on a topic that schools had been told had been removed; AS-level pure mathematics; A-level physics, which the teachers were told would be non-synoptic, but was synoptic; and AS-level chemistry,...
Mike Hedges: I would like to thank Rhys ab Owen for tabling this topical question because I think it really is an important issue. I'm very disappointed, but I will say not surprised, that the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 implementation has been deferred. Will the Minister produce a voluntary code including implementing a rent cap until the Act is eventually implemented? Private landlords have got a...
Mike Hedges: Yes.
Mike Hedges: In the Members' pension scheme, decisions are made by the pension trustees following professional advice. The current representatives on the pension trustee board are Nick Ramsay and myself, representing Members, and, obviously, I'd be happy to answer questions on the Members' scheme from any Members who wish to raise them. The Commission have two representatives on the Members' pension...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank you, Minister? Most older people are on fixed incomes from the state pension, private pensions and the supplementary pension. As inflation is rising, especially energy and food are items that disproportionately affect people who are older, does the Minister agree with me that there is a need for additional support and a supplementary pension increase, and will the Minister press...
Mike Hedges: 4. What assessment has the Minister made of the effect of the current rate of inflation on older people in Wales? OQ58138
Mike Hedges: I very much welcome the statement from the Minister. Procurement is one of the most powerful tools the Welsh Government has got in order to decide the type of Wales we're going to have. There is a very large procurement programme, not just by the Welsh Government, but by the whole of the Welsh Government-funded public sector, including health and local government. I, like many Members here,...
