Carwyn Jones: Well, policing is not devolved to the Welsh Government, so we have no involvement in the recruitment of police officers. That is a matter for the Home Office.
Carwyn Jones: We meet regularly with the—. There are regular ministerial meetings, in fact, to discuss finance and other matters. Bear in mind, of course, that, as a Government, we support and continue to support 500 police community support officers across Wales—an issue that is not devolved, but is an issue of community safety that we wanted to take seriously, and has had a positive impact on so many...
Carwyn Jones: Again, I have to remind the Member that these are not matters for the Welsh Government; they are matters for the UK Government. I don’t disagree with what he said, actually. It’s a sign of austerity that the police service is under so much pressure, but that is the responsibility of the UK Government. We’ve made it very clear that we would wish to see the devolution of policing with the...
Carwyn Jones: I thank the Member for the question. We’ve heard evidence on these benches, and indeed on the benches opposite, of the way in which police officers are treated, not properly supported, the police service not properly funded, all as a result of the UK Government’s austerity programme. It shows that, when it comes to policing, the Tories will sell our police officers short.
Carwyn Jones: Public bodies give safeguarding of children the highest priority, and of course that is key to the Act, which is the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.
Carwyn Jones: Well, these are matters primarily for Powys council. There is a role for Ministers of course, which I’ll come to, but it does show that there has been a lack of leadership in Powys, and it shows—. I don’t disagree with what the report has said in terms of there not being enough political commitment to children’s services. What then is the role of Government? We’ve issued the warning...
Carwyn Jones: Ultimately, of course, it is open to us as a Government to take over the authority’s social services functions. That is, of course, an option if the authority fails to deliver under the terms of the warning notice, and that is something, certainly, that we will be monitoring closely over the next few days. I can give Members the assurance that this will receive the fullest attention of both...
Carwyn Jones: I would encourage the authority to consider publishing the report, possibly by redacting some parts of the report. We do this as a Government, because we always start from a position of wishing to publish. I understand that, due to legal reasons, it’s not possible to publish everything, but it’s important that the authority doesn’t say, ‘We will not publish anything for legal...
Carwyn Jones: The ministerial code.
Carwyn Jones: Let me see. Let’s just examine his position as a politician. He’s not done well in making allegations—wild allegations—in the past in the courts. He has found himself in a position where he’s disciplined by the ombudsman, if I remember rightly, in terms of his conduct as a councillor, and he’s been expelled from his own party group. Can I suggest he has long hard look at himself...
Carwyn Jones: Yes. We’ve provided funding to Plaid Cymru for many years—Pride Cymru, I should say—including this year, despite—[Interruption.] Despite budget pressures. Pride events provide opportunities for LGBT people and others to have safe, accessible spaces to celebrate.
Carwyn Jones: Can I thank the Member for the invitation, which of course I will consider? I can say that the Government hosted a stall at Flintshire Pride in May. It was encouraging to see such a positive, well attended and successful event. People travelled from far and wide, actually, to go there, I understand. Of course, we want to make sure that we continue to support Pride events in order to...
Carwyn Jones: The Member is right. It has tended to be urban based, and the Minister, I’m sure, will want to work with organisations such as Pride Cymru to see how it’s possible to increase the number of events, particularly in rural areas. That, I’m sure, working with the organisation, can be achieved in time.
Carwyn Jones: Well, it was a pleasure to hear of that success, and we wish to ensure that we work with the organisers to see how we can enhance the event itself and the influence of that festival and how it can grow. And so I would be very happy to receive any kind of correspondence to see how we can help to build on the ideas contained in that correspondence.
Carwyn Jones: The taskforce published ‘Our Valleys, Our Future’ in July, identifying three themes: good-quality jobs and the skills to do them, better public services, and my community. Following further discussions with communities, local authorities, businesses and delivery partners, a detailed delivery plan will be published on 7 November.
Carwyn Jones: I have been, actually, to the forest drive, in my previous guise as a Minister some years ago now. Of course, there was a long period of closure, as we know, which was very difficult for the local community. It’s a wonderful asset for her constituency, and one that attracts many, many visitors. The Minister and I have discussed the landscape park, and we’re looking at ways as to how we...
Carwyn Jones: One of the changes that I’ve been most proud of over the past 20 years is that the standard of public housing now is as good, if not better, than some private houses—there was a time, of course, when council houses could be distinguished by the fact that they were often built to a lower standard than anywhere else—and that is something that we can be proud of. The Welsh housing quality...
Carwyn Jones: Well, he and I have been on site, of course, at sites in Swansea where council homes are being built. Local housing authorities were invited to submit bids for funding support under the new innovative housing programme, which promotes innovation in housing construction techniques, design, delivery, and, of course, money is being made available through the affordable housing grant. But I very...
Carwyn Jones: Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board has approved plans to create a specialist vascular unit for north Wales at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. There are no plans to close any other vascular departments. The health board will continue to treat patients with non-complex needs at all three north Wales hospitals.
Carwyn Jones: There was a review of this, if I remember rightly, and one of the things that that came up with was that we needed one specialist unit. We’ve argued about these issues previously in the Assembly, where people have opposed moving a specialist service from one hospital to another, but the outcome is that the results are better. We saw that with colorectal surgery, when that moved from...
