Mike Hedges: 10. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the Supporting People programme? OAQ(5)0141(CC)
Mike Hedges: Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on efforts to tackle Japanese knotweed in Wales?
Mike Hedges: Can I highlight the huge success of the floodplain at Ynys Forgan, which is probably about a quarter of a mile from where I live? I quite often drive past it and sometimes you’ve got a lake, other times you’ve got a few little lakes, and other times it’s dry, but it does stop flooding in that area, which used to be a huge problem. Can I also welcome the proposal to not charge landfill...
Mike Hedges: Can I welcome the Cabinet Secretary’s response and certainly the protection of the money? I would also like to highlight how helpful the programme has been within my own constituency of Swansea East. Can the Cabinet Secretary outline how benefit changes have impacted on the Supporting People programme?
Mike Hedges: We have a very large number of small and medium-sized companies in Wales but we have a distinct shortage of indigenous large companies. I would like to ask for a Government statement on proposals to support the growth of medium-sized businesses, which we seem to have quite a lot of, into large businesses, especially in industries such as construction, and also what the Government can do in...
Mike Hedges: Cabinet Secretary, one of the changes that you are proposing is joint boards, which I see as very similar to that of fire and rescue, currently. Do you see the benefits of having joint boards and do you believe that there is great advantage in involving as many members of the local authority as possible in these joint boards so that they can report back not only to their own council, but...
Mike Hedges: Morriston Tabernacle: the Tabernacle chapel building is a very special building. George Thomas described the Tabernacle as the non-conformists’ cathedral. Besides being a beautiful chapel, Morriston Tabernacle is a religious and cultural centre in the lower Swansea valley. However, unfortunately, fewer people go to chapel these days. This raises serious questions about the future of the...
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Presiding Officer. No-one wanted a minute in this debate which is hardly surprising, because I think most people have got other things on their minds. It’s probably a bad day to have this debate: it’s not only the eve of a general election, but we’ve already had one housing debate today. But I think housing is one of the great challenges facing all of Britain, including...
Mike Hedges: I wish to concentrate on co-operative housing. With the average age of first-time buyers being 37 and expected to rise to 40, it’s perfectly clear that the current housing system needs to be changed. Hefty deposits, the difficulty in securing affordable mortgages from lenders, and the overall lack of good quality housing are amongst the main reasons that have been attributed to the...
Mike Hedges: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's use of psyllids in tackling Japanese knotweed? OAQ(5)0641(FM)
Mike Hedges: I’m a strong and long-term supporter of no-cold-calling zones, and I’ve raised this several times in this Chamber as far too many of them target the very vulnerable, and far too many of the very vulnerable are taken advantage of. I have some very popular no-cold-calling zones in Swansea East. I’ve also noticed a growth, and I’m sure everyone else in this room has as they’ve been...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the First Minister for his answer? As people are well aware both here, and definitely in Swansea, Swansea is very much the capital of knotweed. It’s not a title we particularly like. But it’s a huge problem within my constituency and the neighbouring constituency. I’m very pleased as to the success of the initial trial, but I wouldn’t be fulfilling my duty as a Swansea...
Mike Hedges: Can I very much welcome the statement, as everybody else has done? Certainly, the framework, I think, is very helpful. Can I just say, I agree entirely that taxes are the admission price that each one of us has to pay to live in a civilised society? It’s taxation that provides the key public services that we all rely on. We cannot live in a country with Scandinavian-type services based on...
Mike Hedges: 1. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the legal implications for Wales of the imposition of World Trade Organisation rules in the absence of a trade agreement between the UK Government and the EU? OAQ(5)0041(CG)
Mike Hedges: Thank you for that answer. Excluding agriculture, the devaluation of the pound can remove the problem of financial tariffs. Does the Counsel General agree with me that the rules imposed, and making sure that the World Trade Organization rules are being met, is really a far greater problem than a 5 per cent or 10 per cent tariff, which further devaluation can put right? Actually meeting the...
Mike Hedges: Thank you very much. Can I say from the start that I fully support this Bill? I may, like some other Members here, including the Member for Mid and West Wales, actually have to leave before the vote, but could I put on record my support for it? Can I also say that I think the one thing about it is that it brings clarity and it brings compulsion? I think that those are two very important...
Mike Hedges: When it was first brought in as landfill tax, the reason was to stop local authorities just dumping, to make it no longer economically viable for them to just dump, and the additional cost meant that people started recycling, and it had a huge effect on recycling. So, when it first came in under the Government of Westminster, the aim was, almost exclusively, to try and change behaviour.
Mike Hedges: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on improving transport links in the Swansea Bay City region?
Mike Hedges: What discussions has the First Minister held regarding the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon?
Mike Hedges: I’d like to ask for a Welsh Government statement on how the Welsh Government is working with the university sector in Wales to help increase the gross value added. The university sector will play a pivotal role in developing a highly skilled, highly educated and highly productive economy. Developments should include science parks developed by the universities such as Cambridge and Aarhus in...
