Lee Waters: I’d like to welcome the statement. There were two elements I wanted to touch on. One: in terms of the basket of options you’re putting to consultation about reform, I’m disappointed that compulsory voting is not one of the options that the Welsh Government are asking for opinions on. I think requiring people to take part as part of their wider civic duties—the ability to vote is an...
Lee Waters: Would the Minister give way?
Lee Waters: I note your comments that NRW said they required further guidance on what was meant by ‘novel’ and ‘repercussive’. I found this argument entirely unconvincing in the committee. It seemed clear to the committee that what they were proposing was so obviously falling outside of the accepted understanding that it was hard to understand that that was a serious argument. It spoke to a...
Lee Waters: 6. Will the First Minister commission a full early-stage feasibility study of a Swansea Bay metro network? (OAQ51049)
Lee Waters: Thank you, First Minister. Since Theresa May’s Government reneged on their promise to electrify the railway line to Swansea and the west, this has thrown into sharp relief the connectivity of the whole Swansea bay city region. I welcome the support for the concept for a modern, joined-up public transport network. I think what we need to see now is a detailed feasibility study so we can...
Lee Waters: First Minister, can I genuinely welcome the attempt to try and join up the different areas of Government activity? Governments are often criticised for silo thinking, and I think the Government deserves some credit in this document at the way that it’s tried to bring together the different strands of its programme and strategy. And I look forward, when the action plans are published, to...
Lee Waters: I am very uncomfortable with the proposal to build a large prison in Port Talbot and with the political games that are accompanying it. I don’t buy the argument that this is a non-devolved issue. This is about the type of country we want Wales to be, and Monday’s announcement of a commission on justice in Wales, led by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, the current Lord Chief Justice, offers us an...
Lee Waters: I’d be happy to give way.
Lee Waters: As I said, I think the evidence is mixed. There’s conflicting evidence on the point and, as I said, my personal prejudice is against superprisons. I chaired a public meeting in Wrexham at the time of the debate there, and did some work to oppose the prison in Wrexham. So, that’s my strong inclination. However, to be fair, we’re looking at the evidence, it’s not a clear picture, and I...
Lee Waters: It is a ‘no’, I’m afraid. I do apologise. [Interruption.] Until we have the debate about the sort of justice system we want to see in Wales, then it’s premature to pass this motion and I will therefore not be supporting it at this time.
Lee Waters: 8. What assessment has the First Minister made of the Future Generations Commissioner’s submission to the M4 public inquiry? (OAQ51122)
Lee Waters: Thank you. In its evidence to the M4 public inquiry, the Government acknowledged that a new motorway will inflict long-term harm, but this would be outweighed by the short-term economic benefits. The Government’s own independent adviser, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales has now said that this is incompatible with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The...
Lee Waters: 4. Will the Cabinet Secretary commit to a review of the governance structures of the NHS Wales Informatics Service? (OAQ51096)
Lee Waters: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. That audit office report follows a number of criticisms by the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee into the performance of NWIS. This is an organisation with a budget of over £53 million and 500 staff, but there’s no transparent way to be able to monitor their performance or hold them to account. They have no independent board and publish no annual reports,...
Lee Waters: I think Bethan Jenkins has very fairly summed up the recommendations of the report, so I don’t wish to repeat what has already been said. So, I’ll make just a brief contribution, first of all to highlight the consensus there was in the committee and the way that we all worked together on a cross-party basis to reflect on the Government’s proposals and to point out what we thought of...
Lee Waters: Diolch, Llywydd. I’ve agreed to give a minute of my time to my colleagues Mike Hedges, Jenny Randerson and David Melding—Jenny Rathbone, I do apologise. Let me start by saying that the M4 can be horrendous. At rush hour, I have regularly been sat in endless queuing traffic, and this isn’t just a problem at the Brynglas tunnels, but at several points along the motorway, and if there’s...
Lee Waters: But, we need to fashion a solution that will last—an M4 fit for future generations. And I just don’t believe that the proposed relief road will be anything more than an expensive stop-gap. In fact, as a policy approach, it manages to do something quite remarkable: it succeeds in both being outdated and premature at the same time. Outdated because the evidence of the last 50 years of...
Lee Waters: There’s a picture. [Laughter.]
Lee Waters: Will the Member give way?
Lee Waters: Will the Member accept that the evidence shows that, in order to achieve modal shift, when you are making capacity changes like removing pinch points, the most effective way to do it is to use road space reallocation? So, rather than that space filling up with cars again, you’re locking in bus lanes or traffic light changes or wider pavements to try and build in that behavioural change.
