Alun Davies: I’m very grateful to the Conservative spokesperson’s broad welcome for the appointment of Margaret Jervis and the approach that is being taken. I can certainly confirm that she will be looking not just to political parties, but stakeholders across the face of the country and across different parts of the community. So, I would certainly expect and anticipate her to welcome contributions...
Jane Hutt: ...planning authority where an appeal results in a deemed application for planning permission. Where a fee is required in relation to a deemed application, the Welsh Ministers are required to send a notice to the appellant specifying the time frame in which the fee must be paid to the local planning authority. However, the local planning authority will normally have little knowledge of the...
Amendment 2—Rhun ap Iorwerth Add as new point at end of motion: Calls on the Welsh Government to introduce proportional representation for local elections to strengthen the accountability of local government and to improve local public services.
Jane Hutt: ...January. The Cabinet Secretary is currently considering the responses, and I’m sure that Neil Hamilton will be as pleased as the Cabinet Secretary to hear that there were a significant number of representations—993—a large number of which were from farmers.
Jane Hutt: Yes, well, I’m sure Nick Ramsay would also have been pleased to hear the significant number of representations to the consultation, particularly from farmers, and I’m sure from the farmers in your constituency as well. If I can just, perhaps, say a bit more about the project that is being undertaken, including the TB epidemiologist and team of vets looking at disease across the country,...
Lynne Neagle: ...are absolutely up in arms about and are campaigning against. I welcome what you’ve said about talking to your officials, but will you, working across Government, make the most forceful possible representations to the UK Government to tell them that they’ve made a mistake on this, that it will lead to homelessness for young people, and ask them to think again?
Siân Gwenllian: Well, clearly, there are also other reasons that would account for that as well, but certainly the introduction of proportional representation would improve that. We have seen the situation in local authorities in Scotland where, certainly, the turnout has been far higher in those elections. I believe that we need a new electoral system in order to raise people’s confidence in politics,...
Dawn Bowden: Can I say at the outset that I want to thank the Conservatives for bringing this motion, which I think is a very wide-ranging motion, covering lots of very important issues? I’m not today going to comment on Plaid’s amendment on proportional representation, because this is currently the subject of consultation through the local government White Paper, and I guess we really ought to allow...
Gareth Bennett: ...service that we have now. The second Plaid Cymru amendment relates to voting in local elections. We support Plaid’s desire for councils to move away from first-past-the-post to proportional representation in order to strengthen accountability. Mike Hedges raised the apparently vexing issue of lower turnout in police and crime commissioner and European elections. However, I believe that...
John Griffiths: ...of the Bill. This recommendation, supported by seven out of eight committee members, is based on the overwhelming support for the Bill in the evidence we received. It is unusual for a committee not to be recommending amendments at Stage 1 scrutiny, but that is the case. Technically speaking, Dirprwy Lywydd, the Bill is straightforward. It disapplies specific provisions of the 2016 Act to...
Mick Antoniw: ...in claims to tribunals since the introduction of fees. The Government’s own evidence is also that some people who are unable to resolve their disputes through conciliation nevertheless did not bring a claim to the employment tribunals because they said they could not afford the fee, despite any financial support that was available. Equally, the assessment under the public sector equality...
Mick Antoniw: ...composition has become a serious constitutional issue. We are very alert to these issues in respect of that part of the judiciary that comes within the responsibility of Welsh Government. In representations that we make, we make very clearly the points in respect of diversity. We also make the point very strongly that it is vital that there is Welsh representation in the higher courts by...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Llyr. As I’ve said, all universities, including Aberystwyth and the other institutions that you have mentioned, are autonomous bodies and, therefore, we do not have, as I have said previous, locus in this area. I am aware that the higher education sector in Wales is facing a number of challenges, not least in some institutions a failure to meet their recruitment targets for...
Kirsty Williams: .... When reflecting on the many excellent schools that I have had the privilege to visit over the last year, it is clear to me that each benefits from high-quality leadership. Our challenge, as noted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, is to ensure a whole-system approach to leadership, and to make it a prime driver of our education reforms. To succeed, every school...
Mark Isherwood: ...joined-up approach now. We haven’t got the through-ticketing, which bodies such as Llangollen railway are proposing. And a concern raised with me has been that the bodies have had insufficient representation from tourism and heritage bodies in the region themselves. It’s good that Glandŵr Cymru are on board, but where are all the others? Do you agree with me that we therefore need to...
Russell George: ..., either in Shrewsbury or Telford. The overwhelming view of my own constituents is that those services should be located in Shrewsbury. That’s where emergency services should be located—I’ve not met any constituent that says otherwise. The Welsh Government had previously been silent on its preference, but I was very pleased when the First Minister confirmed a few weeks back to me in...
Vaughan Gething: ...acting as a Government for England, to resolve in how this process is actually resolved and the evidence base that is provided. But Powys health board have been engaged and they are directly making representations on behalf of Welsh residents who use those services. What the English services need to consider in this is not just from an altruistic point of view—the impact upon Welsh...
Vaughan Gething: I don’t think there was much to agree upon in terms of Michelle Brown’s contribution, but we’re really serious about protecting and standing up for the national health service—it’s not about electoral calculus, it’s about our commitment and our values, not just in creating the service, but in sustaining it for the future. And I recognise the challenges that Lee Waters outlined...
Jane Hutt: ..., open to good ideas, and engaged with the rest of the world. I believe that’s what the Welsh people want too: care and compassion for their neighbours here and across the world. We’ve had many representations of concern and evidence of how important international aid is here in Wales and to the world. From the British Red Cross, Save the Children and Oxfam, you’ve all had their...
Angela Burns: It is good to see you back and I know that, like me, you and most of the other Assembly Members here will have received many constituent representations over concerns with littering, dog mess and fly-tipping, and of course it’s vital for public health, and particularly in areas that rely on tourism, that we have clean, safe and pleasant streets to walk in. Pembrokeshire has recently been...
