David Rees: I thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. In your answer to Simon Thomas earlier, you highlighted the delays that the UK Government have been experiencing, but, with the general election now gone, perhaps we can see those delays and excuses for those delays disappear. But marine licensing is an important issue, because those delays could disappear and we could have a decision by the UK...
David Rees: Cabinet Secretary, the answer to Bethan Jenkins, I think, has highlighted the issues about how this radicalism can arise in any sector; it’s not just particular sectors. So, do you agree with me that, actually, we need to undertake a measure to prevent radicalisation of young people from the hard right, which creates such extremist views, and what are you doing about that?
David Rees: I thank the Member for giving way. It’s not just the fall, it’s being given the time off—they couldn’t actually release them for the time, so they couldn’t have people to go in.
David Rees: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on the discussions held between the Welsh Government and the Ministry of Justice in relation to the siting of a new prison at Baglan? OAQ(5)0702(FM)
David Rees: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. As you know, the site that’s been identified by the MOJ is within the ownership of the Welsh Government, and lies next door to a housing estate, a residential care home, a GP resource centre, with four surgeries in there, and other businesses on that industrial estate. It also lies within the enterprise zone, which was established when the threat...
David Rees: Will the Cabinet Secretary provide details of the Welsh Government's STEM agenda?
David Rees: The last of those eight enterprise zones is actually in Port Talbot, in my constituency, and the only one in South Wales West. But it is important that we see that now used to actually grow the local economy and grow local businesses. How are you monitoring the progress in that enterprise zone to ensure that that actually does take place and that the purpose of the zone is actually being achieved?
David Rees: Cabinet Secretary and leader of the house, in May we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Wales coast path. Many people have walked that and enjoyed the benefits of that walk but, as such, they have no recognition for that walk. Can we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, or perhaps the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, depending on...
David Rees: Diolch, Llywydd. Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement this afternoon? Obviously, I support the comments of my colleagues as far as electoral reform is concerned. And, by the way, electronic voting: you might want to look at what goes on in Estonia, which will tell you about that. But hidden away in your statement, actually, was a very important aspect for me, and that is the...
David Rees: What discussions has the Welsh Government had regarding the impact on the Welsh steel sector of the joint venture between Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp AG? (TAQ0044)
David Rees: Well, thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary—very brief and very short. Now, that announcement of a joint venture clearly has been something in the background, and many concerns have been expressed by steelworkers in my constituency and across Wales regarding the future of steel making here in Wales. Only 18 months ago we saw the threat of closure in the Port Talbot works. Beyond that...
David Rees: Last week, Cabinet Secretary, I met with the chair of ABMU and the senior officer who was one of the seekers of that report to seek reassurances that if this situation arose today, it would be identified quicker and we wouldn’t be having the same failures that happened before. Whilst the Member for South Wales West keeps harping on about lessons learnt, it is important to my constituents...
David Rees: In opening this debate this afternoon, the Member for South Wales West established several threads within the discussion, including the effectiveness of superprisons in reducing reoffending rates and offering inmates a safe environment for rehabilitation, whether Wales needs more prisons, and the unsuitability of this site in Baglan for the new prison, as announced by the Ministry of Justice...
David Rees: I thank the Member for that. I actually can’t give the answer, but it’s an interesting point we can add to the list of questions we will be asking. We already have businesses saying they will move out. Now, moving out means they’re not coming in, and therefore we’re losing business to the economy. The MOJ claims this prison will bring new jobs to local people—numbers, by the way,...
David Rees: Will the Member give way? I don’t wish to disparage anything, but, just for clarification, actually the announcement came from the MOJ, not Carl Sargeant. I don’t want to defend him, but it was theirs, unfortunately.
David Rees: Will you take an intervention?
David Rees: I appreciate your point that the evidence is mixed, but I haven’t yet found any evidence to show that larger prisons actually reduce reoffending rates. I think that’s the crucial element here. They’re arguing that it does, but yet I haven’t found the evidence that it actually does. It might be approaching it, but I haven’t seen the evidence yet.
David Rees: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for taking the intervention. I appreciate that the Welsh Government provides that service for all businesses, but in your response to me in May you highlighted the criteria the MOJ supplied you for sites. One of them was that it shouldn’t be a flood plain, and yet you supplied a site, which is this particular site, which is on a flood plain. Could you tell me...
David Rees: Not at this point.
David Rees: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for allowing me the intervention. I appreciate that the prison estate is the responsibility of the MOJ, but in this particular case the land is owned by the Welsh Government and, therefore, it’s a decision for the Welsh Government on the social needs as well as anything else. And particularly as we have the possibility of Swansea and Cardiff closing because...
