David Lloyd: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement on the transport proposals in Deeside? And whilst I welcome elements of the statement, I do question the rationale behind bringing forward separate updates to this Chamber for the four hubs within the north-east Wales metro, given the obvious interdependence between the hubs as part of that metro project. I believe that we need to be...
David Lloyd: Can I thank Russell George, first of all, for an excellent introduction to this report? I’m pleased to be able to contribute to the debate this afternoon. Plainly, rail is not devolved to Wales at the moment. In particular, rail infrastructure is not devolved, and, obviously, the franchising process, meaning passenger service procurement, similarly remains not devolved. Now, despite every...
David Lloyd: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on increasing the provision of Welsh-medium education in South Wales West?
David Lloyd: It’s a pleasure to take part in this very important debate on the committee report on ‘Achieving the Ambition—Inquiry into the Welsh Government’s new Welsh Language Strategy’. Of course, the aim, as we’ve heard many times, is to have a million Welsh speakers. It is a very ambitious aim, as we note in this excellent preamble by the excellent Chair to this committee. The survival of...
David Lloyd: Again, it’s a pleasure to take part in this debate about NHS workforce issues, and, obviously, I’ll concentrate on doctors and nurses, the parts that I know most about. Obviously, we’re all very well aware of GP shortages. The Royal College of General Practitioners’s figures show about 400 vacant GP post in Wales today. Whenever practices advertise for a new GP, sometimes they get no...
David Lloyd: Mark.
David Lloyd: It’s my second language, but I did not say that, all right. [Laughter.] But the rot set in in 1990, because we had national workforce planning up to that point, and it was destroyed by the competition of the internal market. We’re regaining things now, slowly, but we still haven’t regained the lost ground. So, now, general practice is relentless, unremitting, with complicated cases that...
David Lloyd: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement on the consultation on a mandatory concessionary fares scheme in Wales? Obviously, Plaid Cymru fully supports the concessionary fares policy, introduced by my former colleague and then Deputy First Minister of Wales and Minister for the Economy and Transport at the time, Ieuan Wyn Jones. Now, for these...
David Lloyd: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on what plans the Welsh Government has to improve Wales’s international connectivity? (OAQ51151)
David Lloyd: Thank you very much for that comprehensive response. Naturally, Cardiff Airport is exceptionally important in our efforts to link Wales to the rest of the world. Whilst Qatar Airways will be establishing a new direct service to Doha next year, there is an absence of services to other key locations across the world—North America, for example. Would you therefore be willing to consider...
David Lloyd: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. This debate is about protecting and developing regional centres of medical excellence, and I’ve allowed Mike Hedges some time at the end of my speech as well. We mustn’t forget that short debates in this place are important and can be effective in shaping Government policy. It’s almost 10 years to the day since I had a short debate on organ donation and opt-out...
David Lloyd: It’s a pleasure to take part in this individual Members debate. Tim Peake the astronaut, gazing at planet Earth from outer space, marvelled at the spectacular appearance of our planet. And in a world where we talk in millions of miles, billions of kilometres and light years away, he noted the spectacular appearance of our atmosphere, which is only 16 km high—a thin, bright veneer that...
David Lloyd: Simon.
David Lloyd: Exactly right, because we need to have that national network of charging points. Turning to driverless cars, which are one of the biggest technological breakthroughs since the assembly line, companies such as Tesla, Audi, Nissan and Google are spending millions to get driverless cars on the road. You simply climb aboard, set your destination and the electronics do the rest—and this is only...
David Lloyd: It’s a pleasure to take part in this debate this afternoon. Plaid Cymru will be supporting the Conservatives’ motion today because, in principle, we are supportive of the notion of extending eligibility for free bus and rail travel to every person between 16 and 24 years of age in Wales. If you ask young people whether they want to pay to go on a bus or to go for free, well, going for...
David Lloyd: Will the First Minister make a statement on the importance of public consultation in terms of local authority plans for school reorganisation in Wales?
David Lloyd: Can I thank the Minister for Social Services and Public Health and welcome her statement, and welcome the general direction of travel? In Plaid, we are in support of minimum alcohol unit pricing. It has been in our manifestos for the 2011 and 2016 elections to this Assembly, once we had gained the powers after the 2011 referendum—obviously when we had some powers to do this sort of thing....
David Lloyd: Further to the governance issues, what discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had relating to financial contributions and return involving the four authorities? Councils may have to borrow around £360 million, which, in these times of austerity, is a major challenge. So, what discussions have you had about that? And also as regards the city deal, what discussions have you had as regards the...
David Lloyd: Now then, as we’ve heard, when universal credit was first proposed, many people welcomed aspects of it as a simplification of what has become a ridiculously complex system. However, such is the rare talent possessed by Iain Duncan Smith MP that defeat has been well and truly snatched from the jaws of any minor possible positive result. And, yes, problems with the benefits system figure...
David Lloyd: Turning back to the Port Talbot waterfront enterprise zone, plainly, as David Rees has outlined, local people do not want a superprison on that site and, as the landowner, the Welsh Government can prevent it. So, the question people are asking is: 'What are you doing to stop the sale of this land to the Ministry of Justice?'
