Jenny Rathbone: Will you take an intervention? I just wonder if you can clarify whether this land has been designated as where the Swansea metro is due to pass through, and therefore if we were to put a prison onto this site, that would obviously have smooth implications for the smooth running of the Swansea metro.
Jenny Rathbone: I do. [Laughter.] I just wondered if you could clarify why, if this area has been designated as suitable for installing a Swansea metro—why, then, the Government offers it up as a possible site for building, as that seems to be in contradiction.
Jenny Rathbone: 1. Will the First Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's strategy on a modal shift to sustainable transport? (OAQ51080)
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you, First Minister. I just wanted to specifically focus on how we’re getting more people to bicycle, because I was very shocked when I had a delegation of year 12 students from St Teilo’s, all of whom are 16 or 17, and none of them were bicycling to school. One of them even said, ‘Oh, I live four miles away’, as if that was a long way to bicycle. If we look at the statistics,...
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you for your statement and your deliberative approach to rolling this forward and making a success of it. My question is on objective 3. Some things can’t wait, so will you look at the research published in the British Medical Journal by Professor Allyson Pollock on the importance of children not getting collision in contact sports, and banning rugby tackles in schools? She was right...
Jenny Rathbone: Uber’s business model is attracting quite a lot of attention: a 25 per cent return on somebody else’s capital—i.e. the drivers. I just wondered if you’d had any discussions with local authorities on how they can ensure that a company like this, which is not based in this country, can nevertheless make the appropriate contribution to the upkeep of the roads and the regulation of cars...
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you for your report. I think the issues it raises for my constituents is that the competitive bidding process has made it very difficult for residents of my constituency to be able to be part of the consultation on where they want the metro to be in order to enable them to make that modal shift transfer. I hope that once we do get round to awarding a contract to the new franchisee, they...
Jenny Rathbone: The Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee visited the SOLCER house in Bridgend last week. Not only did we learn the results of the performance of this fantastic house as a power station, which is now generating more electricity than it’s using for nine months of the year, we also learnt about five different retrofits that Cardiff University and the other partners had...
Jenny Rathbone: 5. Will the Cabinet Secretary explain what services are available in Wales for mothers who suffer anal sphincter injuries in childbirth? (OAQ51126)
Jenny Rathbone: Cabinet Secretary, I took note of the comments you made earlier. As you will have attended part of the meeting that took place in Tŷ Hywel last week, you’ll be aware that this is a major problem and is being highlighted by a new charity called MASIC, Mothers with Anal Sphincter Injuries in Childbirth. It was really arresting to hear the testimonials of three women who had suffered really...
Jenny Rathbone: I think that this is a very important debate, because there’s only so far you can go with legislation. What goes on behind closed doors is impossible to police. And equally, if you start charging people to do the right thing, it has a differential impact on those on low incomes and people with lots of money can simply ignore it. People without a car can’t take unwanted furniture to the...
Jenny Rathbone: There is a role for the M4. If I’m travelling to west Wales to go camping with my kids, my cat and my canary, I’m going to, obviously, go by car—I’m not going to go by public transport.
Jenny Rathbone: But if you’re travelling through parts of Wales that are not connected by the rail service, you are obliged to go by car. So, obviously, we need the M4 to connect that east-west part of south Wales. But the M4 was not intended as a bypass around Newport or a commuter route into Cardiff. The new natural resources policy promises a modal shift away from roads for people and freight, aimed at...
Jenny Rathbone: What representations has the Welsh Government made to the UK Government about the roll-out of universal credit across Wales?
Jenny Rathbone: One of the things that’s absolutely designed to undermine the Welsh Government’s efforts to tackle poverty is the introduction of universal credit, rolled out across Wales. We’ve seen in parts where it has been rolled out that it’s led to an increase in rent arrears and numbers of people going to food banks. Now, the Scottish Government has got responsibility for the administration of...
Jenny Rathbone: Cabinet Secretary, I welcome the opportunity to ensure that we can deliver the important concessionary bus fare scheme, but I don’t welcome the suggestion from Plaid Cymru that we should keep the current system in aspic. I’m a discretionary bus pass holder, but it seems to me perfectly possible for 60-year-olds in work to not need a concessionary bus pass, whereas it seems completely...
Jenny Rathbone: We obviously have to get citizens more involved in looking after themselves rather than clogging up our GP surgeries with sore throats, for example, when they could easily self-medicate. But I just wanted to speak about the visits that I had with you to Pearce and Bowler Opticians in Pentwyn, where Clare Pearce and Francesca Bowler have piloted a real-time imaging connection with the Health...
Jenny Rathbone: 7. What consideration does the Cabinet Secretary give to sustainability when taking decisions in relation to transport? (OAQ51165)
Jenny Rathbone: I agree that the south Wales metro would indeed be an exemplar of sustainable development. Unfortunately, we have yet to be able to identify the funding for it. You’ll be aware of the correspondence with the future generations commissioner about the importance of taking into consideration our very own the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 when determining what constitutes...
Jenny Rathbone: I think that the Member raises an important issue here. I’m quite concerned to read that the Department for Transport expects this lifting of the toll to increase traffic by somewhere between 28 and 45 per cent over the next 10 years, and the savings of £1,400 a year for commuters mean that it’s more likely that even more people are going to be piling into Cardiff by car when we don’t...
