David Rees: Thank you for that answer, Counsel General. The UK Government's approach to transferring EU law into UK law through the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will not give the protection we should have for maintaining the EU charter of fundamental rights after we leave the EU. Senior lawyers are very concerned that the UK Government's refusal to incorporate the charter into UK law will weaken...
David Rees: Can I concur, Cabinet Secretary, with everything that Mick Antoniw has said, particularly on the Trade Bill, which I think is very worrying, because it just reflects a continuation of the way in which the UK Government approaches this, and most of what Simon Thomas says—though perhaps I might challenge the fact that just because Damian Green left just before Christmas and there's been a...
David Rees: Will the Member give way?
David Rees: I thank the Member for giving way. Do you agree that it's disappointing that they've had the Welsh Government's and Scottish Government's amendments since Novermber, they've had our committee's amendments since November—they've had plenty of time to actually look at these and produce their own amendments by the Report Stage, which was actually yesterday and today?
David Rees: Leader of the house, about 12 months ago, the then Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children actually indicated that he was withdrawing Communities First funding from NSA Afan due to an audit report that he'd received. He went on to say that further financial investigation would be undertaken. We've yet to hear anything since that date, and I understand that it's now been transferred to...
David Rees: 4. What are the Welsh Government's priorities for delivering greater digital inclusion in Aberavon in 2018? OAQ51609
David Rees: Thank you for that answer, leader of the house, and I appreciate the work that's already been done, but it could all be undone if we're not careful. Clearly, digital inclusion includes reference to accessibility, and accessibility is twofold. One is infrastructure, and you've already answered questions on that, so I won't address that one at this point. The other one is actually accessibility...
David Rees: 2. How does the Welsh Government ensure that health boards fully engage in public consultations on future health services? OAQ51671
David Rees: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. I'm sure, as you agree, it's very important that they do engage with the public. AMBU has recently gone through three, or is going through three, public consultations—thoracic surgery prior to Christmas, and it's currently going through the major trauma network consultation and the boundary changes. I'm hearing that, in fact, the take-up by...
David Rees: Cabinet Secretary, I welcome the 111 approach in south-west Wales because, clearly, that is one way of choosing well, making sure we get the right choices and avoiding going to a GP out-of-hours unnecessarily. But we also need the GP out-of-hours with certain things that are necessary. As such, I'm aware that there are challenges facing these services because GPs aren't coming forward to take...
David Rees: Thank you for taking the intervention. Do you therefore agree that it's incumbent upon the solicitors who are acting, usually nominated by a developer, to actually ensure that the purchaser is fully aware of the consequences of leasehold?
David Rees: I think we'll find the same message being sent across the Chamber this afternoon from Members representing constituents across Wales, because we all have similar problems. As we all know, leasehold is a form of residential tenure that, perhaps, comes back to the feudal ages, where land was seen to be the place and those who owned the land were the dominant ones, but it has actually been...
David Rees: Now, to those who say a leasehold house is sold at a lower price than the freehold house, because that's what they would sell it as, that's been shown to be incorrect. It actually appears to be simply a way of exploiting the home buyer—to actually get somebody to think that accepting a leasehold was a normal way of buying a home these days. It's not, and it wasn't. On occasions, the...
David Rees: I was going to ask the question: did you get confirmation from them as to what 'absolutely necessary' means?
David Rees: Will you take an intervention, Minister? On that basis, will you also reassure that, the right to actually—if they decide to sell it on, even in those exceptional circumstances, if they decide to sell it on, the leaseholder has the first call on purchasing the freehold before they sell it to somebody else?
David Rees: What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the Ministry of Justice regarding services to support the rehabilitation of prisoners in Wales?
David Rees: First Minister, as you've already pointed out, the invest-to-save in my area, South Wales West, has actually been focused on the health service. ABMU has received money for the new record system, also money for the academy, for the out-of-hours service, to improve that, and also for re-looking at the governance of medicines and the management of medicines. It's that type of investment that is...
David Rees: I was actually going to ask the same question Bethan Jenkins just asked. We both attended a very emotional, very well-attended meeting last night of communities who are passionate about their community, who have seen services gone in their community, and as far as the Valleys taskforce is concerned—not one of the hubs, but on the periphery of two hubs, and it doesn't understand whether they...
David Rees: First Minister, I welcome your statement. I'll try and keep my contribution to the questions and to the topic, which is the trade policy, and not repeat referendum discussions, as we seem to be hearing elsewhere. First Minister, the trade policy, which I very much welcome, also reflects upon something that was raised earlier, because I was very pleased to see, on page 15, the reference to a...
David Rees: 8. What discussions has the Counsel General had with law officers in devolved nations in the UK with regard to the continuity Bill being brought forward by the Welsh Government? OAQ51727
