Lee Waters: I strongly support the call for the money to still be available to build a new school. There's no doubt that the pupils of ysgol Dewi Sant desperately need a new school, but I'm afraid that Carmarthenshire County Council have let them down badly in the way they've gone through a process. If you read the business case sent in to the Welsh Government, it's a masterclass in retrospective...
Lee Waters: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, I rise to praise the Government. I warmly welcome the announcement of £20 million a year for active travel investment. Having been the first Government in the world to set out a statutory requirement for long-term planning to get walking and cycling to be a more commonly used, everyday option, I think it's right that the resource is now beginning to...
Lee Waters: Cabinet Secretary, maybe I could bother you a little more. I wish you'd said in your statement what you said in the questions, because I do think you genuinely get the problem. I was slightly depressed that the statement puts a gloss on where we're at, and it seems to me that if we've got any chance of addressing the scale of change we need to carry out, it needs to start with an honest...
Lee Waters: 8. What assessment has the Counsel General made of how technology can be used to make better law? OAQ52098
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. I'm sure the Counsel General is aware of a recent competition that took place in the US between so-called 'lawbots' and law professors in a lawyering competition. Both the humans and the artificial intelligence were given four hours to read a contract and identify 30 legal terms and issues, including arbitration and confidentiality agreements. What was most impressive was...
Lee Waters: Thank you. Just to take you back a few seconds on the question of powers, because I'm a little confused. As I understand it, powers in areas—they are devolved areas—but powers that are currently held in Brussels as a result of this agreement will come to this Assembly, rather than Westminster. So, how can you say that no extra powers will come to this Assembly? They will.
Lee Waters: 7. What assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of how developments in artificial intelligence can help rural Wales? OAQ52114
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. I'd be grateful if you could confirm whether precision agriculture would specifically fall within the remit of that review. The Assembly's economy committee this morning has been holding hearings on the subject, and has heard how precision agriculture is already helping improve productivity on farms, as well as reducing environmental impacts. We were told very clearly...
Lee Waters: Just on the point of gambling, had we not reached an agreement, this would have been decided by judges. It's entirely possible that judges would have constrained and constricted the devolution settlement. So, in terms of gambling, would you rather put our powers in the hands of judges, or reach an agreement here where the powers will come to us?
Lee Waters: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, I'll keep my comments brief. I acknowledge what you're saying about not losing sight of the considerable success in the scheme, but inevitably, it's the sore thumb that gets attention. You said that work is ongoing to streamline the voucher scheme. I just want to raise with you the case of my constituents in Bynea in Llanelli, who've been very frustrated...
Lee Waters: It is high time that placemaking is placed at the centre of the planning system and I'm delighted also to see it mentioned prominently in the economic action plan. We've seen too many large housing developments created with no local shops, no community centres, no schools—essentially without souls. We've placed the car at the centre of our planning system for the last 30 years and witnessed...
Lee Waters: I certainly welcome the initiative that we're debating today to introduce planning guidelines for new developments to ensure that new buildings must include charging points and to make it easier for people to use electric vehicles in order to reduce carbon emissions, although it should be noted that electric vehicles by themselves don't reduce carbon emissions—it's simply a different source...
Lee Waters: 2. Will the First Minister commit to a review of how digitisation can support the better delivery of public services? OAQ52217
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. It takes 55 days to start the recruitment of a nurse, after they've handed their notice in, and we're spending some £59 million on agency nurses. NHS Shared Services estimate that, using existing technologies, they can take 30 days off that time, saving some £13 million. There are opportunities like this right across public services to free up resource to deliver...
Lee Waters: 7. What steps is the Cabinet Secretary taking to help schools to promote mental wellbeing? OAQ52241
Lee Waters: 7. What steps is the Cabinet Secretary taking to ensure that Hywel Dda University Health Board consults widely on proposals for hospital reorganisation? OAQ52240
Lee Waters: Thank you. I know the Cabinet Secretary will agree that early recognition is important in providing support for children and young people, and schools sometimes struggle to provide the most appropriate support, both in terms of having the skills and capacity within the school, but also in accessing services in the community and through CAMHS. Mental health charities and schools report that...
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. As the Cabinet Secretary knows, there's a lot riding on the results of this consultation, and from the countless conversations I've had, awareness is low, and it's fair to say there's a degree of suspicion that the health board have made their mind up in advance. They've only printed 10,000 copies of a quite hard-to-follow questionnaire, and they're making no envelopes...
Lee Waters: 5. What plans does the First Minister have in place to support the roll-out of 5G technology? OAQ52283
Lee Waters: Thank you, First Minister. 5G, as you know, will be crucial to enable much of the innovation that will come out of the fourth industrial revolution. Without 5G, things like driverless cars and the internet of things simply won't be possible. In China, they've already established 5G test beds in 16 cities and predict that 5G will be commercially available in 2020. We've currently got plans...
