Jenny Rathbone: Following last year's bus service improvement consultation, what is the Welsh Government's strategy for securing a sustainable bus network serving the whole of Wales?
Jenny Rathbone: The world's first traffic light was installed outside the House of Commons in 1868, to control the flow of London carriages. Unfortunately, because it was gaslit, it blew up a few weeks later. Since then, I think we've been struggling as to how we're going to manage congestion on our roads. It seems to me that, unfortunately, I'm slightly depressed, like Lee Waters, that we still seem to be...
Jenny Rathbone: Yes.
Jenny Rathbone: Because our climate change obligations oblige us to look at the ways in which we're going to make modal shift, to be less polluting and less destructive of our environment. We have a completely different attitude to road users than we do to rail users. Why is it that rail users are not rioting, like the Rebecca rioters did, when they get these above-inflation increases every single year to...
Jenny Rathbone: Well, I agree. I completely agree that it's a complete disaster in terms of air pollution that we aren't, at the moment, seeing any electrification as far as Swansea, but I think the number of people who can be carried on public transport is infinitely greater than the number that can be carried on the road. It costs about the same amount of money to build a mile of road as it does to build a...
Jenny Rathbone: Leader of the house, I was very pleased to host the exhibition in the Pierhead this afternoon to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act 1967, but I think Assembly Members present were all somewhat shocked to hear just how little progress has been made in this last half-century in dealing with the inequalities of abortion access in Wales. Because we seem to be...
Jenny Rathbone: I agree with Siân Gwenllian that we need to look at new ways of dealing with the austerity budget that the UK Government hands down to us, but I want to just focus on the particular problems that Cardiff faces as a result of the way in which the education improvement grant has been absorbed into the overall rate support grant. Not only is our local authority having to cope with a reduction...
Jenny Rathbone: This report was published in October, and I'm obviously keen to understand why we're only debating it now. I appreciate you have to wait for the Government's response, but as I'm not a member of the committee, it is important that we are all absorbing the evidence that you're gathering, because we are talking about half our whole budget, and therefore we all have a duty to ensure that the...
Jenny Rathbone: 8. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the sustainability of current bus services in Wales? OAQ51635
Jenny Rathbone: My constituents are looking forward to the trams and the light rail systems that the metro will bring, but in the meantime people rely on buses to get themselves to work and to school. Cardiff Bus is the municipal bus service and they are being subjected to aggressive assaults by private companies that are simply cherry-picking the routes that are the most profitable. The Transport Act 1985...
Jenny Rathbone: Leader of the house, we've heard that the First Minister is very keen to ensure that we have a sustainable, publicly supported bus service in Wales, but we've also heard that, in many parts of Wales, including in Cardiff, we are seeing an increasingly deteriorating current bus system. It was back in May that the Government completed its bus consultation. I appreciate that you're waiting for...
Jenny Rathbone: What is it about the UK Government that makes it so difficult for them to come up with timely decisions in relation to Wales? I don't expect you to answer that, but, you know, the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales are geared up for this, but the UK Government has yet to transfer the powers to enable us to award the preferred bidder status, agree the contract, and still have a new...
Jenny Rathbone: Of course, the biggest wake-up call on plastics is the plastic we now find in our fish as a result of the pollution of the seas. I'm very pleased that you mentioned that food is about people, their health and well-being, and it's not about adulterated chicken being washed with chlorine or artificially fattened pigs and cows plumped up so that their backs break. I absolutely applaud the food...
Jenny Rathbone: On this matter, I was disappointed to see that, at the GP briefing breakfast, which you also attended, there were plastic straws provided for eating yoghurt, and I wondered if you can change that to make them paper, because we need to ban plastic straws; they are one of the worst offenders. In addition to that, the canteen is no longer serving vinaigrettes in bowls or jugs, but they've now...
Jenny Rathbone: This is a useful short report to highlight some of the benefits, but also some of the hazards, potentially, ahead. I think it's fantastic that we've got 10 local authorities in the Cardiff capital region collaborating together, because obviously when we're trying to sort out our connectivity and other transport arrangements we need to make for our communities, we need to work together. It's...
Jenny Rathbone: Last week, a barrister acting on behalf of the Welsh Government admitted in the High Court that the Welsh Government's inaction on air pollution was unlawful. Whilst the fact is to be regretted, I very much welcome the courage of the Welsh Government in acknowledging the problem, because that is very much in contrast to the UK Government, which is still in denial about the extent and...
Jenny Rathbone: Diolch, Llywydd. I disagree with Janet Finch-Saunders that we should simplify the postal vote verification system. We have to make sure that the person who's casting the vote is the person who's entitled to do so. But I do wonder whether—. I agree that many votes are actually put in the bin because they haven't filled in the form properly, and I wondered whether we can consider sending back...
Jenny Rathbone: Okay. On the questions of STV, will turkeys vote for Christmas? Because those who have been elected under the single, past-the-post system are unlikely to want to change the system to another one. Therefore, how else could we proceed on this matter?
Jenny Rathbone: 7. What support will the Welsh Government provide for school governors in the next financial year? OAQ51650
Jenny Rathbone: You'll be aware, Cabinet Secretary, that over £0.25 million that used to go to Governors Wales is not going to be forthcoming in the next financial year, and they're meeting on 16 February to decide whether to close their doors. Governors Cardiff is continuing to exist, with a £50 levy per school, and that may be possible in an urban area where schools are relatively close together, but,...
