Julie James: The Member highlights a very important point. There was a case heard on 25 January, and a judgment is expected within the next two weeks. ClientEarth are working with Welsh Ministers, and other parties, to agree a consent Order, and it's not appropriate to comment further until that's concluded. We have very recently had an Assembly debate, on 5 December—I believe it was the Minister's...
Julie James: Well, thank you for those three issues, which were all three issues that the Welsh Government is extremely proud of. We're very proud of our countryside and we're very proud of our burgeoning film industry. I'm glad the Member had a chance to be involved in that. We make a series of statements about our success in both promoting our countryside and our film industry and I'm very happy to say...
Julie James: On the first one, it's very timely because the Minister will be making a statement in Plenary next week about homelessness, so I'm sure you'll be able to ask all of the questions you want to there. The health Secretary is indicating to me that the letter in question has been placed in the Assembly library, but he's more than happy to copy it to all AMs to make sure that they understand the...
Julie James: The Member raises two very important points there. The RCPCH does praise the Welsh Government for making commitments and recognises significant progress against many of the recommendations outlined in the report, including in relation to breastfeeding, obesity and protecting children from tobacco—all of which are things I know the Member has complained vigorously on for most of her...
Julie James: Yes, I'm sure the Cabinet Secretary can provide you with that information and copy it to all Assembly Members.
Julie James: In terms of the first one, yes, it's extremely good news and Aston Martin are an enormously beneficial member of the community, both in the Vale of Glamorgan and, actually, in Wales overall. And very much part of the reason they wanted to come to Wales was because they liked the collegiate way in which we engaged with them and also they liked the skills base surrounding them, and they also...
Julie James: We carry out consultations extremely fairly. Some of those consultations the Member has mentioned are not a matter for Welsh Government. The second one, for example, is a matter for the local authority.
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Today I want to update you on our plans to extend the coverage of high-speed broadband following the end of the build phase of the Superfast Cymru project. Through Superfast Cymru, we have fundamentally altered the broadband landscape in Wales, bringing superfast broadband to areas of Wales that simply would not have been connected. Since the project began in 2013, the...
Julie James: Members will be keen to understand how many premises in their constituencies and regions were connected through the Superfast Cymru project and how many premises were connected overall. I will release this information as soon as I have it. We are currently reviewing the latest data presented by Openreach and working through our robust testing and verification process. I aim to announce the...
Julie James: Thank you for that series of questions. We've considered at great length how we can solve some of the issues that Russell George rightly highlights, and we've gone for the series of lots in order to have very specific provision for specific types of community. That's why there's also a community lot in there, because we want to be able to ensure that we do get the right flexible technologies...
Julie James: Well, the Member raises a number of really important points, but let me just set the record straight, Deputy Presiding Officer, just on that rural point. I represent the centre of Swansea. There is no Superfast Cymru there. This is a market intervention, so it is primarily a rural or very rural programme. The whole of the superfast first-phase programme was done off the back of an open-market...
Julie James: The Member makes some very valid points, and I've rehearsed in this Chamber many times the frustration of people who are left at the end of the superfast project. The connection was always scheduled, never promised, but, nevertheless, after something's been scheduled for a very long period of time it can feel very much like a promise. I'm not trying to get out of that on a semantic point, but...
Julie James: Thank you for those important points. I will just address—. I didn't address, when I answered Adam Price, the 2,500 premises that are in this shadow area—apologies. So, I'll just do that, because Neil Hamilton raised a similar issue. There are several groups of people who we're trying to deal with. There is the group of people who were being promised Superfast Cymru and then have gone...
Julie James: Thank you for those important things. So, as I've said a number of times already, the structure of the new contracts will be very different to the structure of the old contract, so we will have defined premises. We're not, at this point, saying which premises, we're asking the market to tell us where they can get to with this money and how they can do it, and they are being asked to specify...
Julie James: Yes. Simon Thomas raises a number of very pertinent issues. I will update the Senedd as soon as I have the figures on the outturn, which, as I say, will be about 16 weeks from the end of the contract. As soon as I have them, I will of course update Members with those. That update will include numbers of premises connected in each constituency, and also the uptake figures. I just wanted to use...
Julie James: The Member makes an extremely important point. I've had a range of conversations already, both with the Cabinet Secretary for public services and with my colleague the Minister for Housing and Regeneration about what we can do. Certainly, a large number of house builders in Wales routinely put up less than 30 properties, but there is a range of things that can already be done: it can be...
Julie James: Well, addressing that last point first, of course we've been running the consultation with the market since last summer, because the build phase started in June of last year for this, and so we've had extensive consultation with the market about the structure of this and who might be available. So, I can assure you that this is not the first time that anybody in Wales who is interested in...
Julie James: Thank you very much for those comments. Just to emphasise yet again that rural areas are not being left out; they are the ones served by this contract. So, I can assure you that I've a postbag full of people who are very cheesed off indeed with commercial roll-out in the centre of Swansea who I cannot help at all, because this is a rural programme, delivering broadband to areas that would...
Julie James: Well, we're not—. We're not—. We're projecting the gainshare on the amount of take-up that we have, so we know exactly what that will be. And, as I keep enjoining Members, if you can get more people to connect, then I'll get more money. But I'm not spending money in anticipation of that; we're spending the money we know we have because we know what the percentage connection is. As that...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. There are two changes to this week's business. The First Minister will make a statement on 'Trade Policy: the issues for Wales' shortly, and later this afternoon I will be making a statement on the centenary of women's suffrage. Business for the next three weeks is shown on the business statement and announcement found amongst the meeting papers that are available to Members...
