Rebecca Evans: Thank you for those points. I’m very keen to ensure that we give local authorities the kind of support that they need, and the guidance that they need. So, it is disappointing to hear the example where perhaps the design guidance has not been followed to give an optimum cycle path, especially when having a new cycle path is a great thing, so let’s try and make it the best possible quality...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you very much for those points. Just to reiterate again the key importance that we see to infrastructure being seen in the round when we’re talking about building transport links and the transport citizens of the future. They absolutely have to include walking and cycling. I’m interested in what you say about the satellite car parking facilities. I think that’s fantastic,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for those questions. We’ve received all, now, the existing routes maps and I’ll be, shortly, formally accepting the final three of them. In terms of what we’ve learned, we’ll be supporting our local authorities in terms of developing those integrated network maps through a pilot project, which I’ve just recently announced. That will work with a number of local...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to explain the background to this legislative consent motion. I’ll begin by putting on record my thanks to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee for their scrutiny of the issues, and I note that the committee has not raised any objections to the LCM. The UK Government introduced the Policing and Crime Bill to Parliament on 10...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch. I’m pleased to be able to respond to this debate, and I thank Eluned, Mike and Dai for their contributions. This Government has been strongly focused for a number of years now on building a care service fit for the pressures of the modern world. We have brought forward groundbreaking legislation to reform care, based on a person-centred approach. We have protected social services...
Rebecca Evans: We are committed to promoting healthy and active lifestyles to prevent ill health and encourage general well-being throughout life. The programme for government will build on progress to date with measures such as the public health Bill, the Healthy Child Wales Programme and a new Wales well-being bond.
Rebecca Evans: I thank you for that question. You’re right to point out the success that we have had in recent years in terms of working towards our target of 16 per cent of people smoking by 2020. We’re currently at 19 per cent now, so I think we are certainly well on track to hit that target. Some of the real success we’ve had has been amongst children and young people. For example, in 1998, 29 per...
Rebecca Evans: Well, I’m sure that the Cabinet Secretary has heard your comments there, and this would be something that the Cabinet Secretary would deal with. In terms of my responsibilities, I’m really keen to see fall prevention improved in Wales, and this would be particularly of importance to people who suffer from osteoporosis as well, in terms of ensuring that they don’t have a really...
Rebecca Evans: Increasing levels of physical activity is a priority for the Welsh Government. We are addressing this through legislation, policies and a range of interventions. We are committed to developing a cross-cutting healthy and active strategy, setting out how we will maximise the impact of all that we are doing.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for that question. I think our active travel Act is a prime example of how we’re trying to take forward that particular part of the agenda in terms of trying to make Wales a really easy and accessible place—for walking and cycling to be the No. 1 choice of transport for shorter journeys. I met with our active travel board just this morning. I’ve been really enthused...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Members will remember in my recent oral statement I set out what the Welsh Government is doing to support active travel in Wales and what we’re doing more broadly to encourage people to become more physically active. I’m pleased to give my full support to the motion being debated today and I’m very grateful to Members for the genuine interest and enthusiasm...
Rebecca Evans: Local authorities are very aware of how seriously Welsh Government takes the implementation of the Act and one of the first things that I did after coming into post was to remind them of their duties under the Act, but it’s not just that this is a responsibility of people in travel; actually it’s a responsibility of people in local government right across. So, local authorities now are...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m very pleased to have this opportunity today to set out how the Welsh Government is working to improve the lives of children and adults with autism and their families in Wales. But before I do that, on a personal note, I’ll remind Members that before I came into politics I worked in the autism sector, so I understand the issues that people with...
Rebecca Evans: Well, this is where we’re heading, Mike, over the course of the speech. So, indeed this Act does put a special focus on autism. It puts a joint duty on health boards and local authorities to undertake the population needs assessment and to report on this by March of 2017. Autism and learning disabilities are identified as core themes of that work, and the assessment must identify the range...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, of course.
Rebecca Evans: There’s no difference in terms of what the First Minister said and what I’m telling you today. The point is, and what I’m illustrating to you is, the legislative and policy levers that we’ve put in place must be given a chance to bed in before we can take a decision on whether or not legislation must be introduced to fill in any gaps that there are. So, today, we’re not being asked...
Rebecca Evans: I’d certainly like to give the legislation and the new integrated autism service, which, as I say, only came into force in April of this year, a chance to bed in. But, I think, what is really important is that I met recently with NAS Cymru and I’ve asked them to work through their draft Bill, which I assume is the same as your draft Bill, with my officials, identifying areas that they...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I was pleased yesterday to introduce the Public Health (Wales) Bill, with its explanatory memorandum, to the National Assembly for Wales. The Bill affirms this Welsh Government’s continuing commitment to taking a lead on public health and doing the maximum we can to further improve and protect the health of people in Wales. We know the public health...
Rebecca Evans: I thank the spokesperson for the warm way in which she has welcomed the return of the Bill to the Assembly, and for her constructive comments this afternoon. I look forward to working with Members across all parties as we develop the Bill in the months to come. Your first question related to the fiscal implications of the Bill, and, at that point, I’d direct your attention to the...
Rebecca Evans: I thank the Member for those comments and obviously share your clear disappointment that the Bill wasn’t passed at the previous stage in the Assembly, but I’m looking forward to working constructively with you as we move forward on it. You mentioned several items that you are disappointed they aren’t addressed in the Bill, but of course, legislation is only one part of the way in which...
