Gareth Bennett: I would like to congratulate the Minister on his latest appointment. I slightly regret to remind him that he was once my local councillor on the old South Glamorgan County Council. There may be more regret on his part when I recall that this was some 30 years ago; I was, of course, myself a mere boy at the time. My first question relates to local government reorganisation. I see that Sian...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Llywydd. I’m sure Sian won’t mind if I pinch her question, which is: what is the timetable for local government reorganisation?
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for your comments. I’m glad to see that you will be pursuing a consensus and hopefully there will be a better outcome than the last proposals we had from your predecessor. But on that subject, what will your thoughts be regarding voluntary merger proposals such as we had between the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend a year ago, which were rather cavalierly rejected by Leighton Andrews?
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Minister, for that; that sounds hopeful. Another issue we have at the moment in many areas, particularly Cardiff, is proposed major housing developments, which are often opposed by local residents. Concreting over the green fields is a fairly apt description of the current proposals for Cardiff, which have been alluded to several times by the new Plaid Cymru regional Member. Now, the...
Gareth Bennett: We’ve had democracy in the UK for some time but it has evolved gradually over the years. There were two great reform Acts of the nineteenth century that considerably extended the vote and eliminated many rotten boroughs. Some Members may recall from their reading of history the example of Old Sarum in Hampshire where the only elector was said to be a cat. Well, rotten boroughs of a sort...
Gareth Bennett: What we have here with the National Assembly is, in some way, a bit of a marketing problem. Turnouts for the elections are considerably lower than those for the Westminster version. Politicians in Wales frequently observe that much of the Welsh electorate is often entirely ignorant as to which matters are devolved and which are not. The problem is essentially that the vast majority of people...
Gareth Bennett: Okay, well, maybe it’s not even that, but that perhaps emphasises my point. If I started talking about the Senedd in the Wetherspoon’s pub in Canton, few people would know what I was on about.
Gareth Bennett: Yes, sure.
Gareth Bennett: Okay, thanks, Lee; can I carry on? Right, the cultural bubble. The point is we are in a political bubble—I’m in it myself now as well—but we have to remain in some contact with the real world out there. [Interruption.] Okay, thank you. In the Wetherspoon’s pub in Canton, few people would know what I was talking about if I started talking about the ‘Senedd’, and I can tell you that...
Gareth Bennett: The steel industry in Wales is facing a crisis, which threatens jobs and livelihoods. So, I feel it is right and proper that we do deliberate on this issue in the Assembly. My UKIP colleague Caroline Jones has already pointed to the issue of tariffs and the way in which membership of the EU has constrained the UK’s ability to respond to Chinese steel dumping. This point is, as ever,...
Gareth Bennett: Go on. Go ahead, then.
Gareth Bennett: Yes, I am coming to that.
Gareth Bennett: Okay. That’s a good point, and I do address that later in my contribution. Right. The only addition I would make to the tariffs argument is this, and it goes along with what David Rees just raised: David rightly raised the important point—actually, it’s the same point that Bethan raised as well—that the Conservative Government in Westminster has itself acted and voted against taking...
Gareth Bennett: I’m just coming to the end, so, sorry. Their energy costs are relatively much lower than ours. So, we must look to regain control of our steel industry from the tentacles of EU bureaucracy, but we also need to legislate sensibly at home. Thank you.
Gareth Bennett: I think that the issue that the Plaid Cymru member raised are perhaps important ones. Transparency is paramount. Now, we know that lobbying exists in reality, in political circles, but we do have to make sure that it’s done legitimately, and we need to know who’s lobbying who at times. Are there any plans to establish a register of lobbyists here in Cardiff Bay?
Gareth Bennett: I won’t go into the issue of what the First Minister did or didn’t say in 2012, but there is an important issue here regarding the overdevelopment of Cardiff and major housing developments that have been proposed and are likely to go ahead that go against the wishes of most of the current residents of the city. Does the First Minister agree that there is a problem with the lack of...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for his statement. The success of Welsh teams and performers in the international arena is very welcome and is to be applauded. Such success is a great advert for Wales and will initially have an effect in encouraging greater sporting participation here. There is also much commercial merit in Wales staging major international sporting events. However, there is sometimes...
Gareth Bennett: While I understand the wish of Members here to facilitate the arrival of more refugees, we must also acknowledge that there is widespread concern in the UK at the number of economic migrants who are attempting to arrive in the UK under the guise of being refugees. [Interruption.] This will be about refugees. What I would like to ask the First Minister is what measures the Welsh Government can...
Gareth Bennett: I thank the Minister for her statement. The active travel plan is a good initiative in terms of its objectives. There could be long-term savings in the NHS budget if people in Wales are basically fit, as Dai Lloyd asserted, and, ideally, physical activity should be nurtured from an early age. On these principles I think we agree. The problem lies, as ever, in how well the aims of the active...
Gareth Bennett: I find it slightly strange that there are two Members here clamouring for an extra tier of bureaucracy. I don’t think it’s necessary. We had a recent attempt to introduce a directly elected mayor in Cardiff by a Labour councillor, Ashley Govier. It pretty much died due to lack of popular support. So, I would welcome what the Minister actually has said so far. If he could just further...
