Helen Mary Jones: Well, I'm slightly disappointed, Llywydd, that the Minister didn't hear what I said, because I said that I very much hope that this would be successful, but I think there are concerns. The Minister has to acknowledge that there are concerns. Aston Martin is saddled with a $1 billion debt, it finished last year with just £138 million in cash, and that doesn't sound to me like a company that...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answer. Of course, he'll be aware that it's almost a year to the day since the Schaeffler automotive factory in Llanelli announced that it would be closing with the loss of 220 jobs—and not just jobs, but good-quality jobs, jobs that could sustain families productively. The Minister will not need me to tell him there are real concerns in the sector about...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm sure the First Minister will agree with me that it's slightly curious that the Conservative Party always talk about tax as if it was something dreadful. If we didn't pay taxes we wouldn't have public services. We all know that we need investment in our public services going forward. In response to Mike Hedges, the First Minister mentioned the air passenger duty and the aggregates levy. I...
Helen Mary Jones: I'd like to ask the Trefnydd for two statements today. First, with regard to the outstanding issues with regard to the census. I know that Welsh Government shares the concerns on these benches that Welsh citizens should be able to identify as black and ethnic minority Welsh without having to go through the inconvenience of having to write handwriting in a separate part of the form. I'd like...
Helen Mary Jones: I rise to support this legislation today with a happy heart, and I think that the work of the campaigners, some of whom, as the Deputy Minister said, are here, has finally paid off. I think for those of us who've been fighting this battle for a very long time, this will be a happy day for us, a happy day for Welsh families, and most importantly a happy day for Welsh children. I don't wish to...
Helen Mary Jones: It is one thing, I think, to have a process of scrutiny—it is, of course, the Government's right not to accept opposition amendments. I'm surprised that Janet Finch-Saunders appears to be surprised by that. In my opinion, the Deputy Minister has bent over backwards. So, to a certain extent, I disagree with her. I am disappointed that the children of Wales will not be protected as from...
Helen Mary Jones: No, I'm sorry, Darren, I don't have time. I might in a moment. We passed this in principle 18 years ago, so any suggestion that the Welsh Government is rushing this—. Again, I feel—I'm rather disappointed that it's taken so long. Janet Finch-Saunders again mentions the New Zealand survey, which I pointed out last week was nothing more than a survey, and it was bought and paid for by the...
Helen Mary Jones: What discussions has the Minister had with local authorities in Mid and West Wales about how they could work with third sector organisations to provide services?
Helen Mary Jones: I'm sure, Minister, that you'd agree with me that one key component to tackling fuel poverty is ensuring that people are able to get the right advice to, potentially, switch users—something that, particularly, a lot of older people find difficult—and also to see what grant schemes, what support, might be available. You'll be aware that the Welsh Government, from the new financial year, is...
Helen Mary Jones: The First Minister is, of course, right to point out that many of the levers for tackling child poverty do, at present, reside with the Westminster Government, and I was pleased to hear what he had to say about the discretionary assistance fund in his response to Mike Hedges. But I wonder if the First Minister will agree with me that the most effective way to deal with children growing up in...
Helen Mary Jones: Will the Counsel General take a brief intervention?
Helen Mary Jones: I'm very grateful to you. Would you agree with me that one area where this conflict is increasingly obvious is with regard to the family courts? Welsh public policy is increasingly taking a child rights based approach, and the family courts are taking a slightly different one. And would you agree with me that devolving justice would enable us to tie those knots together and to enable children...
Helen Mary Jones: May I also thank the Minister for the statement?
Helen Mary Jones: Thank you very much indeed for the statement and for the advance copy. Similarly to Russell George, I'm very happy to give the commitment of these benches to supporting the principles behind the developments of these metros. We all, of course, want to see a more prosperous, greener and more equal Wales. I'm a little bit surprised, in the Minister's statement, that he talks about putting an...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm also very glad to see that the Welsh Government has come around to our side of the argument with regard to Wales getting its fair share out of the HS2 spend. The Minister may or may not remember a Welsh Government spokesperson saying some years ago—and I quote—when we were talking about the Barnett consequential: 'This is embarrassing guff from Plaid Cymru. They've got it totally...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm very pleased to move this amendment, speaking in the place of my colleague Leanne Wood, who is unable to be with us this afternoon. I'd like to begin by saying that I'm very grateful to the Minister for accepting our amendment, which was tabled in the spirit hoping that she would. I want to associate myself with all the positive things that the Minister has said...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. The Minister, yesterday, in his statement on transport, set out some very high-level aspirations. He talked about the metro as having a greater focus on connectivity, decarbonisation and integration, and I'm sure that these are aspirations that everybody in this Chamber would support. However, Llywydd, I remain concerned about some gaps between aspiration and delivery, and if...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answer. It still doesn't tell me when we will actually know whether it includes the Amman and Gwendraeth valleys, and I invite him to see if he wants to be able to give us a bit more of an idea about that now. But if I can take him to another commitment that he's made as part of an agreement with our party, he will recall that, in the final budget deal...
Helen Mary Jones: I can understand the Minister's aspirations to make the £2 million go further—that makes a certain amount of sense, but it begs the question about time and about when this is actually going to be delivered. The Minister is right, of course, to highlight the issues of market failure. It's likely that market failure will continue to take place, both in some of our poorer communities and...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm grateful, I must say at the beginning, to Russell George for agreeing to accept, I think he said, our amendment 2 and our amendment 7, because the motion as it stands slightly reads like something that one might have seen in the 1980s, which implies that we can solve all of our economic woes by building more roads. I'm sure, from what Russell George has...
