Gareth Bennett: I am, Llywydd.
Gareth Bennett: And yet the EU supports wood burning, and we have people in Wales facing potential health risks as a result of that wood burning. There were at least three fires in south Wales at a wood recycling plant last year alone. Natural Resources Wales, which you oversee, gave a licence to a biomass incinerator neighbouring residential properties near Barry Dock. There's black, acrid...
Gareth Bennett: How do you respond to the acrid, black smoke being suffered by residents near that wood-burning incinerator?
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for his statement today. As we've noted, the Valleys have always boasted dramatic landscapes, so it makes sense to utilise that as far as we can. So, I think the basic idea of a Valleys regional park is quite a sound one, and I wish you well with progressing it, and I hope it comes to fruition as something that people from outside the area can enjoy as visitors, and...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Minister, for your statement today. I agree it's a promising programme, and it'll be interesting to see how far you can progress it and how much impact it will ultimately have on your housebuilding targets. I'm glad you see a big role in this for the SMEs. I think that's a welcome development. You mentioned the skills shortage that we do have in the construction industry in general,...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Conservatives for bringing today's debate. UKIP supports their motion today. Like them, we acknowledge the problems with capacity in the Welsh NHS. Like them, we acknowledge that the pressures on the NHS are year-round pressures that do not just hit patient care in the winter months. And like them, we acknowledge the need for some long-term strategy, which here they're calling...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Lywydd. Leader of the house, I wanted to ask you some questions today related to— [Interruption.] I wanted to ask some questions today relating to the HS2 project. Of course, it isn't a devolved scheme, as we know, but it does have profound consequences for Wales in terms of spending and budgets. We know that the Barnett consequential is supposed to apply where we have major capital...
Gareth Bennett: Yes. Thank you for that answer, and I'm glad you appreciate the point. Now, flowing from that—. [Interruption.] It wasn't condescending in any way, leader of the house.
Gareth Bennett: OK. Thank you, Llywydd. Diolch, Llywydd. Sorry, leader of the house, I'll continue with the question. I hope you appreciate that there was no condescension implied. Now, I'm glad you agreed with me on that point. My researchers have done the calculations to get the Barnett consequential based on the Treasury rules, and we've come up with a figure of around £4.6 billion, which was what Wales...
Gareth Bennett: I suppose, leader of the house, there is an alternative rather than—I mean, this is an alternative way of looking at this—in that your economy Minister, Ken Skates, although he has cited possible benefits of HS2 to north and mid Wales, although fairly small in financial terms, he has also made the point that the HS2 project could have an adverse impact on the economy of south Wales....
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Minister, for your statement today. David Melding spoke first. He hoped there would be consensus. I think there is a fair measure of consensus, particularly on the plastic issue. This has become a matter of some public concern, with the recent tv programmes raising this issue, and I think many people today have talked about the problem of plastic packaging and what we can do about it....
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for bringing today's debate. The Minister, when he gave us his contribution—it was very interesting. The onus was very much on rehabilitation and, of course, a meaningful rehabilitation system is very necessary. Of course, it doesn't work for all offenders, but we have to put in place the infrastructure so that we can give people the opportunity to rehabilitate...
Gareth Bennett: Of course, yes.
Gareth Bennett: That's very encouraging, and thanks for enlightening us. I hope that system can be rolled out further across the prison system in Wales. In UKIP, we support some things that the Government is saying, like the privatisation of the probation service isn't really a principle that we necessarily agree with, and we don't think, looking at it, that it looks to have been much of a success. So, we...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the committee Chairman for bringing today's debate. Mike Hedges raised the issue of how much regulation we need in this part of the housing market, and of course we have to be careful not to overregulate, but I think he made a good case that we need a certain level of regulation to deal with the issue of old houses and their lack of energy efficiency. So, low-carbon housing is one...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, for the next financial year, it has been forecast that just over half of the Welsh Government's entire budget will be spent on health. However, when we look at opinion polls, it's clear that the Welsh people don't think that the NHS is working in Wales. In May 2014, after 15 years of the Welsh Assembly, the BBC and ICM Research asked people if having the...
Gareth Bennett: Clearly, your assessment of your Government's performance isn't really shared by the people of Wales, but one key issue that is clearly having a detrimental impact on the NHS is health tourism and immigration. [Interruption.] Yes. The UK Government has estimated that treating health tourists costs up to £300 million a year. There is also the pressure caused by mass immigration. The...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, First Minister, I thought you would do you your usual thing and trumpet on about all of the foreign nationals working in the NHS. And, of course, you normally add how Brexit will be threatening the health service. However, BBC research revealed that, as of September 2016, just 2.5 per cent of all NHS staff in Wales are from the European Union. In fact, more than 93 per cent of staff...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for bringing her Bill to this stage today. UKIP agrees with the general principles of the Bill. We've spoken in the past of our wish to ban unwarranted letting agency fees and this Bill does address that issue as part of its general thrust of making it easier for tenants in the private rented sector. Yes, there are currently many unwarranted fees. Leanne Wood mentioned...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Counsel General for bringing today's debate and to the Wales Equality and Human Rights Commission for their annual review. We in UKIP note the efforts to bring more disabled people into the workplace and bring more apprenticeships to women and ethnic minorities, among other laudable objectives that are outlined in the report. We have a number of amendments today—one from...
