Gareth Bennett: Thanks for you assessment of how it works with the call-in system. I'm glad you've given your thoughts on that. How about the issue of how effective the local development plans are as a measure of setting local needs, because there has been criticism of the LDP system itself in recent years?
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, planning is an issue that is often contentious. One of the things that you've done in forming your Government is that you've moved planning to the department for local government and housing. I think that move is theoretically a good thing: to have the same Minister responsible for housing, for local government and for planning. This could, hopefully, lead to...
Gareth Bennett: I see that you need to make things more effective in terms of your objectives as a Government. Sometimes, that may cause conflict with the need to be responsive to public opinion. So, to look at a case in point that arose recently—one of many that I could raise—we have the Hendy windfarm development proposed for an area of mid Wales near Llandrindod Wells, a windfarm of some size that was...
Gareth Bennett: I think, First Minister, of course, theoretically, you're right, there is a need for balance, but I'm not sure how much balance there has been in this particular case. Of course, we're not necessarily just looking at that case. But I do think there is an issue with local democracy at stake here, and I do feel that the people who live near Hendy do need more than warm words; they actually need...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Minister, for your statement today. Obesity is an important issue, as all of the speakers have made clear, and it's going to become more and more of a problem, financially, unless we can get to grips with it. I think I don't disagree with anything that anyone else has said in the Chamber today, but different people are coming from different angles, and it's going to be a difficult job...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to welcome the Minister to her new role, and also welcome back the Deputy Minister to his. One of the policy areas of your department is the staging of major events. I was interested to hear the answers that you gave in response to question 1 from Mandy Jones, and the supplementaries. Of course, Mandy was perfectly correct in her point that, although it's very good...
Gareth Bennett: Yes. I think that's sensible because you can sometimes get claims about these events leading to massive infrastructure and massive sporting participation later on. We had these hyperbolic claims about the London Olympics in 2012, and they don't always actually lead to those outcomes. So, certainly, we would be wise to look at these things carefully. To look at another possible event—if you...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for clarifying that point, and I look forward to future announcements. Now, there's been some talk in recent years of a major conference centre being built in Cardiff. Whether there's enough demand for this when there is already one being built in Newport, I don't know. There may be a danger of oversupply and, of course, we have to be wary of white elephants sometimes being...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd, and thanks to Plaid Cymru for bringing today's debate. This isn't, I would have to add, a debate that is particularly welcomed by us here on the UKIP side of the Chamber, since our view is that criminal justice is rightly a matter for the UK Government. We don't really go along with the aspirations of Plaid Cymru that criminal justice should be a devolved issue. It seems that...
Gareth Bennett: —I'm not taking any interventions, thank you—partly caused, of course, by mass immigration, and, of course, because the Home Office no longer has much choice over who can actually come and settle in the country, many foreign criminals, particularly from eastern Europe, have taken the chance to settle here and carry on with their criminal careers in the UK. So, we have the figure that 11...
Gareth Bennett: No, I'm not taking any, Rhun. Thanks very much. Of course—
Gareth Bennett: Of course, we can try to deport these people—
Gareth Bennett: —but we are up against court challenges, and really we won't be able to get rid of the large foreign element in our jails—
Gareth Bennett: —until we are out of the European Union and the European Court of Justice, and preferably also out of the European Court of Human Rights. Labour and Plaid are both committing themselves today to prisoner voting. This seems a bit odd, since we are having an inquiry on precisely this subject on the communities committee at the moment, but we have only just got into this inquiry, so why Labour...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, Cardiff's bus services are in a crisis. The council-run Cardiff Bus lost nearly £2 million last year and is haemorrhaging money. Cardiff Bus has responded by cutting routes and raising fares, which affects passengers, and by downgrading pay and conditions for its own staff. It still hasn't filed its accounts for last year. What are your reflections on...
Gareth Bennett: I'm glad that action has been taken already and I'm glad that your transport Minister is already on the case and there is going to be discussion with Cardiff Council. But problems with transport in Cardiff have been going on for some time, so I think perhaps I can give some pointers—I know he's a very able Cabinet Minister, but perhaps I can offer some pointers on this occasion. It's...
Gareth Bennett: I'm interested in what you say about the joint transport authority. I think that's something, and it's better than simply saying, 'It's a matter for the local council', which is the kind of response that Ministers here tend to usually hide behind. But it is interesting, is it not, that when you campaigned for the job of First Minister, one of your policies was to agree with Jeremy Corbyn...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Minister, for your statement today. We did have an inquiry on the problems of homelessness and rough-sleeping on the communities committee last year, and as David Melding mentioned, in many cases it is a complex picture, and you've alluded to this in your statement today. So, sometimes it needs complex and cross-cutting approaches to solve these problems, and I was heartened by your...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, a fortnight ago, you restated the Welsh Government’s intention to legislate on removing the defence of reasonable chastisement. I won’t ask you if you’re still intending to bring in a smacking ban, since what you said last time was quite clear. You stated that you were determined that the ban would get through the Assembly during this Assembly term and...
Gareth Bennett: Well, I thank you for your clarity on the issue. Now, the results of the official consultation on the smacking ban showed that opinion was fairly split on this. Half of the respondees felt that legislation would protect children’s rights, but half felt that it would not. It seems that, at best, the smacking ban is a law that will split the Welsh electorate down the middle. Now, this is the...
