Llyr Gruffydd: The report's findings are a vindication of the campaign launched three years ago, when I and Plaid Cymru colleagues first went public on this, alongside Wrexham Supporters Trust directors, when we launched our campaign at the Racecourse ground. Back then, of course, we argued that a national football museum should be based in Wrexham, the spiritual home of the game. It's where football...
Llyr Gruffydd: Now, the study, of course, as the Minister has said, has pointed to the fact that there is no sport heritage policy, guidance or strategy here in Wales, as there should be, and the recommendation to create an expert panel to develop a national vision and an implementation framework are things clearly to be welcomed. Now, it is important, despite this, that the National Museum Wales jigsaw is...
Llyr Gruffydd: Would you take an intervention?
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for taking an intervention. One of the main findings of this report, of course, is that disabled people are falling further behind and being denied the right to independent living. Now, you listed some of the things that you've done. Another thing that you have done as a Government, contrary to your own party policy, of course, is to do away with the Welsh independent living grant....
Llyr Gruffydd: I welcome the Public Accounts Committee's report. I think it's right that they've scrutinised NRW in the way that they have done. There are issues certainly that need to be addressed, but scrapping the whole organisation is not the answer, as far as I'm concerned. It won't help. With the instability and insecurity ahead with Brexit, the last thing we need is the huge organisational upheaval...
Llyr Gruffydd: The principle of accountability in politics is an important one, of course, and it’s clearer in some situations than others these days. Too often, over the past two years, we have seen politicians not only making promises when they’re not in a situation to achieve those or fulfil those promises—I’m talking about Brexit, by the way, if you’re not sure—but we also see Ministers, and...
Llyr Gruffydd: We've heard, of course, about the scale of the decision to be taken: the single largest investment decision that this Government, or any Government since the dawn of devolution, has taken. But, of course, if that decision is made by the current First Minister, then it won't be him that'll be in a position to be held to account for it or to have to justify it and its wide-ranging consequences....
Llyr Gruffydd: Yes, okay, very briefly.
Llyr Gruffydd: Wow. I don't, and I'm glad that you reminded me of that. [Laughter.] Look at what else we could achieve if it transpires to be much higher than that. We could build the Swansea bay tidal lagoon, and I know there'd be one person here who'd be supportive of that; we could bring all homes in Wales up to a required energy efficiency standard; we could electrify 175 miles of train lines in Wales....
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd. It’s my pleasure to move this motion in the name of Plaid Cymru. The Government, of course, recently published a consultation document, 'Brexit and our land’, that outlines how the Government will support land management and agriculture in the period that we are facing—the post-Brexit period. The Government’s intention is to scrap basic payments to...
Llyr Gruffydd: The situation of having extreme price volatility continues to impact heavily on farm businesses. It impacts profitability, of course, but also future investment decisions, and weather events—and, you know, we've seen plenty of those with the wet winter and the dry summer this year—animal and plant disease, geopolitical strife, these are all factors that have a bearing on production costs...
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, in essence, it's the people taking the financial risk; it's the people in the front line who are doing the farming and not people being rewarded just because they happen to own that land. My concerns as well around the way the Welsh Government has presided over this process were heightened during the budget scrutiny that we had with the Cabinet Secretary a few weeks ago. I asked whether...
Llyr Gruffydd: Diolch. Time is short, so I'll just pick up on one or two points made. You talk, Cabinet Secretary, of the lack of resilience to the weather. There may be something in that; there's always room for improvement. But, of course, the nature of farming means that you're always susceptible to weather events no matter how resilient your business is. Is that measuring stick one that you use in...
Llyr Gruffydd: I will conclude just by referring to and thanking Helen Mary Jones for her contribution. She’s quite right in saying that we need a stable network of family farms in order to deliver the economic, environmental, social, cultural and linguistic outputs that we all want to see, but we therefore need an element of basic payment in order to maintain that stability, and I would urge everyone...
Llyr Gruffydd: 5. What assessment has the First Minister made of successes in the health service in North Wales since 2009? OAQ53064
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, I hope that you are clear as to what needs to be done, because the service is in special measures, and has been for some three and a half years now, under the direct control of the Cabinet Secretary. In that time, we have seen the Tawel Fan scandal and mental health services in north Wales. We have seen the C. difficile scandal and a number of people dying from that condition during...
Llyr Gruffydd: I want to return to 2016, when the environment Act was passed, from where the need for these regulations emanated. Now, I have to say that the long-term target of cutting emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 was dated at that point when the environment Act was passed in 2016, because the basis was the UK Climate Change Act, which has just celebrated its tenth birthday, and there was no new...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Members will know, of course, that I was appointed Chair of the Finance Committee earlier this year, so this has been a new experience for me, and scrutiny of the draft budget has been a fascinating introduction, one could say, to the work of the Finance Committee. Of course, the way that the draft budget is scrutinised was changed last year, and this is the...
Llyr Gruffydd: Whilst we were reassured that the Cabinet Secretary is working with his Scottish counterpart to learn from what's happened in Scotland, and although we recognise that the fiscal framework provides protection for us in the first year, this work needs to be done correctly and done well, or there will be serious implications for us in Wales from not getting this right. Last year, the OBR told...
Llyr Gruffydd: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, you told the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee last week that the common agricultural policy and basic payments don't give the outcomes that we need to see. What evidence do you have that what you're proposing in 'Brexit and our land' will?
