Gareth Bennett: [Inaudible.]—the economic reality of austerity, which you described in the first part of your answer, but it may be true that excessive pay at the top of an organisation may mean that people at the lower levels are not being paid enough. And we do know, from an investigation carried out in 2017 by BBC Wales, that most councils in Wales are paying some of their staff less than the real...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, April is the month where we often experience a rise in grass fires. The vast majority of grass fires in Wales are, unfortunately, started deliberately. Can you outline what the Welsh Government is doing to educate people about the dangers of starting grass fires?
Gareth Bennett: I thank you for that answer. I think that that is a good approach, and I look forward to more information on that from the Government as and when you have it. Now, most of these fires, by their nature, tend to occur in rural areas or above Valleys communities. Most of the firefighters involved are, therefore, retained fire officers, meaning that they are people who have other jobs as well....
Gareth Bennett: Again, yes, there's much in that answer that I would welcome. Grass fires, obviously, are a menace. They can destroy habitats, they kill livestock and they even threaten properties and businesses. First Minister, you did mention the educational side in an earlier answer, which I welcome, as I say. Is there a need for a cross-cutting strategy, going across the various ministerial portfolios,...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, we've had a couple of debates recently about rugby, which is always an interesting subject. However, the cricket season starts in a week's time, so today I wanted to turn my attention to that. Now, as you'll be aware, Glamorgan have encountered some financial difficulty in recent years. Of course, they agreed a deal with the English cricket board not to host test...
Gareth Bennett: Yes. Thanks very much for that commitment, Minister, and I'm sure meeting with the English cricket board would be a good idea, and I look forward to a positive outcome from that. I note that, in 2018-19, the Welsh Government allocated £600,000 to Cricket Wales to support both community and high-performance cricket across Wales. Of course, the popularity of cricket has grown amongst people of...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, of course. It's important to foster interest in many sports, and I'm sure we all wish the Welsh women's team well in their endeavours. The ECB have recently announced a new city-based T20 competition, if I can return to the cricket subject. It is good to see that Cardiff is one of the host venues. One of the problems I think Glamorgan have in appealing to people from all across Wales,...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd.
Gareth Bennett: Thank you. First Minister, if I could raise with you the issue of council tax, I think it's interesting that we are, this month, marking 20 years of the Welsh Assembly, because this 20-year period hasn't been particularly great for Welsh council tax payers. If we look at the figures, band D council tax rates in Wales have increased by 244 per cent since 1996. This is much higher than the...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, thank you for that answer. I'm glad that you recognise that the act of voting at the ballot box isn't an act of God, it's something that people with informed opinions actually do, and so you do take heed of the decisions, because that isn't the line you generally take as regards the vote of the people in Wales during the Brexit referendum. Now, going back to the precise issue of council...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. [Interruption.]
Gareth Bennett: Thank you. Diolch again, Llywydd. Today's debate is on the subject of working from home, which hopefully Members will agree is an interesting topic and worthy of some Chamber time in which to investigate it. We in UKIP think that, in general, allowing more employees to work from home is a good objective, as long, of course, as that is what the employees themselves want to do. So I think we...
Gareth Bennett: That is in essence what today's motion is about. It isn't particularly a partisan subject that needs to divide people along party lines. Today's motion is more about trying to find a consensus between the different parties here, as of course we always attempt to do in UKIP. So, I am approaching the amendments today with that in mind. The Government seem to be in broad agreement with our...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thanks to the participants in what was an interesting debate. Thanks to Russell George, who said that the Conservative group broadly supported the aims of today's motion. And as I said in my opening remarks, I understood the logic of their amendments and we were supportive of their amendments. Now, Russell did raise some of the potential difficulties of...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd—[Interruption.]
Gareth Bennett: First Minister, sometimes I return to subjects here in the Chamber that I have enquired about in the past, because it appears that nothing is happening. We seem to have reached this stage with Cardiff Central railway station. This is a major transport hub, of course, not just for people in Cardiff but for people throughout Wales, and users will know that there is a lack of room at the...
Gareth Bennett: Thank you for your engagement with the question and thank you for your engagement with many of the questions that I've asked you. Now, unfortunately, I'm not here to scrutinise Chris Grayling and the UK Government; I'm here to scrutinise you and your Government. You have made this case before of the lack of investment, which—I appreciate the point that you're making. Unfortunately, it...
Gareth Bennett: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the recent increase in knife crime in South Wales Central?
Gareth Bennett: 4. Will the First Minister outline the Welsh Government's plans to protect listed buildings in Wales? OAQ54139
Gareth Bennett: Yes, thanks for that, and I look forward to progress reports from Cadw. We did have a slightly different emphasis from you when you were answering a question from Nick Ramsay recently about a particular planning issue in his area. You said at that point that you were thinking about reviewing the rules around planning appeals. The question did relate to listed buildings, so in light of that...
