Mike Hedges: Firstly, I'm sure you'd join with me in paying credit to the work that Steffan Lewis did in terms of taxation during his time here. The point I was going to make, though, is, yes, we have compared to England, but if you exclude London and the south-east of England, all of a sudden, we're not that different. We know that, in terms of tax raised, the south-east of England and the south of...
Mike Hedges: How can you prove that? It's very difficult, because you don't know what would have happened otherwise. And have you compared it with what's happened in tax transactions in the rest of Britain? [Interruption.] No, the rest of Britain, which is different.
Mike Hedges: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on PFI contracts with public bodies in Wales that are funded by the Welsh Government? OAQ53277
Mike Hedges: This is an issue I've raised regularly with the First Minister when he was Cabinet Secretary for Finance. I believe PFI schemes are expensive and a waste of public money, and are taking money out of revenue. Will the First Minister undertake a cost-benefit analysis for all of the schemes currently paid for by Assembly-funded public bodies in Wales, and then consider using invest-to-save to...
Mike Hedges: The size of contract decides who is able to bid for it. The smaller the contract, the better the opportunity for smaller, local companies. Bundling up contracts to make one large one only benefits the very large companies. Will the Welsh Government support using smaller public sector contracts to support local economies? This idea that you have one health budget—they purchase all the...
Mike Hedges: As has been said, there are substantial benefits to swimming in terms of health—fighting obesity, reducing the number affected by type 2 diabetes and, something we don't talk about often enough, helping people build muscular strength, especially after they've left hospital. It is, along with other exercise, an excellent way of reducing current and future health problems, and aren't we...
Mike Hedges: I would like to raise two issues and ask for two statements. Firstly, can we have a statement from the economy and transport Minister regarding road safety on the M4 between junction 44, which is in my constituency, and junction 46, which I believe is in the Minister's? There have been a large number of accidents, and locals have said about water drainage and the road surface in that area. ...
Mike Hedges: First, can I welcome the ministerial statement? Can I also welcome some of the comments made by colleagues earlier? I especially welcome distinguishing between homelessness and rough-sleeping. Homelessness includes those of no fixed abode who sofa-surf thanks to the kindness of friends and family, but in many cases they are just one night away from sleeping rough. There are also those who are...
Mike Hedges: When launching the mutual investment model, the First Minister, when he was finance Minister, said: 'The mutual investment model includes important obligatory long-term provisions to secure community benefits, to create apprenticeships and training places for Welsh workers and for sustainable development, in which the private sector partner supports delivery of the well-being of future...
Mike Hedges: Will the Minister make a statement on the effectiveness of the education consortia in Wales?
Mike Hedges: First of all, can I declare an interest in that my sister is profoundly deaf and a user of British Sign Language, and also, as president of Swansea Hard of Hearing Group? And before anyone says, 'Why not Welsh sign language?', sign language is descriptive. You translate the sign into any other language you are familiar with. It does not use an alphabet, but has signs to describe what someone...
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I again welcome this debate; I don't think we talk about the Welsh economy enough. We have, in Britain, London and the south-east of England amongst the wealthiest regions in Europe, and west Wales and the Valleys amongst the poorest. The only regions and nations to make a net contribution to the Treasury are London and the south-east. We also know that...
Mike Hedges: Will you take an intervention?
Mike Hedges: They also have two universities, and perhaps they could start using the benefit of those universities to help drive wealth.
Mike Hedges: I'm hoping my party will sign up for endogenous growth, because I think that's the only way we're going to take our economy forward. Do you agree?
Mike Hedges: Can I join with Nick Ramsay in talking about the importance of sign language, not just to parents but also to siblings—an opportunity to be able to talk to other members of the family? I said last week, it's the first language of many deaf people. Following on from what Nick Ramsay said, it's not only just about cost, it's about availability, and there is a serious problem of having people...
Mike Hedges: Will the Counsel General outline the steps being taken by the Welsh Government to ensure the continuation of funding for the further education sector post-Brexit?
Mike Hedges: Can the Minister state how much of the investment in the Welsh development bank comes form transaction capital, Europe, borrowing on the open market and other sources, including recycling money?
Mike Hedges: I heard Helen Mary Jones say she's making a different speech to the one she expected, following the statement by the Minister. I'm going to do something different—I'll be voting a different a way than I expected to, following the statement by the Minister, because I was going to vote in favour of the Labour Party policy if the Minister hadn't made the statement that was made there. I'll...
Mike Hedges: Can I finish this sentence? There would be no questions of changes to a care and support package being a cost-cutting measure. Certainly.
