Carwyn Jones: We are committed to piloting a social prescription scheme as part of our programme for government, and we are currently working with stakeholders to scope how the scheme could best operate.
Carwyn Jones: It’s absolutely correct to say that we need to look at holistic approaches to helping people when they feel depressed and when they feel isolated, and the Member’s right to point that out. I can say that the Welsh Government is providing £180,000 over the next three years to help develop volunteer-led networks that support lonely and isolated people within communities, similar to the...
Carwyn Jones: It’s absolutely right that good communication between health and community services will be crucial for the networks to be developed and established in order to spend the money that I referred to earlier wisely. We did launch our new three-year delivery plan for our mental health strategy, ‘Together for Mental Health’, yesterday, and the social prescribing pilot included in the delivery...
Carwyn Jones: This is a curious tale, Llywydd, which, I think, with your permission, I’d like to elaborate on. First of all, the letter received by Mohammad Asghar was dated 6 October. It apologised for the delay in responding—remarkable, given the fact the announcement was made on 3 October. I do wonder when that letter originally was sent, then, because, normally, we don’t get a response within...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, that is the aim, but it is not helpful when we have Government departments in Whitehall that are acting in this way. They knew that there was a public inquiry that would begin in the autumn of this year, and yet this data was—we had to ask for it, we had to ask for it; it wasn’t even provided, and we were not notified that it even existed. And then, of course, officials worked very...
Carwyn Jones: It is a fact that the blue route goes past many, many homes and would affect, we think, up to 4,000 people. That’s the reality of it. It would pass very, very close to their houses and, in fact, some buildings will have to be demolished, both commercial and residential. There’s no avoiding that, and I doubt very much whether any Government would be looked upon favourably if it were to...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I think the word that’s now being used is ‘nudge’. They want to nudge companies in that direction. What I can say is that as far as we are concerned as a Government, we’re not going to do that, nor are any of the bodies that we sponsor. At the end of the day, it’s a matter for companies who they employ. I don’t think it’s helpful to have lists of people that would be used...
Carwyn Jones: Well—[Interruption.]—the reality of the situation is that, if I recall, the—I think the Minister has intervened there, but I will answer the question. If I remember, the policies that she was pursuing in May would have meant that students would have been incentivised to stay in Wales, in the sense that their fees would have been paid if they’d studied in Wales but not elsewhere....
Carwyn Jones: Well, he was a member of the Conservative Party once, in the 1980s, and if you look at the statistics—and I can provide him with the graphs on this—inequality increased markedly—markedly—in the 1980s compared to any other decade. That was when people started to lose confidence in politics, when they saw inequality rise. I can say to him that, if we look at the level of employment in...
Carwyn Jones: I’m not surprised he doesn’t want to discuss his record in the 1980s, but there was one phrase there that I picked up on—the creation of a low-tax economy. Now, I thought his party’s line was that they didn’t want to see any tax devolution to this place. So, he must make his mind up as to what he means by that. I think there is merit in looking, for example, at the way corporation...
Carwyn Jones: The purpose of the group is not to re-fight the referendum; the result is clear. The purpose of the group is to advise Government—not take decisions, but advise Government—on potential ways forward. For example, looking at models like Norway—can that be adapted? Are there other models? These are the things we need to look at. Nathan Gill is a member of that group. He is an MEP, that’s...
Carwyn Jones: The Welsh Government will shortly publish its next draft budget and the provisional local government settlement for 2017-18.
Carwyn Jones: Well, it’s a matter for local authorities, of course, to ensure that there is sufficient funding for their schools. We give them, of course, the funding and we expect them to spend an adequate amount of money on their schools in order to create good education in their areas. But, of course, the responsibility lies with the local authorities for funding their individual schools.
Carwyn Jones: Yes, I do very much welcome where Pathways to Success schools have improved with the support of Schools Challenge Cymru. I’d also like to congratulate Pentrehafod and Morriston, which I understand have recorded their best ever sets of results while taking part in the challenge, and the Member is rightly proud of the comprehensives in his area.
Carwyn Jones: I believe that half of it, roughly, has been allocated. It’s a matter, of course, for local authorities to come forward with schemes to replace or, indeed, to repair school buildings, and I’ve seen them up and down Wales—from Rhyl to St Teilo’s in Cardiff. I was in the Deeside sixth not a few weeks ago, and we see that new buildings are going up all over Wales to provide facilities...
Carwyn Jones: Well, of course, we expect local authorities to allocate money for local services such as education. It’s for them to justify the amount of money they spend on education. It’s true to say that there are some schemes that we run centrally as a Government, but we would expect all local authorities to fund schools in such a way that we continue to see the improvement that we’ve seen over...
Carwyn Jones: The road safety framework for Wales sets out the actions we and our partners will take to achieve our casualty reduction rates on our roads. The framework will be reviewed once again following the release of the 2016 casualty statistics.
Carwyn Jones: The Member mentions Cwm Gwaun—I’m not aware of any footpath there. I know that there is a problem with Newport to Llwyngwair, if that’s what he’s talking about. In terms of Newport and Llwyngwair, the work is progressing on that. On the issue that he himself has raised, may I write to him on the issue with greater detail so that he can ensure that those details are available to his...
Carwyn Jones: Absolutely. The point of the active travel Act is, of course, to encourage more safety, that much is said, but also, of course, to ensure that local authorities see walking and cycling not just as forms of recreation but as modes of transport, so that more people can be tempted out of cars. Of course, that’s of benefit not just to traffic but to themselves, as individuals, in terms of their...
Carwyn Jones: Of course, one of the things that the Wales Act will give us is power over speed. On some roads, it would be worth, in my view, considering whether the speed should be reduced in order to safeguard cyclists. There is a risk in cycling, because, obviously, a cycle isn’t as large as a car, but, obviously, we don’t want people to be at an excessive risk. Others would not agree with me on...
