Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you very much, Llywydd. As Members will be aware, I'm sure, the Auditor General for Wales is a Crown appointment made on the nomination of the whole of the Assembly under section 2 of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2013. As the committee with delegated responsibility for overseeing arrangements relating to the Wales Audit Office and Auditor General for Wales, the Finance Committee has...
Mr Simon Thomas: May I thank those Members who have paid tribute to Huw Vaughan Thomas for the important work that he has done in restoring the role of the Auditor General for Wales? The importance of the role is reflected in the legislation that has been passed by this Assembly, the 2013 Act, which establishes the independence of the Auditor General for Wales and ensures that the appointment, although an...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I'm very pleased to be able to put forward this motion today in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. The debate gets to grips with one of the major social, economic and cultural issues of our time, namely the outward migration of young people from many of our communities, and the number of communities across Wales that are suffering because of that outward migration....
Mr Simon Thomas: However, it does need to be said that this trend is not limited to the western part of the country, or even to Welsh language communities, though it is most pronounced and obvious in those communities. If we take Cardiff, for example, there has been a 12 per cent net inflow of young people into Cardiff, whereas, as I've said, in Ceredigion, we've seen an almost 20 per cent outflow. Something...
Mr Simon Thomas: You don't look that old. [Laughter.]
Mr Simon Thomas: Diolch, Llywydd. It wasn't a bad debate, at the end of the day, was it? I think we did get some good ideas from all parts of the Chamber, I agree. I would exclude one contribution from that, and I'll come to that in a second. But I do believe that we had some positive ideas for how we can strengthen our communities. Obviously I do not, and we do not, accept the amendments, but we certainly...
Mr Simon Thomas: The fiscal framework is an important mechanism, but it is not a policy decision around fair funding. It's simply a mechanism that could deliver fair funding, but needs a policy decision at Westminster to actually input into that. So, I think I'd put that in its context. Darren Millar also talked about transport issues for young people. I agree completely with him in principle on that. Access...
Mr Simon Thomas: I'm grateful. I don't think I used that figure—I think it came from the Conservatives—but you've put it on the record, in that regard. Let me turn to some of the individual ideas that were put forward in the debate. Lee Waters, when he talked about the foundational economy, I agreed with him completely. And I think when Rhun talked about health and social care—that is an aspect of the...
Mr Simon Thomas: Last week, I staged an event here with the Women's Institute on food poverty. Jig-So from Cardigan were in attendance, Food Poverty Alliance Wales were there, as were the Trussell Trust. It’s clear that the Women’s Institute want to lead a campaign on food poverty over the next few months, and there is an issue related to women here, because it is they who primarily miss out on meals in...
Mr Simon Thomas: Can I draw the leader of the house's attention to the fact that today we established a cross-party group on gambling in the Assembly, and ask her to consider a Government debate on gambling? We've just had the Gambling Commission proposals around fixed-odds betting terminals, which surprised many of us who expected the upper limit to be much lower than the £30 that has been proposed. It...
Mr Simon Thomas: No, it is a debate.
Mr Simon Thomas: It's certainly a debate now. The point I wanted to raise, and I know that the committee hasn't had much time to look at this, but there is specific provision in the Measure for that which the Chair has just outlined. It would be possible for the Government to designate, through regulations, anyone to be captured under the Measure who is in receipt of more than £400,000 of public funding. Not...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Just to echo that the Finance Committee has considered the regulations before the Assembly today, as well as the regulations made through the negative procedure, which are part of the package, as the leader of the house said. The Finance Committee is content with these powers being given to the Welsh Revenue Authority, but I do think it's right to draw...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. You’ll be pleased to know that David Melding has asked most of the questions already, so I will focus perhaps on our approach to all of this. It’s true to say that there won’t be many champagne corks popped following today’s statement, but they should be, because this is an important statement. For the first time, we are stepping out of...
Mr Simon Thomas: What a surprise.
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Llywydd. If I can remind you, Cabinet Secretary, some 18 months ago you started the consultation process on the nitrate vulnerable zones in Wales and the need to tackle that issue. Just before Christmas, you announced that you would be looking for voluntary collaboration to improve the environment around nitrates. Plaid Cymru supports that, because we’re of the view that we can...
Mr Simon Thomas: I’m grateful for that explanation and I’m looking forward to some urgent action, therefore, and some recommendations being brought forward, and I agree with the Cabinet Secretary that the agricultural industry also needs to look at its own practices in terms of the release of slurry into some of our rivers. But what this issue highlights, of course, is that the European Commission, and...
Mr Simon Thomas: I'm grateful for that political commitment if we don't get the legislative one later on. Today you also announced your five core principles for the future of land and those who manage the land. This includes a new farm support scheme to replace the basic payment scheme. But, we all know that if the money that does get reallocated as we leave the EU is allocated to Wales in anything...
Mr Simon Thomas: I've recently been in correspondence with you on planning issues around a development that's very significant in the mid and west region at the moment, which is the expansion of poultry units. We've seen a lot of applications coming in for free-range poultry. It's a response to the market; it's a response, partly, to Brexit, I think. It's something about the industry preparing itself for the...
Mr Simon Thomas: Of course, if I were to move from Ceredigion to Pembrokeshire I would save £300 per annum straight away, but I would live in a county where a national intervention has been required by the Welsh Government in terms of children’s issues and education, and where there have been a number of failings over the past few years because of decisions taken locally to keep council tax low, not just...
