Mike Hedges: Thank you for that response. Do you, Counsel General, agree with me that this is a further step in restricting ordinary people’s rights and access to justice through the courts system?
Mike Hedges: This is the sixth budget I have spoken on in the Senedd. Unfortunately, they have all been made against the austerity agenda of first the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Westminster Government and now a Conservative Government. How long will the austerity path be followed until it suddenly dawns on the Government that it is not working? As Adam Price said earlier, this is the first lost...
Mike Hedges: Certainly.
Mike Hedges: I don’t share your view. What I would say is that if you put that cap on, you end up with wards running short of nurses, and you end up with hospitals short of doctors. The problem is we need agency staff. The challenge to the Welsh Government and the health service is to get to a situation where we don’t need agency staff because we’re fully staffed. Why are you, as stated by a former...
Mike Hedges: 7. Will the Minister make a statement on grade I listed buildings in Wales? (OAQ(5)0079(EI)
Mike Hedges: 10. Will the Minister provide an update on the ‘A Regional Collaboration for Health’ programme? OAQ(5)0080(HWS)
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for confirming that there are 493 grade I listed buildings in Wales. We also know that they have a variety of different types of ownership. I personally take an interest in the great chapels of Wales created in the nineteenth century. I believe we need a strategy to protect all the grade I listed buildings in Wales. Will the Cabinet Secretary look into creating...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank you for that response? I am also supportive of the principle of closer working between the two health boards and the two universities. I want to highlight the importance of Morriston Hospital as a regional centre for the area covered by the two health boards. What progress is being made on greater use of the hub-and-spoke model that has worked so well in renal services and could...
Mike Hedges: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on progress being made towards achieving the Welsh housing quality standard? OAQ(5)0328(FM)
Mike Hedges: Thank you, First Minister. Can I congratulate the Welsh Government on the success of reaching the Welsh housing quality standard, and can I also say it’s an example of an ambitious target that has been financially supported and that has improved the lives of many, many people, including many of my constituents? But can the money currently allocated to upgrading council properties, when all...
Mike Hedges: The majority of children in poverty live in households where one or both parents are working. The cause is not just low pay, but also working practices that some of us thought had disappeared with the ending of the second world war. We’ve seen the growth not only of zero-hours contracts and low guaranteed hours contracts, but also a huge growth of agency workers and self-employed...
Mike Hedges: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on primary care provision? OAQ(5)0345(FM)
Mike Hedges: Can I thank you for that response, First Minister? I've received a number of complaints since Christmas regarding primary care provision, basically in two practices within Swansea East, about not being able to make an appointment, being told to phone back the next morning, doctors unwilling to make an appointment, difficulty in getting vaccinations, unwillingness to make home visits. I also...
Mike Hedges: Firstly, can I say I very much welcome the Llandeilo bypass? We are allowed new roads in south-west Wales as well. The budget needs to be put into the context of policies being pursued at Westminster. Although almost all of the Welsh Government’s budget comes through the block grant, cuts in expenditure in England generate, via the Barnett formula, cuts in the Welsh block grant. What...
Mike Hedges: Can I bring a note of caution to discussions here? Remember that this is a tax that is volatile if you’re cyclical, and is highly affected by changes in the economy. We saw what happened to it in 2008 and 2009 when the British economy collapsed and the amount of stamp duty then went down. So, I’m very pleased to see it being devolved, but it’s not all win-win, and there is a level of...
Mike Hedges: 3. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the education consortium covering the Swansea area? OAQ(5)0061(EDU)
Mike Hedges: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Invest to Save?
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that response? And can I ask the Cabinet Secretary why she believes that the ERW consortium area is more suitable for education improvement within the Swansea area than either the former West Glamorgan area or the Swansea city region?
Mike Hedges: Would you accept that the pound has been devalued by between 18 and 20 per cent and that devaluation has given the economy a push, or do you expect us to devalue the pound by 18 per cent each year?
Mike Hedges: I want to highlight the importance of sign language to the deaf community. For many deaf people, it is a major method of communication. I should perhaps declare an interest as my sister is profoundly deaf. Will the First Minister join me in supporting the creation of GCSE first-language sign language, and for it to be treated as the equivalent of first-language Welsh and English at GCSE?
