Jeremy Miles: What role does the First Minister anticipate for modular houses in the process of fulfilling the need for homes in Wales?
Jeremy Miles: 9. Will the Cabinet Secretary outline how the Swansea Bay city deal will benefit Neath? (OAQ51068)
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that reply. At the start of the city deal process, it was understood that the projects comprised within it, which draw both on public funding and private sector funding, would be evaluated and approved separately. It’s emerged, during discussions that we’ve had—with David Rees, and others in the region—that there may have been a change of approach at...
Jeremy Miles: I’m not sure in what level of detail Dai Lloyd was able to read the committee report, but I suggest it might bear re-reading, because it represents a much fairer balance of the issues than he found himself able to represent in his speech. The rail franchise is an example of the tortured transition in which we find rail devolution: a franchise where the powers are held in Westminster, but...
Jeremy Miles: Can I ask for two Government statements? The first from the Cabinet Secretary for Education in relation to the steps taken by the Welsh Government to tackle lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender bullying in schools. I acknowledge the readiness of the Cabinet Secretary to meet with myself and Hannah Blythyn to discuss this issue. She’ll be aware of the report published in the last week by...
Jeremy Miles: We have to deal with the Government’s White Paper on the basis of one important principle—that everything now in the area of the Welsh language is subject to the principle of securing a million Welsh speakers by 2050. The challenge posed by the new strategy is transformational for all of us. If we are serious that we want to see the ambition of the strategy made reality, then we have to...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I think that the commission can be sufficiently independent to provide that service to the people of Wales. We are now, I hope, at the beginning of a period of development for the Welsh language and we must ensure that the powers and resources are available to us, through the Welsh language Bill, to achieve that.
Jeremy Miles: 6. Will the Cabinet Secretary outline how the Welsh Government is using emerging assistive technology in social care? (OAQ51105)
Jeremy Miles: Thank you for that. There are new developments, as the Minister will know, in wearable technology to support older people at home; tools to help manage medicine, to help use kitchen equipment and to alert carers; and voice-recognition technology and other developments. There is even robotic technology in Japan that helps with routine physical tasks at home. This can help people living...
Jeremy Miles: 6. What is the Welsh Government doing to increase the availability of housing in Wales? (OAQ51172)
Jeremy Miles: I thank him for that answer. Yesterday, I joined the Minister for skills at Hale Construction in Neath in my constituency to discuss modular housing. There’s a growing interest in off-site construction in meeting housing need in Wales. It brings sustainability benefits, with energy efficiency, and speed of construction. There’s also interest from overseas companies in particular in...
Jeremy Miles: May I welcome the Minister’s statement and welcome the fact that he intends to accept all of Aled Roberts’s recommendations? You mentioned in your statement how important it is to identify demand, and you have just acknowledged, in your last answer, how important it is to generate demand and to encourage that demand where it currently doesn’t exist or it isn’t as high as it perhaps...
Jeremy Miles: 8. What role does the Welsh Government have in supporting Welsh businesses to trade with one another? (OAQ51157)
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. Whilst it will always be vitally important to Welsh jobs that our businesses can supply businesses overseas, to export and to serve global supply chains, we should also, as he indicated in his answer, encourage Welsh businesses to trade with one another and to maximise the economic value in Wales and in our regional economies. What is the Cabinet...
Jeremy Miles: I wonder whether the Counsel General would accept this contention that regarding the devolution of justice and distinct legal jurisdiction as an entirely discrete competence is actually a false distinction, and that it is better seen as part of a continuum where this place makes laws, and, in order for them to be properly implemented and enforced, it’s a question of a continuum between the...
Jeremy Miles: Can I echo the thanks that other committee members have extended to witnesses who came and gave evidence to the committee? It was an interesting inquiry. I hope and believe its conclusions were useful, and I welcome the approach that the Cabinet Secretary has taken to the recommendations made in it. It’s always good to participate in a debate on buses to which the Cabinet Secretary’s...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement and welcome her references, which are not surprising, to the importance of closing the attainment gap and the focus on inappropriate early entry. Because of course, for many pupils, those whose improved performance is essential to closing the attainment gap, early entry is the right option. The ability, in the context of a standalone study and...
Jeremy Miles: How will the Welsh Government act to support the co-operative sector in the fifth Assembly?
Jeremy Miles: 2. What role does the Cabinet Secretary envisage for local authorities in generating and distributing energy in Wales? (OAQ51212)
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that response. There’s been a growth in recent years in the role of local councils in supplying energy as well, ranging from energy service companies, or ESCOs, to those with fuller supply arrangements, like Robin Hood Energy, of course, in Nottingham, which claims reduced bills, increased energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions. There have also been...
