Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Cadeirydd, I will bring them to a conclusion. The last point is the free ports—I think that’s a very interesting concept. I’m very pleased the committee wants to investigate this and I’m interested to hear what the economy Minister has to say about the free ports because that is an opportunity that Brexit could bring. Thank you.
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today. Of course, we all want to facilitate the building of more affordable homes, as Bethan Jenkins stated earlier. Some of the detail in this proposed Bill does seem slightly potentially confusing. Of course, I haven’t read all of the explanatory memorandum either. In fact, to be honest, I haven’t actually started it. So, I take on board...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, Japanese knotweed is a real headache for householders. We also have invasive species from the animal kingdom, which can be a real menace, such as the killer shrimp. This was discovered in waters off Cardiff Bay and in Eglwys Nunydd reservoir in Port Talbot in 2010. Now, the biosecurity sector has been monitoring the situation since then. I wondered if you had any updates on the current...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. I wanted to raise today the problem of drug abuse and particularly drug abuse carried out in public places. We’ve had several recent media reports relating to drug users fairly openly injecting heroin in the Butetown area of Cardiff. This also raises the related problem of discarded needles, which can be a real danger to children, which has also been highlighted by the...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, and I agree with your sentiments. These are human beings—nobody is denying that— and we need to help these people as far as we can to come off their habits. But, in terms of how to deal with it as an issue of public order perhaps, what do you think about the issue of stop and search and how effective it is in helping to provide a safe urban environment?
Gareth Bennett: Yes, and Supporting People, of course, we await what the funding for that will be in the upcoming budget, so I’m glad you mentioned Supporting People. But on a related issue on the drug theme, do you have any update on Welsh Government investigations into so-called safe injection zones, where drug users can inject in a medically supervised environment, and do you have any thoughts of your...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the various Members for bringing forward today’s debate. We do broadly support the motion, although there are some observations that do need to be made regarding the development of driverless and electric vehicles. Now, I take on board that we are going to progress with this technology, so the problems we have now may not be the problems of a few years’ time, but I do want to...
Gareth Bennett: Of course.
Gareth Bennett: Yes. I’m aware of the concept, but what bothers me with that concept is the transitional period, when you have both driverless cars on the road and you have passenger-driven cars on the road. How will they interact with each other? I’m interested in what the implications are for congestion and other road factors in that interaction, but it’s good that you raise that issue. The other...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for today’s statement. I think these are interesting ideas and very worthy of exploration and I think there has been a good vision that we’ve seen today, so I hope that a lot of this innovation does come off. As the Minister said, there is a pressing need for more housing, and hopefully the innovative housing programme will help to address that. But of course we...
Gareth Bennett: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. We had a panel from the Welsh Local Government Association in committee this morning, Minister, discussing matters relating to the draft budget. We all know that these are difficult times for local government funding, but one thing that would help councils to take decisions is some certainty of future funding levels. I know you have provided an indicative...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, thanks for clarifying that. Of course, that lack of information would make it very difficult, so I take it that the situation regarding the UK Government and Scotland is therefore different from the situation regarding the UK Government and local government funding in Wales. Continuing with the theme of the financing of local government, you’ve stressed in the past to the WLGA the need...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, thank you. That, of course—. I think you need to have some kind of thought to the possible disadvantages, which you’ve outlined, so I think that’s a sensible answer. Now, another development in England—[Interruption.] Another development in England is that at least one council has successfully set up a not-for-profit energy company. That is the Robin Hood Energy company in...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to Plaid for bringing today’s debate. The new system of universal credit is causing major concern among those who will be affected by it. We are seeing this from the results of the roll-out so far. So, in UKIP, we share the concerns. We agree with Plaid to that extent, and we think that Plaid are right to bring this forward as a subject for debate, although we don’t support...
Gareth Bennett: Yes. So, in general, we agree that this is a massive problem. The other issue that no-one’s talked about, which I don’t have time to go into, is that there is no meaningful way of retraining people through the system at the moment, and that is the crucial element. If you’re going to get people into work, why is there no real emphasis on retraining them and getting them into meaningful...
Gareth Bennett: 6. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to alleviate the increasing congestion on motorways and trunk roads in South Wales Central? OAQ51297
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for the latter part of the answer. I agree that integrated transport is crucial. One aspect I wanted to touch on was lack of roadside information. Many motorists have observed that on major roads in England there is often better information available on digital road signs than here in Wales, for instance estimated travel times to particular junctions, which can warn motorists of...
Gareth Bennett: I'd also like to welcome the new leader of the house to her new role. Her position is due, as we know, to a fairly major reshuffle. What we in UKIP would like to request is a statement on what are the projected costs to the public purse of this reshuffle. It is a biggish reshuffle. As stated, the number of Ministers has risen from 12 to 14. Given that there will be a cost in terms of spin...
Gareth Bennett: 8. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the health impact of the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013? OAQ51277
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for the answer. Given the high levels of obesity in Wales, I think that active travel is a very important tool in getting better public health outcomes. Now, I believe that departmental responsibility for implementing active travel has now shifted from the health department to the economy department. I wonder what are your reflections on the reasons for that, and how do you think this...
