Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I’m delighted to open this debate, which, perhaps, doesn’t have any link to the previous debate, apart from the fact that pylons are made out of steel. While we still have pylons, let’s make them out of Welsh steel, certainly. But, really, this debate is more around our electricity future, and how we plan, long term, for an electricity future that...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would like to reply to the debate and thank everyone who’s participated in it. It’s true to say that this is a debate that literally effects every constituency, because everyone has pylons crossing their constituency, and everyone has pylons where perhaps they wouldn’t want to see those pylons. May I start with the Minister’s response to the...
Mr Simon Thomas: In a second, yes. We need energy that is reliable, that is under Welsh control and is as cheap as people can afford, but also cheap enough that it can’t be disrupted by future changes. Fe ilidaf.
Mr Simon Thomas: What I do accept is that his Government has said the plant must shut by 2025, and that’s his Government’s decision—nothing that I’ve said in this Chamber. I droi’n ôl at y ddadl rydym ni’n ei chynnal yn fan hyn, sef ar beilonau, diolch i Rhun, a oedd yn ei gwneud yn glir iawn—ac mae pob un Aelod wedi derbyn yr ohebiaeth gan gyngor sir Fôn hefyd sydd yn rhoi—. Rydw i’n...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Presiding Officer. And I do move the motion, and I am trying to pick out the gems from the opening speech of this debate. It’s January. We have local elections in May. I think we’re going to have lot more of this. [Interruption.] Let’s all prepare ourselves. I’m sure that Plaid Cymru will bring forward a debate on our local elections at some stage as well. But I think that...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Presiding Officer. So, the lesson of that is never debate the national grid in the National Assembly. [Laughter.] Let’s get back to the debate and I think the point that I was trying to make was one to emphasise that, in fact, there is no evidence. There might be anecdotal evidence, but there is no actual evidence of a link between different rates of recycling collection, black...
Mr Simon Thomas: I believe that, in fact, in Swansea, where my mother lives, it’s a weekly compost food collection. My mother puts it out every week, anyway—perhaps that’s the problem. [Laughter.] [Interruption.] But, no, let me come to that point. All the other authorities have various times for recycling bags, plastic bags. I live in Cardiff and Ceredigion now, so I know the difference between the...
Mr Simon Thomas: 5. What steps is the Welsh Government taking regarding Aberthaw power station following the decision of the European Court of Justice last September? OAQ(5)0403(FM) [W]
Mr Simon Thomas: The court case was last September. RWE and the member state, which is the UK Government, were found guilty of allowing illegal levels of pollution from Aberthaw power station. Since then, there’s only been one letter by NRW to the company, and that hasn’t been responded to. There’s been no change to the permit for this pollution and Public Health Wales confirmed to me last week that...
Mr Simon Thomas: I welcome the Supreme Court judgment insofar as it goes. As somebody who has served in both Parliaments, I think it was the correct decision. A parliamentary Act took us into the European Union—the European Community—confirmed by a referendum. The reverse process is now under way; we’ve had a referendum advising Parliament what to do and Parliament now must pass an Act in order to take...
Mr Simon Thomas: I also welcome this debate, and I welcome as well the content of the Cabinet Secretary’s speech. I think the motion could have had a bit more detail to it, and I think the Conservative motion tomorrow, to be fair, has got more detail and more ideas, so we’ll be supporting both—let’s have a consensus to take this forward. I want to pick up where David Melding concluded, actually, on...
Mr Simon Thomas: Starbucks.
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Cabinet Secretary outline the support that the Welsh Government is providing following the closure of the Department of Work and Pensions’ office in Llanelli, leading to the loss of 146 jobs? EAQ(5)0117(EI)
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Minister for her reply. It’s not devolved, although we have long advocated in Plaid Cymru that job centres should be devolved, and the opportunity is missed in the Wales Bill to protect some of these jobs in Llanelli and elsewhere. I understand that the Llanelli back-office has been judged internally as one of the best-performing offices fairly recently. Therefore, there’s no...
Mr Simon Thomas: Can I first of all thank the Minister? I think, a fortnight ago, I asked her for a debate on tidal power, and with particular reference to the Hendry review and the Swansea lagoon. That debate is coming forward in Government time, so I’d like to thank the Government for listening there. I think it will, and I hope, allow the whole Assembly to unite in support of that proposal and then...
Mr Simon Thomas: I hope you wouldn’t listen to the kings Canute at the other end of the Chamber, who believe that they can manage our seas. There is an important fishery in Wales, which is the shellfish fishery, which is extremely important. What are the possibilities as we look at scallop fishing, for example, and mussels of course, to open fisheries that could be certified under a Marine Stewardship...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you very much, Llywydd. First, Cabinet Secretary, you will be aware of the restrictions relating to avian flu in Wales at the moment. If these are to remain until the end of February, then 90 per cent of egg producers in Wales will lose their free-range status. We will then have passed the threshold for keeping poultry indoors and we will lose the status that is very important to both...
Mr Simon Thomas: I am pleased that negotiations have commenced, because, if the current ban goes beyond February, then we will lose that free-range status. As you’ve just confirmed, 89 per cent of eggs in Wales are produced under that status, and that compares with 44 per cent throughout the UK generally. So, we in Wales specialise in free-range eggs and it’s very important for our egg producers. The...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, and I accept, of course, this is very much a fluid situation. I don’t think that we’ve had new cases in Wales this year, but that’s not to say that we won’t. There is, however, a real issue here because, if free-range status is removed from eggs at the end of February, then, quite frankly, consumers won’t know what they’re buying. With what’s been...
Mr Simon Thomas: 11. What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had with Natural Resources Wales regarding Aberthaw power station since 1 January 2017? OAQ(5)0089(ERA) [W]
