Carwyn Jones: I entirely agree with that, and being able to engage with organisations is hugely important. It’s right to say that open-mike sessions haven’t taken place for some years. However, I did travel around Wales offering myself up as part of a masochism strategy, taking questions from members of the public, and, like all Members—well, I trust all Members—I hold surgeries in my constituency...
Carwyn Jones: Well, these are matters that were looked at by the standards committee in 2013—not a committee that’s run by Government—and it came to the conclusions that it did. Just to re-emphasise, Ministers do not meet with commercial lobbyists; Ministers, of course, do meet with organisations, such as charities and so forth, in order to listen to their views. But it’s certainly not the case...
Carwyn Jones: Well, the neonatal network works with health boards to provide flexible, responsive staffing to meet the fluctuating needs for specialised neonatal services and to address any shortcomings in staffing levels. To support the development of our workforce, we have announced an £85 million-package of investment in the education and training of healthcare professionals in Wales, including...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I expect those numbers to grow over the course of the next five years, and I expect every neonatal unit to be properly staffed in that time. It is true to say that recruitment has been a challenge; it will continue to be a challenge in the light of the vote of a fortnight ago. But we will continue to say to those who want to come to work in Wales that they are welcome, as well as, of...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I can say that the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee are working with local services in order to look to provide the services that people would expect. We did announce last year that new perinatal mental health services would be set up across Wales. They are developing well, with 30 new specialist staff being recruited, backed by £1.5 million of new investment.
Carwyn Jones: I saw the report, but, in common with a number of businesses that I’ve met over the course of the past week and beyond, access to the single market is now crucial for them. They are reassured that the position is stabilising within the UK, as they see it, but the next big question for them will be: will there be free access to the single market without tariffs?
Carwyn Jones: The leader of UKIP seems to be saying that, with the UK out of the EU, we need to get Germany to do the work for us in the EU, which is a curious scenario, may I say? The only model that exists that offers free access to the single market is the European economic area model. There is no other model. That has with it, of course, connotations in terms of the free movement of people, but...
Carwyn Jones: What I can say to the leader of UKIP is that ‘The Guardian’—I’m not sure that’s a paper that he reads often—a few days ago said that it would be the case that women would now be heads of Government across the UK. I have to say that that was corrected by ‘The Guardian’, saving me, hopefully, from radical surgery. [Laughter.]
Carwyn Jones: Yes, I can. I expect that promise to be honoured. We will of course have a twin-track approach. We’ll have our own negotiating team based in Brussels to see what we can achieve via that route as well. It’s complementary to the UK route. There are two issues that are red lines for us: firstly, free access to the single market—that cannot be compromised on—and, secondly, that every...
Carwyn Jones: Well, it’s a matter of timing rather than principle, but our position is very, very clear. The situation that we will face in years to come is that there may be very different sets of criminal law in Wales compared to England. It will be possible, for example, for somebody to be arrested in Wales for an offence that’s not an offence in Wales but is an offence in England. It will be...
Carwyn Jones: Well, two things: the Secretary is meeting with the management buy-out team today and, of course, he has an urgent question that we were content to accept, of course, in relation to the events of the weekend. I did have a senior official on Friday—[Interruption.] I had a senior official on Friday based in Mumbai who has reported back to me. The issue now for Tata is this: we have put a...
Carwyn Jones: The outstanding performance by our national team in Euro 2016 has presented a great opportunity for us to represent Wales abroad. I know that the Football Association of Wales Trust is already planning to use that success as a catalyst to grow the game further across the country.
Carwyn Jones: I know that Sport Wales are working with the governing bodies of various sports, such as the Welsh Rugby Union, Hockey Wales and the FAW, to develop an investment programme for 3G pitches. I know as well that they’re developing a blueprint for sport and recreation facilities in Wales to support our drive to facilitate regular participation in sport and physical activity, and to make sure...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I think the same is true—. I am told by my colleague, the Member for Llanelli, that Carmarthenshire is in the same position—run by his party, of course. The reality is that councils are in difficult positions financially, but they must ensure that they don’t price communities out of facilities in those communities. The Member makes a fair point, actually, which is that we need to...
Carwyn Jones: These are the issues that we’d love to explore with sports governing bodies. The Member has refreshing candour when she says she had no interest in football until now. [Interruption.] Well, converts are always welcome, of course. It’s difficult to underestimate the publicity that this has given our nation. I was in Paris on the night of the semi-final. I was in Mametz the following day....
Carwyn Jones: We have a range of programmes aimed at increasing employability, improving skills, and supporting people of all ages and abilities to enter and progress into employment, and, of course, they play a fundamental role in reducing inequalities and tackling poverty.
Carwyn Jones: Well, the Member is right to say that the new campus will be a superb facility for the people of Aberdare and the surrounding area. We are in regular contact with the post-16 sector with regard to the planning of provision; that includes the planning of part-time and adult community provision delivered by the FE sector. Delivery plans are also collected and scrutinised by officials to ensure...
Carwyn Jones: It’s been difficult over the past financial year; that’s quite true. But we’ve also ensured that new centres have been opened across Wales—from Pontardawe to Llanelli to the capital city—in order to ensure that there are places where people can go and use the Welsh language, particularly in those areas where the language is no longer the language of the high street or generally...
Carwyn Jones: That’s true. We have invested heavily, of course, in ensuring that the language is used widely in schools. We know that there are good examples like Gwynedd, like Ceredigion, where there are centres that enable children to be—the word in Welsh is ‘trochi’; it doesn’t quite work in English, because it means to get dirty in English, if you translate it literally. [Interruption.]...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, with pleasure. Our twenty-first century schools programme will see investment of £1.4 billion over the five-year period to 2019. All 22 authorities will benefit from this investment, which sees the rebuild and refurbishment of over 150 schools and colleges across Wales. To date, 105 projects have been approved within the programme.
