Gareth Bennett: We may ask for different portrayals of Wales, but an old adage is that no good art was ever created by committee. Thank you.
Gareth Bennett: 5. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on political and citizenship education in Welsh schools? OAQ51858
Gareth Bennett: Yes, thanks for the answer. I think that, with the possibility of 16 and 17-year-olds getting the vote in Wales, there may be a stronger case now for improving the provision of political education in the school system. Indeed, many young campaigners who want the vote have called for that. So, I wonder, going forward, is there likely to be any change, do you feel, to the provision of political...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Chair for her statement this afternoon. I'd also like to thank the committee staff for helping to arrange the inquiry and the witnesses that have so far appeared before us. I think we're all in broad agreement that we want the Assembly to be a welcoming environment for everyone who wants to work here. That includes people of different genders, of different ethnicities and...
Gareth Bennett: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the Children's Commissioner for Wales's report on wheelchair accessibility in schools in Wales?
Gareth Bennett: Early inflammatory arthritis clinics are one method of improving access to treatment for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. What steps are you taking to facilitate the greater provision of these clinics?
Gareth Bennett: I add my thanks to Bethan's thanks to Hefin for bringing the debate today. When we did look at different Members' debates on the Business Committee I was quite keen that we had this debate, so I'm pleased we're having it. I think it is scandalous that these fairly arbitrary charges can be imposed without much in the way of consultation, transparency or the right of legal challenge. As a...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for today's statement, and also for the briefing earlier today. The Welsh Government's proposed local government reforms have been long in the making, as we've heard from other contributors, and yes, we are on the third Minister who has now worked on them. So, the current Minister has inherited a difficult issue, and I think that most of the players in local government...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Minister, for your statement on the environmental impact and how it will be assessed. Could I just make an additional point that hopefully you'll look into or get the NRW to look into, which is that some residents have reported that there is a lot of noise and smoke outside of the agreed 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. testing window? So, could you investigate that those testing times are being...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, I wanted to return to the issue of local government reform, which we were discussing yesterday. There were various issues that came out of that. Mike Hedges, your colleague, raised the subject that there will still be considerable population variations, even after your proposed reorganisation, with different councils having widely different populations. Rhondda...
Gareth Bennett: I'm glad to hear that you're open to discussion and I hope that we have a good conversation, involving many players, about where we're heading with the local government reform. I think, to be fair, whatever you do, there is going to be an element of controversy. You have to do something. You can't make an omelette without cracking an egg, so to speak. But, to return to specific...
Gareth Bennett: Well, Blaenau Gwent is an interesting one, because the proposal now is to merge it with Monmouthshire and with Torfaen. Now, last time, we had the issue that there was a voluntary merger proposed by Blaenau and Torfaen—I think Lynne Neagle mentioned this yesterday—but that voluntary merger was turned down. So, I think this is an instance in the past where one of your predecessors wasn't...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to Simon Thomas for his work as the lead Member on this Bill and also to the people who participated in the consultation. We heard a considerable amount of evidence on the equality and local government committee on this Bill and we reached a certain degree of consensus on the committee about the need for greater powers for the public services ombudsman. In UKIP, we are generally...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. [Interruption.]
Gareth Bennett: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the provision of a bus station in Cardiff city centre? OAQ52011
Gareth Bennett: Yes, thanks for the answer. I think a transport hub is what we do need, and I think a crucial part of that will be the provision of a coach station as part of the overall plans for Central Square. Do we currently have any guarantees that a new coach station will be part of the finalised project?
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Conservatives for bringing today's debate. We in the UKIP group agree that there is a problem with both recruiting and retaining teachers. To some extent, the issues relating to this problem are common to both England and Wales, but there are also some issues that are peculiar to Wales. In some ways, the Welsh Government has made life harder for itself in terms of...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for her statement today, and thanks for the commitment that you've outlined. As David Melding and Simon Thomas have indicated, we have had a bit of a battle to get to this point, but at least there are now some commitments from the Government. Now, we've had quite a few discussions here in the Chamber on this subject during this Assembly term, and, of course, we all...
Gareth Bennett: We, in UKIP, were happy to support the general principles of this Bill and, as I said in the earlier debate here, we did so because we need to protect the provision of affordable housing in Wales. This Bill will have the effect of reversing the reclassification of housing associations as public bodies, with the resulting impact that that would have on public sector borrowing. So, it's...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Conservatives for bringing today's debate. The proposed local government reorganisation—or rather the latest version of it—is a big issue, and it's bound to be controversial. Whatever change a Minister decides to make to the composition of a local council, somebody will complain about it. So, to be fair to the Minister, as I said at the last Minister's questions, whatever he...
