Julie James: On the first very important matter, the Cabinet Secretary certainly heard your representations, and if you have specific instances that are leading you to the conclusion that that consultation is too short, then I suggest you write to the Cabinet Secretary and set those out. He's indicating his willingness to consider them. And on the second, I think you can hear the Cabinet Secretary...
Julie James: Thank you for those three topics. On the first one, I can't help but feel that the internal workings of the Labour Party are not a matter for the Senedd, although if the Member is that interested I can supply him with an application form, if he wants to join the party and take a further interest. On the second point, the Cabinet Secretary was here to listen to the important points that...
Julie James: The Member raises an extremely important point. As part of the Welsh Government's wider work to reduce inequality and mitigate the impact of poverty, we are exploring a number of ways of having a scheme to supply feminine hygiene products free of charge to, say, food bank users and in schools and so on. The work's in its early stages. We are monitoring a lot of the work that's being done...
Julie James: Well, we publish all of the information that the Member is using there very regularly. The Cabinet Secretary was here to hear your concerns, and you raised a number of important points there that are a matter for some discussion between myself and him on the equalities issue, for example, and the take-up in different communities and so on. We've certainly heard that and I'd be very happy to...
Julie James: The Member raises an extremely important point. The M4 around Swansea has experienced a number of difficulties recently on an ongoing basis, which I'm sure we all know, especially those of us from that area. I know the Cabinet Secretary is looking at a range of measures on that and he will be updating the Senedd when that piece of work is done.
Julie James: Yes, indeed. The Member raises a number of very important points there. Electoral powers will be devolved to the Assembly in the Wales Act, and they're not yet enforced, as I'm sure Members are aware. We have been working very hard with the Cabinet Office in looking at the law of electoral registration, to make it easier for women to register anonymously in circumstances of domestic violence...
Julie James: Thank you for raising those important points. And I don't doubt the Member's sincerity in wanting to support the organisations that he set out, but there are a number of underlying causes, not least the continuing austerity programme of the UK Government in cutting the budgets to this place, quite severely, for ideological reasons. It's very difficult to separate the two things out in the...
Julie James: Yes, the Minister for public services, who chairs the Valleys taskforce, will be giving an update to the Senedd after this current round of meetings, and there's another one on Monday, for example. A number of us are members of the Valleys taskforce, and it is absolutely the intention of the Valleys taskforce to report back regularly to the Senedd, giving the update, as the Member sets out.
Julie James: The Member makes a very good point. Obviously, we can't comment on individual school closure programmes by individual local authorities—it's a matter for them. The Valleys taskforce isn't a thing in itself—it is the way to co-ordinate Government action across the Valleys areas. So, the Member's quite right to highlight that we need to be able to set out what we're doing across each of...
Julie James: The Member raises two very important issues there. On the first, we are aware of the emergency services access issues in relation to Shell Island during periods of high tides especially. It is a matter for the directors of Shell Island to pursue discussions with Snowdonia Aerospace directly to reach amicable arrangements, and we are encouraging both parties to explore all the options...
Julie James: The Member is—. I can't comment on the language he uses. It's clearly not an acceptable thing to say and it's not true either. We expressed a statement of sympathy for a fellow European country after a terrorist attack. The countries you're talking about are unfortunately embroiled in war situations.
Julie James: Thank you, Llywydd. I was simply saying everybody in this Chamber expresses their sympathies to all communities caught up in war—of course they do. That's quite different from expressing specific sympathies in specific instances of terrorist attack that we would do to any country in any part of the world subject to such attacks.
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Today marks the significant, 100-year anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which was passed on 6 February 1918. This Act enabled all men and some women over the age of 30 to vote for the first time. It is worth noting, however, that it wasn’t until 10 years later, with the passing of the Equal Franchise Act 1928, giving women the right to vote at age...
Julie James: I completely agree with everything the Member has said, which I don't often do across the party, but in this instance I do completely agree. We don't have any preconceived ideas, really, of what we're expecting to come forward, and any project that comes forward and asks for support will be looked at on its merits and sustainability and so on. And it's not just about—. It is the three aims...
Julie James: Yes. The short answer to that is, 'Yes, they can.' We've got the three themes; so as long as you fit into the three themes, the grant will be applicable, and it's very plain that promoting change in order to encourage all three of the themes is a very simple thing to do. So, absolutely, and I would expect to be using the grant money. We've put a range of available moneys in because we want...
Julie James: Indeed. I'm very happy to welcome all of the contributions that Jane Hutt has highlighted, particularly in Barry and the Vale; they're excellent. There are a number, of course, right across Wales, of excellent exhibitions of this sort. The grant scheme I'm announcing today is, indeed, to assist people to continue those exhibitions into the future or to develop them in any way that they see...
Julie James: Well, I'm afraid I couldn't disagree with the Member more about almost everything she said, which is a shame, as part of this. I personally exercised my vote in the European elections and many of the women in my family did so as well. It was always open to people to exercise their vote in the democratic elections for the Members of the European Parliament, and, indeed, we have a previous...
Julie James: I'm extremely happy to agree with both of those sentiments—absolutely. One of the biggest compliments I was ever paid during my long career in the law was that I was a bloody mouthy woman—[Laughter.]—which I think I was going to have put as an epitaph on my grave, actually. So, I completely agree with that. As everybody in this Chamber will know—I've said it many times—I'm extremely...
Julie James: Well, I'm more than happy to pay tribute to great Anita Gale. I don't know if it's a mystery to people on the other benches why we all started to smile when Joyce said 'persuasive' and 'influential', but we all remember Anita's persuasion and influence—in my case, fondly. In other cases, perhaps people might still be twitching a little. But it shows the power of somebody with a determined...
Julie James: Of course I agree that that's the best way forward, and I look forward to working with the Commission, actually, to make sure that we get the celebrations sorted out for the year ahead, and that we get the maximum value out of both the Government grants and what the Assembly can do to highlight the good work that's been put forward together. I understand—and I hope this is right—that the...
