Gareth Bennett: I thank the Minister for today's statement. We're talking today about plans and planning and, as the Minister just outlined a moment ago, we seem to be heading towards broadly three types of plan: local development plans at the bottom, a national development framework at the top, and strategic development plans in the middle. We have had issues of public contention over LDPs in recent years,...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for today's statement. I'm sure that we'd all acknowledge that there is a major problem facing today's younger generation who are seeking to get onto the housing ladder, and that is that, for many people, houses are simply not affordable. A major issue is that wage increases are not keeping pace with house price increases, which does create a challenging environment...
Gareth Bennett: What steps is the Welsh Government taking to tackle the number of empty homes in Wales?
Gareth Bennett: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on the accessibility of trains for persons of reduced mobility? OAQ52130
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for that. We know that we are going to have a new train operator in Wales from next year. The problem is that the new operator may not be able to get new rolling stock for perhaps four years, so it could be that, in order to comply with that legislation that you stated, we may have a tactic of the new train operator having to, or believing they have to, leave toilets locked up on the...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for today's statement. I think we all accept here that there is a big problem of plastic entering the sea, which volunteers who clean up our beaches have been aware of for some time. And now it's become a major national talking point, partly because of the tv programme that you mentioned—the Blue Planet tv series—which demonstrates that, even in today's...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. Good afternoon, Minister. You made a statement last week on low-cost housing in Wales—low-cost home ownership, I should say, it was specifically—and we had an interesting discussion, I felt, after that and several issues were raised. One of them was the possibility that rents in the social housing sector in Wales are in some cases going up quicker than those in the...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for that answer. I think that's a good initiative, and particularly the consultation with the tenants, so I look forward to the outcome of that. Another issue that we did touch on last week—you actually raised an example of good practice that was going on with a particular housing association, Melin Homes in Newport, and you particularly cited the use of apprenticeships. Now, there...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, I think it's correct that a lot of people can actually earn more money, potentially, by going into things like construction rather than, perhaps, going down the route of university education, because there is a limited financial advantage of having a degree today when so many people actually possess university degrees. So, given what you've just said—and I tend to agree with the...
Gareth Bennett: I think it's important to state that we in UKIP do acknowledge that there are individuals who do abuse alcohol, and alcohol abuse can—[Interruption.] Alcohol abuse can have a devastating effect both on individuals and on their families. It is not that we aren't concerned by this issue. We are. We are simply questioning whether minimum unit pricing, or MUP, will work as a means of...
Gareth Bennett: Yes.
Gareth Bennett: Yes, I appreciate that you're making a distinction between alcoholics and hazardous drinkers, and such a distinction does exist, but all the same we don't believe that this legislation will even effectively tackle the problem of hazardous drinkers. To go back to what I was saying, an alcoholic may simply spend more of his or her money on alcohol after MUP and spend less on basic essentials,...
Gareth Bennett: Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on Welsh Government action in relation to the Barry biomass incinerator?
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for bringing today's debate. There is a phrase, a particular phrase that we're using here today, and that is 'placemaking'. It's a pretty phrase, but we do have to make sure that it actually means something. The Welsh Government's chief planner recently spoke about planning needing to take a holistic approach so that planners can shape places that are attractive and...
Gareth Bennett: What guidance does the Welsh Government provide to local authorities regarding the recovery of unpaid council tax?
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, a diolch, Llywydd, for your statement today. You mentioned that there has been cross-party support for the idea of the youth parliament in the past and that, indeed, remains the case. UKIP continues to be supportive of the idea. You recognise that there are many challenges and issues facing young people in Wales today, and having a regular channel of communication...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Petitions Committee for bringing today's debate. As many people have said, there is a lot of public concern about this issue. Evidence for that is the 7,000-plus people who have signed this petition. So, I think it's entirely right that we are debating this subject today here in the Assembly. Public knowledge of the science behind this may be limited, but we do have to allay...
Gareth Bennett: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the provision of school playing fields?
Gareth Bennett: One of the issues that was mentioned yesterday in press reports was that the payments made to the new franchisee will depend to some extent on their delivery of service, which sounds good. Now, some of the criteria that were mentioned included cleanliness, quality of service and punctuality, but one of the problems with the privatised rail services that we've had in the last 20 years is that,...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for your statement today. I appreciate, from what you’ve said and from what the other contributors have said, that this has been something of a long-running issue. As you mentioned, opinions have tended to be polarised, particularly on the one particular issue of the commission rates. So, it has been a difficult job for you. I can see that that would be the case. Now,...
