Carwyn Jones: I agree entirely with what the Member has said. He recognises the challenges of Brexit. We know that it’s impossible to operate effectively on an environmental scale, particularly when it comes to air pollution, simply by looking at Wales or simply by looking at the UK for that matter, or simply by looking at Europe. It’s one thing to reduce air pollution in Europe, but if a particular...
Carwyn Jones: Well, we expect what is legally required to be delivered, and if that is not delivered, then there is legal redress, of course, in terms of that. With regard to the mainstreaming of rights, the practices we’ve continued up until now will continue. The Member will know that there are a number of areas where due regard has to be made to the rights of others and, indeed, the effect of...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I can assure the Member we will work with UK Government with regard to the growth deal. What is not clear at the moment is whether there is an element of that deal that would have been European funded, and this is at the heart of the dilemma that we face. If, for example, there is a gap in that funding, it has to be made up in some way, and, certainly, it has to be provided for that....
Carwyn Jones: He uses the word ‘crisis’, but we have increased investment and are modernising services through our primary care plan. We are working closely with health boards who are responsible for providing services for their populations and who are responsible for ensuring continuity of high-quality care when an independent general practice hands back its business contracts.
Carwyn Jones: These are independent contractors and they are entitled, of course, to seek help from the local health boards. And, indeed, where those contractors have decided that they no longer wish to provide that service, the health boards across Wales have taken over and provided an equally good, if not better service, as the people of Prestatyn will explain to the Member. But, yes, we know that there...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, I can confirm that, next month, we will be launching a national and international marketing campaign to highlight Wales as a great place to train, work and live, and the Secretary will be outlining the campaign in his statement next week. It will be a step change in the way we market Wales to aid doctor and GP recruitment.
Carwyn Jones: When he mentions private surgeries, I’m not sure whether he’s referring to a private practice or—
Carwyn Jones: [Continues.]—independent contractors.
Carwyn Jones: That, of course, is the current model, and, for some, it will be the future model. But it doesn’t mean that it is the sole model that you can have as regards GPs, because more and more GPs want to be salaried. They wish to have the opportunity to move from one practice to another, and that, of course, is something that the profession has to deal with. We are working with the royal college...
Carwyn Jones: What we do know is we don’t have a funding crisis in acute hospitals, as England does, or a doctors strike. But she does make a very important point, if I may, with respect to the Member, in the sense that it is absolutely right that we have to target the family. Many years ago, GPs would come to an area, and, quite often, they had a spouse who wasn’t working. That’s no longer the case....
Carwyn Jones: Yes. The Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure sent Members a full update yesterday on the progress that’s been made since the written statement on 8 August. No progress has yet been made, however, by the UK Government in terms of the issues of energy and pensions.
Carwyn Jones: I don’t think the principle of keeping our steel industry was wholly a Plaid Cymru idea. The issue of a power plant is something that we’ve been discussing for years with Tata, long before, actually, what happened at the beginning of this year. What I can say—and there’s a limit to what I can say at this stage, because negotiations are still ongoing—is that good progress has been...
Carwyn Jones: It’s true. I think it’s fair to say that the previous Prime Minister was very proactive in this regard. We’ve not heard as much from the current Government in terms of these two issues. There have been initial conversations; they’ve not been negative, but I think we need now, in the next few months, to see some progress, particularly on the issue of pensions, and on the issue, of...
Carwyn Jones: Well, more than anything else, what we’re doing is assisting Tata, looking at ways that they can save money, particularly with regard to the power plant, seeing what we can do in terms of skills and training, and providing the support that they need in order to be sustainable in the longer term. There are issues regarding other businesses that had their issues with Tata, which unfortunately...
Carwyn Jones: The biggest threat to the steel industry is tariffs. We export 30 per cent of the steel that we produce. Anything that increases the price of that steel is not going to be helpful. If she’s talking about carbon reduction, what she means is more emissions, so, more coming out of the steelworks than before. If she wants to sell that to the people of Port Talbot and Bridgend, she’s welcome...
Carwyn Jones: Absolutely. The four major sites are hugely important—Shotton as well, of course, and Trostre. They are operations that we want to keep in Wales, producing steel in Wales, exporting steel from Wales. Port Talbot of course has had the most focus because it is the biggest plant and it has had the greatest challenges, but all four plants are important for the future of Wales.
Carwyn Jones: Absolutely, and I’ve been, of course, to all four sites. Shotton always was a profitable site, but as it was said to me in Shotton, it would be very difficult for Shotton to operate without the steel from Port Talbot because it would take about six months to source the steel from somewhere else if Port Talbot wasn’t there, with an obvious knock-on effect in terms of loss of customers. So,...
Carwyn Jones: Well, the cost involved is some £1.5 billion. At this moment in time, that is a cost that would mean that there would be no money to support major events for the next decade in Wales, pretty much. The Scots were able to host the games at a cheaper price because they didn’t have to build as much as we would have to build. We’d have to build a new athletics stadium, build a new velodrome,...
Carwyn Jones: I don’t think 10 per cent of our budget is peanuts, with respect to the Member. There’s a significant opportunity cost. For example, we’ve been hugely successful over many years in attracting major events to Wales. We have the Champions League final coming next year and the women’s Champions League final, we’ve had the Ryder Cup, we have the speedway every year, we’ve had the...
Carwyn Jones: Well, the Member seems to have a particularly delusional view of money, if I may say, because it is a significant financial commitment that it would have involved and it would have meant that we would not have been able to host many, many events in the future. It would have a knock-on effect on our capital budgets. It’s much better to look at investing in grass-roots sports, yes—in...
