Jenny Rathbone: I absolutely acknowledge that people voted to leave the European Union in 2016. [Interruption.] I'm not ignoring them at all, but I don't think they voted to lose their jobs, and that is one of the consequences of crashing out of the European Union. I think that it was a very, very complicated issue, being put—. [Interruption.] No. It was a very complicated issue. Trying to put it to a...
Jenny Rathbone: 4. What assessment has the First Minister made of the Future Generations Commissioner's report, 'Transport Fit for Future Generations'? OAQ52748
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you, First Minister. You'll be aware, I hope, that what the future generations commissioner's report has highlighted is that an M4 relief road would actually increase the numbers using the M4 by 42,000 vehicles a day, increasing the emissions by 500,000 tonnes. Given the extent of the congestion and pollution problem that my constituents are suffering, I'm extremely concerned that this...
Jenny Rathbone: 5. What negotiations have taken place to ensure that post-Brexit structural funds will be managed by the Welsh Government? OAQ52725
Jenny Rathbone: Picking up on the fair funding of local government, here in Wales we have a really transparent formula, but the research from Cambridge University published yesterday indicates that there's been a land grab by Tory shires, paid for by the poor in the post-industrial areas of the north of England. So, places like Liverpool, Gateshead and Wigan have suffered up to 50 per cent cuts in local...
Jenny Rathbone: I, too, have had plenty of constituents writing to me concerned about this issue. They have been persuaded that the construction mud from the Severn estuary is radioactive simply because of its location next to the former Hinkley A power station. There is absolutely no evidence, in my mind, that this is the case, because the reason why Cefas has been appointed is because they're not a...
Jenny Rathbone: No. No, I won't, thank you. For applied marine and freshwater science. So, you have to understand that these are the go-to experts that UK Government, international governments, non-governmental organisations—. They are the people who understand this. And to indicate that they haven't tested for all the long list of metals that Caroline has listed is not credible, because, clearly, they...
Jenny Rathbone: Okay. I understand that there's certainly a public relations problem, in that so many people have been convinced that what is being disposed of in the Cardiff Grounds has some sort of radioactivity beyond what is present outside this building or anywhere else where we reside. The fact is that they have tested these samples on three different occasions—2009, 2013, 2017. They have taken...
Jenny Rathbone: It seems to me that they do a drilling down to 2m; they then do a further drilling down to 4.7m and they can't find any radioactive material. If they go even deeper, they're not going to find any material that wasn't already detectable at 4.7m. It's just completely ridiculous that they're going to go down further, because it's only on the surface that you're most likely to find any material,...
Jenny Rathbone: Obviously, we have the Wales Audit Office to monitor the detail of these things. I just wanted to ask you about the wider picture in terms of the procurement power that we have. We have a public sector that spends over £4 billion each year on procurement, and I'm very interested in how we might be able to procure more of our spend in Wales so that we're generating local jobs rather than in...
Jenny Rathbone: I'm sure Carl Sargeant is smiling benignly on us today because it's just short of a year since he announced stage one of this fantastic innovative housing project. I'd really like to congratulate the Government for pushing ahead with this and more than doubling the number of houses that we're going to be building. I'd like to talk about one of the projects that you mention in your statement,...
Jenny Rathbone: 1. What plans does the Cabinet Secretary have to ensure that pupils’ wellbeing gets as much attention as attainment in our secondary schools? OAQ52785
Jenny Rathbone: Well, I think that's a very welcome development. We know that Estyn has been evaluating standards progress and well-being of learners living in poverty in all its inspections since 2010, but that obviously hasn't been sufficient to ensure that all of our learners are achieving to the best of their ability. We know that there are multiple reasons why pupils may be struggling, with issues at...
Jenny Rathbone: I hesitate to disagree with David Melding, but I'd just like to remind us all that the people who are living in most poverty are not those that are economically inactive. They are people in work; it's just that their wages are insufficient for them to live on. I was handed this at lunch time: 'Feeling peckish? Food for thought. In the past 12 months, 14 per cent of people in Wales had run out...
Jenny Rathbone: We have lots of warm words on this, and the Cabinet Secretary has set a challenging 70 per cent target for generating renewable energy for Wales. But we now need to transfer words into action, not least for future generations. Up to now, the planning system has been used to undermine the enthusiasm of citizens who want to do the right things, and most have succumbed under the welter of...
Jenny Rathbone: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on women’s access to NHS abortion services in Cardiff?
Jenny Rathbone: Two things, leader of the house. One is: I wonder if you would join me in congratulating the National Youth Arts Wales, supported by the Arts Council of Wales, for the absolutely stellar performance on Sunday of the world premiere of Sorrows of the Somme, which was performed by the National Youth Choir of Wales and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. It was an absolutely outstanding...
Jenny Rathbone: I'm delighted by your statement, particularly by your recognition that this is not just about £100 million, it is about the £9 billion that we currently spend on the health service, because if we're going to deliver 'A Healthier Wales' we are going to need to transform the whole service. Cardiff and the Vale is an excellent example of how it would be possible to simply suck all the...
Jenny Rathbone: I think one of the biggest problems around the M4 relief road is how the Welsh Government can possibly square it with its ambition to achieve 43 per cent reduction in vehicle carbon emissions by 2030. If it goes ahead with the M4 relief road it would increase the number of vehicles by something like 42,000 vehicles a day. So, I do not understand how we could possibly achieve our climate...
Jenny Rathbone: 3. What is the Welsh Government’s strategy for tackling air pollution in light of the warnings from the World Health Organization? OAQ52869
