Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you, Suzy. Would—? Sorry, this is the first opportunity I've had to welcome you formally to your post, and I know you'll do a superb job, an absolutely superb job. Could I just ask you, though—? The acid test—whether it is legislation or whether it is the current Government's agenda of making these rights real—is when you walk into a group of older people and they tell you, 'I...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank you, Darren, for taking the intervention. You make a very good point, and I agree with that absolutely. We don't know how the vote is going to go today, but could I ask him: if the vote was going—. If his proposal for a Bill isn't taken forward—and based on the offer to take forward not only what is within the spirit and the intent and the detail of his proposal, but also the...
Huw Irranca-Davies: 1. What discussions has the First Minister had with the Minister for Economy and Transport on Pencoed road and rail capacity issues? OAQ53287
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank the First Minister for that answer, and could I, through him, just convey my thanks to the Minister for Economy and Transport? He has been endlessly lobbied by me, and I've brought delegations of the council leader, town councillors from Pencoed town council and others, and he's engaged very constructively, I have to say, with us. The two sides of this town are separated now by a...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I am. And even an observer presence from the Wales Office as well. But would he agree with me that if public support, and only after proper consultation, a significant multimillion pound scheme were to proceed, this would need all those players to play their part? And I wonder what the Welsh Government could do to encourage Westminster and the Department for Transport to step up to the mark...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Very good news on the announcement on the first round of funds with the new Welsh success of the landfill tax, but could we have a statement on what could be done to actively encourage those areas that are within those five-mile circles around landfill areas that have not yet applied for funding, including places in my own patch such as Llanharan, Llanharry, Cefn Cribwr and Coytrahen and...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I'll try and be really rapid here. First of all, can I just welcome the ambition and also the spirit of this statement, and also the work of the committee, which I've now become a member of, and their previous report, 'I used to be someone', which has provided a foundation for some of this? I welcome this because it recognises those who are seeking sanctuary, those who are refugees, as an...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I'm going to focus on one of the three reports, but before I do, as somebody who's recently joined the committee, can I just commend the work that the committee has done on these three reports and the thoroughness of them, and the fact that they deal with facts very directly? It isn't unnecessary scare stories or fear; it's purely what the scenarios look like, particularly with no deal, but...
Huw Irranca-Davies: But I want to turn to this very good report on the preparedness of the food and drink sector in Wales. It opens by making the point that we cannot repeat too often: every one of us, in our constituencies, one of the biggest employers, both in manufacturing and primary food production is food, whether they are doing tinfoil plates and packaging for aeroplanes or whether they are farmers or...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I draw Members' attention to my register of interests, as chair of the programme monitoring committee dealing with European funding. Could I concur with the comments that have been made by David Rees, my neighbour in the Aberavon constituency and also Chair of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee, on the red lines that the Government have drawn, both in terms of the whole...
Huw Irranca-Davies: 1. What assessment has the Commission made of the provision of safe cycle storage on the Assembly estate? OAQ53297
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank you very much for that response, David. This morning, as usual, I got off the train at Cardiff station, got onto my bike, cycled up to Cathays Park for a meeting and cycled back through the park, through the frost, all the way here, my scarf flying behind me, on my sit-up-and-beg bike—all the way here. It was great, when I arrived, to find that all of the bikes were there—this...
Huw Irranca-Davies: 5. Will the First Minister set out the Welsh Government’s policy on the administrative devolution of welfare? OAQ53335
Huw Irranca-Davies: The question of whether the administrative devolution of aspects of welfare can bring benefits by better aligning welfare with Welsh Government policies to tackle poverty and to deal with providing opportunity for all is one that's been around for a while. But there was a frisson of excitement last week, I have to say, at the welcome response of the First Minister to the question of my...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you for giving way, Russell. You're making a fine fist of trying to defend this, but I just wonder what response you have to the analysis that was endorsed by the Welsh affairs select committee and the transport parliamentary select committee at Westminster, cross-party groups. In fact, the Welsh affairs select committee is chaired, if I recall correctly, at this moment, by the...
Huw Irranca-Davies: No, no—no statistics at all. Just so that I'm clear when we debate this with my own constituents, Mark, you're putting a persuasive case that Wales gets more than its fair share of rail infrastructure investment from the UK pot. Is this genuinely what the Conservative Party position is? Because that will be front and foremost on all my letters going out to my constituents: 'We've got more...
Huw Irranca-Davies: In my short contribution to this debate, can I just begin by agreeing with the part of the amendment that refers to the Williams rail review, which talks about the transfer of ownership of Wales's rail infrastructure, a fair funding settlement extending to rail enhancements, the ability to select from a range of railway passenger service delivery models, and the fact that we would move to a...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Could I ask the Minister, in terms of guidance, are we in any way hamstrung by the constraints that are on health boards in terms of consultations? Before Christmas, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board went out to consultation on an issue around Maesteg hospital. It wasn't framed as 'the future of Maesteg hospital; how we can look at the long-term future of it, what we can do...
Huw Irranca-Davies: We're always tempted to look far afield for the very best possible examples of how to improve our services in terms of child and adolescent mental health. But, of course, back in the autumn, the health Secretary, Vaughan Gething, and I were delighted to be in Jayne Bryant's constituency, attending the launch of £13.4 million of funding through the transformation fund at the Serennu Centre,...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Could I echo both the words of the Minister and others who've contributed so far in response to this statement about the incredible work that people do in different disciplines, both within health and within social care and third sector partners as well? And it's to one of those particular organisations that was mentioned in the statement that I want to address some questions and some...
