Mick Antoniw: 7. What discussions has the Minister had with the UK Government regarding the Shared Prosperity Fund? OAQ54547
Mick Antoniw: Well, thank you for that answer, Minister. Of course, I appreciate the difficulty you have in getting a response. Now, for those of us who watched live broadcasts of the Conservative Party conference, we would have had a very adequate answer, because the Minister was actually there in public giving public pronouncements at meetings, making it absolutely clear that the shared prosperity fund...
Mick Antoniw: I welcome the comments that have been made about the situation with regard to the Kurdish community, and what Welsh Government can do to represent their interests. It has been a bit of an issue where we've had argued in this Chamber in the past, 'Well, because foreign affairs isn't devolved, et cetera—'—whether we can or can't debate these issues. The fact of the matter is that it is...
Mick Antoniw: 1. Will the Commission make a statement on pension arrangements at the National Assembly for Wales? OAQ54555
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for that answer. Of course, the Commission will be aware that, in addition to the pension schemes for Assembly Members and civil servants, there is a third scheme that provides for Assembly Member support staff, as you've just mentioned. Now, my understanding is that this scheme has not been reviewed since its introduction, and, at first sight, compares very unfavourably with the...
Mick Antoniw: Will the Minister make a statement on the Wales for Africa programme?
Mick Antoniw: 1. What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the UK Government in respect of its proposed Freight Capacity Framework Agreement? OAQ54604
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. Each year, Welsh ports, as you know, handle 48 million tonnes of freight. They carry 2.5 million passengers. They employ 6,000 people, including 1,000 seafarers, and it's worth £1 billion a year to the Welsh economy. The Government's Brexit mismanagement is likely to turn into a disaster for the Welsh economy and for Welsh jobs. So, if there is no...
Mick Antoniw: Minister, I'm participating in this debate, really, because I want to support and agree with the various comments that have been made, and certainly about the state of the house building industry and some of the legacies we have. I have a constituent who specifically has asked me to to raise the Celestia issue, and he is obviously one of many. He now lives in my constituency. He, of course,...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Llywydd. I will be succinct on these. The regulations were laid for the purposes of sifting, under the EU withdrawal Act 2018 in accordance with Standing Order 27.9A, and the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee scrutinised the instrument as a proposed negative instrument at its meeting on 16 September 2019. We considered the criteria set out in Standing Order 21.3C...
Mick Antoniw: Deputy Presiding Officer, there are really three points that I wanted to contribute in this particular debate. The first point actually relates to the timescale for the consideration of this. I started reading these 450 pages this morning. I don’t believe there is a single person in this Chamber who has yet had time or the ability to actually digest the incredibly technical content of this....
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. First, I start by thanking Siân Gwenllian for bringing forward and instigating this debate—I think a very timely debate. Siân, of course, has a long history of campaigning on these issues, as have quite a number of people within this Chamber, so it was good to see these coming together for this debate today. It isn't my intention, as is sometimes traditional...
Mick Antoniw: I'll conclude now. Joyce Watson has made a couple of very important points: the impact of social media, the importance of reporting mechanisms, the points from Stonewall about the tip of the iceberg and, for example, what has been happening in Birmingham and the lessons we must be aware of and learn from that. And to welcome very much what the Minister has said in terms of the funding, the...
Mick Antoniw: Will the Minister make a statement on the delivery of GP services in Rhondda Cynon Taf?
Mick Antoniw: First Minister, this is not only an impressive report, but an incredibly impressive panel of expertise, of really world-class standing, and as one would expect from a former Lord Chief Justice, the report is almost in the form of a very incisive judgment into the state of law within Wales. And the report, I think, is of such high competence and expertise—several hundred pages—that it took...
Mick Antoniw: 2. What discussions has the First Minister had with the UK Government about the impact of a UK/US trade deal on the Welsh NHS? OAQ54664
Mick Antoniw: First Minister, senior UK Government officials have met with representatives of US companies to discuss the NHS in post-Brexit trade negotiations on six occasions. On five of these, US drug companies were also in attendance. It is clear that the NHS is up for grabs for a US-style privatisation under the Tories. The Tories and the Brexit Party are ready to sell off the NHS to the highest...
Mick Antoniw: 6. Will the Minister make a statement on actions taken as a result of the Welsh Government's declaration of a climate emergency? OAQ54652
Mick Antoniw: Minister, thank you for that, but, according to recent opinion polls, 56 per cent of adults across the whole of the UK support the Labour Party's green new deal policy, which sets the objective of total decarbonisation by 2030. This Welsh Government has led the way by declaring a climate emergency. What more can Welsh Government do to assist the next Labour Government to achieve this objective?
Mick Antoniw: Diolch, Llywydd. We reported on this Bill on 12 November and made three recommendations. Before discussing those recommendations, I just wish to highlight one broad point. As with our scrutiny of all Bills, the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee considered matters relating to the legislative competence of the Assembly, and this includes compliance with human rights legislation....
