Suzy Davies: I call the Cabinet Secretary for Education to reply to the debate—Kirsty Williams.
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much, and that brings today's proceedings to a close.
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. An interesting statement there of 1,200 words, Cabinet Secretary, although it took you until page 3 of your statement to say that you cannot stand in the margins complaining when, actually, you did spend over half your statement, over four minutes of it, complaining about exactly that. I must admit I don't feel hugely better informed about what your plans are, but I...
Suzy Davies: Well, you partly anticipated my question there, Cabinet Secretary, because one of the key projects of the Swansea bay city deal, of course, is the new steel science innovation centre, which is linked to Port Talbot and Tata. There's no need for me to repeat how much of an importance steel has, certainly in our local economy, but it's production, as you say, does remain connected, if you like,...
Suzy Davies: 3. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the development of agricultural land in South Wales West? OAQ52142
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much. That's an interesting answer. You said in your statement yesterday that you want to see land managers kept on the land and that food production remains vital to the Welsh economy, but when I wrote to you asking for you to rule out adopting a Welsh version of Labour's proposed English sovereign land trust, which proposed granting powers to Government to compulsorily...
Suzy Davies: Well, I'm more than happy to call it the 'Lesley Griffiths lagoon', particularly in this year of 100 years since partial suffrage, as long as we get the thing. I just want to go back to Mike's question about batteries because, of course, a big, big chunk of the city deal is the 'houses as power stations' programme. Mike mentioned solar panels and wind turbines, but I don't think we can...
Suzy Davies: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement following Virgin Media's decision to close its call centre in Swansea resulting in the loss of over 700 jobs? 166
Suzy Davies: Thank you for your answer and, of course, for your letter. I think we were all pleased to see that. As you know, Virgin Media has announced plans to completely exit its Swansea site, which is pretty serious; we are talking about the best part of 800 jobs here, after all. But the reason for that is that they're merging from eight sites down to four sites. Of course, two of those sites are in...
Suzy Davies: Will you take an intervention?
Suzy Davies: Thank you. I think this parity point is particularly important, and I'm thinking of young adult carers who, at the moment, have financial disincentives for not going into higher education or, indeed, apprenticeships. When Welsh Government is listening and thinking how to respond to this report, would you agree with me that they should be considering ways to help young adult carers into...
Suzy Davies: Cabinet Secretary, I wanted to speak in this debate primarily because of my concerns regarding the Swansea bay city deal, but I think I would like to start with an observation, if I may. We're quite used now to Welsh Government using framework legislation to cover the fact that it hasn't quite got some of the evidence to support a particular policy objective. There are certain decisions on...
Suzy Davies: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I have to say that I’m a little bit baffled by this debate, because I'm not entirely sure what we'll hear today that the Cabinet Secretary hasn't heard before, including some of those issues where actually we have some sympathy with UKIP. The general principles of the legislation have already been debated in this Assembly. Evidence has been taken by the health...
Suzy Davies: I just echo everything that you've just said there; it was a pleasure to listen to that, David. Actually, your comments about the crescent in Bath I particularly liked, and it made me look at—I remember seeing it on Facebook actually and I just managed to find it as Hefin was speaking—Crescent Street in Merthyr Vale. It's a crescent full of the type of houses you've been talking about,...
Suzy Davies: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the monitoring of local authority gender pay gaps?
Suzy Davies: I share Dai Lloyd's concerns, but I want to mention today that it's been a good five years now since it was reported that the revival of Swansea castle would provide an extra attraction to the thousands of people who were expected to flood into the city for the Dylan Thomas centenary celebrations. Well, those celebrations are well over now, but Swansea castle is still closed to the public....
Suzy Davies: There's enough of it left.
Suzy Davies: 5. Will the First Minister provide an update on the Swansea Bay city region deal? OAQ52203
Suzy Davies: Thank you. A groundhog day question, I know. The shadow board of the Swansea bay city deal told us that they would, if it were possible, like to add to the 11 projects that are already part of the deal, and, of course, many of us have been speaking about transport potentially being an additional aspect of it. Two weeks ago, your economy Secretary said that work on a Swansea parkway should be...
Suzy Davies: I'm just going back to Dai Lloyd's question. Cabinet Secretary, we are talking 20 years here and I think we need some reassurance, particularly in my region, that this isn't another Kancoat or indeed another technium. Following the regeneration investment fund for Wales, I think we need some assurance that the investment is recoverable and that sales that are significantly under value won't...
