Mike Hedges: Okay. Can I ask two questions very briefly? [Laughter.] Why do we want to have a city region and another region for services? Surely, the city region is the footprint. I think that you might want to sub-divide within the footprint, but having it across—. Swansea and Neath Port Talbot will be called Janus, because we look east for some things and west for the others. It just does not make a...
Mike Hedges: Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's strategy for developing the ICT industry in Wales?
Mike Hedges: Does the First Minister agree with me that what is important is outcomes not inputs? And will the First Minister join me in congratulating Swansea council on record-breaking GCSE results, and Pentrehafod School and Morriston Comprehensive School—two Schools Challenge Cymru schools—on their excellent GCSE results?
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. First of all, I’d like to express my disappointment at the statement by the Cabinet Secretary. I believe that Communities First is doing an excellent job in my constituency. But I’ve said for years that Communities First and Flying Start should be based on communities, not driven by the way the Office of National Statistics decides to collect data....
Mike Hedges: 15. Will the Minister make a statement on the actions being taken to stop rivers flooding? OAQ(5)0038(ERA)
Mike Hedges: First of all, Minister, can I highlight the success of the floodplain in Ynysforgan, which is not only in my constituency but is also half a mile away from where I live? It’s an area that used to be under an awful lot of flooding over a period of time, but that has now stopped because the floodplain has worked so successfully. Are there plans to bring the floodplains on to other rivers, so...
Mike Hedges: Can I declare an interest firstly as president of Swansea hard of hearing group, and I also have a sister who is profoundly deaf? It’s very easy to discriminate in employment: you just need to make answering the phone identified as part of the job and immediately somebody who’s deaf is unable to apply. The one thing that would make a huge difference would be parity of esteem for...
Mike Hedges: 6. Will the Minister make a statement on Flying Start? OAQ(5)0040(ERA)
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that response? Flying Start has made a huge improvement to life opportunities for many of my constituents. It means that children are starting school at or close to their chronological age. Whilst I believe it should be based on communities, not the vagaries of the Office for National Statistics-created super-output areas, will the Minister reiterate his...
Mike Hedges: Will you take an intervention? Will you commit, if that Act has not worked, to bring forward an autism Act?
Mike Hedges: Last week, the Minister covering social services said: ‘The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 will transform the way that we meet the needs of all people with care and support needs, including people with autism and their carers.’ Can I therefore ask for a Government statement on the social services Act and how it is working?
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I just say that what the Minister agreed with Plaid Cymru are a lot of issues that I would have actually been asking him for if he hadn’t? Austerity for the Tories is a political policy not an economic one. It’s about shrinking the state. It is having a serious effect on public services. I have three questions. On health, can the Minister confirm...
Mike Hedges: Will the First Minister provide an update on the growth of the ICT industry in Wales?
Mike Hedges: Will the Cabinet Secretary join with me in congratulating Swansea University on the development of a programme to extend research Master’s and engineering doctorates, working with some of the UK’s and world’s leading industrial companies? Surely it’s something that the Welsh economy desperately needs. This has been backed by European Union funding. What will happen after the European...
Mike Hedges: I think I probably am on the left, both physically and politically. Can I thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer? Can I first of all return to the motion that Plaid Cymru has put down? I’d like to agree with the statement that local government is contributing towards the local economy, health service and educational outcomes. Taking each in turn, local government is both a very large employer...
Mike Hedges: Do you also support the same day for polling day and electoral registration, like they have in America?
Mike Hedges: I welcome the statement by the Cabinet Secretary and the proposal for 20,000 affordable homes for people to live in. The ending of the right to buy and the right to acquire will put an end to the loss of public housing for rent. Building homes is not only good for the people who will live in these homes, but is good for the Welsh economy and getting people into work. I have three questions...
Mike Hedges: 2. Will the Counsel General make a statement on the Law Commission’s report, which recommends the codification of Welsh law? OAQ(5)0006(CG)
Mike Hedges: Can the Counsel General set out the route-map for the codification process, and indicate the benefits and potential risks that could arise from codification?
Mike Hedges: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on no cold calling zones in Wales? OAQ(5)0245(FM)
