Lee Waters: I think it’s worth just repeating that we didn’t want to leave the EU, but the majority of the people of Wales disagreed, and much as I sympathise with Simon Thomas’s motion for Plaid Cymru, noting the importance of membership of the European single market, which has been enormously important to the Welsh economy, the referendum result was clear. And the only way that we can be members...
Lee Waters: I share his scepticism, but let’s give them the space to prove that what they said they could deliver, they will deliver.
Lee Waters: If I have time, I’m happy to.
Lee Waters: Well, I’m happy to clarify. Of course, that is not—not that I make up Welsh Labour policy. My point is that I’m trying to explain the First Minister’s position, which is that he’s acutely aware of the message our voters sent, in contrast to the message we gave them. They listened to the lies of the leave campaign that Brexit would deliver a different approach to immigration and...
Lee Waters: Will the Minister give way?
Lee Waters: Given what you’ve just said, which I wholly agree with, about the importance of increasing the role of this National Assembly in holding the BBC to account, and now that the Welsh Government will have a direct role in the appointment of the BBC board member, would you agree with me that it would be desirable for the Assembly’s culture committee to have a direct role in holding hearings on...
Lee Waters: I’m pleased to follow a typically thoughtful contribution from Suzy Davies on this. I think this is a significant moment for devolution because the BBC charter covers an area that is not devolved to this Assembly, and the Wales Bill currently goes out of its way to remind us of that—a little gratuitously, in my view. But, nonetheless, it does show how we are able to work past those...
Lee Waters: Clearly, Minister, there is anxiety in the sector, and that anxiety does seem to have spilled over into Members’ e-mail inboxes. Would the Minister make sure, when he’s reflecting on the independent recommendations of a report by a former Liberal Democrat Minister, and reflecting on the report of an independent steering group that he has set up, that he puts the interests of the users at...
Lee Waters: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I think there’s some common ground with the motion that Plaid Cymru have put down. There is no doubt that the face of retail has changed dramatically over the last 20 years and we don’t want town centres just to be a place of shops. We want them to be more than that; we want them to be hubs of the community. On that, I think we can all agree. What I found...
Lee Waters: I’ll take one from Caroline, yes.
Lee Waters: They were in my eyeline.
Lee Waters: Well, again, this is policy making by anecdote, and the evidence doesn’t bear that out. Now, Sian Gwenllian said that we need to level the playing field with out-of-town developments. So, let’s do that; let’s think outside the box. Rather than saying, ‘Let’s increase the subsidy for in-town car parking’, let’s put the burden on the multinational companies that have been...
Lee Waters: I am. I did take an intervention, Deputy Presiding Officer.
Lee Waters: I’m grateful for your lenience.
Lee Waters: If I can just finish my sentence, I will. [Assembly Members: ‘Oh.’] Let’s think imaginatively and let’s put the burden on corporate companies, not on scarce and hard-pushed taxpayers.
Lee Waters: Will you take an intervention?
Lee Waters: With respect, David, yesterday afternoon your party boycotted the Assembly because you said we were having a futile debate. Thus far in this debate, all you’ve talked about is England. So, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. [Laughter.]
Lee Waters: What measures are the Welsh Government taking to address the pressure on child and adolescent mental health services?
Lee Waters: 1. Will the Minister provide an update on measures to help young care leavers access affordable housing? OAQ(5)0052(CC)
Lee Waters: Thank you, Minister. Last June, the Public Policy Institute for Wales warned that many young care leavers face a lack of affordable housing and an earlier cliff edge to independent living than most young people. Their report called for a national framework for accommodation and support to improve consistency of provision across Wales. Could the Minister update us on how their report is being...
