David Melding: How will Brexit impact the Welsh Government's skills strategy?
David Melding: Minister, I think in most countries that have succeeded in encouraging the generation of power locally, they have adapted the market to give an incentive to allow this, including control or access to the grid. I know these powers are not with you, but are you discussing with the other jurisdictions ways in which we could open up the market and encourage local generation?
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, you’ll be supported if you bring forward legislation in this area from this Conservative anyway. [Interruption.] Well, I do recall in previous Assemblies that I was joined by a number of colleagues on these benches in saying it’s time to move on and end this practice. I have to say that I don’t completely agree with the wording of this question, because, clearly,...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, I’m sure you know that only a highly integrated policy across Government areas is going to really tackle child poverty. For instance, the level of economic inactivity has a big impact on the number of children living in poverty. I do hope you’ll be talking to your colleagues, the economic Minister and education Secretary as well, so that we can see FE course, HE...
David Melding: Thank you, Presiding Officer, for your indulgence. Can I welcome the commitment to deliver an extra 20,000 affordable homes, First Minister? By my calculation—and I would like you to confirm this—that means that you are raising the target for the next five years for the housing market to produce not 8,000 homes a year, but now 12,000 homes a year. I do hope you can confirm that, but I do...
David Melding: Minister, I walked into work this morning and I’ll also walk home. I walked across the barrage from Penarth. I sometimes take the other route across Pont y Werin bridge. That’s a slightly longer walk. Neither of these routes would have been available to me five or six years ago. The only way I could have walked into the Assembly then was down Penarth Road, a much longer route and a very...
David Melding: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the process to establish elected mayors in Wales? OAQ(5)0019(FLG)
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, do you regret the decision to raise the threshold required to trigger a referendum? Because we’ve seen all around the UK now that the use of elected mayors has revived local government and, indeed, is at the heart of devolution within England. Many people feel that these questions at least should be put to the electorate, without absurdly high qualifications to trigger...
David Melding: Presiding Officer, may I add my congratulations to you and the Business Committee for introducing this procedure. I only wish it had applied in the fourth Assembly when I was Chair of a committee. Perhaps there is a direct link with the fact that I am no longer a Chair that we can now be trusted to exercise this type of scrutiny and feedback in the Chamber. I think that how the Government...
David Melding: What is the Welsh Government's assessment of the new house building needed to meet demand in the Welsh housing market?
David Melding: Sorry.
David Melding: 9. What measures are in place to improve school attendance, especially amongst pupils who receive free school meals? OAQ(5)0025(EDU)
David Melding: Minister, whilst the situation is gradually improving, absenteeism is still a concern in nearly a third of our secondary schools. Those who are eligible for free school meals are twice as likely to be absent as those who are not on free school meals, and just under a fifth of those on free school meals are persistently absent, with dire effects on their educational attainment. Yet less than...
David Melding: I feel as if I’m in a privileged position, as the housing spokesperson, because there is a commitment—a specific commitment—in the programme for government that I can react to. In fact, I was quite pleased—possibly even excited—when I read that the Welsh Government aims to deliver 20,000 additional affordable homes during this Assembly term. I then looked into this in a little more...
David Melding: Thank you for giving way. How, in a five-year period, can you commit to building an additional 20,000 affordable homes and yet your annual target remains the same at 8,700? It stretches my ability in terms of logic. Now please explain.
David Melding: First Minister, do you agree that local authorities are perhaps best placed to be enablers by releasing land, or, a model which is favoured in many European countries is to support neighourhood and community groups that want to join together to build their own schemes? I see this as a way forward for many young people these days who are excluded from family housing to come together and agree...
David Melding: 10. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve voter participation, especially in young people? OAQ(5)0184(FM)
David Melding: One use may be to lower the voting age to 16 for our elections. This was thought to have transformed voter participation amongst younger people in Scotland when the law was changed for the Scottish referendum. It would also allow us very elegantly to promote in the 14 to 18 age group a whole new concept of civics education and voter participation. This is something we really need to do;...
David Melding: Minister, I think we all want more collaboration in the heritage sector. I think that is something that would serve us all well, particularly around marketing initiatives. But, you know, we do face some very hard facts here. The national museum has been an independent body since the 1920s, established by royal charter. The reason we established these great institutions as independent bodies...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, the old primary care model is not so attractive to many young doctors, particularly the high capital cost, for instance, that they have to commit to in a partnership. Also, many young GPs want to carry through to a level of specialism and, again, unless there are larger practices, this can be very difficult. It seems to me that these two areas are rich in opportunity to...
