Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. There are two changes to tomorrow's agenda: the time allocated to the Counsel General's oral Assembly questions has been reduced to 30 minutes, and also Business Committee has agreed to postpone the UKIP debate until September. Business for the next three weeks is shown on the business statement and announcement found amongst the meeting papers available to Members...
Julie James: Well, yes, I agree with the sentiment that Mohammad Asghar expressed at the end of his question there. Obviously, that's why we give concessionary bus travel to older people, because we do agree that they need to have better mobility and so on. The matter of subsidy is a matter for the local authority and the First Minister just answered a question to that effect. I think the very specific...
Julie James: The Member raises two very important issues. On the Trago Mills issue, I think we all share his outrage, I think is not too strong a word, at some of the language used. I also won't repeat it; it doesn't require the publicity. I will ensure that all Assembly Members are updated, probably by way of letter, as to where we are with that. This company has caused problems wherever it's gone in...
Julie James: Yes, absolutely. Julie Morgan is entirely right, I am delighted that our long campaign to see justice for many of the women in prison for offences generally of poverty, actually, received the right kind of response. The Cabinet Secretary is meeting Ministers at the Ministry of Justice on 18 July to discuss our approach to tackling female offending, including the potential to develop a...
Julie James: Well, I don't think those are matters for me in the business statement, Mark Reckless. I think you should address them to the Minister responsible.
Julie James: I think the Minister will be providing an update at an appropriate time once the Act has bedded in. As Dai Lloyd said, we did have a bit of a debate at the time that the Act went through about the matter he raises. I'm sure that will be an appropriate point for him to raise it again.
Julie James: Absolutely, David Rees. Obviously, the First Minister, in First Minister's questions, broadly welcomed the announcement of Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp on the signing of the definitive agreement, and I'd just like to reiterate that the Government is extremely glad that that's gone through. We also noted that the steel trade unions have stated that they recognise the industrial logic of the...
Julie James: Llywydd, I feel as if I'm caught in a conversation between two people here. It's clear you're in correspondence about the issue, and the Minister is indicating to me that he's about to write back out to you. It's obviously a series of pilot programmes; Denbighshire is not the only authority in Wales that's not in the initial tranche. I understand that the Minister is about to write to you and...
Julie James: The Cabinet Secretary is indicating to me that he's brought it to their attention just this week. We are, of course, extremely concerned that all consultations get the widest possible response. He's indicating to me that he's brought it to renewed attention just this week, so hopefully that will elicit the broad range of responses that Bethan Sayed is quite right in saying we need to have in...
Julie James: Thank you for that. The Member is continuing to show his concern for the large number of people who are under threat of redundancy in his constituency and in the Swansea area in general. The Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport met with Virgin Media on 14 June to further discuss the plans for closure and the reasons behind the decision, and to offer what support we can to help reverse...
Julie James: In terms of the fires, I also want to pay tribute to the staff who have worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of both the countryside and the people using the countryside. And, Llywydd, I repeat the appeals by the fire service for people to be very careful, for example in things such as where they park, to ensure that a hot exhaust pipe is not touching highly flammable grasses, for example,...
Julie James: Yes, indeed; the hot weather has been a real pleasure for most of us, but there are some real issues about appropriate responses. School uniform and appearance policies are set by each school headteacher and governing body, but they do give schools the flexibility to relax the rules if they wish, although we would expect some discretion to be used during periods of hot weather by the...
Julie James: Can I pay tribute to Joyce Watson for her determination, as always, to tackle all forms of violence against women and exploitation, which we fully share in the Welsh Government? Our action through our legislation on violence against women, domestic violence and sexual violence, our work to stop modern slavery and our work with partners to disrupt organised crime all aim to put in place...
Julie James: Yes, the Cabinet Secretary is indicating that he's very happy to write to Members and give us an update.
Julie James: Yes, on the first issue, on women in prisons, I couldn't agree more. Jenny Rathbone is very much part of the group that has been campaigning for such changes for a long time, and I would just commend to the Chamber the consultation that Mark Drakeford recently announced on preventing councils from imprisoning people for non-payment of council tax, which we know impacts heavily on women and...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. There's one change to today's agenda. Later this afternoon I will be making a statement on the review of gender equality, otherwise business for the next three weeks is as shown on the business statement and announcement found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Julie James: Yes, a very interesting report, and a lot of work has been done on the changing nature of city centres. The Cabinet Secretary has made a number of contributions to that debate, and we've been working very hard with partners on the city deals in order to take account of what the Member is outlining, which is the fundamental change in the way that people shop, the effect of, obviously, internet...
Julie James: Llywydd, in time-honoured fashion, going in reverse order, I'll make sure that the Cabinet Secretary is aware of the issue, and finds out for the Member where he is on the response to his constituent's concerns. In terms of water, we have not yet got to the point that some of us remember from the long, hot summer of 1976. I have to say, many of my Cabinet colleagues, of course, were not born...
Julie James: It's a very important issue, and as Jane Hutt correctly said, the Cabinet Secretary has already made some remarks on that. We are advising the NHS to restrict the use of vaginal mesh in Wales, ensuring its use is continued only in those with very specific need and who fully understand the risks. That is in line with the recent recommendations of the report from the review panel, which Jane...
Julie James: The Member highlights a really great part of Welsh heritage, and I'm delighted to say that I recently was in Llangollen for their heritage railway event there, and it was really fun to see, and the enthusiasm of all of the crowds that came to greet the train was also great to see. I know the Minister takes it very seriously indeed, and will be considering how we can best join up those...
