Julie James: The Welsh Government has been clear that UK withdrawal from the EU should in no way lead to a dilution in human rights protections. We are currently assessing the effect of losing access to the charter rights, and what remedial action, if any, is required to mitigate impact in Wales.
Julie James: The annual report that I laid in the Assembly last month outlines the huge progress in delivering the commitments in our national strategy. Our delivery framework will be published before recess and this outlines the actions already achieved and our forward plan for the next three years.
Julie James: The first phase of the gender equality rapid review reported last week. This report is a direct and significant challenge to us. It provides areas for action in phase two that we can move forward on immediately and others that will need further exploration. Phase two will begin shortly.
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. There are two changes to this week's business. Added to today's agenda are statements on the update to European transition and a progress report on the employability plan. And as usual, draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Julie James: Yes, I will be bringing forward a statement as soon as I'm in a position to do so on where we are with the second phase, and the situation does remain as in the written answer that you got over the summer.
Julie James: Individual planning decisions are obviously not suitable for an open oral statement on the floor of the Senedd, so I suggest the Member writes to the planning Minister, and she'll be able to tell him what's happening about that specific application.
Julie James: On the first one of those, obviously the closure of a school in a Member's area is a significant issue, always, but it's not something that the Government makes an oral statement on. I would suggest that you take this up with the Cabinet Secretary for Education—the specifics around that closure—to see if there is a matter for the Welsh Government. Ordinarily, as the Member knows, it is...
Julie James: Yes, well, as I responded to Russell George, the situation is still that we're in the process of sorting out the procurement, and as soon as we're in a position to report back with a statement I will certainly be doing so.
Julie James: I don't think it is systematic. The health Minister is actually answering questions in the Chamber tomorrow, so you'll have the opportunity to put questions to him tomorrow. If you're not able to get to the bottom of those things tomorrow, then I suggest you write—I haven't heard of the drug that you mentioned; what did you say it was—an elephant tranquilizer? It sounds horrendous. So, if...
Julie James: Well, thank you for bringing that to our attention. I think that that sounds absolutely appalling. No wonder your constituent is very concerned. Obviously, we're completely committed to ensuring that anyone, with any kind of diverse condition, is treated as a full and equal member of our society, and that does not sound like the sort of thing we'd like to have encouraged at all. I wonder...
Julie James: Well, that sounds tremendous. Alun Davies is just indicating to me that he's attending, so there will be a Government presence there. I'm delighted to hear that he's also been to the Abergavenny Food Festival. Anything we can do to showcase the enormously good food and drink around Wales to colleagues across Africa and the world is very welcome indeed, so I'm very pleased to welcome him here....
Julie James: Thank you for that. In terms of air quality, obviously we recently consulted on the clean air zone framework for Wales, and we're currently considering the responses. That builds on a range of actions to improve air quality, including a new £20 million air quality fund and action to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels. We will be publishing our own clean air plan, which incorporates more than...
Julie James: I completely agree with Mick Antoniw that the destruction of the legal aid system has been detrimental across the board, actually to our democracy, because without access to the rule of law you really don't have a democracy. We now have a situation where a large number of people cannot access legal rights because they simply cannot afford it. That has a very detrimental effect on social...
Julie James: Well, Llywydd, I'm not in a position to say whether a scientist is or isn't scientifically correct. I am in a position to say that the head of NRW has already made a statement on the Welsh Government's position on the mud, which she says is not radioactive above normal background levels.
Julie James: Yes, well on that one I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be able to do that. I'll certainly look into that. I don't understand why we have to go through a process of them refusing and then us getting in touch and then being told 'yes'. I think several Members in the Chamber have had a similar conversation, so I'm happy to see what I can facilitate in terms of the service across Wales on...
Julie James: Including myself, yes.
Julie James: Thank you for those two questions. At the moment, it would be inappropriate for the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs to make a statement as there is an ongoing legal process that is seeking an injunction to suspend the marine licence. So, as I said earlier, Natural Resources Wales have already confirmed their position, but there is an ongoing legal process, so the...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm also extremely grateful to Jack for tabling this debate today, because of course Wales can and should lead the way to promote kinder and more diverse politics. The quality of the discourse in this Chamber and elsewhere in public life of course should set the tone for public debate in Wales, and, Deputy Presiding Officer, I too think that the level of debate in the Chamber...
Julie James: I couldn't agree with you more, Angela. One of the things that we've been very pleased to be doing is collecting a series of positive stories from around Wales to get them into the media, and to interest journalists in better magazine-type pieces than the kind of stuff that you're talking about. I wanted to finish by saying that without young role models like Jack, it's very difficult to get...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. There are two changes to this week's business. Today's statement on Brexit and support for further education and skills has been withdrawn, and, tomorrow, the time allocated to the Counsel General's oral Assembly questions has been reduced. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out in the business statement and announcement, which can be found...
