Lee Waters: Indeed. Noted. There are chill winds blowing through our economy, Dirprwy Lywydd, and the situation could well get very challenging in coming years, depending on the terms of trade of Brexit. Hefin’s speech nicely summarises many of the discussions we’ve already been having as backbenchers recently in trying to stimulate new ideas and a consensus for a resilient economic policy that can...
Lee Waters: Diolch. Thank you very much. Minister, I recently visited Castell Howell Foods in my constituency, in Cross Hands, a leading independent food wholesaler. They’ve grown enormously over the last 20 years and think they have great scope to grow further, but they are frustrated with the procurement processes for applying to sell their goods to the public sector. What can you do to make sure...
Lee Waters: 7. What discussions has the Minister had with the Board of the National Procurement Services on the readiness of local authorities to share procurement practice? OAQ(5)0052(FLG)
Lee Waters: Thank you. At the last meeting of the board of the National Procurement Service, it was revealed that only three local authorities have been willing to share data on how they lease vehicles. What can the Cabinet Secretary do to require data sharing, and once that data is with the NPS, what can he do to make sure the focus isn’t just on cost savings, but on capturing the value to local economies?
Lee Waters: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I must confess that the looks on many of my colleagues’ faces when it was announced that we were having a debate on the application of big data in agriculture could be best described as puzzled, but I can assure the Assembly that this is not the result of some esoteric whimsy on behalf of the sponsors. The practical implications of big data in farming are huge....
Lee Waters: Precision agriculture is at the vanguard of this data revolution. It’s a rapidly developing area where information is being applied to food production and land cultivation to dramatically improve productivity and reduce harm to the environment. In arable farming, for example, this approach enables farmers to gather a wealth of real-time information: water and nitrogen levels, air quality,...
Lee Waters: Indeed.
Lee Waters: I completely agree that it is has multiple benefits, both in terms of food production but also in reducing environmental harm, which also helps some of the poorest in the world by mitigating the impacts of climate change. Now, not only do these precisely applied algorithms mean that less stuff is going in, at a reduced cost to both our farmers and, with fewer harmful chemicals, the...
Lee Waters: 1. Will the Counsel General make a statement on the Welsh Government’s leave to intervene in the Supreme Court case relating to Article 50? OAQ(5)0011(CG)
Lee Waters: Thank you. Given that the case to exit the EU was based, in part, on the importance of returning powers to Parliament, is the Counsel General as perplexed as I am that the UK Government is challenging the view of the court that Parliament should have a role in triggering this? Would he agree that this is a matter for all the Parliaments of the UK, not just the Westminster Parliament? And has...
Lee Waters: Will you give way?
Lee Waters: Very briefly, can I just ask that, as part of the package that you have negotiated, how much of that is set aside for evaluation to make sure that those lessons are captured?
Lee Waters: Cabinet Secretary, amidst the disappointment, we can at least be encouraged by the performance in maths, where Wales saw the biggest increase in the UK and, as you mentioned, of the 71 countries that took part in PISA, only four outperformed us in the rise in maths performance. So, what lessons can we draw from the improvements in maths that can be applied to the other subjects?
Lee Waters: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Minister, I welcome your comments about the finance Minister being willing to look at the consequentials from the autumn statement to see if there are possibilities of further development in home insulation. The Arbed and Nest schemes have been excellent schemes to tackle carbon emissions and poverty. However, their scale is insufficient to meet the challenge of...
Lee Waters: 6. What assessment has the Minister made of the potential impact of the fourth industrial revolution on jobs in Wales? OAQ(5)0088(EI)
Lee Waters: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The coming automation and robotics present huge opportunities, but also very real threats to jobs in Wales. On Monday night in Liverpool, the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, gave a speech in which he said some 15 million jobs could be affected by automation. Using the formula that the Bank of England used in coming up with that figure, I’ve...
Lee Waters: I only want to make a brief few remarks in response to some of the speeches here this afternoon. I’d like to wholeheartedly endorse what John Griffiths said about the potential of the parkrun. I recently took part in the new Llanelli coast parkrun, which was a terrific experience. Every time I’ve taken part in the parkrun, as somebody who is not a natural runner, I’m always warmly...
Lee Waters: Diolch, Lywydd. Thank you, Minister. I must say, I’ll express my relief at the fact a deal has been reached and my thanks to you and the First Minister and the officials for your role in playing this. It’s clearly a matter of concern that we are subject to the whims of a boardroom in India and I’m sure there are many in the Chamber who are discomforted by how dependent we are on the...
Lee Waters: 7. What is being done to maintain momentum on the implementation of the Cardiff Violence Prevention Programme across Wales? OAQ(5)0076(CC)
Lee Waters: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. It’s been some years now since Professor Jonathan Shepherd did pioneering work in Cardiff to collect A&E data to reduce violence in Cardiff city centre. Since then, the English Government have used that approach and hard-wired it into the operation of public services in England. What can be done to make sure that we maintain the momentum behind our own...
