Gareth Bennett: 6. Will the First Minister provide an update on funding for the South Wales Metro? OAQ(5)0317(FM)
Gareth Bennett: Yes. Thanks, First Minister. I’m glad you referred to the pledge by the UK Government to match the funding. Paul Maynard, the UK’s transport Minister, specifically advised the Welsh Government to apply for the ERDF funding, so would you agree that the Brexit vote is not necessarily any impediment to going ahead with the south Wales metro project?
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the five Members listed for bringing the debate today. There’s a range of issues under deliberation here, too many to cover in one contribution, so I’ll concentrate on the issues of obesity and physical activity, active travel being part of that. Levels of participation in active travel have not shown improvement, unfortunately, since the active travel Act was passed, and the...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Lywydd. Thanks for the opportunity of bringing this debate today. As many of us know, moving from one rented property to another can sometimes be difficult. I do understand this, as I have never had a residential mortgage, and hence have never been an owner-occupier. So, I have spent a lot of time in my life living in the private rented sector. Oddly, though, I do also have a...
Gareth Bennett: 1. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to alleviate road traffic congestion in South Wales Central? OAQ(5)0344(FM)
Gareth Bennett: I thank the First Minister for his answer. As you will no doubt be aware, there are major housing developments planned for the edges of Cardiff, which will, undoubtedly, increase road traffic congestion in the next few years. Of course, we’re hopeful that the south Wales metro will eventually arrive. But, in the medium term, are there any steps that the Government here could take to...
Gareth Bennett: It’s interesting that the environmental push is now there to reduce the use of diesel cars because it seems to be only a few years ago that we were actually being encouraged to use diesel by many of the same people. So, I wonder if the Minister would agree that this is one example of an area where the received wisdom in the environmental field, within a few years, turns out to be completely...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the committee Chair for his statement. I’m sure that this human rights inquiry will bring to light many areas of interest, not least to me, as the whole issue of human rights has tended to mystify me somewhat over the years. I recall reading a lot about the Human Rights Act 1998 prior to its implementation and, as I worked in a call centre at the time, I wondered what wonderful...
Gareth Bennett: What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the UK Government about immigration policies and controls for Wales?
Gareth Bennett: Many people would agree that a major factor in the Brexit vote was public anxiety over immigration. That is not just the conclusion of me and my colleagues in UKIP, it is also the view of Theresa May, previously a ‘remainer’ of course, and the Conservative Government at Westminster. It is also the view of the First Minister here in Cardiff Bay, who has told the Chamber on myriad occasions...
Gareth Bennett: This local government settlement is the first for four years to show an overall increase in funding, and this is welcome, and UKIP will be supporting the settlement. However, we do need to ensure that local authorities make the best use of this funding, and this entails clamping down on wasteful council spending.
Gareth Bennett: One new problem area is the use of Government procurement cards. Some £92 million has been spent on these cards by Welsh councils over the last five years, so we are talking about significant amounts. The National Audit Office reported in 2012 that procedures relating to these cards were too lax, and there was a lack of central guidance on when it was appropriate to use such a card. Rather...
Gareth Bennett: We in UKIP support today’s Conservative motion. We are also concerned at the public health implications of reducing rubbish collections, and we acknowledge a likely connection between reducing collections and seeing a consequent increase in fly-tipping. There has been a drive by councils across Wales in recent years to reduce collections in order to meet Welsh Government recycling targets....
Gareth Bennett: Yes.
Gareth Bennett: I will accept the possibility. Will you also accept that there’s a possibility that it could be because of reduced rubbish collections?
Gareth Bennett: Ultimately, we may be in danger of patting ourselves on the back for meeting recycling targets whilst ignoring the increasing piles of rubbish dumped in fields and back alleys. Cardiff, Newport, Swansea and some other towns are seeing more and more residents moving into small housing units like flats, or into shared accommodation like houses in multiple occupation. Many occupants of these...
Gareth Bennett: The debate today covers a wide range of areas, so I will concentrate on one aspect, which is air quality. Air quality matters to everybody, so it is right that we take what steps we can in the Assembly to improve it. We in UKIP support the Government’s motion today. We also support the Conservative amendment, which tackles the issue that the Welsh Government has the ability to impose...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to David Melding for bringing the debate today. A lot of the issues under discussion today were also touched on, to some extent, in yesterday’s Government debate about creating better local environments. These terms ‘creating better local environments’ and ‘liveable cities’—this kind of thing—I do find a rather all-embracing subject matter, so it is sometimes difficult to...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for his statement today. We in UKIP broadly support the intention to reduce the bureaucracy of local government, while, at the same time, striving to preserve some meaningful link between elected local councillors and their constituents. As with most things in politics, this reorganisation needs to be a balancing act. On one hand, we have public concerns over too many...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for bringing today’s debate. We broadly support the aims of the report, and we also support the Conservative amendments. One of these deals with having measurable objectives. We can occasionally become overly obsessive about targets. However, an absence of meaningful targets will make it increasingly difficult for any Government to gauge how well its policies are...
