Mike Hedges: Swansea City Supporters Trust. Firstly, I must declare an interest as a member of Swansea City Supporters Trust. Unfortunately in Britain, professional football clubs—especially at the top level—normally have a very large local fan base, but ownership of the club by one or more individuals, quite often from abroad. I know Cardiff City fans would recognise that situation. Swansea City is...
Mike Hedges: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on tackling scams in Wales? OAQ(5)0443(FM)
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the First Minister for that response? I do not believe you can overestimate the problem with scams, both by phone and written. The effect on people being scammed is horrendous and can have a serious effect on their life, and actually, in some cases, it can lead to a shortening of their life. I appreciate the work done by trading standards and third sector organisations and others....
Mike Hedges: This is a very sad day for Swansea East and a sad day for health, as smoking cessation, smoke-free homes, exercise classes, healthy diet and slimming programmes end. A sad day for educational attainment, as Easter exam preparation, homework clubs and family learning programmes end. A sad day for people who would have benefited from money awareness courses, utility bills advice, basic...
Mike Hedges: We take electricity for granted. We switch our computer, our television, our lights or other electrical devices on and we expect them to work. The electricity has to be generated and available when we need it. Traditionally, electricity has been generated by burning fossil fuels. All fossil fuels are carbon based. When carbon burns, it forms carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas....
Mike Hedges: I think it is actually on rivers because the fish are moving up and down the river and, to get up and down the river, they have to go through the area where the turbines are. Whether they’ve got a fish pass or whatever they’ve got for it—. I think that, if we need fish passes, they need to get fish passes built into the tidal lagoon. But, technically, I don’t think that it is very...
Mike Hedges: Cabinet Secretary, I’m sure you’d agree with me that austerity never works. From President Hoover in the United States to Greece today, all austerity has done is make matters worse. We know that when the Institute for Fiscal Studies published its green budget, its director said that the next few years would be defined by the spending cuts announced by George Osborne. What effects will...
Mike Hedges: 7. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the proposed general power of competence for local authorities in Wales? OAQ(5)0086(FLG)
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that response? It’s been called for by local authorities for at least 30 years. Can the Cabinet Secretary explain how it will benefit local authorities, and confirm it does away with the need to prove surplus capacity in order to sell goods and services to the private sector?
Mike Hedges: Who never uses a pause. [Laughter.]
Mike Hedges: 4. What representations has the Counsel General made on behalf of the Welsh Government regarding the enforcement of maritime laws? OAQ(5)0022(CG)
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Counsel General. What consideration has the Counsel General given to how prosecutions of maritime offences could be made more effective?
Mike Hedges: I heard what you said, but can you just confirm that you wish the Principality, whatever happens, to stay mutually owned, not turn into the type of bank that happened previously, most of which—in fact, all of which—went into financial problems?
Mike Hedges: Thank you for taking an intervention. Would you also agree that there are a lot of people, especially amongst the elderly, who don’t want to do their banking online, don’t want to use a computer for doing their banking and want to go and visit their local bank?
Mike Hedges: I also wish to thank Caroline Jones for giving me a minute in this debate. I’ve spoken on loneliness in this Chamber several times, and it’s an issue that really does concern me. I intend just to give two examples of loneliness: first the woman who visited me in surgery three times. I asked her after her third visit what she wanted me to do to help her. She replied, ‘I come and see you,...
Mike Hedges: I also welcome the statement. I think perhaps the first thing we should do is thank Rhodri Morgan who, as First Minister, resisted the temptation to sign what have turned out to be very costly PFI schemes in England and Scotland. I think that we owe him thanks for that because there’s about £400 million, perhaps, of money being spent on services this year, in Wales, which wouldn’t have...
Mike Hedges: The other question is: will there be a facility for the future restructuring of payments? I’m not sure, perhaps, if the Cabinet Secretary can tell us now whether these costs will be fixed, or whether they will be variable. If they are variable, will they be able to be restructured?
Mike Hedges: I very much welcome the opportunity to take part in a debate on working conditions and wages. The reason the Labour Party exists and was formed in the beginning was to defend workers against exploitation. Times in terms of employment have changed, and for most workers, not for the better, over the last 40 years. In the 1970s, the expectation was for full-time, either waged or salaried...
Mike Hedges: I’ve only got 17 seconds, I’m afraid, Darren. Our ambition for Wales must be to create a high-wage, high-skilled economy, and become a living wage country. That’s what we have to do. ‘We cannot afford it’ and ‘It will cost jobs’ have been the arguments against every progressive change from the abolition of slavery to the minimum wage.
Mike Hedges: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on improving transport links within the Swansea Bay City region?
