Suzy Davies: Not from a sitting position.
Suzy Davies: Could the Member please continue with his contribution? Thank you.
Suzy Davies: I have selected the six amendments to the motion. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be deselected. If amendment 3 is agreed, amendment 4 will be deselected. I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to formally move amendments 1 and 2 tabled in the name of Jane Hutt.
Suzy Davies: Thank you. I call on Janet Finch-Saunders to move amendments 2, 3, 5 and 6 tabled in the name of Paul Davies.
Suzy Davies: Sit down. Sit down, please.
Suzy Davies: The Member will have the opportunity to address this when he sums up at the end of the debate.
Suzy Davies: It's a bit long for an intervention, Mr David.
Suzy Davies: Can you bring your contribution to an end now, please?
Suzy Davies: I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, Mark Drakeford.
Suzy Davies: I think the location in Carmarthen is likely to stimulate the use of the Welsh language within the economy, as it would wherever it’s situated in Wales. But, of course, this particular county has faced some fragility in the robustness of its growth of the Welsh language and has had some difficulties with its Welsh in education statutory plans in the past. So, the location of Yr Egin in this...
Suzy Davies: Could I also thank the older people’s commissioner for her work? I’d much rather, as you all know, have her be directly accountable to this Assembly rather than the Welsh Government, but her report is really, really valuable and I thank her for that, as well as the others referred to within it. I also thank her for—and Julie mentioned this—the very visible and direct contact that...
Suzy Davies: 8. Will the Minister make a statement on education for three year olds? OAQ(5)0057(EDU)
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that answer. Almost three years ago, the then education Minister wrote to me confirming that local authorities can, and I quote, provide these places—education for three-year-olds—in a nursery school, a nursery class within a primary school, or non-maintained setting, such as a playgroup or a private day nursery. Now, three years on, Swansea council is still only funding...
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your answers to Adam Price and David Rees, and thank you also for what I’m now taking to be your definition of what a sustainable future for steel might mean, which includes the retaining of the two blast furnaces and longer than three years in terms of the support that you’re prepared to provide. If it emerges that a guarantee can’t be given to save...
Suzy Davies: Last week it was announced that Swansea is No. 13 in a list of the UK’s most congested towns and cities, and that apparently results in a drop in the city’s productivity, as well as polluting the air. Three years ago, Swansea council installed their nowcaster system to monitor air pollution levels, identify poor air quality and redirect traffic. It’s still not ready, despite the Welsh...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Lywydd. [Interruption.] No jokes from me today, I’m afraid. I do appreciate that a draft budget isn’t the place for detailed spending plans. The sort of high-level, top-line figures are more of an opportunity, really, for the Welsh Government to throw a few coloured lights around those areas of generosity that it would like us to notice. As my party’s spokesperson on culture and...
Suzy Davies: No, completely empty.
Suzy Davies: Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. Can I just say thank you to everyone who took part in the debate today, as well? The core of the autumn statement, of course, has been about the capital announcement and the possibilities for infrastructure. Adam Price expressed, of course, some frustration over the speed of development, but you didn’t demur about its importance. I will come back to infrastructure,...
Suzy Davies: Listen, there’s no greater supporter than me for people setting up their own independent coffee shops, as it goes, so you picked the right person to talk to there. But on this issue of small businesses, leader of the house, I didn’t really hear anything about that in the draft budget that you referred to and that we spent quite a lot of time on yesterday. I’m running out of time now. I...
Suzy Davies: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for responding to the statement today as well? Could I also express my congratulations to, certainly, the trade unions for bringing this to a conclusion just before Christmas, anyway, and giving at least some comfort? But I do share the concerns of both Adam Price and David Rees on what faith we should place in the commitments that Tata Steel have given...