Peter Fox: Thank you, Minister, for the response. Llywydd, I welcome the recent figures provided by the Welsh Retail Consortium, which showed that the number of empty retail units in Wales has fallen 2.3 per cent over the past 12 months. This is the biggest fall in the UK, which is great. However, it's not all positive news. Despite the reduction, Wales has the second highest vacancy rate in the UK, and...
Peter Fox: Can I thank you, Minister, for your statement? It was very welcome. Thank you for your commitment to this cause. I know you're doing a huge amount in this regard. You've answered some of my key questions, which were about education and screening. They were captured well and I thank you for the deeper understanding of the situation we seem to be facing. But I am having constituents who are...
Peter Fox: 7. What action is the Welsh Government taking to encourage new house building in the Monmouth constituency? OQ58063
Peter Fox: Thank you, Minister, for that response. Llywydd, I'm sure everybody across the Chamber here knows the importance of having a good quality stock of housing. Without them, the housing stock will come under even more pressure, pricing people out from being able to own their own home, and we've seen that, sadly, all over. However, a number of new developments in my constituency have stalled as a...
Peter Fox: I'm coming to it.
Peter Fox: Fine. How is the Government working with Welsh Water to upgrade sewage systems in Monmouthshire to ensure that more systems are able to treat phosphates at source and ensuring that new developments can connect to these? Thank you.
Peter Fox: I thank the Member for South Wales Central for raising the issue, and, as the Member has just said, it is important that local authorities do all they can to move forward with the adoption of housing estates. But I take the point that the First Minister made, that there is a responsibility on the developers to complete the work in an appropriate fashion. It's also important that developers...
Peter Fox: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the qualifying criteria for the council tax rebate scheme? OQ58082
Peter Fox: Thank you, Minister, for that response. Minister, a number of constituents have contacted my office recently and have asked whether the Welsh Government would consider extending the council tax rebate scheme to those households living in homes that are energy inefficient. For example, two elderly residents have explained that they live in older, stone properties that are cold and draughty,...
Peter Fox: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, the £150 council tax rebate we've just been talking about—the repayment scheme that you're implementing—made possible, as Mark Isherwood said, thanks to the UK Government, is indeed welcome here. However, what is seriously concerning are the multiple reports of families in Wales being stuck in limbo with no access to this support. Online comments to a recent...
Peter Fox: Thank you for that answer, Minister, and I also concur that local authorities do indeed work hard in getting these things out. But what families now need is for the Welsh Government to finally prioritise them by ensuring that that support reaches them extremely quickly. As I'm sure Members from across the Chamber will agree, families should not have to be subjected to continued uncertainties,...
Peter Fox: Well, thank you, Minister. I want to change tack slightly. Minister, Wales is now at a critical stage, and what comes next will determine the future and shape of the country. We're currently suffering the triple whammy of inflationary pressure, the pandemic and now the Welsh Government's—and I have to say it—kick in the teeth to our fantastic tourist industry. Your statement yesterday on...
Peter Fox: 9. Will the Minister make a statement on the availability of agricultural fertiliser in Wales? OQ58083
Peter Fox: Thank you, Minister, and thank you, Llywydd. I'd just like to remind Members of my interest as a farmer, as stated in my interests, albeit I don't actually use fertiliser. As we've heard, Llywydd, the agricultural sector—and we've heard it several times today—is facing an uncertain period. For example, there are a number of concerns around the current and future availability and cost of...
Peter Fox: Can I thank the Member for Alyn and Deeside for bringing forward this very interesting debate today? Before I begin, I'd like to confirm that the Welsh Conservative group will be abstaining on the motion before us today. This is not because we don't agree with the premise of the motion. It's important, if we're to meet our climate change commitments, that we continue to move away from our...
Peter Fox: I welcome the debate today and I welcome Huw's position of not making political points, and I won't try to make any either. But I agree with my colleague Paul Davies on his summation of the situation, and I too am firmly of the belief that the UK Government must honour its repeated commitment to ensure that Wales does receive its share of post-EU funding. From what I'm already hearing within...
Peter Fox: Thank you for that. I think you misunderstood me. I'm asking for that wider debate of why we are still in here after 20 years. I'm conscious there are some new emerging areas where the money will be focused toward, but we have to ask ourselves why the country is still in such a desperate position for economic growth, and we're not seeing that movement that we need to mobilise our communities,...
Peter Fox: Thank you, Jane, for taking the intervention. I think you mentioned my comments about R&D. I absolutely agree with Sioned on R&D, and that isn't necessarily because of this fund, it's because of the lack of Government interaction in trying to lever in the R&D into this country. Look at Scotland, how Scotland have levered in so much more than we have. We—this Government—have let Wales down...
Peter Fox: I thank Jayne Bryant for raising this issue. Llywydd, whilst it's important that we create new green spaces for people to enjoy, it's also important that we protect and enhance existing green spaces too. Now, back in March of this year, revised plans were submitted for a large solar farm on the Gwent levels. This came after the original plans were rejected by the Welsh Government, due to...
Peter Fox: Thank you so much, Deputy Presiding Officer, for allowing everybody to contribute—I appreciate it. And Alun, I will be talking about democracy as a Conservative on this backbench, and the link between an elected representative and a constituent is a cog that makes democracy tick, because democracy functions quite simply by elected representatives being held to account. Our actions, our...
