Alun Davies: Carwyn Jones.
Alun Davies: This is undoubtedly a crucial period for broadcasting in Wales. In the coming weeks and months there are key decisions to be taken relating to broadcasting and regulatory arrangements. With this in mind, the Welsh Government will establish a new independent media forum for Wales. This was one of the recommendations of the communities committee in its report on the BBC charter review. I will...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, and thank you for your kind words at the beginning of your remarks. Can I say, Bethan, that I enjoyed the conversations that we had in committee earlier this year, and last year as well? I think we’ve always found a great deal of consensus in different parts of this Chamber on broadcasting and on the media in general, and how this place would like to address those...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much. I’m grateful, also, for your very kind remarks. I’m not usually associated with a muscular approach to any particular policy field. I’m more usually associated with a cup of tea and a cake, but I certainly hope that we will be able to have a conversation with the BBC that is intelligent and based upon respect for their charter commitments and their mission, but also...
Alun Davies: Thank you. I’m very grateful to the Conservatives’ spokesperson for his kind remarks. I look forward to our conversations over the coming period on this and, I’m sure, other matters as well. I’ll start, if I could, by answering your last question first. The Member will be aware that there is a memorandum of understanding in place between the Welsh Government and the BBC and DCMS that...
Alun Davies: Llywydd, you’re very kind. I want to see high-quality investigative journalism that’s well funded. I think the work of Michael Crick on Channel 4 recently over the past few months is a great example of how investigative journalism can hold politicians to account. It’s the role, I hope, of a strong, effective, independent media in our society to hold Government and to hold political...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much. I do agree with the points that the Member has made and the initial point that he made is an exceptionally important one, because, when we talk about broadcasting from Wales and about Wales, we’re not just talking about reporting to the people of Wales what’s happening in Wales, but we’re also talking about looking at the world through Welsh eyes, and that is...
Alun Davies: I’m grateful to the Member for the points that she makes. She is right to refer to the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee and their report published last week. I think it demonstrates the depth, as well as the breadth, of consensus, not only in this Chamber, but elsewhere, about many of the challenges that we face. The point about ‘Casualty’ is well made, and it’s a similar...
Alun Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. The south Wales Valleys have a strong and proud history. We powered the industrial revolution, we drove the development of the Commonwealth and we were instrumental in all the advances of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The closure of the ironworks, steelworks and the pits has had a long and lasting impact on the Valleys communities, stretching from the...
Alun Davies: Rydym eisoes wedi gweld buddsoddiad strwythurol sylweddol yn y Cymoedd, gan gynnwys gan yr Undeb Ewropeaidd. Bydd y tasglu yn adeiladu ar y sylfaen hon, gan weithio gyda phobl sy'n byw yn y Cymoedd, busnesau lleol, llywodraeth leol, y trydydd sector a sefydliadau dinesig i hyrwyddo'r Cymoedd fel rhanbarth i fuddsoddi ynddo ac fel lle i fyw, i gydgysylltu buddsoddiadau presennol yn well, ac i...
Alun Davies: I’m grateful to the Plaid Cymru spokesperson for her response, and I agree with much of it. I certainly agree with the points that you made on outcomes, rather than simply counting what we’re doing. I think all too often in Government, there’s been a temptation to count all the actions that we take and then to declare that a great success because we’ve done a lot. What actually...
Alun Davies: I would very gently suggest to the Member that perhaps he reads the statement before he writes his contribution to it. If you had read or listened to my statement, you would have known that we will be consulting with all the different parts of the community that you have listed in your questions. And let me say this to you: it’s a bit rich for any Conservative spokesperson to come here to...
Alun Davies: I’m very grateful to the Member for Merthyr Tydfil for making those points. I think the people of the Valleys of south Wales will take their own view on those Members who appear at election campaigns promising the earth and then when it comes to doing the work, disappear off, whether they’re on holidays or elsewhere, but we’ll allow others to make that judgment—[Interruption.] Oh,...
Alun Davies: I completely agree with the points that Adam Price has been making. I think this is an opportunity to rethink some of those approaches. I’ve always been very taken by the deep place study on Tredegar, of course, which was published two years ago now. I think we do need to look at that holistic approach to economic development sitting alongside environment, sitting alongside social and...
Alun Davies: The answer to the question is ‘yes’, ‘yes’ and ‘yes’. I absolutely agree that this isn’t about throwing babies out with bathwater; this is about building on firm foundations. The Flying Start investments that we’ve made are a key part of that. I’ve seen some of the work that’s been done by Sony in Pencoed and I think that’s a fantastic model for what we want to achieve...
Alun Davies: I’m grateful to David Melding for the points he makes. I absolutely agree with the points made on economic inactivity. I hope these are some of the issues that the future generations Act is designed, or will be designed, to address because we do have issues of inactivity in valley communities. But as you say, they’re not simply the result of unemployment but other reasons as well, and we...
Alun Davies: I absolutely agree. I think the Cwmcarn forest drive is a fantastic resource for all of us, and not just for those of us who live in the Valleys. I know the Cabinet Secretary is in her place and has heard the points that you’ve made. And, certainly, the work that I believe that NRW has been involved with will ensure that Cwmcarn scenic drive is available for people in the future. It’s a...
Alun Davies: Further education makes a significant contribution to skills development in Wales, increasing employability, careers pathways and public services. Further education colleges also help to increase economic prosperity as well as individual well-being and community life.
Alun Davies: I’d be happy to do that. Clearly, we do have an FE strategy that is part of the long-term strategy for post-16 education, and that includes skills and FE itself. We will continue to make capital investment, as the Member has suggested, but we are also looking at how we safeguard funding for further education in this year. The Member will be aware that the FE budget has suffered over the...
Alun Davies: The responsibility for apprenticeships and those areas are in the portfolio of the Minister for Skills and Science, and she is in her place in the Chamber and will have heard that question and, I’m sure, will respond in due course. But can I say this: it’s important that we ensure that the quality of education delivered by further education is monitored, understood and celebrated in the...
