Carwyn Jones: It's been an honour.
Carwyn Jones: It's been an honour. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you. [Applause.]
Carwyn Jones: I'd like, if I may, to just mention some people. First of all, my family: Lisa, my wife, who is here today, and I've been married to her for 24 years; Caron, my father, who is also here today and was here nine years ago; my mother was alive at that point, but died six days after I became First Minister, and she is somebody, of course, who is very much in my thoughts today; and my two...
Carwyn Jones: Thank you to the children and to Lisa and dad.
Carwyn Jones: Could I thank the Permanent Secretaries who have served in my time—two Morgans and a Jones—and the civil service? Because, politicians, of course, come up with policies and ideas and, sometimes, it is for civil servants to put those into practice. It's not always the easiest thing in the world, and I thank them for the work that they have done. I thank the Labour group and the Welsh...
Carwyn Jones: Thank you, Llywydd. Later this afternoon, I will be writing to Her Majesty the Queen to resign after nine years as First Minister of Wales. It's been a privilege to succeed my friend and mentor Rhodri Morgan, and of course it's been a huge privilege to serve Wales in this job and to be at the helm at such a challenging and crucial time in our history as a nation. In preparing to give up the...
Carwyn Jones: Llywydd, later this afternoon, I'll tender my resignation to Her Majesty the Queen, after nine years as First Minister of Wales. It was a privilege to follow my friend and mentor Rhodri Morgan. It's been a huge privilege to serve Wales in this job and to be at the helm at a time of great challenge, a crucial time in our nation's history. As I prepare to hand over the reins, the feelings are,...
Carwyn Jones: Well, that work will continue, and it's true to say, of course, that the future of Ynys Môn airport is dependent on Cardiff Airport, and that is why I have been so supportive over the years of the service between the two airports. I know that the history has been difficult now and then, but it is a service that is up there with the best now, and we see that more people are beginning to use...
Carwyn Jones: First of all, the purchase of the airport was, if I remember rightly, £52 million, and then, of course, there has been a series of loans that have been made available to the airport. That money is not lost. My intention always was that the airport would increase in value, and it has, well beyond the purchase price that we paid. And there would come a point when private equity would then get...
Carwyn Jones: First of all, it's been personally a great pleasure for me to see the growth in the airport. I'd like to pay tribute to Roger Lewis, to Debra Barber and all those who work at the airport who've done so much to ensure its future. I knew there was a future there if it was run properly, and that's what we intended to do, which is why, of course, we didn't try and run it ourselves via politicians...
Carwyn Jones: Yes. I remember my predecessor, Rhodri Morgan, writing an article in the Western Mail where he said that my entire time as First Minister would be judged on the performance of Cardiff Airport. On that basis, I'm entirely happy to be judged, then, on that. Other people will have different views—I understand that—but, of course, Cardiff Airport has ambitious plans for growth and a vision...
Carwyn Jones: This is now beginning to sound like a job interview, given that question. For me, there are two things that are vital, and these are issues that have been raised with me many, many times. The first is that it's hugely important to project Wales's image across the world—to go out and sell Wales. No-one else will do it, and it's massively important that we have trade missions. Some of those...
Carwyn Jones: I think if we look at the economic statistics—certainly the ones published today—we will see that things have improved greatly over the past year and beyond. Of course, the economic action plan has made good progress since its implementation. We have the new operating model. Since May, we've completed more than 70 economic contracts with businesses, and they are businesses of different...
Carwyn Jones: We're developing a clear and consistent measuring framework across Government with the well-being indicators. We'll use those to track our economic progress over the longer term, and we are working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other partners to learn from best practice around the world.
Carwyn Jones: Well, that's a matter—it's a matter for the next Government. It's the first time I've used that phrase, I have to say, in First Minister's questions. But, of course, it's—. The difficulty is that we know that many programmes are being delivered in areas, but we also know, of course, that there will be families in other areas that don't benefit from the same schemes. The difficult bit has...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I did say that, but I said that about nine years ago. Of course, since then things have changed, and changed for the better. We now see the results improving. For example, we know that the young people of Wales are doing extremely well at A-level and we’ve seen progress in the grades that people gain at GCSE and, of course, we know that the people of Wales are pleased with the...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I don't agree that children are underachieving. I think there are excellent results in Wales in A-levels and in GCSEs, and we see very good standards of teaching in Wales. I think what is right to say is that consistency has always been an issue. Now, of course, the key to dealing with that is local government, because local government delivers education. Now, it's perfectly right and...
Carwyn Jones: Well, our national mission is to raise standards of education for our young people. We're developing new evaluation and improvement arrangements, which will further support school improvement. The next stage, of course, is to consider how to support our schools causing most concern at an early stage, and the Cabinet Secretary for Education will update members in the new year on that point.
Carwyn Jones: Well, I thank the Member for his comments. We all appreciate how important the steel industry is, of course, across Wales. I well remember in March 2016 the announcements that were made then. I think it's fair to say the future looked very bleak at that point, particularly for the heavy end at Port Talbot. There was a real risk that the heavy end would go, and Shotton, Trostre and the...
Carwyn Jones: I think we're doing that already, and I think what's important is, more than anything else, that business knows that the Government is there to help it, to support it, but not interfere with it. Government works best when it works alongside business and that is something that we have striven to do over the past decade and, of course, the economic figures show that that approach has been...
