Julie James: Yes, that is a matter of negotiation between ourselves and British Telecom—Openreach being their contractor, of course, so it's important not to confuse the two as the split occurs. The way that the first scheme worked, to explain to Members—. I actually met with Rhun ap Iorwerth in his constituency, as well, quite a while ago now, actually, wasn't it—it was a few years ago—to talk...
Julie James: Yes, I'm very happy to come and meet them, if that will facilitate the process. There are a number of issues, as Hefin David knows, with new-build estates and the arrangements between the house builder and Openreach—Openreach is the contractor for that estate—and how the connections work. It can be very frustrating for residents as the cabinets are capacitated, as it's called, and rolled...
Julie James: Yes, absolutely, and, as I said when I was at the meeting in your constituency, we very much take that on board and so successor projects are being designed to go to specific properties. So, if you'll remember, the first one was a bit of a fishing pool: they could go to 690,000-plus properties across Wales—any property they wanted—because we had a massive problem when we started off that...
Julie James: My officials will work closely with the successful delivery partners of the successor scheme to develop a robust, comprehensive communications and engagement plan, details of which will be made available following completion of the procurement process.
Julie James: Yes, well, there are several different strands to that. So, in the superfast intervention area, so outside the central conurbations, if you bear in mind that the whole of the superfast programme is a market intervention, we can only go where the market doesn't go. So, assuming you're in a superfast intervention area, and that's happening, then you'll be part of the next procurement or the...
Julie James: Well, as I've just said, that's just talking about the planning permitted development rights. I was talking, when I was talking about one operator, about spectrum. So, there's a big issue with the way that the UK Government sells spectrum. And if the spectrum isn't being used by the person who purchases it, then it just sits there doing nothing. So, we can't do anything about the fact that we...
Julie James: Yes, indeed. Good progress is being made on improving digital inclusion across the South Wales Central region. Digital Communities Wales is working in close partnership with a wide range of organisations and programmes to support more people to gain maximum benefit from the life-changing opportunities digital technologies offer.
Julie James: Well, no, I don't agree with quite the way he characterises that. I don't think there is a silver bullet. Permitted development rights after the consultation may well be one thing in an armoury of things that we need to bring to bear on some of the really poor provision that we have, and, bear in mind, this isn't a devolved issue here. And I reiterate a conversation Russell George and I have...
Julie James: No, I wasn't saying that.
Julie James: There has been a range of meetings with them. I haven't actually met recently with the entire network, but we're in the process of arranging that, and there was a meeting in Llandrindod Wells yesterday. So, we are very much under way with that. What we're trying to do, as I keep saying—we're out to consultation at the moment on the permitted development rights—what we're trying to do is...
Julie James: We've got a number of things happening on that front. We fund Stonewall Cymru—. I just want to start off by saying that, obviously, that kind of discrimination is appalling, and I too was appalled by some of the reports that the BBC was carrying this morning about some of the discrimination. I'm very proud, Llywydd, that the Commission has been recognised for its work in this area, and,...
Julie James: Apologies. You did indeed raise it yesterday. I think there were a series of questions and I neglected to answer it, so apologies for that, Siân Gwenllian. We haven't abolished the grant. It was subsumed into the overall grant, but I take your point. There is a real tension, if you like, between hypothecated and unhypothecated funding across local government, given the austerity agenda...
Julie James: Yes, I share Siân Gwenllian's horror—an appalling reaction to it. I had a similar issue with my own Twitter feed, and I follow Siân Gwenllian on Twitter, so I'm very well aware of what she speaks. Part of the point of the plan is to do exactly that, to combat the prejudicial, prejudiced responses from people who really haven't understood at all what people from other countries bring...
Julie James: Yes. We're in the process at the moment of procuring the second phase of Superfast Cymru. There are a number of tranches to that. It is specifically designed to pick up those communities with the least good service, either of mobile data services or poor broadband download speeds. In addition to that, we have a particular pool for communities who wish to get together to get a solution for...
Julie James: No. We're working very hard indeed to make sure that services for people fleeing domestic violence or any kind of sexual violence across Wales are fit for purpose. We have, as David Rowlands knows, the rapid review of gender equality currently under way. I'm due to discuss that on Thursday morning of this week. One of the aims of that, and of the violence against women, domestic abuse and...
Julie James: Yes, absolutely. We are the first and only country in the UK to appoint an anti-slavery co-ordinator, as I know David Rowlands is well aware. We've established the Wales anti-slavery leadership group to provide the strategic leadership and guidance on how we tackle slavery in Wales, and to provide the best possible support for survivors. We're in the process of the sharing the learning from...
Julie James: We've worked very hard with the council, actually, in a number of areas, to make sure that they have a good plan in place to address social inequality across the city. One of the big issues for everyone is the employability of some of the areas of Swansea. We do still have, across Wales, small pockets of high unemployment and some parts of my own constituency, Llywydd, are affected by that,...
Julie James: Improving health for everyone, especially those in poverty, is a central ambition of 'Prosperity for All' and we're prioritising actions to both tackle the root causes of that poverty and to target support for people within the most deprived areas of Wales. The Member has correctly identified that there are a range of issues that affect life expectancy. What we need to do is get upstream...
Julie James: Yes. Our strategic equality plan details our equality objectives that are ensuring the way we govern has an effective impact on making our society fairer and more inclusive. The rapid review of gender equality, which is under way, will identify actions to drive forward equality and fairness in Wales.
Julie James: None. I have held discussions with the mobile industry, Ofcom, landowners, business organisations and local authorities in designing the mobile action plan.
