Mike Hedges: I would like to request two statements. The first one is a statement on cladding and an update on the Welsh Government's progress on this issue. This is a major issue to my constituents living in Copper Quarter in SA1. I'm receiving requests for updates, including a timescale regarding when the cladding review will be complete and safety passports issued so that sales can be completed. The...
Mike Hedges: My intervention was because we were talking about energy prices within housing, and the tidal lagoon obviously would affect energy prices. It's another time when we can debate the tidal lagoon; I just wanted to make that point.
Mike Hedges: Do you now regret the fact that the Conservative Government did not fund the tidal lagoon in Swansea?
Mike Hedges: I agree with you. I would say 'electrical' rather than 'electronics'. [Laughter.] But, yes, I think you do. I mean, far too often, we've seen crafts being considered second best, and we all need the benefits of plumbers and electricians and builders. Councils need to commit to the funding of, as I said, council houses, using prudential borrowing, and we need the political will to tackle it....
Mike Hedges: Well, the Welsh Government bought it out, didn't they? It is a matter of concern that we had a system that stopped councils building houses and where council houses were going to be sold and you only got 50 per cent of the value of that house. And despite Janet Finch-Saunders's assertion that for every one house you could build three, for every two houses, you could build one at most. But,...
Mike Hedges: Can I start by saying that the money from the sale of council houses was not able to be used to build more council houses, it had to be kept in a separate account? That was the law; it was a law brought in by the Conservative Government, but that was the law. Can I just say that housing represents one of our greatest domestic challenges? Our housing system has been in crisis since the 1980s....
Mike Hedges: What of the day-to-day policing carried out by the four Welsh police forces? Effectively, the role of the police and crime commissioners, who currently report to the Home Secretary, they should be reporting to whichever Secretary or whichever Cabinet Member we have here. And I assume that, under the current set-up, because I know that Jane Hutt is replying to this debate, it would actually be...
Mike Hedges: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I believe the case for devolving policing is overwhelming. I am very pleased to open the debate. I thank my co-sponsors, one of whom, Rhys ab Owen, will be replying to the debate. This type of debate gives the Senedd an opportunity to show the direction of travel it wants devolution to take. Many of the levers that affect levels of crime have...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Minister for that response? As Members here will know, I've been very supportive of the invest-to-save scheme and the innovate-to-save scheme over a number of years. They've been provided for several years. Can the Minister explain how successful schemes are rolled out across sectors and how many schemes that are planned for next year will be based on previous successful...
Mike Hedges: 5. Will the Minister provide an update on funding for the invest-to-save scheme for the 2022-23 financial year? OQ57735
Mike Hedges: I'd firstly like to say it's really pleasing to see so many people sat in this room with very senior local government experience taking part in this debate. I think that can only add to the quality of debate on the local government settlement. I welcome the settlement. It's good news for local authorities. Adjusting for transfers, the core revenue funding for local government in 2022-23 has...
Mike Hedges: I would say, also, when Rhodri Morgan was First Minister, we didn't engage in PFI.
Mike Hedges: This debate would really be improved if we had alternative proposals, even if only at the level of ministerial budgets, from the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru. I welcome what Peter Fox said about producing one next year. Just a piece of advice: it has to balance, you can't keep on adding money in the expenditure column, taking money off the income column and call that a budget. So, I'm sure...
Mike Hedges: Will you produce a Conservative budget?
Mike Hedges: Can I also thank my colleague Alun Davies for tabling this important piece of legislation? It is something I will support on behalf of my constituents who live in the lower Swansea valley. There is serious pollution in the River Tawe, especially as it travels through Swansea en route to the sea. The Tawe has discharge from the Trebanos treatment works, and waste materials such as parts of...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Minister for that response? Last month, I attended the official opening of the new Tan-y-lan school, where my grandchildren attend, and this month, I will be attending the opening of the new Tirdeunaw school. Of the six comprehensive schools in Swansea, three have been rebuilt on the same site, one completely refurbished and one is a relatively new school. The only school...
Mike Hedges: 7. Will the Minister provide an update on the twenty-first century schools and colleges programme in Swansea? OQ57682
Mike Hedges: I'm asking for a Government statement on diagnosing autism in adults and the information campaign explaining the common signs of autism. It was DSM-IV, released in 1994, that first categorised autism as a spectrum. Anybody born before 1976 would have left school before 1994. We know that some of the common signs of autism in adults include finding it hard to understand what others are...
Mike Hedges: At the weekend, along with Rebecca Evans, I attended and spoke at a rally in Mumbles in support of Ukraine. Swansea had a large Ukrainian population immediately following the second world war, and until the end of the last century there was a Ukrainian club in Morriston. Does the First Minister share my concern that, despite a serious breach of doping rules, Russian athletes were allowed to...
Mike Hedges: They've got to provide care; it's a statutory requirement. If they don't do that, they're breaking the law—the Gloucester judgment, as Sam will tell you.
