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: 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: 7. What action is the Welsh Government taking to encourage new house building in the Monmouth constituency? OQ58063
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: 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: 9. How is the Welsh Government supporting high-street businesses? OQ58024
Peter Fox: The focus of this debate is what Wales's Government have done over 20 years, and Wales's Government have lifted very few children out of poverty. We have the same amount in poverty now as we had 20 years ago. So, likewise, if more focus had been on—. Oh, I've talked about that bit. [Laughter.] These things create life chances. And I've mentioned that bit as well, but the number of Welsh...
Peter Fox: I'll just finish this point, if I may, Huw. Despite Welsh Labour saying there would be no children living in poverty—Tony Blair—by 2020.
Peter Fox: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I declare my interest also as a Monmouthshire councillor, the last one, ending, like Sam, a long career of 25 years in local authorities. [Interruption.] Yes. Dirprwy Lywydd, our motion is right on so many levels, be it regarding families and communities, the economy, the shortcomings in educational attainment, and, of course, as we all know here, some significant...
Peter Fox: Thank you, Minister, for that response. Llywydd, I fully support the Government's intention to help as many of our Ukrainian friends as possible to seek safety in Wales, and all of us in this Chamber are proud of Wales's designation as a nation of sanctuary. As I understand it, the Welsh Government is helping to sponsor people to come into the UK, rather than relying on a match with a host...
Peter Fox: 9. How is the Welsh Government using its super sponsor status to help people from Ukraine to seek safety in Wales? OQ57966
Peter Fox: I thank the Member for Cardiff Central for raising what is an important and timely topic, and I agree that more Welsh food needs to be processed in Wales, particularly given the disruption to supply chains that we've seen in recent years. It is then regrettable that, as Professor Terry Marsden has previously put it, there has been a decline in and hollowing out of the food infrastructures in...
Peter Fox: Thank you very much, Minister, for that response. Llywydd, as the Minister is, I'm sure, already aware, the Welsh Government's proposed changes to raise the occupancy criteria to be classed as a business by 160 per cent has caused quite a stir within the tourism industry. At a time when the sector is still recovering from the financial impacts of the pandemic, such a change has caused concern...
Peter Fox: 1. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Economy about the impact of the Welsh Government’s draft Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022 on the tourism industry? OQ57912
Peter Fox: Thank you, Minister, for your statement, and I welcome the positive messages you've given us this afternoon and a suggested move on amendments. Llywydd, unfortunately, though, the Welsh Conservative group is not in a position to support the general principles of the Welsh tax Acts Bill, and so we'll be voting against both motions before the Senedd today. When the Bill was introduced last...
Peter Fox: Thank you, First Minister. I've been contacted—no doubt, many of us here have—by a number of constituents who are struggling to access NHS dentistry services. Certainly, in my constituency, one example was where I was recently contacted by a parent whose children were last seen by a dentist at Easter 2019. They had only been able to be seen by a hygienist since then, as the constituent...
Peter Fox: 7. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve access to NHS dentistry services? OQ57911
Peter Fox: Can I thank Adam Price for bringing this debate today and allowing me a minute of his time, but also for the eloquent way in which you described the situation once again? This is a devastating disease that impacts families so terribly, as you've described, Adam, so well. And the problem that Bob and Lowri are facing is replicated in many families across Wales. It may only be a small number in...
Peter Fox: I'm conscious of time, Minister, so I will shorten what I was going to say. Minister, thank you for all that you're doing, and I really welcome the statement today. I was contacted by a constituent who's been contacted in turn, through the Ukrainian refugees scheme, by a Ukrainian medical student who's desperate to continue her studies in the UK. Obviously, Ukraine would like their students...
