Carwyn Jones: We expect health boards to have suitable resources in place, including staffing, to provide services to meet the needs of their local population.
Carwyn Jones: We are seeing the growth of apprenticeship schemes. I think in the 1990s the UK lost interest in apprenticeships, and concentrated overly on academic courses. We now see, of course, not just bigger companies but smaller companies offering apprenticeships. Jobs Growth Wales was an example of that to give people the training they needed to get a job and, of course, we have a commitment to...
Carwyn Jones: Well, the investment in Tata is going well. Of course, Tata themselves have invested in blast furnace 5. We continue to talk to them about what kind of package would help and what would be lawful, of course, under state-aid rules. In fact, I had a meeting some 10 days ago with a representative of Tata as we look to take things forward. Tata are definitely keen, of course, to stay in Wales,...
Carwyn Jones: There are occasions when we get notice of potential closures and we're able to help those companies, and have done in the past—Tata being, I suppose, the most obvious example. But, there are occasions when we get no notice, and this was one such occasion. If we'd known that there were issues there, we could have obviously looked to help the company, but they'd already taken the decision. As...
Carwyn Jones: Since 2011, the Welsh Government has supported over 16,200 jobs in manufacturing. Through the economic action plan, we will support futureproofing business investment to help companies sustain, compete and grow.
Carwyn Jones: Yes, the conversation so far has been positive. I would expect that to continue in the future—there's no reason for them to change their minds. They've been working with us, as a Government, and the emphasis will be very strongly on finding a new use for the site, providing employment for all those who've worked there and others in future, and, of course, to provide support for those...
Carwyn Jones: First of all, can I thank the Member for the work that he has done on behalf of those workers? We have held discussions with Schaeffler, and an offer of a two-tier approach to support the company has been accepted. A meeting will be held in early December to develop a taskforce with members of the Schaeffler management team, and the consultation period is still in operation, of course, until...
Carwyn Jones: I think in the Conservative Party it's a gangplank that's used mainly, isn't it, to deal with changes of leadership? Any note or notes that I leave will, of course, be electronic. We are, of course, moving towards being a paperless Government. From our perspective, we will always try and use the non-domestic rates regime in innovative and imaginative ways. We've done it, of course, with the...
Carwyn Jones: Well, it’s difficult to do that, of course. That is something for the next Government to consider and it depends on the amount of funding we receive from Westminster, but, of course, we understand how much of a help this has been for hydropower, and we will consider the situation when we know more about the financial position in the next financial year onwards.
Carwyn Jones: In April, we introduced a grant scheme to provide hydropower project in Wales with grants towards their non-domestic rates bills. The scheme provides 100 per cent rates relief to community hydro projects and caps the increase in rates for other hydropower developments.
Carwyn Jones: Well, I think he should be careful here, because he's effectively accusing universities of being part of a scam, in effect, without any evidence. I come back to the point I made earlier on: he has made suggestions, and I've not seen any evidence from him to back up any of his suggestions, apart from what he says, but nothing to back it up. But I'm pretty sure our universities are not engaged...
Carwyn Jones: He seems to think that people who live in private flats pay business rates. They don't. They pay council tax, just as students do. There's no difference. So, I can't see what point he's trying to make there. If somebody purchases a flat in a block of flats that has just been built, they pay council tax, not business rates.
Carwyn Jones: Of course, a change of use requires an application to the local authority. If he has any evidence at all to back up what he's saying, I'd be glad to hear it.
Carwyn Jones: The document will be published. We always said it would be—suitably redacted, of course. But, I mean, really, four weeks into the franchise, he is critical—after 15 years of the franchise being run from Whitehall, after eight years of a Conservative Government when no extra money was put into rail investment in Wales, no extra money was put into infrastructure, no extra money was put into...
Carwyn Jones: I have to say, this is weak ground for him. How does he justify the fact that Wales only gets 1 per cent of rail infrastructure investment? Nothing from him about that. How does he explain—? Yes, I know it's difficult, but it's true. How does he explain the fact that it was his own party that cancelled electrification west of Cardiff, despite the promise that was actually made? So, this is...
Carwyn Jones: With great difficulty, because there have been enormous problems, as we can see. I'm glad that Transport for Wales has issued the apologies that is has. It had been affected by storm Callum and it has inherited quite an elderly fleet. But we did say—we were honest at the start—it would take some time to replace the trains that we wanted and to get the kind of service that we want to...
Carwyn Jones: Let me explain where I think we are. First of all, I think there's been a complete failure of politics in Westminster. We know that, because we had a referendum in 2016 on an idea. People now can see what the outcome is, and I do think that there is every justification in saying to people, 'Now you know what the reality is, what do you now want to do?' That could be done either through a...
Carwyn Jones: Well, of course any ruling by the Supreme Court will have an effect on Wales. Let's say, for example, the Supreme Court were to say that the Scots have that power, then that would cover us as well. But if they say that there's no power to do it, the Scots have nothing, and we have an agreement. That's the issue here. We have an inter-governmental agreement that was reached by two parties....
Carwyn Jones: I can inform the Chamber that I'll be meeting with the Prime Minister tomorrow to discuss that and other issues.
Carwyn Jones: No, because I’ve always been in favour of remaining within the single market and within the customs union.
