Julie James: Certainly.
Julie James: I’m looking forward to it already. [Laughter.] Well, the reason I’ve been visiting all of those places is because I want to make sure that we are embracing the technology as it comes upon us. As I was about to say, understanding intelligent transport systems, the integration of information and communication technology with transport infrastructure, vehicles and users is one of these...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I, too, add my thanks to the Members who tabled this very important debate and for all the thoughtful contributions from all Members today in the Chamber? I, too, am a bit of a car fan. Everybody who knows me at all well knows that I restore old Minis by way of relaxation at weekends. And I also feel that Wales should be on the crest of the wave,...
Julie James: Yes, absolutely. I think the point of the debate, really, is that we need to look backwards a little bit at our systems, but as we develop new systems, we need to develop them in the spirit of open data insofar as that’s possible and permissible and doesn’t reveal any personal or sensitive information. So, I think I can absolutely say that, and we need to design those systems in in the...
Julie James: Well, I’m very grateful to Members for their support of the open data agenda, which is evident across the Chamber. I think there may be a little bit of confusion between what we mean by open data and open Government in this context and publication in general. I take the point about publication that people have made. I feel duty-bound—I’m sure the Llywydd won’t mind my saying so—to...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I’m very pleased to be opening this debate today to focus on how and why we should be increasing the openness and availability of data. I just wanted to start off by clarifying that by that I mean data that relates to non-personal and non-sensitive issues. Our involvement in the Open Government Partnership initiative demonstrates that we are committed to being a more open,...
Julie James: Absolutely. As I said, we’re trying to get a picture of the situation across Wales. We are not at all happy about the consolidation of jobs into one particular area. We haven’t been consulted about it. It appears to us to have been driven by estate matters, rather than jobs and employment matters, which is, in my opinion, not the right way round. We have offered to work with them, and...
Julie James: I’m very grateful for the cross-party support. It makes no sense to us to move jobs from areas that need them badly into areas where employment is much higher. I don’t have all the details of the plan for the big new office, nor of the closure of, I presume, some of the satellite offices around it, but I will be seeking clarification on that, and indeed we will be seeking to affect the...
Julie James: Yes, indeed, I’m happy to make that commitment to you. We will, I hope, be having a broad discussion about exactly what the plans are, why they’ve seen fit to do this, why they didn’t consult with us, and indeed what can be done now. It hasn’t actually happened yet. What can we do at this moment in time to assist and to make sure that we understand exactly what the proposals are so...
Julie James: Well, indeed, that’s very much part of the conversation. We had a conversation about possible relocation areas for people from Llanelli, and a diverse range of places were mentioned, moving me to ask whether he had a map with the mountains marked on it. One of the areas that was mentioned was a possible relocation to Swansea waterfront, for example. I was explaining the difficulty of...
Julie James: Absolutely. I’m very disappointed that the DWP announced last Wednesday the decision to close the Llanelli benefit office and the job centres in Mountain Ash, Pyle, and Tredegar. Relocating jobs will affect about 150 staff, we understand. I’m also very disappointed that they did not see fit to consult with the Welsh Government about alternative solutions prior to the final decision. I...
Julie James: I’ve made repeated representations to the Minister for employment. I made clear my concerns when we spoke on 5 July. I’ll continue to seek assurances about the position of staff who are adversely affected by these changes. And, indeed, I’m meeting with the UK Minister tomorrow to discuss the matter further.
Julie James: Thank you for that. I think the Member makes an enormous number of good points there. One of the things we’ll be looking to do is make sure that we can address individual requirements for particular support and make sure that people can access the jobs and skills they need in the area where they want them to do that. What we’re trying to do is basically get a programme that’s coherent...
Julie James: Thank you for that series of questions. I think I have actually addressed almost all of them already, but I’ll just reiterate. The Valleys taskforce is just mentioned as being the pilot test bed for some of the pieces of work that we’re doing. As I already indicated to other Members, it’s not the only place that we’ll be doing it and we have to start somewhere. Obviously, the...
Julie James: In terms of the fair work and progression programme, the First Minister has asked me to chair stage 1 of the fair work piece and that is around how we make sure that we use leverage from Welsh Government funding to its best advantage. So, what we’re looking to do is establish an agreed definition of ‘fair work’, including the progression elements of that, and then make sure that we...
Julie James: Thank you very much for that, Llyr. In terms of the governance issues, I’ll just address that first. I appreciate that I did mention a large number of boards and so on, but we’ll be providing Members with a sort of pictogram of what we’re talking about, and you’ll see that actually it’s a lot simpler. Because what we’re really talking about is a single board across Government for...
Julie James: Well, thank you for that series of questions. In terms of developing skills appropriate for business and business delivery, the Member will be aware that we've established the three regional skills partnerships across Wales. They’re in their third year now. This year, they will produce their annual reports detailing labour market information and intelligence in their area, and outlining the...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Today I want to set out my agenda for employability. I’m delighted that this follows our discussion on the ministerial taskforce for the south Wales Valleys as supporting people into work will be a key feature of the taskforce’s work over the coming years. Engagement with communities, which the Valleys taskforce has started, will continue. We also...
Julie James: Certainly.
Julie James: I absolutely acknowledge that point. There are several cohorts of people whom we need to be able to address here. So, I was just simply making the point that, for those people in work and, perhaps, in a firm where they have some commitment but would like to advance in, and particularly in firms that want to grow themselves, that’s a very important point. I think the quote that was given...
