Carwyn Jones: One of the things we’re doing, of course, is to create a minimum of 100,000 all-age apprenticeships during this Assembly term, and that will continue our focus on raising overall skills.
Carwyn Jones: There is a problem in some parts of the BBC where there isn’t a great deal of understanding of Wales. One of the things that we have discussed with the BBC is whether we should have our own ‘News at Six’ and also our own ‘News at Ten’. This is something that we’ll have to consider ultimately as to whether this is something we would wish to see and how that should be done. It’s...
Carwyn Jones: As we are reviewing the charter, the BBC will be obliged to reflect the diverse communities of Wales and the other nations and regions of the UK. It will now have to set out how it will develop upon those new duties, including improving services for Wales. It’ll be required to report in detail on how it’s doing that. That is a new development and one that we believe will help to stem and,...
Carwyn Jones: We believe that they should properly portray the diverse communities and culture of Wales. We did ensure that the new BBC charter included a much stronger public purpose to deliver that content.
Carwyn Jones: Of course, one of the things that the Wales Act will give us is power over speed. On some roads, it would be worth, in my view, considering whether the speed should be reduced in order to safeguard cyclists. There is a risk in cycling, because, obviously, a cycle isn’t as large as a car, but, obviously, we don’t want people to be at an excessive risk. Others would not agree with me on...
Carwyn Jones: Absolutely. The point of the active travel Act is, of course, to encourage more safety, that much is said, but also, of course, to ensure that local authorities see walking and cycling not just as forms of recreation but as modes of transport, so that more people can be tempted out of cars. Of course, that’s of benefit not just to traffic but to themselves, as individuals, in terms of their...
Carwyn Jones: The Member mentions Cwm Gwaun—I’m not aware of any footpath there. I know that there is a problem with Newport to Llwyngwair, if that’s what he’s talking about. In terms of Newport and Llwyngwair, the work is progressing on that. On the issue that he himself has raised, may I write to him on the issue with greater detail so that he can ensure that those details are available to his...
Carwyn Jones: Well, of course, we expect local authorities to allocate money for local services such as education. It’s for them to justify the amount of money they spend on education. It’s true to say that there are some schemes that we run centrally as a Government, but we would expect all local authorities to fund schools in such a way that we continue to see the improvement that we’ve seen over...
Carwyn Jones: The road safety framework for Wales sets out the actions we and our partners will take to achieve our casualty reduction rates on our roads. The framework will be reviewed once again following the release of the 2016 casualty statistics.
Carwyn Jones: Yes, I do very much welcome where Pathways to Success schools have improved with the support of Schools Challenge Cymru. I’d also like to congratulate Pentrehafod and Morriston, which I understand have recorded their best ever sets of results while taking part in the challenge, and the Member is rightly proud of the comprehensives in his area.
Carwyn Jones: I believe that half of it, roughly, has been allocated. It’s a matter, of course, for local authorities to come forward with schemes to replace or, indeed, to repair school buildings, and I’ve seen them up and down Wales—from Rhyl to St Teilo’s in Cardiff. I was in the Deeside sixth not a few weeks ago, and we see that new buildings are going up all over Wales to provide facilities...
Carwyn Jones: The Welsh Government will shortly publish its next draft budget and the provisional local government settlement for 2017-18.
Carwyn Jones: Well, it’s a matter for local authorities, of course, to ensure that there is sufficient funding for their schools. We give them, of course, the funding and we expect them to spend an adequate amount of money on their schools in order to create good education in their areas. But, of course, the responsibility lies with the local authorities for funding their individual schools.
Carwyn Jones: The purpose of the group is not to re-fight the referendum; the result is clear. The purpose of the group is to advise Government—not take decisions, but advise Government—on potential ways forward. For example, looking at models like Norway—can that be adapted? Are there other models? These are the things we need to look at. Nathan Gill is a member of that group. He is an MEP, that’s...
Carwyn Jones: I’m not surprised he doesn’t want to discuss his record in the 1980s, but there was one phrase there that I picked up on—the creation of a low-tax economy. Now, I thought his party’s line was that they didn’t want to see any tax devolution to this place. So, he must make his mind up as to what he means by that. I think there is merit in looking, for example, at the way corporation...
Carwyn Jones: Well, he was a member of the Conservative Party once, in the 1980s, and if you look at the statistics—and I can provide him with the graphs on this—inequality increased markedly—markedly—in the 1980s compared to any other decade. That was when people started to lose confidence in politics, when they saw inequality rise. I can say to him that, if we look at the level of employment in...
Carwyn Jones: Well—[Interruption.]—the reality of the situation is that, if I recall, the—I think the Minister has intervened there, but I will answer the question. If I remember, the policies that she was pursuing in May would have meant that students would have been incentivised to stay in Wales, in the sense that their fees would have been paid if they’d studied in Wales but not elsewhere....
Carwyn Jones: Well, I think the word that’s now being used is ‘nudge’. They want to nudge companies in that direction. What I can say is that as far as we are concerned as a Government, we’re not going to do that, nor are any of the bodies that we sponsor. At the end of the day, it’s a matter for companies who they employ. I don’t think it’s helpful to have lists of people that would be used...
Carwyn Jones: It is a fact that the blue route goes past many, many homes and would affect, we think, up to 4,000 people. That’s the reality of it. It would pass very, very close to their houses and, in fact, some buildings will have to be demolished, both commercial and residential. There’s no avoiding that, and I doubt very much whether any Government would be looked upon favourably if it were to...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, that is the aim, but it is not helpful when we have Government departments in Whitehall that are acting in this way. They knew that there was a public inquiry that would begin in the autumn of this year, and yet this data was—we had to ask for it, we had to ask for it; it wasn’t even provided, and we were not notified that it even existed. And then, of course, officials worked very...
