Carwyn Jones: He uses the word ‘crisis’, but we have increased investment and are modernising services through our primary care plan. We are working closely with health boards who are responsible for providing services for their populations and who are responsible for ensuring continuity of high-quality care when an independent general practice hands back its business contracts.
Carwyn Jones: Well, I can assure the Member we will work with UK Government with regard to the growth deal. What is not clear at the moment is whether there is an element of that deal that would have been European funded, and this is at the heart of the dilemma that we face. If, for example, there is a gap in that funding, it has to be made up in some way, and, certainly, it has to be provided for that....
Carwyn Jones: Well, we expect what is legally required to be delivered, and if that is not delivered, then there is legal redress, of course, in terms of that. With regard to the mainstreaming of rights, the practices we’ve continued up until now will continue. The Member will know that there are a number of areas where due regard has to be made to the rights of others and, indeed, the effect of...
Carwyn Jones: I agree entirely with what the Member has said. He recognises the challenges of Brexit. We know that it’s impossible to operate effectively on an environmental scale, particularly when it comes to air pollution, simply by looking at Wales or simply by looking at the UK for that matter, or simply by looking at Europe. It’s one thing to reduce air pollution in Europe, but if a particular...
Carwyn Jones: Isn’t there a sense of irony that the leader of the Conservatives stands up and talks about flowery language while talking about sunflowers without actually realising that? He didn’t listen to what I said in response to the leader of the opposition about Metro North, as I’ve called it; he obviously missed that response. Of course, in time, we’re working on our manifesto commitment...
Carwyn Jones: I’m not entirely sure what the last comment meant, because we’ve just come through an election. We put up our programme before the people of Wales, as did all parties. But there are other questions that the leader of the opposition asked. In terms of chain of command, I am not the leader of UK Labour—not something, I suppose, I would particularly welcome at this stage, if I’m being...
Carwyn Jones: Diolch, Lywydd. I had hoped to be here today with a freshly pressed copy of the programme for government in my hand. However, it is not yet the time to do so because the Brexit referendum result has changed things fundamentally. There are many questions about the future to which we simply do not have the answers. The impact of Brexit on our own budgets and programmes will be very...
Carwyn Jones: We are always open to consider new methods of funding local authorities and people are talking about a local income tax, but that would have to be collected locally so that the tax didn’t go to where people work rather than where they live. It’s true to say—well, this is not universally true, of course—the higher the price of the house, the greater the income of the resident. That is...
Carwyn Jones: Well, devolution means it’s not for a purpose intended, for a start; it’s a matter for the Assembly to decide how it spends its money. Nevertheless, the majority of authorities in England turned down the council tax freeze grant this year and they chose to increase council tax instead. Despite that fact, council tax in Wales is lower on average than it is in England, and, indeed, he will...
Carwyn Jones: Yes. In 2015-16, billing authorities collected 97.2 per cent of council tax billed.
Carwyn Jones: With waterways, I think it’s more a case of their potential for tourism. The waterways were fragmented many, many decades ago. The Glamorgan canal—it goes underneath the main railway line east of Cardiff but it isn’t connected to the rest of its former network. What’s important is that we have the potential for tourism through our canals, and in that way, of course, they can act as...
Carwyn Jones: I don’t agree with him on that. I think all the local authorities have an equal voice in terms of the development of the city region. Identity is important, I understand that, but the reality is that the economic region pays no heed at all to political boundaries. Newport is obviously an important city. It’s our third biggest city. Together with Cardiff and indeed the valley areas to the...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I would expect the inquiry to take full account of the views of all those who express a view to the inquiry. We took a conscious decision to make sure that all the possibilities were examined by the inquiry in order that the public could see all the evidence and so that people would understand that we wanted to make sure that all the options were properly examined. The Member knows that...
Carwyn Jones: The national transport finance plan, published in July of last year, sets out our investment for transport and infrastructure and services for 2015-20 across all of Wales.
Carwyn Jones: We have made that point. The issue for us is this: in future, agricultural policy will be wholly autonomous and wholly devolved. We’re not going to brook interference from Westminster in that regard. It’s a matter entirely for the people of Wales, the people of Scotland and indeed England to decide what sort of agricultural policy should be pursued. The difficulty is, of course, the...
Carwyn Jones: Well, there is no guarantee at all. We know that the Commission cannot play its part as regards European funding at present. There is no assurance from the UK Government, so there is no certainty at all for the people of Wales. It’s important that we get this assurance as soon as possible in order to give our farmers some assurance. For example, we know that £260 million will be coming...
Carwyn Jones: We know what we’re doing. We are going to continue with the capital schemes, for instance, in order to progress with those. But as regards the revenue programmes and schemes, it’s a much more complicated pictures But it’s quite evident that, if we see a cut of £600 million in the Assembly’s budget year on year over the ensuing years, there will be a very negative impact on some of...
Carwyn Jones: We know, of course, that this supports rural communities and the economy with a combination of Welsh Government and EU funding. Given the lack of assurances from the UK Government to date over replacing EU funding and programme continuity, I cannot predict its long-term future.
Carwyn Jones: Well, if GPs wish to be seen as contractors and independent businesses, there is a risk involved in terms of the potential devaluation of buildings. But, I don’t see why that should be the case necessarily. It is the case increasingly that many of those who wish to enter general practice don’t want to buy into a practice—they wish to be salaried GPs. It’s a trend that I’m sure many...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, we put in additional investment of over £40 million last year in primary care and £4.5 million of that funding was targeted at workforce diversification, including the creation of 300 posts in a range of primary care roles. The Member mentions Coelbren particularly; it’s part of the Dulais Valley general practice in Seven Sisters. There have been recruitment problems, and the result...
