Carwyn Jones: Tackling air pollution in Wales requires a multi-pronged approach. As part of the clean air programme, the Minister for Environment has established an air quality evidence, innovation and improvements project that will, amongst other things, consider the practical application of WHO guidelines for air pollution in Wales.
Carwyn Jones: Well, we win elections on this side. I don't know about you over there, but your group has gone down quite significantly since you first arrived in the Assembly. I know you have a rotating leadership scheme within UKIP. But let me say one thing to him now: people will be amazed at his dismissal of the contribution of those from outside the UK to our health service. Even on his own figures, he...
Carwyn Jones: Well, my experience of people who have come to the UK is that they are young, fit and vigorous. They don't put much pressure on the NHS because they are net contributors, tax-wise, and they take very little out as a result of it. Let me give him an example of health tourism: the doctors who work in our NHS, the nurses, the physiotherapists, the medical staff—all of whom have come to Britain...
Carwyn Jones: Well, if he's suggesting that spending 50 per cent on health isn't sustainable, he is advocating another model. Now, if he's advocating another model that includes a reduction of coverage or the introduction of an insurance-based scheme, then I'm willing to hear what his ideas are. I'm sure he can explain those to the people of Wales. We have shown the people of Wales that we have continued...
Carwyn Jones: We are investing in mental health services in Wales. All the data show the improvement that is there. He didn't listen to the answer I gave, did he, for the second question—I gave him a number of answers to his question illustrating what we were doing in Wales. So, let me try, if I can, to help him further. We know that prevention is important. It's why it's a key theme, along with early...
Carwyn Jones: What he's suggesting is, in some ways, what we're doing already; he seems not to know that. Can I say that the last published data shows that we are meeting the targets for assessment and interventions on an all-Wales basis? Over 184,000 people have been seen by local primary mental health support services in Wales since their introduction as part of the Measure. I can say, in terms of crisis...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I would argue that it is. We've seen huge improvements, for example, in ensuring access to mental health for children and for adolescents, and also emphasis made on ensuring that counselling is available rather than clinical intervention at an earlier stage. We have the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010, of course, which I would argue is a unique piece of legislation that improves...
Carwyn Jones: Well, there were a number of questions there. As regards the last one, I don’t think that any contribution has been made by Jeremy Corbyn in relation to Schaeffler, to be fair. I heard this morning about Schaeffler. I wasn’t aware of the company’s plans prior to that. Overseas companies are crucial to the economy of Wales. We know that. Aston Martin will be crucial. Pinewood has...
Carwyn Jones: Well, it’s true to say that you have examples there of the culture that we have. People tend to retire and sell out, rather than thinking about ensuring that the company can carry on. So, the next question is: what can we do about this? So, I think I would like to consider what’s happening in Scotland to see whether there are any lessons that we can learn from Scotland, because it’s one...
Carwyn Jones: No, but what I do know is that we need to change the culture as regards businesses in Wales. The tradition of mittelstand in Germany is an exceptionally strong one, and there is a tradition there where companies continue to manufacture and don’t sell out to other companies, but that hasn’t been the case in Wales. This is an old problem. One of the things we were considering at one time...
Carwyn Jones: Well, we established the higher education Brexit working group over two years ago. That was established to share intelligence and to provide advice to the Welsh Government. We work with our universities, of course, to make sure that their voices are heard abroad, and of course to ensure that they are able to market themselves abroad. Now, within Europe itself, until last year, the only two...
Carwyn Jones: Well, there's no doubt that the changes in student finance policy will have had an effect. It was very generous, of course, for EU students; that's not the case any more in the same way. That may well be part of the reason why we've seen a decline in Wales, given the situation with our own student finances. Those changes, of course, were made following an independent review. It is, though,...
Carwyn Jones: Well, through working, as I said, with the higher education funding council, we're assessing what the effects will be. It is right to say that we have seen 22 per cent fewer EU domiciles placed at Welsh providers for 2018-19. We will, of course, continue to press the message that Wales is open for business and is an attractive destination for students, with well-ranked universities, quality...
Carwyn Jones: We've worked with our higher education funding council and Welsh universities to understand the impact of potential changes to EU student recruitment. Of course, universities as autonomous institutions will be undertaking their own assessments and developing contingency plans for a range of scenarios.
Carwyn Jones: The Member is right to say that we are committed to supporting businesses in Wales. We have provided in the course of this year around £210 million of rates relief to support businesses and other ratepayers. Those reliefs are available to all those ratepayers who meet the criteria. We note, of course, the Chancellor's announcement. We have yet to see what that will mean in terms of a...
Carwyn Jones: Well, let's knock down that £550 million-odd consequential that's been alleged there. I can say that more than half of the funding that was announced had already been announced. It's money that has already been spent. It's been spent on pay and pension decisions. There has been a cut of £32 million from the money originally pledged as part of the NHS seventieth anniversary celebrations....
Carwyn Jones: The UK Government budget did nothing to repair the damage inflicted by nearly a decade of cuts to our budget.
Carwyn Jones: We hope to give informal indications within the next fortnight. It's not the case that every single penny of consequential will go to local government, but they are very much in our minds, and, as I said, they are first in the queue. We understand the difficulties that they face. We've had to take, of course, very difficult decisions in terms of what we have not been able to do, in order to...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I am pleased that, following the exit from the housing revenue account subsidy system, all affected authorities have a council house building strategy in place. They're all at different stages and we are working with them to increase the pace and scale of their plans.
Carwyn Jones: That's correct. At the moment the borrowing cap is £1,927 million. I saw the Prime Minister's announcement. Officials have been in touch with representatives in the UK Government to see how that will work, and I think it's fair to say that no-one seems to know at the moment. The announcement was made. There doesn't seem to be any detail. But I can assure the Member that what applies in...
