Carwyn Jones: Well, we've got a strong push on this across the public sector: in Government, of course; our sponsored bodies; the NHS; national parks; HEIs; some local authorities, for example, they all pay the real living wage to their own staff. Of course, we need to make sure that applies across local authorities. It needs to be seen as something that is normal, not exceptional, within the public...
Carwyn Jones: Well, what I can say is that we, of course, encourage Welsh public bodies to increase the visibility of contracts via Sell2Wales. Of the 22,000 contracts awarded so far through Sell2Wales, approximately two thirds have been to Welsh suppliers and 75 per cent of these have been to Welsh small and medium-sized enterprises. I know the Member asked about the National Procurement Service, I can...
Carwyn Jones: Welsh Government is a living wage employer, and I'm proud that this Government has taken action to support and encourage take-up of the real living wage by employers in both the public and private sectors.
Carwyn Jones: We regularly publish our spend over £25,000 to improve the transparency of how public funds are used. I will call on the examples that the Member has used and look to provide her with a detailed answer to her questions.
Carwyn Jones: We're committed to maximising the social, economic and environmental value of our procurement.
Carwyn Jones: Well, I would hope that local councils do that anyway. We know that there are many local authorities in Wales who are building council houses. We know that in rural Wales particularly—I think Powys is the example I always use, it has probably sold half of its social housing stock from the end of the 1970s onwards. So many houses were sold and they never found their way back into the hands...
Carwyn Jones: We've looked at this, and it isn't as easy as that because what happens then, for example, in Cardiff. where many flats are erected and some are second homes? Does that mean that you have to have, for example, planning permission for each one of those, and, in particular, with second homes, what constitutes a second home? If a person lives in it for half the time, but in another for half the...
Carwyn Jones: We are developing our tax policies to meet the specific needs of Wales, in line with the principles set out in our tax policy framework. This includes our approach to the taxation of second homes.
Carwyn Jones: First of all, what she's talking about is a capital project, the M4, and what will be revenue funding with regard to bus services; they're two different pots to begin with. But it's not right to say that south-west Wales will not benefit, because the metro is not just about trains, it's not just about light rail, it's also about bus services. Now, of course, bus services have recently been...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, £15 million has been allocated for that purpose. Abergavenny station is one of the stations that will be upgraded to ensure—well, 'upgraded' is the wrong word, really. It will ensure that what should be normal, i.e. disabled access, will be there. There are other stations as well. I was at Cathays station yesterday. It's not possible for people to cross to the other side of the...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I believe this will take legislation, because we know—and many of us will have had constituents come to us complaining about a bus service being cut, but of course there's nothing we can do about it because it's a privately run service, it's not subsidised, there is no leverage. So, in the next few years, the Government will be looking at introducing legislation to ensure greater...
Carwyn Jones: Well, delivering our ambitious vision for public transport is at an exciting stage, as we proceed to reshape rail services via the new Wales and borders franchise, the south Wales metro, of course, the north Wales metro as well, and our plans for active travel, local bus services and investments in the strategic road network.
Carwyn Jones: Well, I think local authorities take very seriously their obligations, and I know that, through contact with my own local authority, there are some very, very painful decisions that they're having to consider at the moment, which is not what people go into politics for, I understand that, which is why I have said to them and to others that any extra resources that come from the Chancellor as...
Carwyn Jones: Well, one of the arguments that some councils put forward is that money should be transferred from health to local government because of the fact that they say more and more money is going into health. The balance is very difficult, because health does attract more and more of a demand each year. But, as I said earlier, we wish to see the Chancellor giving Wales more resources and, by doing...
Carwyn Jones: Well, there's very little upon which I'd agree with Jeff Jones, and that has not changed. The point is this: is she saying that all local authorities, regardless of which party runs them, are in some way operating badly? Because that's what she's suggesting, that somehow it's all poor decision making in all parts of Wales and that local government, in effect, is crying wolf, that, somehow,...
Carwyn Jones: The effectiveness of its spending is, in the first instance, a matter for each authority and its elected members, including through scrutiny.
Carwyn Jones: Well, his party, as far as I'm aware, is in favour of more coal, which means more opencast, actually, because that's the only way to really get at coal in Wales now. It would be very difficult to sink any deep mines, even if we wanted to, to access that coal, and hugely expensive because of the geological faults, particularly in south Wales. I'm not sure whether he's saying that somehow the...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, because—. Well, let me see if I can explain it. Wood comes from trees, and trees grow. [Laughter.] And trees—. You can plant trees, they will grow, and they are replaceable in the way that coal, for example, as a fossil fuel, isn't. And I come back to the point I made earlier on—well, a few weeks ago in this Chamber: it's because of the EU that the UK cleaned up its act. The UK was...
Carwyn Jones: We are supportive of biomass but, of course, we want to make sure that the energy mix is as broad as possible, whilst taking into account our commitments in terms of reducing our carbon footprint. That's why, of course, we've seen biomass plants around Wales. Of course, biomass is renewable in the sense that you can replant trees in a way, for example, that isn't possible with coal.
Carwyn Jones: Well, from a representative of the party that created the omnishambles—I don't think we can take any lessons from them. As I said to him earlier on, we will have provided over £350 million of investment across Wales to local authorities and NRW to reduce the risk of flooding and coastal erosion. But he cannot escape the fact that we have seen year after year after year of cuts to our...
