Julie James: Diolch. Trees provide a wide range of benefits, including carbon storage, biodiversity, flood alleviation and recreation. We have undertaken detailed evaluation of these benefits, including through the environmental and rural affairs modelling and monitoring programme's national forest evidence pack and work on natural capital accounts—sorry, that's hard to say: 'natural capital accounts'.
Julie James: Yes, as I say, I will go into a lot more detail on this next week, because I'll take up the whole of question time if I do it now. But, suffice it to say that, as a result of an inter-ministerial group meeting with Michael Gove, we've made some progress in making sure that we're included in the negotiations with the main developers. Next week, I'll be able to give some more detail of that....
Julie James: So, I have got a statement just on this next week actually to go into it in more detail, but just to say that we're very committed to making sure that all of the defects in the buildings, not just the ACM cladding, are remedied. So, the ACM cladding, we've sorted that out. The private sector buildings have all got plans in place that are under construction and approved to do that particular...
Julie James: I’m committed to looking beyond cladding, taking a holistic approach to building safety. This includes changing regulations that govern building control, legislation and addressing existing building safety issues through the Welsh building safety fund. Aluminium composite material cladding removal from the majority of high-rise buildings is completed, with plans in place for all the rest.
Julie James: Having undertaken the joint consultation with the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive setting out the proposals for the design of the deposit-return scheme, we are working collaboratively on the final scheme design, which we aim to jointly publish before the summer recess.
Julie James: Engagement with environmental organisations in Wales is ongoing, including as part of my current biodiversity deep-dive, and will be an essential part of our approach in achieving our ambitions for the global biodiversity framework. We await confirmation of the date of the COP 15 biodiversity conference this year.
Julie James: Higher tariffs and standing charges are having a devasting impact on almost half of social housing tenants and a quarter of tenants in the private rented sector using pre-payment meters. Many will be in fuel poverty and will be self-disconnecting. I expect Ofgem to publish self-disconnection data later this year.
Julie James: While hydrogen is still a developing technology, its unique properties mean it could, alongside extensive renewables developments, have a strong role in Wales's future power, transport and industrial sectors. It may also offer an alternative to fossil fuel heating systems, as has been mentioned by a number of contributors, and Rhun in particular. Wales is extremely well positioned to develop...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I welcome the opportunity to respond to this debate and to give the Welsh Government's support to the motion. The climate emergency demands that we use all the tools at our disposal to accelerate progress to a net-zero energy system. We are committed to moving our energy system away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy as a critical path to achieving our statutory...
Julie James: Okay. Let me just sum up then, Dirprwy Lywydd. Just to say that we want to actively work with the citizen scientists mentioned by Rhun in order to improve the monitoring and support. The biodiversity deep dive, as mentioned in committee this morning, will help us with the targets, Llyr, that you mentioned. And just to emphasise at last that it's only by working together and taking a Team...
Julie James: I completely acknowledge that, and I'll mention it in brief—I'm going to talk very fast now—in the rest of my contribution. I just wanted to acknowledge the work of Joyce Watson on the surface water drainage issue. She's left the Chamber now, but she's been working on that very hard as long as I've known her. I want to assure her that we're absolutely on board with that. We've already...
Julie James: Yes, of course.
Julie James: Certainly.
Julie James: Well, I really rather meant that you seemed to be trying to contrast us with work over the border, and actually it's a real problem right across the UK. So—[Interruption.] Well, I'm not going to enter into an exchange across the Chamber. As acknowledged by the Chair, storm overflows provide a controlled point of relief at times of heavy rainfall. With more extreme weather events occurring,...
Julie James: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I would like to thank the committee for their detailed report, which they published on 15 March, and I very much want to acknowledge the hard work and real enthusiasm with which the committee did its work and to acknowledge the conclusions made within the report. As committee Chair Llyr has already pointed out, we've accepted or accepted in principle all the 10...
Julie James: Yes, absolutely, Andrew. I'm not in any way saying that we can't do better. My answer to the question—I'll just repeat a little bit of it—is that we have asked Transport for Wales to provide as much additional capacity and extra services as possible, alongside absolutely clear advice to customers about the nature of the service and what we're looking at. I completely agree with that. I do...
Julie James: Thank you very much for those remarks. I agree with all of them, really. The big issue for us is how to calibrate the change in modal shift that we are seeking to do, and to shift investment away from support for the car, which is a culturally ingrained concept for all of us. We've had this culturally ingrained in us since the middle of the twentieth century, and in a raft of legislation that...
Julie James: Well, again, at least some of the righteous indignation that's perceived in this Chamber from the Conservatives could be rightly directed to getting the right amount of rail infrastructure investment into Wales, couldn't it? So, please do direct it in that direction occasionally. However, we absolutely, of course, accept that the level of service provided to passengers by TfW over that...
Julie James: Thank you for that question, Natasha. Following recent difficulties with travelling on event days, we've asked Transport for Wales to provide as much additional capacity and extra services as possible, alongside clear advice to customers to support events such as the Stereophonics and Tom Jones concerts this weekend. However—
Julie James: Sorry, I haven't quite finished.
