Gareth Bennett: The problem you have, First Minister, is that, once again, you are completely out of touch with your own people. [Interruption.] Sky News conducted a recent poll that indicated that 60 per cent of the British people support a ban on the burka. So, let's just summarise your position here: you've said publicly that my comments on this were racist, yet 60 per cent of the public appear to agree...
Gareth Bennett: Actually, I asked you a question. I didn't make any assertion, but I thank you for your—[Interruption.] I thank you for your reflections. It does sound from your answer, First Minister, that this is going to be a major priority for our Government, so that's very interesting. As you may recall, I was the only member of the Assembly's communities committee who opposed the nation of sanctuary...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, I note that the Welsh Government has been developing its intention to turn Wales into a nation of sanctuary for refugees and asylum seekers. Is this a major priority for your Government?
Gareth Bennett: How do you therefore account for the fact that we now have wage stagnation and we have many people who are in full-time employment suffering from low wages?
Gareth Bennett: So, we do have problems with the world of work, which today is something of a minefield. Many of today's jobs are just a job, and do not really qualify as being what we would have termed 40 years ago as being a job with prospects. So, I wholeheartedly endorse the committee's recommendation 12, which calls on the Welsh Government to work with employers in the foundational sectors to pilot job...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the committee Chair for bringing today's debate, and to the people who took part in the inquiry. There are several factors involved in being on a low income, but most of them are connected to a person's employment situation. One of the worrying developments of recent years in Wales, and in the UK generally, is that many people on low incomes are now those who are in full-time...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for today's statement. We seem to find ourselves in a bit of a strange situation now with this long-running local government reorganisation, and I appreciate that it was long-running before you came into the job, so I'm not casting aspersions at your efforts so far—at least not totally casting aspersions at your efforts so far. We seem to be in a position where...
Gareth Bennett: Yes. You cite the need for an evidence-based approach, and I'm sure you're right in that. But there may be implications for your ambitions for affordable housing in Wales, which you were telling us about in the Assembly this week. Certainly, we agreed that we have a shortage of affordable housing here. Commercial developers, when they build new housing estates, have a certain legal obligation...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for that response. I'm glad you are aware of the issue. I think there may be a need for perhaps closer involvement at Welsh Government level in this area, because the local authorities—certainly in Cardiff and Newport—may not be doing enough about it. I think that we may be heading for over-supply of student accommodation. Certainly we know that the expansion of higher education...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. There have been a number of successful planning applications recently for student accommodation in Cardiff. Some people have observed that virtually every major housing block granted planning permission for central Cardiff in the past 18 months has been for student accommodation. At the same time, we have a second so-called student block considering applying for change of use...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd, and I move our amendments. Thanks to the Minister for bringing today's debate. I'm sure we all agree that affordable housing is an important subject, and we want to do what we can in the Assembly to make affordable housing available to more people in Wales. Looking at today's motion, we do oppose the Government's motion, because it is somewhat self-congratulatory, and we note...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for today's progress report on the Welsh Government's ongoing Valleys initiative. When opposition spokesmen and politicians discuss your plans, we normally do have a little bit of prelude about lots of Valleys plans that have been before, and Adam's given us that prelude again today—a very informed one—but we know that we need to get away from the past failures....
Gareth Bennett: Yes, thanks for that answer. We've had recent press reports that the leader of Cardiff council, Huw Thomas, wants to merge with the Vale of Glamorgan Council, principally so Cardiff can build more houses on land in the Vale. We've already had housing developments infringing on the green belt and we're losing prime agricultural land due to this. Do you agree, First Minister, that Cardiff...
Gareth Bennett: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on green-belt developments in South Wales Central? OAQ52496
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the committee Chairman for bring today's debate. A lot of issues have been raised. Bethan has a lot more knowledge than me on the actual opencast practices. I'd like to address something that Lynne Neagle raised, which was the issue of why it has taken so long to get from a petition in 2013 to actually debating it here in the Chamber. I don't have all the answers. I was a member...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to Mick Antoniw for bringing today's debate. We are covering a lot of similar areas to what we covered in the individual Member's debate, which Mick was also involved in, with other people, so I won't reiterate everything I said then—most of the points are still valid. In UKIP we broadly agree with the principle of severely restricting leasehold tenure in future new builds, which is...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for her statement and for the announcement of the new funding. I appreciate that, to a large extent, housing, health and social care are all interconnected and they need to be considered together, which is the basic thrust of today's statement. So, we do appreciate that sentiment, and we acknowledge the need for different departments to work together to achieve these...
Gareth Bennett: Looking at the issues, traffic congestion, of course, is a major issue. Schools have become bigger and less local, and more children are in families where both parents work most days, so we now have large numbers of parents driving their kids to school, and the school run is a major component of the traffic problem at rush hours, as can be evidenced by the noticeably less traffic at these...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. Thanks to Simon and the others for bringing today's debate, and I formally move our amendment. We do seem to have talked about clean air quite a lot lately in the Chamber, but, of course, the air quality is not signally getting any better, so I suppose it's still a pertinent issue, so we can talk about it again. And there are developments, as Simon Thomas made clear, in...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for the answer. The Minister will be aware of the project to reopen the Rhondda tunnel as a footpath and cycle path. Following a recent report by Balfour Beatty, there has been an assessment that 95 per cent of the tunnel is in a very good condition. Now, the Highways Agency is responsible for the safety of the tunnel but isn't allowed to reopen the tunnel. Would the Welsh Government...
