Mark Drakeford: Good afternoon as well, Llywydd, to Dr Hussain. Last year, we set out our ambition of net-zero emissions by 2050. The ambitious actions required are contained in 'Net Zero Wales'. Last month, the Minister for Climate Change informed Members of plans to create a public sector renewables developer—just one of the steps needed to achieve net zero.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, that objective is secured through the sustainable farming scheme, as established in the Bill.
Mark Drakeford: I know that it is being given further consideration by the Minister, and that she remains in discussions over a fifth goal of economic resilience. I think there is a strong argument to be made that the four goals we have already identified have economic resilience running through them all, because the four goals are all designed to make sure that farmers can go on being paid for the...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I congratulate Jack Sargeant on all the work that he carries out in this area. He led a very successful debate on the floor of the Senedd here back in May and he's right, of course, to draw our attention to the fact that it is the lives of our young people that will be most profoundly affected by these decisions. It was a pleasure to meet a series of students from Hawarden High...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Jack Sargeant, Llywydd. We encourage the Wales pension partnership to more and faster action in moving towards net zero. The Minister for Finance and Local Government has invited pension fund leads to address the partnership council for Wales during Wales Climate Week later this month, setting out their contribution to achieving net zero.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Jane Dodds for that question, Llywydd.
Mark Drakeford: I think that this week is gearing up to be a very bad week for social care services across the United Kingdom. We await to see what happens on Thursday, but any piece of informed leaking from the Treasury is suggesting that the Conservatives are going to abandon their commitment to introduce their version of the Dilnot review. You will have seen the absolutely scathing comments of Sir Andrew...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, first of all, I thank Peter Fox for his kind opening remarks, and I recognise, as I try always to do, the experience that he has as a former leader of a council having to make actual decisions when there are really difficult choices to be made. Can I say, Llywydd, that I welcome the Prime Minister's decision to attend the British-Irish Council? He's the first Prime Minister to...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, Huw Irranca-Davies makes a really important point. We have already had a decade of a flawed and failed experiment of austerity in the United Kingdom, which has left us all worse off than we otherwise would have been. And the facts simply speak for themselves, Llywydd. Between 2010 and 2021, every one of those years a year of Conservative Government at Westminster, gross domestic...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, last week I had a constructive meeting with the Prime Minister, during which I set out a series of practical measures that could be included in the Chancellor’s statement on 17 November. Those practical measures would help the most vulnerable in our communities.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, thank you. I was simply trying to explain to the Member that the problem he identifies is a real one, but the solution that he proposes only makes another problem, a very serious problem, worse. We will not solve the problem in that way. The only way we will solve it is by collecting together the contribution of many different agencies and organisations. That includes house builders....
Mark Drakeford: Well, I certainly don't think that allowing greater pollution of rivers in Powys would be something that would be supported by the Member's constituents, and let us be very clear that when he says 'lifting the phosphate regulations', that is exactly what he means—it is exactly what he means—he cannot mean anything else. If you allow housing developments to take place...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Cefin Campbell for that supplementary question. I have had one opportunity to discuss with civil servants who have looked at the experience in Carmarthenshire, because it does stand out, doesn't it? When you see what's happened in Carmarthenshire in the context of south-west Wales, the record in Carmarthenshire is different to that of other local authorities. What officials have...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, thank you to Cefin Campbell for the question. We are committed to delivering 20,000 new low-carbon homes for rent in the social sector and we've allocated record levels of funding, with £300 million allocated this year. This includes a 40 per cent increase in funding in Mid and West Wales.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that information. I think what it illustrates is something that you will see in every part of Wales, that the interest in community food growing is wider than just allotments and that it has an enormously enthusiastic group of people there who are interested in finding ways in which not just individuals on their own allotments but, if I think of my own constituency,...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, our allotment support grant has allocated £750,000 this year across local authorities to help improve and increase allotment provision. In addition to this dedicated fund, other programmes such as the community land advisory service also support the development of allotments.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I guess I ought to declare an interest in this question. I was on my own allotment on Sunday. If you're picking raspberries in the middle of November then you don't need anybody to tell you that climate change is not affecting us in every part of our lives. I'm glad to hear what Mike Hedges said about the positive impact of the allotment support grant in Swansea. Across the...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, first of all, I'm grateful to the leader of Plaid Cymru for agreeing to come to a detailed briefing on the circumstances that we will face here in Wales once we have seen the results of this Thursday's autumn statement. Llywydd, all strike action ends in the end in negotiation, and that's the way I believe that the current difficulties that we see in public services here in...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I agree with the leader of Plaid Cymru that nothing is more important to making a difference to the future of working people in the United Kingdom than a Labour Government in Westminster, and I look forward to doing everything that we can, as a party here in Wales, as we have for 100 years, to make the maximum contribution we can to that Labour victory at the earliest possible...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I recognise the anger and the disappointment that many public service workers experience at the moment. When your wages have been held down through a decade of austerity, and you're now faced with wage rises below the level of inflation, then it is absolutely understandable why workers in those circumstances feel in the way that they do and why they vote to take action in the...
