Julie James: However, as a point of realism, no rail operator carries as standard the extra flexibility to provide exactly the same level of service on days when mass events take place as they would on other days.
Julie James: Well, Rhun, I completely agreed with the first part of your analysis, of course, and I won't bother to repeat that. And I'm sorry to hear that your constituent felt that, because that was certainly not the impression that we wished to give. According to our pre-pandemic passenger surveys, undertaken by the operator, 77 per cent of the people who travelled on the service used it for work...
Julie James: Well, I think that is an absolutely excellent example of what the Conservatives think of their commitment to net zero. Let's fund a commercially viable, but environmentally destructive air service when what we should be doing is putting that money into rail services. [Interruption.] And you'd be a lot better placed, Darren Millar, to—[Interruption.]
Julie James: You'd be a lot better placed to use your undoubted emotional energy to get the Government in Westminster to properly fund rail services in Wales, and get behind the net-zero commitment that you say you will support, but every single time we do anything towards it, you say something different. It's absolute nonsense to say that the solution to north Wales connectivity is to put more airlines...
Julie James: Certainly, Carolyn. Absolutely right: we obviously do need to improve, as fast as possible, connectivity between all areas of north Wales and south Wales. The brand-new 197 trains that will be introduced in north Wales will be introduced well before they're introduced in the rest of Wales, and they're due to enter service no later than the end of this year, but later this year, and we're...
Julie James: Thank you, Carolyn. Following a full cost-benefit analysis, we've made a decision to cease all support for the service. We don't think passenger levels will return to a level that makes this service viable, either economically or environmentally. We will use the funding earmarked for the air link to accelerate work to improve north-south connectivity.
Julie James: Thank you very much indeed, Jayne Bryant. That's a very important point, isn't it, because we need to do a number of things. I'm very happy to look again at whether we can strengthen the enforcement abilities of the various agencies around it, but actually, what we really need to do is make it so obvious that this is a site of special scientific interest and nature conservation that it...
Julie James: Diolch, John. I know, John, you're very enthusiastic, and I'm very grateful for your chairing of the Living Levels partnership, which has certainly helped us move it on. We absolutely do need to improve the strategic planning guidance for the areas I mentioned previously. I can't comment on a number of outstanding planning applications for obvious reasons, so I'm not going anywhere near that....
Julie James: Diolch, Delyth. I share your enthusiasm for it. I haven't been lucky enough to see one of the bees yet, but I've tried a couple of times. I've certainly seen pictures and videos, but not yet in person, so I'm looking forward to that. The reason for bringing this forward today is because what we're looking to see if we can develop is a long-term sustainable management vehicle for areas such...
Julie James: Well, I don't know quite where to start with that, Janet. The level of cynicism shown in your remarks has quite staggered me, frankly, even for your good self. So, I'll try and address some of the things that you raised. So, first of all, the Living Levels partnership has worked its socks off. It's chaired by John Griffiths, whom I'm sure will make a contribution shortly to the debate, and...
Julie James: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I am really pleased to be able to speak today about the progress being made across one of Wales's most important protected areas, the Gwent levels. As a Government, tackling the climate and nature emergencies is very much at the heart of everything we do. We must protect our environment for future generations to enjoy, and to play our part on the global stage....
Julie James: Thank you, Mike. So, one of the obvious things that the renting homes Act does when implemented is it has a number of measures aimed against retaliatory evictions of the sort that you've just described. At the moment, renters do not have protection from that, nor do they have protection from some of the other aspects of the Act. I remain as frustrated as everybody else that we haven't been...
Julie James: Thank you, Mabon. I think I answered a substantial part of that in my answer to Jenny Rathbone. We fund a large range of advice agencies, more specifically Shelter Cymru, to give advice and support to tenants who find themselves in a position where they may be being evicted. We also supply, of course, a large amount of grant aid, including grant aid for tenants who were affected by rent...
Julie James: Thank you, Jenny. So, obviously it's a matter of some regret that we've had to take this step, but we are in unprecedented times. In particular, social landlords across Wales are helping us with the Ukrainian refugee crisis and we have a large number of presentations of homelessness across Wales, which we're having to deal with at the same time. Landlords have not had six years to implement...
Julie James: Thank you. This is, of course, part of the co-operation agreement. Wholesale reform of the type that the Renting Homes (Wales) Act is bringing about happens very rarely, and, against a backdrop of absolutely unprecedented pressures, we want to do all we can to ensure that social landlords in particular have adequate time to make the necessary preparations to comply with the requirements of...
Julie James: The renting homes Act will considerably strengthen tenants' rights. The short delay is in response to the unprecedented pressures facing social landlords. We have in place a raft of measures to support renters, and this will remain a priority for the Government.
Julie James: I know; that's fine. I'm now gabbling, but I'll just turn to that last bit, which is, as Joyce Watson highlighted, the blue carbon piece. That's a hugely important role in our journey to net zero. We recognise the need to protect and restore sea grass, salt marsh restorations and habitats. The biodiversity deep dive specifically has a Professor from Swansea University on sea grass on it for...
Julie James: I'm not renowned for being afraid of that kind of thing, Huw.[Laughter.] So, I don't think I'll start any time soon. By 'taking them with us', I mean making sure that everyone fully understands the implications of what we're proposing and doesn't regard them as a negative to be fought, but actually as something to get on board with to enhance their own particular economic status and...
Julie James: I'm never going to avoid the opportunity to do that, Huw, so I very much hope we will be able to do that. Just to digress from my script just for a moment, I was giving evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee this morning about the grid and the energy network for Wales, and one of the real frustrations for us is not to have all the levers that we need. So, encouraging the UK Government to...
Julie James: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'd just also like to add my voice to thanking members of the committee and particularly the Chair for the review and the recent focus on the marine environment, absolutely recognising the vital role it plays in tackling both the climate and the nature emergencies. And just to say, Llyr, I think you did an amazing job of getting through what you got through in a short...
