Lesley Griffiths: You mentioned that there are ongoing discussions with Green Man, so if, at the conclusion of those discussions, it's decided not to proceed with the proposal, alternative policy objectives will be explored for the use of the site, or the site can be considered for sale on the open market. And that would be the time then to engage with Welsh Government.
Lesley Griffiths: All Welsh Government assets can be considered for delivery of any policy agenda. Gilestone farm is currently being managed appropriately to ensure that the asset is maintained whilst discussions on the long-term future of the site are concluded.
Lesley Griffiths: I am not going to make any spending commitments today. You will have heard me say several times this afternoon that these will be decisions led by the Minister for Finance and Local Government, but taken across the whole of Government as we work towards publishing our draft budget next month. I don't think I've been uncharitable at all. I think I've been very clear. I think what Delyth Jewell...
Lesley Griffiths: I can't say anything specifically around how we will fund child protection services going forward. As I say, we will look in the whole at how we use the funding that was allocated to us last week, but I absolutely agree with you about targeting support to the most vulnerable and prioritising public services—that's an absolute necessity, and it's what as a Government we've always tried to...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. As I mentioned in earlier answers, the Minister for Finance and Local Government—obviously, the whole of the Welsh Government—will be looking very carefully at the detail of the funding that we were allocated last week, as we prepare to bring the draft budget forward. In relation to the discretionary assistance fund, I agree with you—it's an excellent fund. The offices are...
Lesley Griffiths: Yes, absolutely. I know that the Minister for Finance and Local Government will continue to press those points that you made. They are simply staggering numbers in that OBR report that you referred to. Real household disposable income per person will fall more than 7 per cent over the next two years, as you said, and that’s the biggest fall on record. Income is now going down to 2013...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. I think you make a really important point about transparency and where this fault lies. I quite agree with you. With the UK Government, we've had a decade of austerity, and now I think this is even worse than the austerity elements that they brought in over the last decade. The UK is in a deep recession, and household incomes are falling at an incredibly fast rate. What did the...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Llywydd, I understand that you have given permission for questions 6 and 9 to be grouped. Despite some modest additions to our settlement over the next two years, the autumn statement goes nowhere near the pressures we are facing. The reality is that we are still facing a real-terms cut in our budget, which will have a significant impact on communities and public services in Wales.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. The Welsh Government fully supports the Guide Dogs Cymru Open Doors campaign, where we urge all retailers to fully comply with the law. It's horrific to hear you say that 81 per cent of guide dog owners who've been surveyed believe they've been refused entry—we've both just used the words 'illegal' and 'unlawful'. In relation to safer streets, I will certainly ask the Deputy...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. It's extremely disappointing to hear what you've just said, Jack Sargeant. That situation is completely unacceptable and, as I've already indicated, it's unlawful. People with assistance dogs are lawfully entitled to access retail premises—you mentioned a hotel, also—and should not be refused entry to premises. We are working with the Welsh Retail Consortium and the supermarket...
Lesley Griffiths: The Equality Act 2010 is clear: it is unlawful to refuse access to a disabled person with an assistance dog. The Equality and Human Rights Commission in Wales is responsible for adherence to the Act and we work with them to help ensure compliance.
Lesley Griffiths: I absolutely agree with you that it's far better for absolutely everybody involved to take a preventative approach to flooding, rather than always having to react. Clearly, as a Government, we have put significant funding into those preventative measures, with a large number of schemes right across the country, not just in south-west Wales. I did mention in my answer to Sioned Williams that...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. With regard to your question around the assessment that Welsh Government did in relation to the effectiveness of investment in the scheme, funding for a new trash screen was provided to the local authority through our small-scale schemes fund to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. They provided detailed proposals for a significant redesign of that existing trash screen, and...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. I'm obviously—as it's in my constituency—very well aware of the new health education innovation quarter at Glyndŵr university and I think it's really important. We have similar provision down in Swansea, so it's great to have it in north Wales as well, because we do know, don't we, that where people train, they often stay in that area. So, that will obviously help with...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Our funding objectives to reduce flood risk to communities are set out in our national flood strategy and the programme for government. We are providing £36.4 million of ongoing grant funding for flood alleviation schemes from design to construction work within the South Wales West region.
Lesley Griffiths: I'm afraid I don't have an answer to your last question about never events. I would ask you to write to the Minister for Health and Social Services in relation to that. As I said in my opening answer to you, there is a global shortage of nursing staff; this isn't just unique to Wales or the UK. We are working very hard to ensure that we have as many health service staff as possible across our...
Lesley Griffiths: There have been some tangible benefits of introducing the Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016, including increased funding and a strengthened nursing voice from ward to board level. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing global shortage of nursing staff have inevitably proved a challenge to the health boards' implementation of the Act.
Lesley Griffiths: Absolutely. It was an outrageous last-minute u-turn by FIFA. It was a very different proposition to what they had said they would do. I think the initial one was that they would fine the football association, and I think certainly the European football associations that had signed up to that sort of accepted that, if you like. Sporting sanctions are very, very different, aren't they? If...
Lesley Griffiths: I don't have the figures to hand that you ask me for around reserves and unallocated—. But all I can assure you is there's going to be very little left in reserves or unallocated funding by the end of this financial year, because of the gaps that we have in our settlement from the UK Government. I haven't seen Keir Starmer's either article or statement. However, what I will say is: as an...
Lesley Griffiths: I'll pick up your latter point about unallocated funding and reserves. I'm sure the leader of Plaid Cymru is very well aware of the financial position the UK Government is in. You heard me, in my earlier answers around the autumn statement, saying the very real gap that is still there—. Inflation is running at 11.1 per cent—11.1 per cent. Our budget is nowhere near to being able to cope...
