David Rowlands: Diolch, Dirprwy Llywydd. I’m pleased to introduce this debate on a petition that seeks to protect the provision of accident and emergency services at Withybush District General Hospital in Pembrokeshire. This is a major petition, both in terms of its importance to people in the local community and the number of signatures gathered. In total, the petition received 40,045 signatures. I...
David Rowlands: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that very positive answer. Can I now turn, Cabinet Secretary, to project scrutiny? As Cabinet Secretary, you've initiated a number of projects and initiatives designed to deliver on the economic performance of Wales. What is of concern is that many of these do not appear to have specific timelines or targets against which progress can be evaluated. Surely,...
David Rowlands: Thank you very much for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. I move quite a way away from Cardiff Airport with my next question. It has been brought to my attention, Cabinet Secretary, that the public transport users of the Trevethin area of Pontypool are virtually cut off from 7.30 at night. This appears to be the last bus taking people from the town centre to this estate. There is, of course, an...
David Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, I have congratulated the Government on Cardiff Airport several times in the past, but I feel compelled to bring to your attention and, therefore, hopefully to a wider audience, a facility offered by the airport under its hidden disabilities facility, which prioritises people with such disabilities. My comments are prompted by information I received about a...
David Rowlands: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I start by saying that I cannot support any of the amendments tabled to this motion, firstly because each one is prefaced by that asinine proposition, 'Delete all', meaning of course that they would delete all of my submissions—a patently absurd stance? But also because none of the substitutions address the main thrust of my argument, which is the environmental...
David Rowlands: In the committee's scrutiny on the impact of the active travel Act, which, of course, included consultation with a whole range of stakeholders, a number of failures were identified. Primarily, it was noted that in most areas it had not resulted in people taking up either walking or cycling, and in some scenarios we have seen a decline in active travel participation, most notably amongst...
David Rowlands: What consideration has the Cabinet Secretary given to the direct funding of schools, as opposed to the current process of funding through local authorities?
David Rowlands: Again, I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that, and I do acknowledge the many interventions now taking place with regard to domestic abuse. But I'm sure you'll agree with me that refuges are a key element in getting victims out of abusive situations. What will the Welsh Government do to ensure that refuges in Wales are kept open? And if funding is channelled through local authorities in...
David Rowlands: I thank you for that answer, leader of the house. It has been stated by Welsh Women's Aid that victims of domestic abuse cannot leave the abusive environment because they cannot afford to do so. With the latest figures showing cases of domestic abuse in Wales rising by 23 per cent, can the leader of the house give us an indication as to the support available to victims who are caught in such...
David Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd. Leader of the house, as a former magistrate, I have seen first-hand the sometimes horrific consequences of domestic abuse. Could the leader of the house please outline the latest interventions being instigated by the Welsh Government to combat these crimes?
David Rowlands: I thank the Cabinet Secretary and warmly welcome the statement, which could not have been more timely given the Office of Rail and Road's latest statistical release on passenger rail service complaints. This shows complaints to Arriva Trains Wales saw a year-on-year increase of 73 per cent, but to be fair to Arriva Trains, there is no doubt that part of the problem has been the unreliability...
David Rowlands: One of the most interesting factors to come out of the committee's scrutiny of enterprise zones was the disparity between them. Deeside and Cardiff enterprise zones were already well developed in their respective sectors, whilst Anglesey, Snowdonia and Ebbw Vale were effectively starting from scratch, with Port Talbot coming late to the fray. We, therefore have to be very guarded in our...
David Rowlands: Will the First Minister make a statement on how pay increases for local authority employees are divided amongst the workforce?
David Rowlands: Again, I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his answer, but if we look at the organisations now charged with delivering the strong regional-based economy—city deals, Valleys initiative, the remaining enterprise zones, the North Wales Economic Ambition Board and, of course, local authorities—surely, there is considerable blurring of demarcation between all these bodies. Is the Cabinet...
David Rowlands: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his answer, but does he not think that the multilayered approach to economic delivery has the very real potential of becoming a bureaucratic nightmare, and that the plethora of local government exacerbates this potential?
David Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd. Does the Cabinet Secretary think that the failure to reduce the number of local authorities in Wales will make it more difficult to implement your economic strategy, as outlined in your document 'Prosperity for All'?
David Rowlands: Well, I think that's something we would all, actually, want, Mick, but that is not at the expense of the European Union telling us exactly what we have to do, and at the expense of unlimited access to us by any number of people, which is exactly what the people of the Valleys voted against. We will not sacrifice that in order to get free access to the European Union. The proponents of the...
David Rowlands: We're realists in this world, David. We won't follow—[Interruption.]
David Rowlands: As far as Wales—. Yes, David, of course.
David Rowlands: Yes, and quite frankly it was because he read very carefully many of the reports, which is what most of the other MEPs did not do, and that's why he came to many of the conclusions he came to, actually. As far as Wales is concerned, it suffered disproportionately from CFP policies because most of the Welsh fleet is under 10m in size. So we only have 1 per cent of the UK fishing quota or...
