David Melding: 3. Will the Deputy Minister outline the measures being taken to encourage the voluntary sector to apply for public sector tenders? OAQ55172
David Melding: I've listened to the contributions. I think they've been thoughtful and entertaining and fanciful. I'm not going to pin the actual description on each speaker. But I do think in any new system of Government, you need to look at the institutions, and the Government is an important institution but the legislature is at least as important. In fact, from the legislature the Executive draws its...
David Melding: Would you give way?
David Melding: The advantage of federalism is that it does give you a rulebook, but it's constant bargaining between the state and sub-state level. You see this in the United States, where the state level—i.e. the sub-state in America—was thought to be declining, and books were written on the end of federalism. Now, we see it's quite the reverse, with California leading environmental policy for the...
David Melding: That's an important point, but the main reason for this is a lack of housing supply—that is what has driven house prices up and maintained a section of society that have an interest in seeing house prices remaining high. And I have to say that the person who consistently argues against more house building in this Chamber is you.
David Melding: Can I just add my support to the Counsel General for the approach he's taken? I think it's fair to say, despite our occasional disagreements, that the Welsh Government, in trying to strengthen the British constitution under devolution, usually ends up in the right place. I sometimes have arguments about how you eventually got there, but I do think the work you've done with the Sewel...
David Melding: Can I welcome this statement on modern methods of construction—MMC hereafter? The Welsh Conservative Party throughout this Assembly term has promoted this type of construction, and in our White Papers on urban design and on housing, we promoted the concept of greater use of MMC. It is becoming a preferred route rather than one driven by necessity or scarcity, as it has in the past. It's...
David Melding: Can I extend my sympathies to all those affected in South Wales Central by this most distressful event and the experiences that followed of seeing your homes flooded? It's the speed at which it happens—I think you've referred to that. It is astonishing. In my 21 years in the Chamber, when I've talked to flood victims, speed is what they say, which means we need the most effective warning...
David Melding: I'm very pleased to take part in this debate and I commend the work of the committee under John’s leadership. To me, reading this, and I have to say, Caroline’s just sat down and warned us that if we don't act, in 20 years’ time we'll be going around the same racecourse, well, I kind of feel that 20 years ago we were discussing a lot of these issues, perhaps not focused on homelessness...
David Melding: Can I thank the Minister for this statement? A most important area of public policy, I'm sure we all agree. The housing support grant has been welcomed by many in this sector, and I note the intention to drive forward more effective public spending through more integrated and strategic approaches, and I look forward to a full assessment of this approach, because it obviously was quite...
David Melding: I thank the Minister for her statement. I don't know if this is a first; it has probably happened in other legislatures, but to have a Bill that amends an Act that has not yet been commenced, despite being over three years old, is not a regular situation—let me put it no more strongly than that. Indeed, we now hear that the 2016 Act may not be commenced until the end of this Assembly term,...
David Melding: First Minister, in the absence of a clean air Act, as you've indicated, we are to have a clean air plan, once the consultation finishes and you respond to it and then put it into effect. Central to the new regime will be prevention and control regulations that apply best available techniques, or BAT, for pollution control. Perhaps you could elaborate on what this is likely to be, because I do...
David Melding: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I think we've had an outstanding debate and really pertinent points brought forward that have added to its depth, and I think really added also authority to the need to move, and I thank the Minister for replying in that spirit also. If I can just say, I think, Jenny Rathbone, you're right to say that there are other technologies, and hydrogen...
David Melding: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. May I thank the Business Committee for giving me the opportunity to speak about this legislative proposal today? Can I also thank all the Members who have supported it? A great many, I'm pleased to say, put their name to this for discussion today. I'm very pleased that my proposed Bill has received support from all political parties, indeed. I believe that this...
David Melding: Minister, our biggest trading partners are Germany and France, in that order, and, to be fair to Neil Hamilton, the USA is third. We had a robust export performance last year, which I congratulate the Welsh Government on in the work it did there; we saw our exports increase by very nearly 5 per cent. But they fell to Germany, and I think we need to be very careful about the messages we are...
David Melding: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Indeed, it's rail and other public transport that I wanted to talk about. And I do hope that Transport for Wales will make it a consistent priority to improve the services, both the extent of them and the facilities on them, so that the Valleys, and their wonderful potential of highly skilled people, are able to access well-paid jobs, and, also, that the...
David Melding: 1. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's spending commitments for the Rhondda valley in 2020? OAQ55046
David Melding: Minister, I remember Dafydd Wigley raising this issue in the first Assembly and talking about where they do have controlled housing markets, like the Channel Islands—that bastion of socialism in the English channel. The thing is, we do have a culture more widely in Britain of free market and second-home ownership, which I respect, but a lot of those people are also tempted sometimes to buy...
David Melding: Minister, in our urban renewal strategy, 'Liveable Cities', we in the Welsh Conservatives pledged to ensure that there was a minimum of 20 per cent urban tree canopy covering Wales by 2030. You will see the green town and city movement is now taking off all around the world, and we could really also be part of that, and leading it. I want to see the day when some of the current major arterial...
David Melding: Will the Minister provide an update on fire safety issues identified at the Celestia apartment complex in Cardiff Bay?
