Carwyn Jones: I'm not sure I follow his argument. Many of the new schools that have been built are, literally, a few miles away from the schools that they were built to replace. It's not a situation where children suddenly have to travel 10 miles to go to school where previously there was one on their doorstep. We're proud of the fact that we in Wales have a commitment to building new schools, to...
Carwyn Jones: That's a tenuous link. If he wants to he can go up and down the length and breadth of Wales, and he can see the new schools that have been built—primary schools, comprehensive schools. And they have replaced, yes—perhaps one school's been built to replace another three. But the facilities available at the new schools are fantastic. It's always difficult when a community loses a school, of...
Carwyn Jones: Well, yes, I think that's true, because for many, many people it's perfectly possible to work at home, given the technology we have now, rather than having to come into an office in order to work. I'm sure that companies, and indeed we in the public sector as well, are looking at ways to ensure that people can deliver work at home. I know there are local authorities in Wales already doing...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I've seen no evidence that suggests the matter should be referred to the police, but of course the Cabinet Secretary will be fully aware of the situation. No-one can pretend that it's a good situation—of course not. He goes a step further and suggests there has been criminal activity. That's something we have to consider very carefully to see whether there's any evidence there, and,...
Carwyn Jones: So, he accuses me of a lack of ambition, and then he does down one of the biggest and most important investment projects Wales has ever had—750 jobs coming to Wales, a centre of excellence for electric technology for the Lagonda. And I can say to him that, in the real world, you cannot deal with businesses if you say to them, 'Every deal that we have with you we will reveal in public'....
Carwyn Jones: Well, first of all, can I welcome him—[Laughter.]—as leader of Plaid Cymru, in this, of course, his first question? He is the tenth party leader that I have faced across this Chamber, which tells you something about the success of the Welsh Labour Government in remaining in Government for that time. Can I also pay tribute to his predecessor, Leanne Wood? Leanne is somebody with whom...
Carwyn Jones: So, this is about pheasant shooting now, is it? So, we now understand what this appears to be about. What I can say to him is this: he gives the impression that the same personnel are in place as were there when the timber contracts were dealt with. That's not true. The chair is no longer there. The chief executive is still new in the job. She was appointed earlier this year, and she is...
Carwyn Jones: Well, he will know, of course, that the chair has gone, and the next step will be to appoint a new chair. He will know that there is a new chief executive, who has replaced somebody with huge experience, particularly as part of the court service, and it has been to do particularly with the issue of timber contracts, for which there is no rational explanation, and that is something that they...
Carwyn Jones: Yes, I do.
Carwyn Jones: Yes, I do. In many rural areas, as the Member is right to say, Bwcabus has been hugely important in terms of being able to provide public transport where otherwise none would be made available. As we see technology develop, as he rightly says, then there is the opportunity to increase flexibility, to have a better idea of where demand is at particular times of day and, of course, for people...
Carwyn Jones: Well, one of the difficulties, of course, is that we have seen bus companies collapse and, as a result, services see a break. Quite often, of course, they are reprovided by another provider. We have seen Arriva, for example, pull out of all of Ceredigion, in effect, despite the fact they operated the bus services there and, of course, new companies did come forward. But, again, there was...
Carwyn Jones: Well, of course, we are open to looking at bids that would come from local authorities. But one thing I would say is that it's all-important to ensure that local authorities collaborate with each other because the fact of the matter is that people don't just travel in one county; they travel from one to another. So, cross-boundary services should receive the same kind of attention as those...
Carwyn Jones: Well, a sustainable bus network is vital to people who live in rural communities, and we will, of course, work with our partners to fund and provide access to key services and facilities, to tackle road congestion, bus punctuality and air quality. As part of that strategy, we want to ensure that we improve the network, and there will be an opportunity over the ensuing years, because we now...
Carwyn Jones: I don't know where she's talking about, and, without any more details, it's difficult to comment. What I can say to her, of course, is we've seen, month on month, sustained improvements in ambulance response times. I can tell her that, in August, there were 89,419 attendances at Welsh accident and emergency departments. That's an average of 2,884 attendances per day. The vast majority of...
Carwyn Jones: Well, that can be done through the development of the boards' three-year integrated medium-term plans. They are providing detailed capacity and demand profiles for this year, and they are required to show clear trajectories as to how they plan to continue to reduce waiting times for diagnostics and for treatment. In the longer term, of course, we do recognise the need to transform the way...
Carwyn Jones: Well, the number of people waiting over 36 weeks in July was 31 per cent lower than July of last year—52 per cent lower than the high point of August 2015. We expect continued improvement this year. The median waiting time in Wales has reduced from 10.9 weeks in September 2017 to 8.9 weeks in July of this year. We also continue to show significant improvements in diagnostic waits;...
Carwyn Jones: Well, I'm pleased the Member acknowledges the improvement. I recognise there is more to do, which is why we have invested an additional £30 million this year to build on the progress made over the last two years and to reduce waiting times further by March 2019.
Carwyn Jones: I think that's likely. I think that there are two possibilities here, are there not? If there's no deal, then it would be 'no deal' or remain. If there is a deal, it becomes a bit more complicated, in the sense that it's: 'Do you accept the deal? But, if you don't, what do you want: "no deal" or remain?' There are ways in which the Electoral Commission, I'm sure, can finesse that...
Carwyn Jones: The first thing to say is that there is increasing mood music in this Chamber and outside that if there is no deal and, therefore, a disaster, it'll be the fault of the remainers and not the fault of those who gave a pie-in-the-sky analysis two years ago of what the referendum would mean. We were told it'd be the easiest negotiation ever. It hasn't been. We were told that the EU would fold...
Carwyn Jones: It is to be found in the White Paper 'Securing Wales' Future'.
