Gareth Bennett: Okay, sorry. I might have slightly simplified what you said. Anyway, I'm going to have a look at what happens in London. To get into the Victoria and Albert Museum is free, but entry to special exhibitions—and there are always numerous special exhibitions on at the V&A—currently ranges from £8 to £19. Now, we have to remember that entry to the V&A's general displays is free. So, they...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Minister for bringing today's debate. I haven't yet had any formal contact with the new Minister, either in the Chamber or in committee, so I'd like to officially welcome him into his new role. I think we all feel, certainly in this section of the Chamber—by which I mean the UKIP seats—that he has shown a lot of promise, and I believe he could be a valuable addition to the...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, it's good that this issue is being addressed at a governmental level. However, there is recent evidence that companies like Tesco are now losing a lot more money from shoplifting since bringing in automation in the form of self-scanning machines. Is there now a case for the Welsh Government to work with those companies in trying to move away from unnecessary automation and go back...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, thanks. I appreciate that it's still a work in progress and, of course, it cuts across the finance Minister's portfolio, so I look forward to an update in due course. So, perhaps instead of me pursuing that issue, I could go back to the empty homes problem. Councils in Wales also have the power to take control of empty homes through empty dwelling management orders. Now, the figures...
Gareth Bennett: Yes. Thanks for the answer. I think an holistic approach, as you've advocated, would be good, but I think you need to keep on top of the empty homes situation as a specific issue. Now, in terms of increasing housing supply in other ways, I know that you and Mark Drakeford, the Finance Minister, have been having discussions over a possible vacant land tax. Could you give us any update on the...
Gareth Bennett: Thank you, Dirprwy Llywydd. Minister, we've had the issue of homelessness in the news a lot lately. This tends to become a big topic as we approach Christmas every year, but, more significantly, we've also had the latest annual empty homes figures, which show a rise in Wales from an estimated 23,000 empty homes a year ago to 25,000 homes now. So, despite the Welsh Government's Houses into...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, and thanks for arranging that meeting. I think that was a useful clear-the-air meeting, as far as it went. The problem is, by that point, we already had many local residents protesting against the felling of trees by climbing up the trees and doing other activities on site. So, clearly, something did go wrong with the consultation. Could you now work with NRW to assess exactly what did...
Gareth Bennett: 8. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on Welsh Government discussions with Natural Resources Wales about the Roath flood scheme development in Cardiff? OAQ51572
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. I refer to the point of order that was raised with you on 13 December last year. I'm sorry that people took offence at what I said and I wish to make it clear that I respect your authority as Chair. I do, however, stand by the views I expressed about the proposed changes to the gender recognition Bill.
Gareth Bennett: Thank you, Llywydd. There will be no apology. There will be no withdrawal.
Gareth Bennett: Yes, well done, Simon. Therefore, they should enjoy some rights. But we can't go on as a society endlessly acceding to the demands of minorities. At some point, we have to recognise that granting more rights to a particular minority group will negatively impact on the rights of the majority of people in our society as a whole. We have a perfect example of this with the recent controversies...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to the Wales Committee of the Equality and Human Rights Commission for their annual review. I think it would be fair to say that many of us in UKIP don't quite share the same enthusiasm for so-called human rights as people in other parties.
Gareth Bennett: Yes. We are specifically concerned that the increasing focus on the rights of minorities will ultimately impact negatively on the rights of the majority population. Now, we have to make a distinction here between—[Interruption.] No, I'm not taking any interventions—
Gareth Bennett: I have no time.
Gareth Bennett: Thank you for the offer, Joyce, but there is no time. Now, we have to make a distinction here between the very genuine and meaningful rights that we enjoy here in the United Kingdom that have evolved over 1,000 years and more, and the very narrowly focused minority rights stuff that we get told, today, signifies human rights. We have a functioning democracy here in the UK. We have basic...
Gareth Bennett: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thanks to the Minister for today's statement. Community safety is an interesting subject. A generation ago, when I was growing up, there were a lot more children playing in the streets and, in the summertime, in public parks, completely unsupervised by adults. I was probably doing this myself from an early age. I observed a few years later that parents...
Gareth Bennett: He's not here either, Mike. To be serious, I'm not sure giving responsibility for the welfare system to Iain Duncan Smith in 2010 was ever really going to be a good idea. This is the chap who turned up in Merthyr not long after his appointment and said, seemingly on the spur of the moment, that it might be a good idea if some of the locals thought about popping down to Cardiff to look for...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to Plaid for bringing today's debate. As Siân Gwenllian stated in her opening remarks, Plaid did bring a debate on this subject six weeks ago and I gave UKIP's position at that time. Our stance hasn't really changed since then so I will be fairly brief, particularly bearing in mind that this is only a half-hour debate. We in UKIP share the concerns of other parties here over universal...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks to David Melding for today's Member's legislative proposal. I'm intrigued by these ideas of increasing citizen participation. Of course, the aim is laudable, but I'm not sure how easily it will be achieved in practical terms. In short, I'm not certain that this scheme, innovative though it is, is actually a workable one. The difference between us in this Chamber and the general public...
Gareth Bennett: There have been problems with the retention of teaching assistants, or TAs. Often, TAs qualify as higher level TAs, but find that they aren't given the salary or responsibilities appropriate to the new level. This has contributed to many leaving the profession. What steps can the Welsh Government take to address this problem?
