Huw Irranca-Davies: It is vital that the Senedd pays close attention to their combined impact and can continue to play a full part in safeguarding Wales's best interests in the face of these new arrangements. Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd.
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Last week, I spoke to our committee’s report during the debate on whether this Senedd should give consent to the Environment Bill. This week, we’re discussing consent for the Professional Qualifications Bill, and with your invitation, Dirprwy Lywydd and also the Llywydd, you will likely see me on quite a regular basis given the number of...
Huw Irranca-Davies: In our report on the Welsh Government’s consent memorandum for the Professional Qualifications Bill, we have identified trends that are, unfortunately, already emerging quite early within this Senedd, and we've made nine recommendations to the Minister, and our report also sets out a number of conclusions to reflect our overall consideration of the consent memorandum for the Bill. The...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Could I ask for a debate, rather than a statement, on the availability of free banking for charities and community groups? Unfortunately, HSBC is the latest of the banks to take the money and run, and they'll be introducing charges for the Women's Institute, local scouts and girl guides groups, local sports clubs, and others, from the end of this month. It's a really important thing for some...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I'll do my best, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I preface my remarks by thanking my committee members for their scrutiny, and our clerking team as well, and note, in advance of my comments, that when our committee does its job well, it will sometimes make for challenging listening for the Government as well? As the Minister told us, the Bill has got a long history, and our predecessor committee...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you. My apologies, Dirprwy Lywydd. It isn't about badging it either 'UK' or 'Wales'; it's about delivering for the people who we are sent here to represent, and there is a better way to do it than this. We can help. Would you take that message forward?
Huw Irranca-Davies: Dirprwy Lywydd, I declare my interest as a former chair of the regional investment for Wales steering group and as the current chair of the strategic forum for regional investment in Wales, both non-remunerated. That's taken a minute, Chair, to actually say that. Could I say, I was actually heartened by Paul Davies's comments about the 20 years of experience of delivering investment? But,...
Huw Irranca-Davies: First Minister, thank you for the statement but also for this report, which I would thoroughly recommend to any student of current constitutional arrangements looking at this moment in time at what it means for Wales and the UK. I think it is fair to say, as Darren pointed out, there are some good bits in here, but I have to say it's a mixed picture as well, and it does, within the reading of...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Could I ask for two statements? One of them is actually echoing the point made earlier on—it would be great to get a statement on the timing of the outcome of the extended consultation on school transport. It's been extended to look at this issue over the free travel aspects and the distance. Bridgend traditionally provided more generous than most local authorities in Wales transport in...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I welcome that response. The Counsel General will know that, since legal aid was cut and the means testing made more stringent as a result of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, the LASPO Act, that has meant that many of these cases now are coming into our surgeries—all of us. We're seeing it in increasing debt, we're seeing it in mental health problems, we are...
Huw Irranca-Davies: 7. What representations has the Counsel General made to the UK Government regarding restoring legal aid for early advice and reassessing the means test? OQ56853
Huw Irranca-Davies: What discussions has the Counsel General held regarding the reform of intergovernmental machinery at a UK level?
Huw Irranca-Davies: Diolch, Llywydd. I really welcome this statement this afternoon, and also the debate that has ensued and the comments, because it shows that, far from being a dry and arcane piece of Tuesday afternoon business here, it actually goes to the heart of trying to make law accessible and understandable, not only for professionals, as has been mentioned, but for the public as well, and that goes to...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I really do welcome this statement today. Sometimes, we have statements in this place that don't take us a lot further forward. This one today really does, and it does it in two ways: (1) in terms of giving, I think, some really good reassurance of the ongoing conversation that there will be with farmers and land managers on the future of this, but also the future of funding, subject to the...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank the First Minister for that answer, and one of the things that gave me greatest pleasure over a decade ago was being part of the committee in Westminster that brought into being the police community support officers. It was a long, arduous committee, but we brought them in, and we brought them in because we knew the role that they would have in tackling low-level nuisance and...
Huw Irranca-Davies: 5. What are the Welsh Government’s plans to improve community safety in Ogmore? OQ56855
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank the Minister for that answer, and ‘active farmers’ are key to that answer. Cwm Risca farm, which I know very well—I’ve visited them many times, most recently in the last couple of weeks—is a classic, small to medium-scale family-run enterprise. It’s diversified. It’s award winning as well. It’s mixed arable and livestock. It does the right thing for its fields, it does...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank the Minister for that response and, as we’ve heard already today in this Senedd Chamber, what we’re seeing in effect is a classic pickpocket trick—somebody is smiling in your face whilst taking the money out of the back pocket of local authorities; out of employers, some of whom will be employing care staff; and out of low-paid staff themselves in care and in the NHS. So, it is...
Huw Irranca-Davies: 3. What consideration will the Welsh Government give to the impact on Wales of possible additional NHS and social care funding in England when allocating funding to the health and social services portfolio? OQ56802
Huw Irranca-Davies: 7. How will the Welsh Government ensure a sustainable future for small and medium-scale family-run mixed arable and livestock farming in the south Wales valleys? OQ56801
