John Griffiths: 4. Will the First Minister set out his priorities for the environment in Wales? OAQ53324
John Griffiths: Thank you for that, Minister. I wonder if you might say a little more about Welsh Government policy on greening our inner urban areas, whether that be tree planting, such as community orchards, or other greening measures. It seems to me that, partly, that will directly affect air quality and improve air quality, but it's really important that we connect our people in Wales more directly with...
John Griffiths: 3. What further steps will the Welsh Government take to reduce air pollution? OAQ53245
John Griffiths: What further action will the Welsh Government take to support city and town centre regeneration?
John Griffiths: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I thank Members for their contributions, Dirprwy Lywydd, and the committee members for their focus and commitment to this work. As everybody who has spoken today has stated, it's very obviously extremely important that we understand as best we can the issues around fire safety in high-rise in general, in private high-rise in Wales, identify necessary action and...
John Griffiths: I will now move on to some of the key areas in our report. I am not intending to go through each of our recommendations, but instead will focus on building management, the need to update fire safety legislation and the need for robust building control. Effective building management is critical to ensuring fire safety in high-rise residential buildings. We were reassured by the evidence we...
John Griffiths: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to open today's debate on the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee report on fire safety in private sector high-rise residential buildings. I would like to thank all those who contributed to our inquiry. We can all agree that the safety of the place you call 'home' is one of the most important foundations to a happy and healthy life....
John Griffiths: Minister, already today, in answering questions, you and the Deputy Minister have spoken about regional development, some of the new organisation for that and the new drive that you wish to see behind it. Newport, Cardiff and Bristol have been talking and working together for some time in terms of development across that area. The abolition of the tolls on the Severn crossings, I think, gives...
John Griffiths: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on the role of cities in economic development in Wales? OAQ53172
John Griffiths: First Minister, universal credit is too often a cruel and inhumane system in practice that causes misery for families and communities, whether it's the waiting times for initial payment and the loan system that accompanies that, or the lack of ability for direct payment to landlords in terms of housing benefit, or conditionality and sanctioning, which is often draconian. It often leads to...
John Griffiths: To lose Steffan at such a tender age is obviously a tragic blow to his family and friends, to his party, Plaid Cymru, to the Assembly as a whole, and to Wales, given the significance of Steffan Lewis as a political figure and the ability that he had, the commitment that he had, which we've heard about across the Chamber today. For me, Llywydd, my first memory of speaking to Steffan after he...
John Griffiths: 5. Will the First Minister set out the Welsh Government's initial priorities for tackling poverty? OAQ53173
John Griffiths: Minister, would you agree with me that we should recognise and celebrate excellent standards of education in Wales, such as those provided by St Julian's Primary School in my constituency, which had an Estyn inspection in October of last year that assessed them as having excellence right across the board? It's a just-under 700 pupil primary school. It's a pioneer school in terms of digital...
John Griffiths: Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's strategy for the work of Estyn?
John Griffiths: Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's strategy for regional development?
John Griffiths: It's off, Llywydd.
John Griffiths: Mark Drakeford.
John Griffiths: —I did find Carwyn keen to demonstrate his knowledge when it came to the opportunity to take part in a quiz. And I think that was partly because Carwyn certainly possesses considerable general knowledge and, in fact, was the star of our quiz team. We tied for first place in the competition, Llywydd, and when it then came to the tie-break, Carwyn was very keen to demonstrate his knowledge...
John Griffiths: I think it's fair to say we've all seen exponential development and growth in devolution and, indeed, in Wales as a country since 1999, and we are now a Parliament in all but name and, hopefully, that name will soon follow. And the depth and breadth of our responsibilities, and the tools that we now have to do a job for the people of Wales, for our communities are much bigger than they were,...
John Griffiths: Llywydd, I think there are nine of us here today, nine Assembly Members—old timers—who've been here since the very beginning, and obviously that includes Carwyn, me and you. [Laughter.]
