David Rowlands: 1. How does the First Minister assess progress in delivering the commitments relating to economic development set out in the programme for government? OAQ52286
David Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd. Before I make my final comments, I wish to acknowledge and thank the clerking team for the work they have done under pressure of time. So, I do thank them for that. And can I thank the petitioner for bringing this petition forward? It has made us scrutinise the whole procedure with regard to nuclear power dumping, and I do thank you for doing that. I also thank the...
David Rowlands: I will address the depth of sampling first. The petitioner was concerned initially that samples had only been taken up to a depth of 5 cm. However, this was not correct. The committee heard that samples were taken and tested in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Some of the 2009 samples were taken up to a depth of 4.8m. The agencies involved in the testing have stated that they found no greater...
David Rowlands: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. On behalf of the Petitions Committee, I welcome the opportunity to introduce this afternoon’s debate on this petition and our report on the evidence we received. The petition we are discussing was submitted by Tim Deere-Jones, and received 7,171 signatures. It relates to sediment that will be dredged from the Severn estuary close to the site where the Hinkley Point...
David Rowlands: No, sorry, Llywydd. I'm sorry.
David Rowlands: Before I begin, I feel I ought to declare an interest and would assert that I am obviously eminently qualified to take part in this debate. I would fully endorse the Minister when he says that he wants Wales to be the best place in the world to grow old and even to be old. We live in a world obsessed by age and stereotypical views of older people. All too often they're spoken about in a...
David Rowlands: It is gratifying to see that the Welsh Government now has a clear idea of its role in supporting the business community in Wales, especially with regard to investment. It appears we now have a framework within which the Government can achieve its objectives. This is an essential part of delivering that much-needed boost to prosperity so desperately needed by the people of Wales, especially...
David Rowlands: First Minister, one of the fundamentals of economics is the law of supply and demand. If supply exceeds demand, the price of a commodity falls. This applies as much to the supply of labour as any other commodity. Would the First Minister not agree with me that it is the over-supply of cheap labour, especially in the semi-skilled and unskilled marketplace, caused by uncontrolled mass...
David Rowlands: Well, I make no excuses for repeating some of the figures used by Bethan Sayed and others, because they deserve repeating time and time again. Approximately 600,000 children live in Wales. Of those, one in three, or 200,000, are in poverty; 90,000 are living in severe poverty. More than half of Welsh children in low-income families are worried their parents are finding it harder to pay for...
David Rowlands: Well, again, I thank the leader of the house for her answer, and I fully endorse the fact that Joyce Watson has done a great deal of work with regard to this, and I acknowledge that, of course. But there have been numerous observations on the inadequacy of the agencies concerned in obtaining convictions of those engaged in the various aspects of exploitation, particularly with regard to...
David Rowlands: Well, I thank the leader of the house for those comments, and I fully endorse exactly what she has just said about those complexities, and that anybody who comes forward should have the necessary help and should not be punished for the situation they're in. But the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland, highlighted that those in modern slavery are hidden in plain sight, housed...
David Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd, and I promise you, leader of the house, I will not mention digital infrastructure at all. In October 2017, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary produced a report entitled 'Stolen freedom: the policing response to modern slavery and human trafficking'. In that report, it says that today and every day, thousands of men, women and children are being degraded and...
David Rowlands: I'm afraid my analysis of the situation may not be in accord with my Chair of the committee, so I hope he will take it in good part. Can I thank the leader of the house for her statement today, updating the Chamber on digital connectivity in Wales? Firstly, I would like to congratulate the Welsh Government on the excellent progress made so far through their Superfast Cymru programme,...
David Rowlands: What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the UK Government regarding investigating the exploitation of car wash services workers in Wales?
David Rowlands: We welcome the Welsh Government's generally good response to our report, though of course we are disappointed that it chose to reject some of our recommendations. The Enterprise, Innovation and Skills Committee's inquiry into apprenticeship delivery in Wales showed that there is now a consensus across both industry and the education sectors that apprenticeships have, for far too long, been a...
David Rowlands: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the development of energy-generating projects in Wales?
David Rowlands: Can I thank the Cabinet Minister for his statement which, in the wake of the Secretary of State for Transport's announcements, updates us on the Welsh Government's ambitions for the Great Western and north Wales main lines? You say, Cabinet Minister, that this commitment is welcomed, but it appears that this announcement simply deals with the development of business cases for rail...
David Rowlands: Well, Cabinet Minister, it appears that one of the major obstacles to these micro schemes and the larger community schemes is—. According to Western Distribution in 2015, the grid for rural Wales was at full capacity. Is this still the case, and, if so, is the Welsh Government able to do anything to alleviate this problem? Scotland is now a world leader in renewable energy, and part of this...
David Rowlands: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Could the Cabinet Secretary give us an update on micro-hydro schemes in Wales?
David Rowlands: In 2015, Chris Blake of the Green Valleys (Wales) said his company had identified at least 500 sites in Wales suitable for micro-hydro projects. The Guardian in that year highlighted a hill farmer in Wales who said the installation of his 18 KW generator had doubled the income of his farm and was effective 24 hours a day. Given the parlous state of our hill farmers due to common...
