Mike Hedges: To Rhun ap Iorwerth, can I say: please will you publish your budget, if you've got an alternative one? Remembering, of course, that you've got exactly the same amount of money, and everybody you give more money to, you have to take some money off. Whilst I'll be supporting the budget motion, I want to address how money is spent, because the increases are welcome, but how it is spent in...
Mike Hedges: The same question as Nick Ramsay: have you got an alternative budget?
Mike Hedges: Will you take an intervention?
Mike Hedges: Will you be putting forward an alternative budget?
Mike Hedges: Thank you. I'm well aware of that multicultural hub, which is very popular. But I'm told by a member of the Nigerian community that it is growing, especially in Swansea and Cardiff, and they've asked me to ask what support can the Welsh Government provide for the creation of a social and community centre for the Nigerian community.
Mike Hedges: 2. Will the Deputy Minister provide an update on Welsh Government support for the Nigerian community in Wales? OAQ55142
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Counsel General for that response? I accept that leaving the European Union is the will of the British people and have accepted that since 2016. Whilst leaving the EU is the will of the people, I do not believe the people want to return to the south Wales rivers of the 1960s, with no fish, high pollution levels, and the colour of the water varying from red to black, with some...
Mike Hedges: What I was going to talk about is the university sector. We've got two outstanding universities in the Swansea bay city region and the ability to use them in order to grow major new industries and to build on some of those that are coming out of it. You have a choice, really, with economic policy, to prioritise low-wage areas to try and bring branch factories in, but actually developing...
Mike Hedges: HS2.
Mike Hedges: 1. Will the Counsel General provide an update on any forthcoming legislative consent memorandum expected as a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU? OAQ55108
Mike Hedges: I welcome the Minister's statement. I am pleased that this Government has committed to continue to invest in affordable housing, providing £2 billion of funding in this term of office, and its commitment to build more and to build better. You've probably heard me—I think everybody else heard me—talking about the importance of building more council houses, and, yes, I agree with what the...
Mike Hedges: I strongly support a metro system for the Swansea city region. Does the First Minister agree that stage 1 needs to be to get bus/rail interchanges at current railway stations with aligned timetables and buses stopping as close as possible to the railway station? Llansamlet, for example, not all of the bus stops are outside Llansamlet station and one of them is around the corner down another...
Mike Hedges: I am very pleased to support this debate, and I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth for bringing it forward. It is an issue that is very important to many of my constituents, including people who I socialise with. Lots of people are not on their—. Like my wife accusing me of being on my smartphone at all times—in fact, many people haven't got a smartphone. Looking at it from the viewpoint of an...
Mike Hedges: I very much welcome the statement. I welcome yet another opportunity to discuss supporting housing and the housing support grant, which I seem to have spoken on at least four times over the last two weeks, alongside David Melding and others. But I think it really is important. I don't think we can overestimate how important housing is. Being homeless is one of the great fears of many of us,...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Minister for the statement? I believe that housing is one of the most important things that we have and I think that it really is important that the housing sector, both private, local authority, other social housing landlords and the private sector are all of a high standard. Most tenants and landlords have a good relationship. I mean, most landlords look after their...
Mike Hedges: I would like to ask for two statements from the Welsh Government. Firstly, what action is being taken to reduce single-use plastic, both by the Welsh Government and by Welsh Government-funded bodies, such as health boards? Secondly, I want to ask for an update on the provision of 4G and 5G sports pitches. Members will probably remember we used to talk about 4G and 5G sports pitches fairly...
Mike Hedges: The Minister, having heard the budget debate yesterday and having heard questions today, cannot fail to be aware of the concern across the Chamber of the need to support supported housing. I saw somebody, when I went on a visit, who had successfully not gone to hospital for five years. They'd never stayed out of hospital for one year until they'd gone into supported housing. There is...
Mike Hedges: 8. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government’s budget priorities for 2020-21? OAQ55026
Mike Hedges: Firstly, can I say how nice it is to see so many people taking part in this debate for such a major debate? Far too often, four of us used to debate the budget and the Minister used to reply. We're dealing with substantial sums of money, and I think it really is worthwhile for the Assembly to give it a full debate. I want to address this debate in two parts; firstly, on the overall budget,...
Mike Hedges: Thank you for giving way. Would you not accept that the councils in Wales are substantially larger than those on mainland Europe and north America?
