Suzy Davies: Well, I think you might've just made one of the points for me, Joyce, which is actually the point that was raised by the former Labour leader of a different council earlier about some councils making poor decisions about how they budget, and now they're taking the opportunity to punish their own residents by doing this. But my overall point was to say that things have been changing over a...
Suzy Davies: Yes.
Suzy Davies: Look, I wonder if we can just start with the obvious here, which is that no Government likes cutting local authority funding and no council likes putting up council tax. I think what is less obvious, despite some of the assertions made in this Chamber, is why this is happening and why the difficult task of local government funding reform, when that might begin, because it's just too easy to...
Suzy Davies: I was horrified when I learned that Swansea, as we heard, was one of the areas that was up for consideration by this company, and like many others I've made my own feelings clear about that within the consultation. You repeated again today that this is very much a matter for local communities to decide, and I'm grateful for the confirmation we heard then, but does Welsh Government plan to...
Suzy Davies: Well, I think we'd all be keen to hear any developments on the front of the Swansea bay tidal lagoon—genuinely interested to hear what Dai Lloyd had to say there. But one of the circles that remains difficult to square, of course, is the cost of the energy that's produced by the lagoon— potential lagoon—which is a material consideration at a time when Tata Steel, for example, is...
Suzy Davies: Diolch yn fawr. We like to keep you guessing. [Laughter.] The committee considered these regulations at our meeting on 18 March and we reported one technical point and two merits points to the Assembly. The technical reporting point relates to regulation 2, which amends regulation 1(4) of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (Wales) Regulations 2003. The explanatory...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Llywydd. These regulations were considered as proposed negative regulations by the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee on 12 February, and we recommended uplift to the affirmative procedure because of the significant extent to which they amend primary legislation, mainly the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016. We therefore welcome the Welsh...
Suzy Davies: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. If I may just begin with a personal note before I speak on behalf of CLAC. I'm just pleased to hear that there's been a recognition that the word 'care' needed closer definition. That's a point that's been raised in this Chamber before in the context of childcare, and I'm wondering, if that's within your remit, if perhaps that might need a bit of attention at some...
Suzy Davies: First Minister, while the welcome host programme provides some customer services training, Welsh tourism businesses are now telling me that Wales needs something more than that, which encapsulates what Wales has to offer and is recognised and accepted by the tourism industry itself, improving not just the quality of our offer, but promoting the visitor economy as an arena where young people...
Suzy Davies: Can I thank Lynne Neagle and my colleagues on the committee as well as the committee staff, and, of course, the Minister for their part in this inquiry? I hope Members have found the report interesting. We didn't get the opportunity to hear from the education Minister on the department's preparedness for Brexit in that marathon session we had fairly recently, so this is a chance to look at...
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much, Russell. You mentioned 5G there. Of course, that's another technology that involves a level of electromagnetic field. Obviously, there's already existing guidance on people who have a sensitivity to this, to limit their exposure to it, but I just wondered, as the Government is looking at 5G roll-out—and I completely agree with the benefits of this—whether potential...
Suzy Davies: All right, yes.
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much for that answer. I'm sure you'll remember, it's almost two years now since the original announcement was made, and you'll recall that other Members, including Mike Hedges and me, have stood up a number of times in this Chamber to say how difficult it has been and we've found it as Assembly Members—the relevant Assembly Members, with an interest in this—to get any...
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much for that last comment, because one of the questions I was going to ask, of course, was that this is different from Tesco or Virgin—this is a company in which the Welsh Government has invested, and there's a question, then, about, by enabling Dawnus to exist for another two or three years, whether you've allowed certain contracts to be entered into, by the very fact that...
Suzy Davies: I'd like to come at this from the other way around, if I may, because, at the moment, of course, a qualified teacher coming from the European Union can work here without any further training being necessary, whereas qualified teachers from other parts of the world need to basically retrain. Once we leave the European Union, there's a genuine question then about whether it will be illegal to...
Suzy Davies: You mentioned earlier, Deputy Minister, what the role of Government is in this, and one of those can be reassurance. I've spoken to internet providers about the 5G cover in the last few months in the context of the Swansea bay city deal, and they make the point that both the private sector and the public sector need to create demand for 5G, such as uses for AI, for them to commit to invest in...
Suzy Davies: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on the Swansea bay city deal following the publication of the Swansea bay city deal independent review? 290
Suzy Davies: Will the Minister provide an update on city deals in South Wales West?
Suzy Davies: Could I request two statements, please, particularly if they're not raised in topical questions tomorrow? The first is one on the situation with Dawnus construction, and while I thank Welsh Government for the short written statement that was received at the end of last week, I think it would be very valuable for Members to have the opportunity to ask questions, for the collapse of such an...
Suzy Davies: Will the First Minister make a statement on the use of construction contracts in the public sector in Wales?
