Mike Hedges: Me.
Mike Hedges: I'm pretty good.
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank Suzy Davies for giving me a minute in this debate, but also for bringing it forward? I want to concentrate on GCSE options. Without a GCSE in a foreign language, pupils are unlikely to go on to an A-level or a degree in that foreign language. In a Welsh-medium school a pupil will study Welsh language and literature, English language and...
Mike Hedges: Rarely a day goes by that I do not regret the ending of the Communities First schemes in my constituency. Firstly, anyone who thought that a £30-million-a-year scheme would eradicate poverty was somewhere between hyper-optimistic and delusional. This is echoed by the evidence that Caerphilly council gave to an Assembly committee when we were looking at it. Can I just say that to expect a...
Mike Hedges: It is understandable that many care home residents have poor dental health when they first move into care, as they often move into care due to deteriorating health and lack of mobility. As dental access for children is at an all-time high, and, as you know, I speak very regularly about how good Designed to Smile is, does the Minister agree with me that it's fantastic news for older people...
Mike Hedges: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm pleased to contribute to today's debate on behalf of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee and to make a comment on the financial implications, which are expected, as the Minister said, to be minimal and likely to be so small as not to affect either the councils or the circuses themselves. I would like to place on record my thanks to all those who...
Mike Hedges: I've got a quick intervention. Of course, you know the money that local authorities hold, some of that is for some of these major repairs. If I talk about Plasmarl school in your region and my constituency, they've had a new roof, and they've had full electrical rewiring. So, that's what the money held centrally is partly used for, and it is what you've just asked for.
Mike Hedges: Two quick points. Will you agree with me that what we should be seeing is the Welsh Government publishing the calculations so that we can all actually see how you get to those numbers? If those were published, then we'd see who was right and who was wrong. The second point I would like to make, and I hope you would agree with me, is that the amount of money the Welsh Government gives—. It...
Mike Hedges: Yes.
Mike Hedges: Well, I'm not sure that splitting it would actually be particularly beneficial. I think that actually having it under the control of hospitals so they are responsible for the ambulances waiting outside, rather than it being somebody else's responsibility—it makes no sense whatsoever. The ambulances are waiting outside, and it's not in the health board's interest to get the people out...
Mike Hedges: Certainly.
Mike Hedges: Yes, I would, and, yes, I said exactly the same thing last year and the year before. So, welcome. An example of a large organisation not working effectively is the Welsh ambulance service. This desperately needs to be run on a series of much smaller footprints. We've got long orthopaedic waiting lists, and these need addressing. I've got someone who's been waiting between four and eight...
Mike Hedges: We've had confirmed by the Conservative Westminster Government that austerity was a political not an economic policy. We're seeing real growth in the money available for the Welsh budget whilst the British economy continues to stagnate. The real-terms growth in money available has got to be welcomed. I think that any real-growth increase has got to be welcomed. It would be churlish not to....
Mike Hedges: I could give you an alternative. I'll give you an alternative: I'd take money out of the economy budget and I'd put it into the environment budget and I'd put it into the education budget. I'm only asking you to do top-line changes. But, I think, where you would take money off—. Because you have to take money off somewhere to put it in somewhere else. Can I start off with a request that's...
Mike Hedges: I've had raised with me a number of concerns regarding litter, especially over the Christmas period. Can I ask for a Welsh Government statement on actions being taken to discourage littering? Two suggestions I have received are that first-time offenders attend a litter awareness course similar to the speed awareness course and that fast food restaurants print the car number plate on the...
Mike Hedges: Will the First Minister make a statement on the building of council houses in Wales?
Mike Hedges: The Welsh Government is providing a lot of support for people who are homeless, but, as we all know, there are far too many people who are sleeping on the streets and far too many people who don't know where they're going to sleep tonight, and they're hoping a friend or relative will put them up. That is a bad state for us to be in in twenty-first century Wales. Does the Minister agree that...
Mike Hedges: If we're going to get large numbers of trees planted, then we need a plan, not a national target. Will the Welsh Government set annual targets at local authority level, designate land for tree planting, or ask local authorities to designate land for tree planting like they do in the local development plan for housing, and set a minimum number of trees to be planted per house for each new...
Mike Hedges: Can I welcome the statement by the Minister? Far too many children live in poor households. Tonight in Swansea some children will go to bed hungry. Even more mothers will go to bed hungry. Some will go to bed in a cold and damp house. Some children will change their school sometimes as often as every year as their parents move from one short-term privately rented house to another. There are...
Mike Hedges: Last Tuesday, the Minister for Economy and Transport reported on employment and people with disabilities. Can I ask for a Government statement on what action is being undertaken by the Welsh Government, and more importantly Welsh Government's financially supported bodies, to increase the number of people with disabilities employed? Secondly, my opposition to incineration is well known and...
