Alun Davies: I'd like to contribute only briefly to this debate. Like others, I warmly welcome the motion that the Government and opposition parties have placed before us this afternoon, and I'm very happy to endorse and support that. I think we should also welcome the work of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. Now, I accept I have somewhat of an interest in this matter, but it is one of the instruments...
Alun Davies: Will the First Minister make a statement on bus services in Blaenau Gwent?
Alun Davies: Thank you very much. I'm sure Members on all sides of the Chamber will agree that this is a very beautiful and elegant debating chamber, and wholly and entirely appropriate as a home for our national Parliament and a focus for our national conversations. However, since it was designed and built in 2006, we have seen enormous strides forward in terms of use of technology and our means of...
Alun Davies: One of the ways in which we can promote the Welsh language, of course, is through education, and ensuring that people can learn Welsh and learn through the medium of Welsh. One of the things that I’ve heard over the past few weeks, and I have seen this in my own constituency, is that local councils aren’t willing to pay for transportation for those children who want to attend Welsh-medium...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Minister for that. In an earlier answer to the Member for Aberconwy, you said that you wished to invest in best practice in the management of the Welsh Government's asset portfolio, and you also encourage the sharing of experience and knowledge. Can I ask you to be a bit more proactive and ambitious than that, Minister? It appears to me that the Welsh Government, alongside...
Alun Davies: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's property and asset strategy? OAQ54111
Alun Davies: 1. Will the Commission make a statement on the use of technology in the Chamber? OAQ54114
Alun Davies: Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's strategy to enhance Wales's global profile?
Alun Davies: Will you take an intervention on that matter?
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to you for your words on that. My point was a distinct one—that we should be seeking the devolution of these matters, not simply calling on the UK Government to take action on these matters. If we're serious about having integrated public transport, then it is only the Welsh Government that has the position to be able to take decisions, both on rail infrastructure and on other...
Alun Davies: I hope and I think that this afternoon marks a debate on the M4 where we've actually been debating solutions to it and not simply rehearsing arguments on whether we would support either the black route or the blue route. If I think back to the debates that I've participated in and listened to in this place over the last decade or so, they've basically been debates not on the issues facing the...
Alun Davies: On a point of order—
Alun Davies: Minister, I understand that you will be making a statement on 16 July on the future outlook for public spending. I would be grateful if you could clarify, or whether you would be able to host another statement to look at some of the issues we'll be facing in terms of the budget round for next year. I and members of the Finance Committee spent some time in Scotland two weeks ago, looking at...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to have the opportunity to speak in this debate, because I hope that history is more to us than simply a list of dates and understanding of the gentry and aristocracy. For me, history is far more than that. It's a history of our people, it's a history of our language, our culture, our geography, our economy. We can't have an economic history without Robert Owen and the impact...
Alun Davies: First Minister, the announcement of a £100 million programme of investment in Ebbw Vale, in Blaenau Gwent, in the future of the economy of Blaenau Gwent, was welcomed by people both within the borough and across the Heads of the Valleys. It demonstrates a real commitment from the Welsh Government to the economy of Ebbw Vale and Blaenau Gwent, and it also demonstrates a real vote of...
Alun Davies: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Tech Valleys programme? OAQ54047
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to you, Presiding Officer. Minister, you, like me, will have seen the rather astonishing press reports this morning that the First Minister has not been provided with diplomatic support during his visit in Brussels. Now, like yourself and myself—we've both enjoyed the support of the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom, and I remember negotiating and discussing with David...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Minister for that answer. The Minister will be aware of the record-breaking investment we are seeing in the health service for Blaenau Gwent and the whole of south-east Wales. He will be aware of the £350 million investment in the new Grange University Hospital serving Blaenau Gwent and other parts of south-east Wales. He'll also be aware that, as we deliver these...
Alun Davies: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on transport links to key services in Blaenau Gwent? OAQ54016
Alun Davies: I have to say, Presiding Officer, I think it's extraordinary that the Government blames the opposition if they can't get their business done. That's the most absurd argument I've heard put down at any point in this place. And I will say this to David Melding as well: he did make a point earlier, during an intervention earlier, saying that he would be directed by Brussels—directed by Europe,...
