Lee Waters: Thank you. Yes, I'm sure that the OECD team will be keen to learn lessons from the experience in Caerphilly, and specifically in the Islwyn constituency. So, I very much hope that they'd want to meet with the officers there. This will be a two-year project. The first phase is now under way. And I think it's really important that we have external challenge and scrutiny to the approach that...
Lee Waters: Thank you. As part of the new economic action plan, we place particular emphasis on taking a regional approach to developing the Welsh economy. We've established chief regional officers and regional units to make sure we co-ordinate our work with local partners. And we are working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to inform our approach to regional investment...
Lee Waters: North-east Wales has seen significant investment in digital infrastructure, with the Superfast Cymru scheme investing over £23.3 million to provide fast fibre broadband access to over 90,000 premises.
Lee Waters: The taskforce delivery plan was updated and published last November. My focus will be delivering the actions in that plan which make a real difference. Strengthening the foundational economy is key. We will also continue to deliver on the commitments to the strategic hubs, Valleys regional park and entrepreneurship support.
Lee Waters: The future has still got to be about equipping our people, our places and our businesses to adapt to change in order to face the future with confidence. Members may be aware of the report I published just before Christmas, which set out a range of recommendations for transforming public services through the better use of digital. And one of the key conclusions of that report, developed with...
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. It only seems like a few months ago that I was standing up in this Chamber making a similar speech calling for the Government to take action on digital skills, and that's because it was only a few months ago that I was giving such a speech. I'd like to thank Mohammad Asghar for bringing forward this debate. It's important that we work across...
Lee Waters: Mark Drakeford.
Lee Waters: I think the motion before us is fairly uncontroversial; I think it's a matter of fact that the decision will be made by the next First Minister. In the budget, the decision to sign the Orders is primarily a procedural one, and as I understand it, without signing the Orders, the public inquiry report won't be able to be published. So, I hope that there's a unanimous vote here this afternoon in...
Lee Waters: Thank you, Counsel General. I was very grateful to you for attending the round-table I organised recently with law schools and law firms looking at the impact of automation on the legal sector in Wales. It was clear from the discussion we had there were both opportunities and threats: opportunities for the firm, like we heard from Hoowla, who provide software to manage cases and automate work...
Lee Waters: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. We know that the economy of Wales is marked by having a small number of very large anchor firms and a very large number of micro firms, but a missing middle—too few medium-sized firms. And small firms that tend to grow often cash out and the ownership leaves Wales. We're now seeing in Llanelli the difference between a grounded local firm and a rootless global...
Lee Waters: 4. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to enable firms to remain in Welsh ownership? OAQ52988
Lee Waters: 2. Will the Welsh Government commission a study on how it can help Welsh legal firms to prepare for the challenges posed by new technology? OAQ52987
Lee Waters: Thank you, First Minister. I warmly welcome that news. I met with the economy Secretary last week to urge the Government to engage with the plant, so I'm delighted that that has now happened. When I met with the UK managing director of Schaeffler, they made it clear that their decision to begin the process of closure had nothing to do with the workforce, which, they stressed, had been...
Lee Waters: 4. Will the First Minister provide an update on action the Welsh Government is taking to protect jobs at the Schaeffler plant in Llanelli? OAQ52977
Lee Waters: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. It's reassuring that the new clinical model is shown to be achieving the objectives that we've set for it, and that it is clinically safe. But, as you acknowledge in your statement, the patient experience still is seen to be wanting in some areas. Inevitably, if you shift priority from one area to another, there are going to be longer waits for some. You say in...
Lee Waters: Cabinet Secretary, I've just had a letter from the managing director of Schaeffler in the UK confirming that they're beginning their 45-day consultation period, with a view to closing the long-established plant in Llanelli with the loss of some 220 jobs. Clearly, this is very disturbing news for Llanelli and for the country. We can hardly afford to have further losses to our manufacturing...
Lee Waters: I think—[Interruption.] The irony of that, given the debate within Plaid Cymru on nuclear, is not lost on me. But, let me say, what I would be saying to the classroom is that these things are not black and white, that you have to pick your moments and fight your battles. I'll take no lectures from Plaid Cymru on the record on climate change. I led the campaign to create an active travel...
Lee Waters: I won't, David. I just want to develop an argument. There is common cause across all parties here. This is an argument that—David Melding said future generations will not forgive us lightly for not acting seriously. Instead of tripping each other up and scoring political points—. Many of the points in the motion, as I say, I agree with, and I do hope that the new Welsh Government in the...
Lee Waters: There are days when I find politics fairly frustrating, and often, on those days, I wonder what I will do on the day when I am no longer sitting in this place, and I quite like the idea of teaching. I think today's debate and the motion before us would make a very good case study in what is wrong with the way we do politics, because I look at Plaid Cymru's motion and there's nothing in it I...
Lee Waters: Briefly, the attributes you ascribe to the black route can also be applied to the blue route, which you support. Would you be willing to reconsider your position on that?
