Mike Hedges: Like everybody else in the Chamber, I'll miss Steffan. I sat on the Finance Committee with him and we had some interesting times—I'm not sure that others would think it—when we were discussing land transaction tax and cross-border matters. I'm sure that Steffan and I engaged in very much a dialogue on this, much to the chagrin of other people sat in the Chamber. His encyclopaedic...
Mike Hedges: The problem is land and getting access to land, and that's why you've got a difficulty with the self-build sector.
Mike Hedges: First, can I welcome this debate and also welcome the Conservatives' 'Housing a Nation' White Paper? I don't agree with it all, but I think it's a good place for us to start talking. I don't believe we discuss housing anywhere near enough in the Assembly, and also the far too much general talk of housing is based around rising house prices being good for homeowners and mortgage payers as...
Mike Hedges: I want to again ask for a Government statement on support for Virgin Media staff being made redundant in Swansea. On 4 December, your predecessor said 'There are two phases planned for next year as well. Our placement support team has taken on responsibility for providing staff with onsite access to key partners of the taskforce, including Careers Wales, the Department for Work and Pensions...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the First Minister for his response? The First Minister is well aware that the only time post the second world war when sufficient housing was built was when large-scale council housing development took place—dare I say, in places like Ely. How will the Welsh Government help councils increase the number of council houses being built in future years?
Mike Hedges: 3. How many council houses does the First Minister expect will be built in the 2019/20 financial year? OAQ53114
Mike Hedges: Mark Drakeford.
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the First Minister for that, and can I also add my best wishes to him for the future? Taking forestry as an example, we have long-term targets set but neither annual targets nor area targets announced. Would it not aid both scrutiny and performance if such targets were set and made public, so that we could actually see the steps on the journey, not just where we're trying to end up?
Mike Hedges: 6. Will the First Minister outline the Welsh Government's approach to target setting in relation to the economy? OAQ53078
Mike Hedges: Can I first of all say that I agree with everything that Paul Davies just said? Does the Cabinet Secretary agree that it's important that all public services work within the same regional footprint, which is true of the Cardiff city region but not true of the Swansea bay city region, and on the importance of ensuring that local authorities get used to working together? The four local...
Mike Hedges: Would the Cabinet Secretary agree with me that the UK Government's much-vaunted apprenticeship levy has now been exposed for what it is: nothing more than a tax on employers, which has done little to improve access to apprenticeships? Will he also agree that the further education colleges in Wales are doing a phenomenally good job in training apprentices to the benefit of our country?
Mike Hedges: Does the Cabinet Secretary agree with me about the importance of taxation to support public services in Wales? If I could remind the Cabinet Secretary, in the last three weeks, the Conservatives have asked for more money for local government, more money for further education, more money for health. How are they going to fund it if they don't want taxation?
Mike Hedges: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the impact of the real-terms reduction in the Welsh block grant?
Mike Hedges: And attendance. [Laughter.]
Mike Hedges: But the Treasury rules on borrowing have not been fully lifted so that you can borrow against the total value of the stock. If what David Melding is saying that, I can tell you we'd have large-scale building of housing taking place in Wales now. There's been a raising of the cap, but not a removal of it. But we can perhaps discuss this in another place. The other thing I was going to say is...
Mike Hedges: I intend to make some general comments on the budget, followed by more detailed ones as Chair of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee. On the budget, this is set against continuing austerity. We should, as the Cabinet Secretary said, be receiving at least £800 million more. But to the Conservatives at Westminster, austerity is not an economic policy, it's an...
Mike Hedges: I just want to say: do you regret the votes you made last week and the week before when you were asking for more money for further education and more money for local government, which could only have come out of the health service?
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Lywydd. These are very significant regulations. They are the first regulations to arise from the Environment (Wales) Act, which the Assembly passed back in 2016. As such, the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee felt it was important that we should look at them in depth to ensure that the requirements and the spirit of the environment Act are being taken...
Mike Hedges: I would like to make two requests for Welsh Government statements. The first is one that the leader of the house is quite used to me asking about, but I make no apologies for continuing to do so because it's hugely important to my and her constituents, and that is an update on Virgin Media job losses and the Welsh Government support for those who are losing their jobs, and it's getting...
Mike Hedges: If things were so good in 1973, why did Prime Ministers in 1959 and 1973 all attempt to join the European Union?
