Suzy Davies: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Welsh Government plans for local government reorganisation?
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much for the statement. I'm happy, actually, to join with you in congratulating your success, as a Government, obviously supported by this Assembly, in the two Acts that you mentioned at the end of your statement there. I think there is quite a lot to be proud of there. To turn to the rest of the statement, though, I wonder if you can deal with these for me: the first one...
Suzy Davies: Can I just endorse the remarks made by Jack Sargeant earlier on? I think it's a very important issue that he's raised, and I'm glad you took it so positively. In the figures that you gave us, though, I didn't see anything about the repeat engagement of students over time—a one-off hit is not going to create a nation of life savers, I'm afraid. So, if there is a statement to come on the...
Suzy Davies: And playing tennis.
Suzy Davies: First Minister, at the same time that Santander's sponsored community bike scheme has finally come to life—I'm really pleased about that—and there are more and more cycle tracks becoming apparent in Swansea, the local authority plan to dig up much-loved and well-used tennis courts in Mumbles and replace them with a temporary car park. At least the Swansea council did listen to residents'...
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, and I associate myself with the questions, actually, that were asked to you by David Rees. I think there will still be some residual concerns, going back to what we were talking about 18 months or so ago about the relationship with ThyssenKrupp and Tata, and the date that David mentioned, I think, is something that's firmly printed in our minds now. With that in...
Suzy Davies: You referred, Counsel General, to the UNCRC and the protection that has under the children's rights Measure. I don't think it's just Government that looks at children's rights when it's developing its legislation, but I think it's fair to say that we as an Assembly consider that very strongly as well, when we decide to pass those laws. The operation of those laws lies in the hands of many of...
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much for that offer. I can recommend the manifesto of the Welsh Conservatives for a good read one night. [Interruption.] Oh, dear. Earlier this month, the Cabinet Secretary tweeted that he was, 'Delighted to announce that one of the latest UK productions to be commissioned by @NetflixUK is currently being filmed in Wales thanks to @WelshGovernment support.' That is excellent...
Suzy Davies: Well, thank you very much for that. Actually, I'm really pleased with the answer because, when we have so many individuals in our communities who really want to buy into the places in which they live, and help keep them strong and sustainable, we shouldn't overlook the opportunities for doing that. Last weekend was, of course, Armed Forces Day, and I know that many of us here will have been...
Suzy Davies: Why not?
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Llywydd. Weinidog, thank you for visiting Neath abbey and the ironworks very recently with Jeremy Miles and me. I have to say the friends were delighted that you took the trouble to come and see them, so that they could show you the hard work that they've been doing, promoting and looking after that site, even though they don't own it. Obviously, it's owned by the local authority....
Suzy Davies: Cabinet Secretary, you'll remember our exchanges in this Chamber over the concerns of the 1,000 or so jobs that could be lost if new opportunities aren't found for the Ford factory in Bridgend, in my region. And in our cross-party meeting with the Ford staff, at that time, Brexit wasn't their main concern, although I suspect it may be more of a concern now; it was, rather, their relationship...
Suzy Davies: I just wanted to make a contribution based on some of the evidence that was presented to the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee, of which I'm a member—and some of that evidence as recently as yesterday—and to ask Welsh Government how it views this alongside the Wales Centre for Public Policy report. Can I begin by saying, though, that I think this must be one of the...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Perhaps I can just start by saying, of course, that autism itself is not a learning disability. I think that's perhaps something we should make plain in the Chamber. Autism Spectrum Connection Cymru's one-stop shop that we've been speaking about, as far as I understand, is being forced to close because it's lost its funding. I'd be grateful if you could have a look at...
Suzy Davies: First Minister, this puts you in a bit of a quandary, I think, because of course we heard offers put forward for a new Swansea bay lagoon over the weekend, and while there are obviously questions about that and why they didn't put this offer forward sooner and whether the figures stack up, you did offer £200 million to support a Swansea bay lagoon on figures that actually proved unworkable...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for your statement. I think it might have been just been a little bit more balanced if you had mentioned the £1.3 billion innovation fund that was mentioned by the UK Government. There are other ways of dealing with some of the challenges that you raised here without being quite so gloomy about it. What I wanted to ask you specifically was: this is...
Suzy Davies: Oh—whether you've had any conversations with Ford about electric car production in South Wales West.
Suzy Davies: It was my understanding that Ministers made it clear that the door was still open on tidal energy and future discussions on that. But let's talk about something that we can do something about more quickly, and that is rapid and fast electrical vehicle charging points. The same report mentioned that Wales is behind the rest of the UK in the number of charging points available, and suggested as...
Suzy Davies: In evidence—I think it was to the health committee—the Welsh Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru said that 'Key determinants of health are largely outside the control of health services and so the quality of, and spending on, social care has one of the strongest impacts on the demand for health care.' That might be stating the obvious,...
Suzy Davies: Thank you for the statement, Simon. Part of me thinks that I wish this had been a debate because it would have given me the opportunity as the relevant Commissioner standing here today to pick up some of the points that Mike Hedges and, in fact, Nick Ramsay have made, but the question I wanted to ask you relates actually to what you were saying at the end there, Simon. The situation is going...
