Alun Davies: I'd be disappointed were you to show any leniency to me at all. [Laughter.] But let me say this: clearly, the issues of prevention and awareness are issues that the fire services will be focusing upon in a way that perhaps they didn't in the past, and certainly not 20 or 30 years ago, and that is something that I hope we will continue to focus upon as we see a continued, I hope, decline in...
Alun Davies: Deputy Presiding Officer, we met, of course, at Southwark cathedral when we were both there to pay tribute to the work of the Fire Brigades Union and firefighters over the last century, and the Plaid Cymru spokesperson is absolutely right to pay tribute to you in the work that you have done in the time that you've served here, both through the legislation you pioneered, but also, I think, as...
Alun Davies: Deputy Presiding Officer, I had a terrible fear halfway through that contribution that the Conservative Member was going to read out the notes of every meeting that I've had over the last year, and read out from the notes of every meeting the contribution of every member in that meeting. [Laughter.] It could have been a very, very long session. Let me say this: we have, as the Member has...
Alun Davies: We already have several fire stations in Wales that typically deal with less than one emergency call-out to a fire every month, and many that see only a few dozen a year. We understand that this is not sustainable and it makes recruiting, motivating and retaining firefighters very difficult indeed. But nor should such stations be closed, as that would leave large parts of the country with no...
Alun Davies: Deputy Presiding Officer, we are all rightly proud of our fire and rescue services. They respond swiftly, effectively and selflessly to serious threats to our safety. More than that, their prevention work has helped reduce the number of fires and fire casualties by more than half since responsibility was devolved to Wales in 2005. That is a huge success, but it is also a challenge. As the...
Alun Davies: Yesterday, I sought to outline how the Welsh Government will continue to support the armed forces community. I want to welcome very much the remarks made by Mark Isherwood in opening the debate this afternoon. I felt that he made some excellent remarks, and I thought it was a very thoughtful and valuable contribution to this debate. I will seek to answer most of the points that have been made...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Like others in this debate, I'd like to start my remarks by paying tribute to the work of my friend and predecessor Carl Sargeant. I think today has been a difficult day for many of us and our hearts go out to Bernie, to Jack and to Lucy and to the family. And in replying to the debate this afternoon, I hope that we will all think about the...
Alun Davies: Formally.
Alun Davies: Presiding Officer, as I've already stated, Members on all sides of the Chamber will have their own views on world events and those taking place in Yemen and elsewhere, and I think we would all share similar views on the impact of warfare on civilians, wherever they happen to be, and we recognise that. It is not, however, a matter for this place to debate or discuss the operational decisions...
Alun Davies: Presiding Officer, the Member is aware, and I think Members on all sides of the Chamber are aware, that operational matters for the Royal Air Force are not a matter for this place, and it's not properly a matter to be discussed here. We will all have our views on world events, such as those taking place in Yemen and elsewhere, and we will all have views on that. What is a matter for this...
Alun Davies: The Member asks me to allow others to take the lead in her question. In a previous question, of course, she demanded that I take the lead. I think she needs to make her mind up.
Alun Davies: No discussions have taken place on the use of RAF Valley for training purposes with pilots from Saudi Arabia. The use of RAF Valley for training purposes is a matter for the RAF and the Ministry of Defence. However, I did meet with the Ministry of Defence earlier this week and I will be meeting with Ministry of Defence Ministers again next week.
Alun Davies: Presiding Officer, I'm not sure the WLGA are confused, but I think the Member is. He's confused a number of different issues in a single question, which I accept is quite an achievement. Let me say this to him: I set out my intentions in the statement on 17 July. It appears he doesn't know that, and perhaps he should know that. I will be meeting with the working group next on 30 November to...
Alun Davies: I set out my plans for the next steps for local government reform in my statement on 17 July.
Alun Davies: Can I very much welcome the report of the panel on town and community councils, which reported to us on 3 October? The recommendations, I thought, were very persuasive in many different ways. I'm a great fan of local community and town councils. I know we've benefited greatly from the work of Tredegar Town Council at home. Can I say that I think there are a number of ways in which I want to...
Alun Davies: We were the future. [Laughter.] And I hope we will all be able to join with those young people to engage in a debate about the nature of our democracy. The proposals that were put forward by my predecessor, the current Cabinet Secretary for Finance, and I, in terms of strengthening local democracy, were to do exactly that: to strengthen political participation, to strengthen...
Alun Davies: With the consent of the Presiding Officer, I won't refer to individual decisions of individual authorities, but what I would like to be able to say is that all of us, on all sides of the Chamber, want to see a vibrant democracy in all parts of this country and that means local authorities, ourselves as local Members, and Members of the UK Parliament as well, all participating in...
Alun Davies: Presiding Officer, the Member is tempting me into a terrible indiscretion. I have learnt through bitter experience not to speculate on decisions on any planning issue and it is not my intention to do so this afternoon.
Alun Davies: I intend to introduce a Bill in the next calendar year that will give effect to a number of proposals set out in the 'Electoral Reform in Local Government in Wales' consultation paper that will contribute to strengthening local democracy across the whole of the country, including Mid and West Wales.
Alun Davies: I'm always happy to work with all local authorities and work with the WLGA, as a representative body, in order to deliver the sorts of respect policies that we would all want to see both within this place and all our democratic institutions. I'm very happy to continue working with local authorities to deliver that. If the Member has specific issues she wishes to raise with me, I'd ask her to...
