Carl Sargeant: Of course, the Member is right to raise this. The Welsh Labour manifesto commitment of 500 PCSOs is something that was very popular on the doorstep when we went to the electorate the term before. Continuing with the 101 PCSOs in Gwent that the Member makes reference to, I agree that that funding will continue to make a crucial difference. We have to consider how the implementation of PCSOs is...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for Newport West for her question. I will shortly have held discussions with all of the police and crime commissioners for Wales to identify opportunities to work together. I am determined to tackle anti-social behaviour and will work with the commissioners to do this.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. It’s something that my officials alerted me to as soon as I became Cabinet Secretary. The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the local housing allowance, which is a non-devolved matter as the Member knows. But this is again a reflection of what I said earlier; the fact is that the UK Government are making alterations to the welfare...
Carl Sargeant: What really concerns me is the UK’s dismissal of people; the fact is they change policies very easily, which has a massive impact on communities and individuals, and you will have all seen it. I expect even the Member has casework around personal independence payments—people who aren’t able to receive funding because of the unnecessary processes that have been placed by the UK...
Carl Sargeant: Indeed, and the Member is right to raise that very issue. This Government legislated last year around the well-being of future generations and making sure young people were at the heart of our decision making as we move forward, planning for the long term. I think what will happen—and the EU referendum has a big take on this—is that, as the amount of funding is reduced, it will have an...
Carl Sargeant: That is a really interesting question that the Member raises and a very complex one in terms of the relationship currently between the UK Government and ourselves and what we are able to mitigate. I think that what the First Minister has said is that we are content to take certain aspects of powers, provided that we get fair funding to deal with that. I think that that’s an important factor...
Carl Sargeant: The Member only recently appeared in Wales, pre-election, and he’s probably not too familiar with many of the areas that we all represent in this Chamber. But, let me just pick up one area of Monmouthshire, which I believe is in his region, where there are 305 enterprises assisted and 430 enterprises created, with 865 jobs in Monmouth alone, thanks to the EU funding that you and your...
Carl Sargeant: I thank Steffan Lewis for his question. I haven’t heard the ‘social security’ term used for quite some time, actually, but I thank him for his question. Working with a wide range of stakeholders, we continue to discuss and assess the significant impact of the UK Government’s welfare reforms in Wales. The Welsh Government has, on many occasions, made representations with UK Ministers,...
Carl Sargeant: I find the Member’s comments not surprising given the party that he now resides in. The fact is that working with another party—with Westminster—is something that we do on a regular basis. It’s not new to a devolved administration to do that, but it’s also not impossible to work with our friends across Europe either, and that’s what the Member should think about carefully tomorrow.
Carl Sargeant: Maybe the Member would like to refer that to the First Minister, as it is what he said and not what I said. But I do have a view on this; the First Minister has been very clear on the importance of being a member of the EU, and of Wales being a member of the EU. The Member—I know he’s not traditionally a Welsh resident, or with Welsh interests—but what we do have here, and what the...
Carl Sargeant: I refer the Member to the tackling poverty strategy and the child poverty strategy, which we will be refreshing this year.
Carl Sargeant: Of course, I recognise all the issues that are raised in that report, but I think the point you completely missed was the fact that a lot of these programmes require funding to do them. And we are extremely challenged in the way we are managing our budgets because of the challenge the UK Government has proposed on us. We are looking collectively at how we tackle poverty across the Cabinet...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his question, but, look, you can’t keep your hands clean on this one, Mark. I said earlier on that tackling poverty in Wales was particularly difficult because we didn’t have all the levers. The UK Conservative Government starved Wales of £1.2 billion of funding, which has an impact on public services. So, while we will try and continue to work with our partners to...
Carl Sargeant: Financial inclusion and financial literacy is something that we are seeking to build into the curriculum programme. I will be working with the education Minister to see how we can advance that in the weeks to come. Perhaps the Member would also like to write to the education Minister in terms of how she may be able to help her bring that to the forefront in our schools and colleges across Wales.
Carl Sargeant: We have many anti-poverty programmes and skills programmes and I’m working with the Minister responsible for that. One of our commitments is for 100,000 new apprenticeships, working with the Communities First programme and Communities for Work. Communities for Work is being put at high risk because of the referendum tomorrow. If we leave the EU, what happens to that, in terms of the people...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question and message of goodwill, and likewise to the Member who will be shadowing me. Poverty is now the responsibility of all Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers within Government, and we all take a collective role. I have specific issues around poverty with communities, and I will be working with my team in Government to resolve some of those problems. I will be...
Carl Sargeant: Let’s be very clear here: this isn’t about legislation to criminalise parents. What we want to do here is give people the opportunity to have positive parenting experiences. We will, as Government, provide a package of tools that will encourage parents to use Families First, Flying Start, the ‘Give it time’ campaign—there are many others—which we’re trying to build competency...
Carl Sargeant: I thank Julie Morgan, a long-standing campaigner on this very issue, and I’m looking forward to working with her too. If competence is assessed on the basis of the amendments that will be made to the Government of Wales Act 2006 by the Wales Bill as currently drafted, the argument that provision about smacking children is outside competence because it amends the criminal law is likely to no...
Carl Sargeant: Of course, I think it’s really important that the Member raises the issue of engaging with stakeholders. I will be starting discussions with opposition parties in order for a pathway to be created in order for a successful Bill to be taken forward. It’s equally as important for the political groups to come together on this as best they can, but also parenting, and stakeholders using their...
Carl Sargeant: I can see clearly why you’re sitting so close to your colleagues in UKIP. Let me tell the Member—let me remind the Member of the constituency he represents in Ynys Môn. Let me just remind him that £10 million of EU funding for the skills and employment and employees project will help 500 businesses and 7,000 people across north Wales. Did he know that EU funds helped employees from...
