Carwyn Jones: Ministers and officials have met representatives from the Cardiff capital region cabinet several times since October 2015 to promote the preparation of a strategic development plan for the south-east of Wales. The next step now is that the cabinet must identify a responsible authority so that formal preparation of the plan for the region can begin.
Carwyn Jones: Very much so. This is one of the biggest public transport projects outside of London. It will utilise, of course, some of the existing lines that are already there. They're all heavy rail at the moment, and we'll need to see which will remain as heavy rail, which will be converted to light rail, which new routes would then be rolled out using light rail, alongside some of the existing routes...
Carwyn Jones: What I can say is that we're considering a number of options at the moment. If the trains don't have—[Interruption.] Well, if the trains don't have toilets on board, then we would expect the operator to provide very much enhanced services at stations in order to ensure that people feel comfortable when they are travelling. There are, of course, examples of metro services elsewhere, such as...
Carwyn Jones: No, under no circumstances will toilets be allowed to be locked.
Carwyn Jones: Well, we wouldn't want a situation where those people who are in wheelchairs are effectively segragated—and the Member is not suggesting that, in fairness. It's hugely important that people are able to travel on all sections of the train. Coming back to the point I made earlier on, the technical specification, as I said, will need to be complied with by 31 December next year. I can say that...
Carwyn Jones: Yes. By 31 December of next year, all trains must include provisions for people of reduced mobility, in line with European Union and United Kingdom Government standards, and the procurement documents for the Wales and borders rail services contract will mandate compliance with people of reduced mobility standards.
Carwyn Jones: The fifth point is that the agreement guarantees that Sewel will apply to any parliamentary legislation that is used to put in place UK-wide frameworks. That ensures, of course, that there's no prospect of anyone suggesting that, as matters are temporarily beyond our competence, Sewel doesn't apply—in other words, 'While powers are in the freezer, don't worry about Sewel, because...
Carwyn Jones: Can I deal with the point raised by Llyr Gruffydd? It's a very important point. There are two important things here: first of all, where the powers lie, and secondly, where the funding is. That is something that hasn’t been resolved yet. My view is that what the UK Government should do is to ensure that there is funding put to one side and that that should be provided to the Governments and...
Carwyn Jones: In short, the agreement is wholly consistent with the reserved-powers model embedded in the Scotland Act and the Wales Act 2017, and in some respects it strengthens that model, as I'll explain. The second point to make is that frameworks will be identified and agreed through a collaborative inter-governmental process, underpinned by Sewel. Originally, Members will recall, the view of the UK...
Carwyn Jones: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. If I could deal, at the outset, with the issues raised by David Rees and Bethan Sayed, first of all, in relation to the agreement situation, he's correct about that. We will look at how the Assembly receives reports as quickly as possible. I think that's in everybody's interests. Of course, there are issues that have been raised today that are more properly dealt...
Carwyn Jones: Formally, Deputy Presiding Officer.
Carwyn Jones: Our aim in 'Prosperity for All' is to support children and young people to make the most of their potential and that means providing them with the best start in life and the support they need, and the opportunities they need to grow and achieve to the best of their ability and, of course, in terms of the skills that they have.
Carwyn Jones: It's hugely important that we are as flexible as possible in providing support to those who need it the most. The education Secretary is in the process of looking to introduce an improved grant that suits families' needs better than the current school uniform grant, something that supports better access to curriculum activities and learning opportunities that might otherwise be denied to...
Carwyn Jones: Our 'Prosperity for All' strategy and the economic action plan do set out our actions for all parts of Wales to contribute to and benefit from economic growth. That obviously includes enabling our cities and large towns to be engines of growth that benefit their wider region.
Carwyn Jones: Our thinking is that local authorities need to collaborate more in order to produce regional development plans. If that doesn't happen, then we will have to consider what steps to take next, but we'd encourage local authorities to do so. The reality is, of course, that political boundaries are completely ineffective when it comes to the way in which the economy works. The reality is that the...
Carwyn Jones: Well, of course, local authorities, as the Member will know, are responsible for the planning of school places, but, in bringing forward proposals for substantial changes to schools, local authorities and other proposers must comply with the school organisation code and must take into account a range of factors, the prime consideration being the interests of learners. The code does set a high...
Carwyn Jones: That is something that needs to be explored with local education authorities and something that would affect the revenue support grant. Experience tells us that when a formula is changed there are winners and losers. That's not a reason why it shouldn't change, of course, necessarily, but it is a matter for local authorities collectively to decide on a common approach to, in order to inform...
Carwyn Jones: We recently consulted on strengthening the school organisation code in respect of a presumption against the closure of rural schools. We'll publish our response in the summer. We have also introduced a new small and rural schools grant to encourage innovation and support greater school-to-school working.
Carwyn Jones: Well, I’ve alluded to the fact that 10 per cent of the funding goes on diabetes. We know that obesity—and I don’t speak as someone who has any kind of experience of this, of course—impacts diabetes. That is why we are developing a national diabetes strategy. The health service in Wales has a number of pathways in place already—an obesity pathway in order to support people in order...
Carwyn Jones: Well, Diabetes Cymru are members of the chief medical officer's obesity strategy group, so they are able to inform Government of what they think is the best way of dealing with diabetes. I can say that we do continue to invest record amounts in diabetes care, from £76 million in 2009-10 to more than £111 million in 2016-17. Actually, it's been estimated that about 10 per cent of NHS...
