Alun Davies: I set out our vision for strengthening local government in an oral statement on 20 March, in the Green Paper published for consultation, and during the debate on 25 April.
Alun Davies: I am aware of the situation in Upper Bangor, and I can tell the Member for Arfon that this is a matter that is being dealt with currently. The Post Office is at present dealing with it. It's a contractual matter; I cannot say more than that. I am aware that alternative services have been made available, but that they are not adequate for the needs of the community, as it’s only a mobile...
Alun Davies: Post offices provide access to a range of important services our communities need. However, matters relating to post offices are not devolved.
Alun Davies: The contributions of Welsh Ministers to each one of the discussions that we have with the United Kingdom Ministers are always based on the policy approach of this Government. That in itself is rooted in the principles of the Act that you have described. And so, every part of our policies and the various approaches through which we will realise our ambitions for our country will be part of,...
Alun Davies: I do believe that we have a collective responsibility to improve the health of our communities. Members will, I hope, be delighted to hear that I've just signed up to a daily mile in a school in my own community, addressing some of these issues—it might take me more than a day to complete it, but it's certainly my ambition. I believe that we do have a collective responsibility to address...
Alun Davies: Presiding Officer, can I say how much I agree with the premise of the question and the principles underpinning that question? I think, in many ways, public services are the bedrock of our civilisation. How we deal with people and how we provide services for, sometimes, the most vulnerable people in our communities speaks to us of who we are as a country and who we are as a people. I...
Alun Davies: Public bodies are currently preparing their first annual reports under the Act. These reports will set out how public bodies are meeting the objectives they have set, and I look forward to working with them to make further progress towards our shared well-being goals.
Alun Davies: Absolutely. I met Debbie last week for a conversation about our vision of a future-empowered and strengthened local government, and I'm meeting her again tomorrow at the partnership council in order to continue those conversations. I've also had some very positive, and enjoyable, can I say, conversations with Councillor Poole, the leader of Caerphilly. I think it's fair to say that he agrees...
Alun Davies: I would always seek to work in collaboration with local government, and I think the Welsh Government has an excellent record of doing so—let me say this. But I will also say that Welsh Government has protected local government from the worst excesses of an austerity approach taken across the border in England. I know that the Member for Swansea East takes a great interest in these matters,...
Alun Davies: To answer his final question, of course, option 1 was voluntary mergers. So, the Green Paper does clearly say that. And, certainly, I've said on many occasions that it is my point and purpose to seek agreement wherever that is possible rather than to impose. I've outlined to this place and elsewhere a vision of a stronger, more empowered local government with greater powers and greater...
Alun Davies: Local authorities clearly have their own views on the future of local government, and it is for their leaders to raise these in our ongoing discussions and debate, and through formal response to the Green Paper consultation on strengthening local government in Wales.
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Member for raising these matters in the way that he has done. Can I say this to him? The way that Mind organises its business is a matter for that organisation, not a matter for this Government. Each funding stream will have a series of grant conditions attached to it, and I have no information available to me that Mind is not meeting the obligations that it has...
Alun Davies: The Member's raised a number of different issues. Clearly, the delivery of those services is a matter for my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for health who is in his place and will have heard the questions and will have taken note of those matters. I will repeat to the Member that, although he raises some very serious issues and I don't wish in any way for him to believe that we don't take...
Alun Davies: I did see those reports, and, like the Member for North Wales, I was very disturbed by what I read and what I saw. The issues are, of course, a matter for Mind Cymru to resolve, rather than for this Government. And if they're unable to resolve those matters, then clearly it would be a matter for the Charity Commission to take those matters up. The Welsh Government is not a regulator of...
Alun Davies: I would very gently suggest that the Member, rather than read pre-prepared questions, listens to my answers, and engages on that basis. My suggestion to—[Interruption.] My suggestion to the Member for South Wales West would be to read the delivery plan, read the commitments we've made, read the ambitions we've described, read the objectives we've set for ourselves, and then question us on...
Alun Davies: I think many of us who represent Valleys seats would hope that Plaid Cymru would engage in this process rather than simply search for sound bites and press releases. Let me say this: in terms of the investment—[Interruption.] In terms of the investment—[Interruption.] In terms of the investment that we are making throughout the communities of the Valleys of south Wales, we have set...
Alun Davies: I've made a series of announcements over the last year. I will be making a further announcement before the summer recess on the work that's been completed as part of the delivery plan we published in November last year. The Member asks for a single example. I would point to the seven strategic hub developments that we've announced across and throughout the Valleys region.
Alun Davies: We were very, very clear in my—[Interruption.] I have here—. I'm going to read—[Interruption.] I'm going to read—[Interruption.] I'm going to read—. I'm going to read the written statement I made in April. Let me say this: what I said then, and what I'll say again this afternoon, is that it is in the interests of neither the Welsh Government nor the people of Wales to see further...
Alun Davies: I understand the point that the Member seeks to make and her wish for clarity. I'd hoped that I'd given that clarity. This Government will not be taking forward the development that has been proposed. Well, we haven't actually received a proposal from the Ministry of Justice on it, I'm aware of that, for Baglan Moors. We do not support the development of a superprison in Baglan Moors or...
Alun Davies: The Member's written to me on these matters and I've replied to him. I am absolutely clear, and I hope I was clear when I met you to discuss these matters at the end of last month, that as far as this Government is concerned, we will not be giving consent for that land to be sold to construct a superprison on Baglan Moors. We've been very, very clear on that, and I repeat that clarity this...
