David Melding: Says UKIP.
David Melding: Will the Member give way?
David Melding: She kept quiet about this when she was in our party.
David Melding: I also accept that it's work in progress, but I think we need to be more ambitious, really, for the future, and in doing that, send a signal to the whole public sector that this could be the breakthrough opportunity to at last see joint working and pooled budgets in operation. I've been a Member of the Assembly since 1999 and it's been a constant call that we need to multiply our effort by...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, I wonder if you realise that there's widespread feeling, I think, on all sides of the Assembly, that we should be more demanding of how this information is presented and therefore scrutinised and connected to the well-being goals. You'll be aware of what the future generations commissioner said to the Finance Committee—and I quote: 'Instead of feeling that the WFG...
David Melding: 6. What was the major change in the 2018-19 budget round that was determined by the priorities set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015? OAQ51613
David Melding: 8. How did the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 influence the Cabinet Secretary's budget allocations? OAQ51612
David Melding: Minister, following on from Joyce Watson's question to you earlier, will the Project Helix be used to provide small and medium-sized food manufacturers with the wherewithal to change some of their processes? Because most of the examples people have talked about so far have been done by the likes of Coca-Cola, Waitrose, Wetherspoon's, Iceland, McDonald's—very large companies with the...
David Melding: Will the First Minister make a statement on how the Welsh Government will mitigate the impact of Chinese restrictions on importing foreign waste?
David Melding: Will the Minister give way? I think you're being reassuring and really competent and diligent and thorough, but I think what I got from Lee Waters was just the pace of change. We had 10,000 years of the agricultural revolution, 200 years of the industrial revolution. This is all within a generation almost how we've been transformed by the revolution in computing, which started in the second...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, these boards are largely invisible, and they certainly need a sharper focus. I think they should be tasked with showing how they’re implementing the well-being of future generations Act. And the way they can do that is to actually demonstrate, perhaps in an annual report, what is changing, what services have been adapted, what services are being collaborated on in their...
David Melding: Minister, I'm sure you've probably heard the BBC Radio Wales report that indicated that firefighters were called to deal with 68 of the 123 recorded waste fires in the last few years, and that expended about 22,000 person hours to extinguish the flames, at a total cost of some £1.8 million. Mark Andrews, who leads on these matters in Wales and England for the National Fire Chiefs Council,...
David Melding: Can I also thank you for the meeting you arranged last week with interested Members and NRW? It's important that we do advance in scientific and technical evidence. I think one of the things that may have assuaged the protesters would have been if we'd had an existing and more abundant tree canopy. It's a problem, then, when we do, unfortunately, have to see trees removed, either because...
David Melding: I just wonder if we need to completely look at a different scale in terms of what's happening out there. You're seeing this incredible social and commercial movement to address this problem, and it's the politicians who are perhaps falling a bit behind, and in particular—in this area anyway—the Welsh Government. We've heard from Wetherspoon that they're going to ban plastic straws and...
David Melding: Minister, you may know that the UK Government's 25-year plan includes a pledge to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. They also have a goal to eliminate all avoidable waste by 2050. The latter—all avoidable waste by 2050—is also contained in Towards Zero Waste, but there's no earlier deadline for the elimination of plastic waste. I just wonder if you're going to review the...
David Melding: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Can I pursue this point about the role plastics play in generating so much waste and destruction of our environment? Reference has been made to the excellent action of Iceland, and that supermarket actually conducted a very extensive survey before they took that action, and 80 per cent of the people they polled said they would endorse moves to go plastic free. I...
David Melding: 9. What is the Welsh Government doing to reduce the number of fires at waste disposal sites in Wales? OAQ51548
David Melding: Of course, I understand why opposition Members are making this point—you may have a right to make it, and they certainly have every right to—. [Interruption.] Sorry—wishful thinking. And certainly, Plaid have every right to make it. But, you know, Labour fought the 2010 manifesto on pretty much the same financial projections that are accepted by the Conservative Party. You did fight the...
David Melding: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I so move the amendment. Can I start by thanking Plaid Cymru for putting this motion down today? It's a very important subject, and I think it was quite poignant, what Bethan said—that in the run-up to Christmas, it's like one of the annual things that get attention, and, really, we need a much greater ambition than that. I think using your time for a...
David Melding: Can I just say how delighted I am that we have the second of two debates on the maritime environment this week? And I hope this will demonstrate the close co-operation that the legislature and the Executive will have in this vital area of public policy, which does need substantial improvement, as our Chair, Mike Hedges, has already alluded to. And can I join him in thanking all those who...
