Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. First of all, can I thank all the Members who spoke today? And can I say something I rarely say? I agreed with every word that every one of you said. So, I could sit down now and say, ‘I agree with everything you’ve said’, but I think, perhaps, I’d better say a bit more. Can I also thank the Minister for her reply? Most of all—and I think...
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m very pleased to open this debate on the Petitions Committee report on a petition received calling for a national screening programme for ovarian cancer. This petition was organised by Margaret Hutcheson, and was supported by 104 people. Ms Hutcheson, a retired palliative care nurse, was inspired to start the petition after several of her friends had...
Mike Hedges: Thank you for that. I believe the most important action that can be taken to improve the health of the people of Wales is to promote a healthy lifestyle. One of the successes of Communities First in Swansea was its programmes of smoking cessation, improving diet, and increasing physical activity. What is the Government doing to try and reduce smoking rates, reduce inactivity, and combat...
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Minister. I see it as a very important industry and sector, which is continuing to grow, especially in areas such as e-commerce and robotics. Whilst, as you’ve said, there’s been very fast recent growth, Wales’s relative performance in information and communications technology is, according to the Office for National Statistics, one of the worst in any ONS-defined sector. We...
Mike Hedges: 5. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Welsh Government support for the ICT industry in Wales? OAQ(5)0145(EI)
Mike Hedges: 7. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement regarding promoting healthy lifestyles? OAQ(5)0138(HWS)
Mike Hedges: I’m not only aware of it, but I’m going to quote from it now. Yesterday, in that statement, you said: It is equally important that our judicial institutions know that they command the confidence of the legislature’. How do you think this can be achieved?
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Minister. If we want to see a million Welsh speakers, then the journey for many starts with ‘cylch Ti a Fi’, then Mudiad Meithrin and then primary school and then, finally, secondary school. Then we will have children at 16 years of age who are fluent Welsh speakers. How does the Welsh Government support the ‘Ti a Fi’ movement?
Mike Hedges: 6. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Mudiad Meithrin’s Cylch Ti a Fi scheme? OAQ(5)0097(EDU)
Mike Hedges: 5. What discussions has the Counsel General held regarding the independence of the judicial system in Wales? OAQ(5)0030(CG)
Mike Hedges: I very much support the Finance Committee's report and I think that the Finance Committee works very well together. We don't all hold the same political views—in fact, some of them are diametrically opposite—but I think that everybody's commitment there was to try and get the best report we possibly could to try and get the best legislation we can for the people of Wales. I think that's...
Mike Hedges: Will you take an intervention?
Mike Hedges: Would you agree that austerity has never worked, from Hoover in the United States of America, through to Greece today, and all it does is make people poorer?
Mike Hedges: Do you know why? Have you considered that perhaps one of the reasons is that capital expenditure in Wales by local authorities is held separately, whereas in England, in academies, it’s held by the academies?
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his mention of Morriston Hospital? I, like everyone living in the Swansea city region, are very pleased with the work that’s being done in Morriston Hospital, and the work it’s doing, attracting the hub-and-spoke model for health across the whole of south-west Wales. The question I’ve got though is: the project of greatest importance to Swansea city...
Mike Hedges: As a councillor in Powys, what are you doing to stop the council doing that? [Laughter.]
Mike Hedges: If there is one area of public policy that has improved over the last 20 years, it’s recycling. Thanks to the ambitious targets set by the Welsh Labour Government and action taken by local authorities of all political persuasions, and most importantly by householders, Wales is leading the way in recycling as well as on waste prevention and reuse. While recycling used to be done by the most...
Mike Hedges: I would like to ask for a Government statement on the current GP contract. I’ve been told by constituents recently that one surgery is refusing to change dressings and referring patients to the hospital. Another surgery will only provide repeat prescriptions via computer request, which is exceptionally difficult for some of my elderly constituents. The same surgery refuses patients an...
Mike Hedges: Will you take an intervention?
Mike Hedges: Thank you. Of course, if this is passed today, not one penny will go through. The only way to get additional money for this is through the first supplementary budget, isn’t it?
