David Melding: Well, Presiding Officer, you’ll not be surprised that I’m entirely unconvinced by the Minister’s defence, really, of the Government’s obduracy, despite the very real concerns evidenced. One of the sources I quote is the Supreme Court. Can I, however, thank her for entering into correspondence and at least telling us of the Government’s position? That was helpful. The movement on...
David Melding: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I move amendment 30 in my name and I speak also to my amendment 31. Amendment 30 requires the Welsh Ministers to issue guidance to enforcement authorities, constables and authorised officers about entering premises used wholly or mainly as dwellings, that is, people’s homes under the Bill. It stems from a recommendation in the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs...
David Melding: I do agree with the point that the Member makes in terms of the likely impact on the environment of a return to coal being really massive. It is important that we have a general consensus in this Assembly—which I’m pleased to say the Welsh Government has put into effect in terms of public policy—of developing a low carbon economy. This is the right thing to do, and we don’t want a...
David Melding: I think, like many Members in the Assembly today, I’ve found UKIP’s position here a rather strange one. It is a sort of mix of damning with faint praise or distorting the picture rather dramatically. They can’t quite agree as to whether the Welsh contribution to emissions is 0.04 per cent or 0.005 per cent. But, of course, the real issue is that, in terms of what our emissions are, they...
David Melding: Can I commend the children’s committee—the Chair in particular, but also the other Members—for producing such a lucid and apposite report? I think this is very high-quality scrutiny, and just the sort of thing that Assembly committees should be doing. The key issue, obviously, is what happens when you approach questions to increase the mainstreaming as above ring fencing. This is...
David Melding: Do you agree with me that the key point here is to be innovative? Obviously, under circumstances when budgets are under stress, we have to look at other sources of funding or partnerships, and given the level of salaries for chief executives and senior executives in local governments—very much larger than the Welsh Government Ministers and the First Minister are paid—they are in a...
David Melding: 7. What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had with local authorities to ensure the innovative use of funding to secure local youth services? OAQ(5)0124(FLG)
David Melding: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for your indulgence in calling me. Can I congratulate Lee Waters in proposing this motion? I think it’s very insightful, and just the sort of thing that we need to discuss more, really, anticipating and allowing ideas to flourish. I think the period between 1945 and 1980 was probably what will be viewed by historians as the great age of the blue-collar...
David Melding: Could I just say that the Welsh Conservative group has no objection in principle to what Simon is intending to do, or would do if he got the opportunity to introduce a Bill here? However, we do think the practicalities play very heavily and need to be fully considered, and, in fairness, he did refer to them in his speech. But we do start from the concept of the circular economy. I think...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, I think it’s very important in this area that our expectations and ambitions are constantly increasing, and that’s a good thing. Of course, we’ve contributed a children’s commissioner and the first play strategy, and in fairness to the Government here, taken on the foundation phase. But we do need to look at other jurisdictions as well to make sure that we really...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, a Department for Work and Pensions study found that those on universal credit were 8 per cent more likely to have found a job within 270 days than those who had claimed under jobseeker’s allowance. So, there are aspects of this new scheme that really are working. I do hope you have the grace to acknowledge that.
David Melding: I’ve been nice to you so far, but I note that barb. [Laughter.] In an attempt to move us back on to consensus, or a consensus, the report says that, to encourage more community-owned schemes, we need to look at greater use of co-operatives to attract funding. The Welsh Government talks big in this area and has a lot of support across the Assembly in doing that, but I hope that you will pick...
David Melding: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, yesterday, the Institute of Welsh Affairs published its report on funding renewable energy projects in Wales—here in the Neuadd, I’m pleased to say—and it identified the difficulty in raising capital, or particular difficulty in Wales. And I’d like to ask you will the Welsh Government be taking note of the recommendations of this report and...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, the report urges the Welsh Government to use its levers ambitiously right across the scope of its activity to develop a sustainable energy strategy and, although the UK Government has a role to play as well, to focus on what the Welsh Government can do in terms of business rates, but also the public sector, which is a big purchaser of energy, and that we need to use our...
David Melding: I think starting with the idea of a strategic partnership is definitely to start in a better place. We do, in other areas of public policy, look at the advantages of strategic partnership, but I do want to emphasise just the need for intellectual independence and the ability to think creatively. These are at the heart of heritage organisations, particularly the national museum and galleries...
David Melding: Well let me just use the language as I choose. ‘And by the way, what we do want London to have are all the obligations to finance the policies that we will now put in place.’ Frankly, if we don’t have functional competences at the levels we need them, which has always been the pro-European argument—now you’re a little Brexiteer in saying, ‘No, no, we’ve got to go micro and get...
David Melding: [Continues.]—enterprising market. Yes.
David Melding: Well, a wise civil servant once told me that the true test of maturity is the ability to live with paradox, and I really think that we must recognise that what—. You know, the great truth here is that in 1997/8/9, when we moved to decentralised Government and devolution in this country, the framework was that we were within the girdle of the European Union. No-one thought at that...
David Melding: In June 2017, the citizens, by a small but sufficient majority, said two things, I think, to us. They did not want to remain part of European governance. I know we hear often about we’re still European—of course we are, and we’re part of that great cultural inheritance, but we did vote to remove ourselves from European governance and we will face consequences for that. Secondly, I...
David Melding: First Minister, I’m told that, to date, there have been nine engagement events, five targeted events, and four further formal engagement events are planned, and the Cabinet Secretary has attended, or plans to attend, each and every one of these engagement events. Can you confirm that that is the case? I would ask how these views are being fed back in and possibly whether you could report...
