Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on sexual health services?
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Oh, not another one. No, I won’t if you don’t mind.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. The welcome news that—the news that the finance Secretary has announced that we are now going to have the lowest starting rates of land transaction tax in the UK. And I felt a real buzz in the Chamber when that was announced. We felt like a really grown-up Parliament, and that’s what I want to see this place becoming. I would like to know from the finance Secretary how much...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: It’s not; it’s absolutely not.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Darren, did you—
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Did you actually listen?
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Did you actually listen to what I said?
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: You have borrowed more money than every Labour Government in history. It is your policy, and austerity is not working—[Interruption.] Now, the Welsh Government—[Interruption.] The Welsh Government can only spend money that it’s given by the UK Government, although in this historic year we will as a—[Interruption.] Darren, please—
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Llywydd. Now, this is a historic year because, for the first time now, we are introducing these tax-raising or tax-changing powers. I very much welcome this—[Interruption.]
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I’d like to follow-up on the austerity point, because, of course, that’s the backdrop to this whole budget discussion. When the UK Government keeps insisting on sticking to those punishing austerity measures, then clearly things are going to have to be cut. Now, let’s not forget why we’ve got these austerity measures. They were meant to ensure that we reduced our deficit and our debt...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I will. Let me just finish my point, because I’ve got a lot more to come—[Interruption.] This—[Interruption.]. This Conservative Government—. Hey, when you’ve finished. Thank you. This Conservative Government has borrowed more money than every Labour Government in history. Go on.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. The First Minister will be aware that, last week, in the Labour Party conference, Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, suggested that a new Labour Government would commit to ending period poverty in schools. Does the First Minister have any intention of introducing such a measure in Wales?
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on poverty among young women in Wales? (OAQ51108) [W]
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: To a large extent, the UK’s regional policy over the last few decades has been shaped and driven by the European Union, and substantial funding has transformed some of our most deprived communities. Over 200,000 people have benefitted from training thanks to EU funding and more than £2 billion will be funnelled into poor areas between 2014 and 2020. But the fact is, we all know that...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Is the Cabinet Secretary aware that, on Friday, I spoke at a meeting of the rural division of the Welsh Local Government Association, where I encouraged the councils that were present there—Ceredigion, Powys, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd and Anglesey—to work together to develop a broader, place-based rural deal, which they agreed to do? I wondered, in terms of the possibility...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I didn’t say that.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I actually said they should be better resourced.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I don’t think it’s a lack of curiosity. I have been an elected politician for a very long time, and I have got to tell you that I had never heard of them. So, I don’t think that I am atypical. I think that you guys are the atypical people. I think that what’s important—[Interruption.] Well, go and do a straw poll of the people just walking down the street, and I can tell you that I...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Can I welcome the White Paper, which addresses the issue of how we should engage better with citizens in terms of service delivery? I think it’s clear that the more we work with service users, the more likely it is that we are going to get a better and successful model of service delivery. The recent experience, for example, of the Gellinudd Recovery Centre, where patients have a say in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, that’s very good news, and I just hope that, in responding tomorrow, you will take on board the points made by the Federation of Master Builders, who have suggested that there is a lack of available small sites and a shortage of finance, which precludes small and medium-sized businesses from increasing their delivery of new homes. I just wondered, on top of your announcement tomorrow,...
