Julie James: Yes, in answer to this question, when I did stand in for the First Minister in First Minister's questions, I read out a very long and complex legal timescale and process that was attached to the point in time at which people can take various decisions, and so on. I'm more than happy to circulate that back to the Member. I made it very clear that there was a legal process in which we were, and...
Julie James: On that second one, I'll ask the Cabinet Secretary to write directly to her and explain where we are in the timetable. I'm afraid I don't have that information with me, but I'll ask him to clarify. On the first point, again, I didn't realise the timescale had slipped that much, and I'm more than happy to discuss with the Cabinet Secretary where we are on the timescale and let the Member know.
Julie James: I wasn't being dismissive. I said that I didn't have anything to add to the comprehensive answer that the First Minister gave; I don't see how that's dismissive. The Cabinet Secretary will be answering oral Assembly questions as part of the cycle over the next few weeks, and there will be ample opportunity for Members to question him on specifics, but I'm afraid I think the idea that after...
Julie James: Thank you for raising those three issues. Just in terms of the homophobic hate crime, I also want to add my voice in acknowledging the courage and the dignity with which Gareth Thomas met the situation he found himself in and the courage in coming forward in highlighting and tackling the issue of homophobia and his experience. I thought his piece that I heard on the radio about the...
Julie James: This is very much a central plank of most of our land management systems and indeed most of the support in the rural development fund, around what we can do to increase biodiversity and wildlife habitats. It's a very important function to understand how bioservices, biosystems, can be monetised in that way so that people can be encouraged to do it. We have fallen behind in the UK in terms,...
Julie James: Two very important points indeed. In terms of the banks, it is something, as she's already acknowledged, that we've discussed frequently in the Assembly, and it is very disappointing that, despite affected communities and political representatives challenging the decisions—across the Chamber, actually; I think it's something we've all expressed concern about—the banks do continue to...
Julie James: The Member raises a very important point, and, Llywydd, I'm very pleased to say that, on my sixtieth birthday, I received a bowel screening kit from NHS Wales. It was amongst the less expected presents that I received on my sixtieth birthday, but was possibly the most important one. I think it's very important that people take part in that screening; it's a very important thing that we...
Julie James: On the woodland project, the Minister has mentioned that she very much enjoyed her visit there, and I think is very happy to bring forward a general statement on woodland management in Wales and the contribution of our woodlands in particular to climate change and adaptation thereof. In terms of business rates, we've had several roundabouts on the subject of business rates for independent...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. There are two changes to today's agenda. The First Minister will make a statement shortly on the draft agreement on the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, and as a result the oral statement on reforming dental services has been postponed until 11 December. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out in the business statement and announcement, which can be...
Julie James: Yes, indeed, and, again, as part of the economic action plan in the private sector, and as part of our ask from our main companies in Wales, we are asking that people sign up to the eradication of the gender pay gap. We're working very hard to ensure that the Welsh Government has no such pay gap, and, again, with my colleague, the Cabinet Secretary for public services, to include other public...
Julie James: Yes. We're very committed to working with EHRC and others to ensure that women do not face discrimination in the workplace in relation to pregnancy or maternity. The Welsh Government has itself signed up to EHRC's Working Forward campaign, which not only benefits women in the workplace, but makes good business sense to support staff in the workplace. The Member will be very aware that...
Julie James: Yes. The Welsh Government is committed to driving forward the goal of making Wales a more equal nation. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s new report, 'Is Wales Fairer? (2018)' provides important evidence and demonstrates there is much more to do. We will take careful notice of the report and its recommendations.
Julie James: Yes, indeed. We're very keen on promoting it. In fact, if you visit Llandrindod Wells, you'll find that all the shops there have come together. You can log on to their internet as you go into the town and it tells you all the offers available and what shops are open and all that sort of stuff. There's a little closed WiFi area network that allows all of those businesses to come together....
Julie James: Yes, absolutely. I very much enjoyed coming down to his constituency and meeting the residents there. My understanding is that my officials are in touch with a number of the residents who attended. Joyce Watson also invited me to a meeting down in Pembrokeshire and officials are in touch with residents who got together there to form a community group. There was a meeting with Elin Jones in...
Julie James: Yes, indeed. In our continued roll-out of fast fibre, we have identified around 8,554 premises across the region that could potentially see connectivity coverage under the new initiative. Our mobile action plan also sets out priorities for improved mobile connectivity across all of Wales, including Pembrokeshire.
Julie James: The scheme is available in Wales, but it crosses across our own ultrafast voucher scheme. So, a large number of Welsh businesses have gone through the ultrafast voucher scheme, which is in the same space but a little bit different, and, actually, officials at the moment are working very hard to see if we can make the two schemes marry together. Ours is more generous, but what we're looking to...
Julie James: Yes, indeed. If Suzy Davies wants to provide me with the specifics—. We need specific postal addresses or telephone numbers in order to give specific information back. I will say, though, that, quite often, when you ask your current internet service provider, ISP, 'Is this available?', they'll say 'no'. What they actually mean is that they don't provide it and not that it's not available at...
Julie James: Yes, indeed. The Superfast Cymru scheme facilitated superfast broadband access to over 77,000 premises across the region, with average speeds of around 77 Mbps, investing over £19 million. The successful bidder for lot 3 of the successor project is indeed BT Plc, and the grant agreement was signed yesterday.
Julie James: Yes, indeed, and we've done a lot of work. The Gwent police and crime commissioner, who's a well-known and regarded previous colleague of ours, has been very active, and members of the leadership group. And now, actually, all of the police forces of Wales have active groups in this area, but he was very much at the forefront of that and he funded a number of anti-slavery awareness-raising...
Julie James: Yes, indeed. The latest figures on the reported cases of slavery in Wales are telling us that we are now beginning to understand the true scale of this problem and that our multi-agency approach to gathering intelligence and raising awareness is, indeed, working. In Wales in 2017, there were 192 people identified as potential victims of slavery and referred into the national referral...
