Questions now from the party leaders. The leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew R.T. Davies.

Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. As a party that broke the glass ceiling nearly 40 years ago, First Minister, I’ll gladly hand the Labour Party the manual on how to elect a female to be leader, should you care to read that manual. But, I want to ask you a serious question on business rates, if possible, please, First Minister. With the recent revaluation of businesses the length and breadth of Wales, many businesses face horrendous increases in their business rates. What is your view on the revaluation that has taken place and the position that many small and medium-sized businesses find themselves in?

Three things—I would expect most businesses to see a reduction in their rateable value, if only for the fact that the last valuation took place in 2008, before, of course, the world economic crisis that occurred after that. Secondly, however, of course, our small business rate relief scheme will continue to reach more businesses—a greater percentage of businesses—than is the case in England. And, thirdly, we are putting in place a transitional relief scheme—£10 million of new money—which will help those businesses that are looking at substantial rises in their rates, following the valuation. One thing I should add, of course, businesses, if they feel that they have been over-valued, should contact the Valuation Office Agency as quickly as possible in order to raise their concerns.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. The leader of the house and I attended a protest in Cowbridge, but, I’ve been to many towns over the last fortnight, and it seems there have been examples coming time and time again of, certainly, secondary retail properties and also hospitality areas that seem to have done pretty poorly under this revaluation, and many are facing a huge increase in their rateable values, well over 100 per cent in many instances.

I hear what you say about the measures that the Welsh Government has put on the table, and they are welcome. But it does seem, certainly in the transition, should the consultation be taken forward by the Minister to the new regime in April 2018, unless more is done in this current budget round to offer more assistance to some of those businesses that find themselves on the wrong end of these valuations, they just aren’t going to be around in April 2018. Can you offer any comfort to the businesses that do find themselves bearing these huge increases in their rateable values, that the budget process will look at trying to release additional funding to enable a softer landing for many of these businesses in the new era of business rates?

Again, I make mention of the fact that £10 million is being set aside in new money for a transitional scheme to help businesses that do face these difficulties.

I regret that you are unable to offer some more comfort than that, because, certainly the businesses I have spoken to, when they’ve looked at the £10 million transitional money that is available, do not believe that that will go far enough to help them to stay in business. And I don’t underestimate the offer that the Welsh Government has made, but there are some very, very genuine concerns out there that, with the new regime that is in place on the valuation, from April 2017, businesses just will not be able to continue. And so I do think it’s regrettable you haven’t been able to offer some comfort, with the budget round continuing at the moment, and that you cannot look at the budget lines and maybe try and find additional resources to help some of these businesses in the transition.

But you also touched on the valuation office, and the appeal structure, which is well understood by many of these businesses. I’ve been told that many businesses have a horrendous time accessing the valuation office and, in particular, just being able to get the process under way so they can challenge some of these valuations. Will you work with the valuation office, to make sure that, when businesses do contact them, they do get a timely response? Because I do fear for the financial well-being of many of these small businesses that have approached me, and many other Members from across the parties in this Chamber, and that they will not be with us after 1 April unless they get some assistance.

I don’t want to undervalue their position in any way. Can I ask the leader of the Welsh Conservatives to write to me with those examples? He’s made mention of one particular town and he’s made mention of businesses that have experienced difficulty through the appeals process and have seen a potentially large increase in their business rates. If you could share his examples with me, I will, of course, look at them in order to inform our position in terms of the next year or two.

The leader of the UKIP group, Neil Hamilton.

Diolch, Lywydd. The Government, a few days ago, announced that there would be a cut to the budget for climate change projects of 36 per cent. As UKIP stood in the last election on a policy of cutting this budget, I am glad to see that the First Minister is coming our way, just as on managed migration. But, I think it’s rather quixotic that the big cuts are coming in flood defences, which are necessary, quite regardless of the theories on man-made global warming.

Will the First Minister accept that even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believes that there’s been no global warming since 1998, and that there was only a 0.4 per cent rise in global temperatures between 1975 and 1998, which is similar to the period between 1860 and 1880, and again between 1910 and 1940? So, is it not good sense, therefore, not to be spending huge sums of money on the consequences of a theory that is mainly conjectural?

I like to look at the weight of evidence when we deal with a particular scenario, and the overwhelming weight of evidence from those who are qualified is that climate change is happening and that human activity has an effect on climate change. If climate change isn’t happening, then clearly we need to re-examine our flood defence policy because we’re spending money on flood defences that apparently aren’t needed, because, of course, we are putting in place flood defences to deal with flooding events that have occurred in some parts of Wales where they’ve not been experienced before. The residents of Tal-y-bont in Ceredigion will provide evidence for that. We’re also looking to provide defences for people based on what the experts tell us will be an increase in global temperatures and a subsequent disturbance of weather patterns over the next few years. Climate change is something that doesn’t happen over five or 10 years: it happens over many, many decades and it is measured not necessarily in the span of a human lifetime either.

The First Minister will know that I believe these are mere oscillations—and all the historical evidence proves that. But I’m interested in the effect upon the life and livelihoods of our electors of government policy. He will know that 23 per cent of households in Wales are in fuel poverty on the Government’s own definition—that’s 291,000 households—and that 20 per cent of the average fuel bill in a house now is accounted for by green taxes. On an average household bill of £1,500 a year, that’s £300 a year. For somebody on a very low income that is a very significant diminution in their real standard of living. Is there not something that the Government can do to benefit the lives of ordinary people by opposing these green taxes and restoring some semblance of sanity in our policy on climate change?

If it’s a question of sanity, then the insanity he displayed along with his party in the 1980s when our coal-mining industry was closed down is testament to that. I welcome his conversion, but one thing I have to say to him is that coal as a source of fuel is not going to return in the UK. The deep mines are gone: they’ve been built over, there are buildings and homes over them. The only option is opencasting. If he wishes to advocate that, he is welcome to join me and the residents of Kenfig Hill in my constituency who have particular views on opencasting and have to live next door to what is, at the moment, a dormant and derelict opencast site. The reality is that we have a choice as a nation: either we seek to import more energy—be that natural gas from, for example, Russia—or we seek to import even more liquid natural gas or we seek to import coal from other countries in the world. That is one choice, or we go for energy security and we develop an energy system that draws on renewable energy but is also secure for us in the future. That, I think, is the perfectly sensible option.

Well, the First Minister will know that the percentage of electricity generated by wind power or solar energy is minute: typically between 3 per cent and 5 per cent. So, the idea that energy security can be obtained by more and more windmills is nonsense and would result in the utter desecration of our countryside as well. But I’m interested in the impact of green taxes upon poor people. His party came into existence in order to fight for the interests of working people, but it’s his party, more than all because of the climate change Act, which his Government introduced in 2008—. In the Government’s own assessment of its costs, it would be £18 billion a year, £720 billion over 40 years. This is a crown of thorns that’s being put down on the heads of ordinary people.

I cannot stand here in all seriousness and listen to a man with his history lecture me about standing up for working people. This is somebody who sat there in Parliament in the 1980s and waved through the greatest act of industrial vandalism that the UK has ever seen: the destruction of jobs in the steel industry, the erosion of the coal industry, communities having their livelihoods destroyed by a Government that did not care. The enemy within—the enemy within—is what the party opposite called the very working people of south Wales and the United Kingdom. We stand up for working people. We stand up for energy sources that are safe and we will continue to make sure, first of all, that people don’t forget what the parties opposite did to them in the 1980s and we will continue to ensure that people have jobs, they have secure energy and fairness, replacing what the parties opposite took away from them.

On behalf of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Thank you, Llywydd. Is the First Minister aware of the scale of the problem of former members of the armed forces suffering mental health problems? Does he accept what the predecessor health committee said in describing support for veterans in Wales as being inadequate and inappropriate?

No, I don’t accept that. Of course, every year we have put forward a new package of support for veterans, and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing in this year, too, to ensure that they do have means of accessing mental health care, and for them to receive support with everything that they need once they leave the armed forces.

We don’t know exactly how many veterans are suffering with mental health problems, because those exact figures aren’t published. But we do think that some 4 per cent do suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. We believe that some one in five suffer some sort of mental health problem. This is a minority of veterans, of course, but as we approach Remembrance Sunday, then every veteran should understand that those who served alongside them are appreciated and that they are seen for what they are, namely assets for our communities and for the workplace and so on.

Given what the health committee said in the last Assembly, and what the BMA said in describing support as being inconsistent, what steps is the Government intending to take now to ensure that public services do treat Welsh veterans who need support in the way in which they fully deserve?

Well, in my opinion, this happens now, but having said that, there’s no one system that can’t be improved. The way to do that is the way that we’re doing now—using those bodies that support veterans so that we can strengthen packages put forward for them. We have a good relationship between those bodies and Government.

The question is how much we do, of course, and remembrance week is a good time to remind ourselves that we owe a duty of care to former service personnel, and I have no doubt, of course, that the First Minister would agree with me on that. But the budget for the all-Wales veterans health and well-being service is just £585,000. That’s less than one hundredth of 1 per cent of the overall health budget.

Now, Plaid Cymru believes that a military well-being Act is needed to ensure that support for veterans is consistent and of a high quality across the country, so that all veterans know that public services will have a legal obligation to be there for their former comrades. So, if, as most would agree, what Welsh Government is currently doing for veterans isn’t enough, will the First Minister pledge to legislate during this Assembly to ensure that, when it comes to housing or medical care, no veteran is left behind?

We’d need to examine what the effect of the legislation would be, but nevertheless, the sentiments that the Member expresses are ones that I share. We want to ensure that our veterans get the best package possible, and the best deal possible, once they’ve left the armed forces. That is done through working with veterans organisations such as the Royal British Legion; it’s done through ensuring there is sufficient funding available specifically to help veterans over and above funding for the general population in areas such as health, and we’ll continue to examine what the most effective ways are of improving that service in the future.