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

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I first of all wish you many happy returns, First Minister? As someone who’s got many years to go before I hit the milestone of 50, I look forward to maybe you telling me what it’s like. [Laughter.] But I wish you all the best on your birthday today, and I’d also like to send best wishes to the Cabinet Secretary for rural affairs who, obviously, is convalescing at the moment, and hopefully she’ll be back with us as soon as possible.

Yesterday, First Minister, the Swansea city deal was signed by both Governments and, obviously, the partners who worked to build up that deal—the local authorities and, importantly, businesses who were involved in creating the combination of projects that, hopefully, will lift GVA and employability skills levels and the prospects for the Swansea city region. I specifically mention ‘region’, because it’s not just Swansea we’re looking at here. It has, though, not unreasonably, been put to people that this doesn’t bear much of a resemblance to what Sir Terry Matthews was talking about when he initially, as the chair of the city region board, brought this forward some 12 months ago, and that the concept has moved away from people and more to buildings. Do you share that view, and the view that, actually, the deal before us could potentially be a ‘build it for people to come’, rather than investing in the people of the region?

No, I don’t think that’s fair. The deal itself is a deal that had to be agreed via the local authorities and by the UK Government and with ourselves. It’s absolutely right to say that almost half of the investment that will come will come from the private sector—it’s a very good example of what happens when Governments co-operate; it’s a very good example of what happens when public and private sector co-operate as well. The 11 projects that will be funded are intended to create more than 10,000 jobs, so it’s not about buildings; it is about creating jobs and opportunities for people, and that is something that both Governments and the local authorities are confident will happen.

And you are confident, First Minister, with this deal, that GVA, which is about 74 per cent of the UK level in the Swansea city region, will increase over the 15 years of the deal. So, can you give us some firm indicators that you will be benchmarking, and you Government will be benchmarking, as success? What can we expect in the three, five, eight and 10 years when this deal will be coming forward, so that we can actually mark you and the UK Government and the partners about the increase in GVA levels in this area? Because it is vital that people actually can see wealth and opportunity increasing, rather than some of the soundbites that we’ve had on other regeneration initiatives that maybe have happened in the past.

There is an issue in Wales, as indeed there is in the UK, about productivity. There is no easy silver bullet that deals with productivity, but one area where productivity can be improved is through skills and providing people via those skills with higher paid jobs. The leader of the Welsh Conservatives asked how we judge whether the scheme is successful. There are two ways of measuring: first of all an increase in GVA per head and secondly an increase in GVA per head when compared to the rest of Wales and the rest of the UK. Both those things I expect to see delivered.

I welcome that. I would have liked, maybe, a more definitive mark as to where you would like to see GVA over the period growing to from where it is at the moment, at 74 per cent. But it is important that Cardiff has got a city deal and that Swansea city region has got a city deal. Obviously, north Wales desperately needs the growth deal to be delivered. Yesterday in ‘The Guardian’, you accused the Prime Minister of having a tin ear when it came to listening to concerns that you raised around devolution and maybe the constitutional fabric of the UK. One thing that has come out from north Wales, from the ambition board in particular, is the ability for the Welsh Government to devolve responsibility to north Wales so that those powers around business rates, for example, around skills and around transport—I appreciate there are issues around business rates—but on skills and transport, there would be a greater synergy between the Northern Powerhouse and north Wales to create a better driver for economic prosperity in north Wales. Will your Government actively consider devolving responsibilities out of Cathays Park, or will you be showing a tin ear to the requests that are coming out of north Wales from businesses and council leaders when they’re asking you for these responsibilities?

Well, there’s no difficulty with what the leader of the Welsh Conservatives is saying. This Cardiff city deal and the Swansea bay deal are driven by local authorities. It’s not something that we seek to impose; the same will apply to the north Wales growth deal. I made the point yesterday: this is not about the south of Wales, or indeed about large urban areas. These are the two deals that were ready first because of the working between local authorities. The north-east, particularly, would come next, and we will look to devolve as many powers as we can, in the future. In terms of business rates, it’s more difficult because, with business rates, we know that there are many local authorities that would lose out if business rates were devolved. But we want to make sure that as many decisions are taken locally as possible, and that means local authorities being very much in the driving seat, working together to deliver for their regions and working cross-border, of course, creating prosperity both sides of the border.

Leader of the UKIP group, Neil Hamilton.

Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. I’d like to wish the First Minister happy birthday, as well, and to assure him that, as you get older, there’s nothing to fear as long as you remain in rude health like me. The First Minister will agree—[Interruption.] The This Minister will agree, I’m sure, whatever our differing views on Brexit, uncertainty is to be deprecated, and the Prime Minister, at least, is about to resolve one uncertainty by triggering article 50. It’s regrettable, though, that Nicola Sturgeon has now sought to create another uncertainty over a referendum in Scotland, no doubt confident that the Prime Minister would refuse her request. I wonder if the First Minister would agree with me the best way to reduce this particular uncertainty is to call Nicola Sturgeon’s bluff and hold a referendum.

Well, first things first, I should thank the leader of UKIP and, indeed, the leader of the Welsh Conservatives for their good wishes, from different perspectives, indeed, in that regard. But my view is, and I’ve said this publicly, that if the Scottish Parliament votes to hold a referendum, the UK Government should not stand in the way of the Scottish Parliament, any more than the European Commission or Parliament should have stood in the way of the UK holding a referendum on Brexit. I think it’s right that if the Scottish Parliament supports a referendum and looks for a particular date, that the views of the Scottish Parliament should be respected.

I’m glad to hear the First Minister say that, because I agree with him that it’s rarely wrong to consult the people on a major issue of this kind. If there were to be a referendum campaign, it would also have some relevance for Wales, because Scotland has a budget deficit of £15 billion a year, although it’s a larger economy than Wales, and it’s much the same figure as we have here—£15 billion deficit. That is, effectively, a transfer of funds from one part of the UK to another, which would disappear if either Scotland or Wales became politically independent.

Well, it is not my view that independence is in Wales’s interests. I’m aware of the substantial financial transfers that take place and that come into Wales, which is why I’m a strong devolutionist, but not somebody who supports independence.

It’s very important, I think—all of us who believe in the integrity of the United Kingdom should remain united on this point that, actually, Wales would be vastly poorer if it left the United Kingdom, because there is no way that any cut in any budget by a UK department that would be subsequently devolved to Wales could possibly be compensated for in any other way. Therefore, because public expenditure is now nearly 60 per cent of the Welsh GDP, there would be a massive hit for all poor and vulnerable people, and all those who rely upon the national health service and other social services for their health and well-being.

The case for independence by those who make it in Wales is built not on the economy, to my mind, but on emotion. What we must guard against, from my perspective, is that the emotional case doesn’t overwhelm the economic one, which is why it’s hugely important that, when the UK leaves the EU, we have in place a structure that reflects a proper partnership of the four nations within the UK, but it’s not a case of the UK Government imposing its will in devolved areas on the devolved Governments, and we also have an independent adjudication process for policing the rules of the internal single market of the UK. I believe that’s the way forward—respect for the four national identities within the UK, as well as other identities within the UK. That, for me, would represent, for Wales, a very good outcome. But my worry is the UK Government—I did say that there’s a tin ear, although the meeting yesterday was better, I have to say, than any we’ve had in the past. It is hugely important the UK Government itself doesn’t create the conditions where people feel annoyed enough to take the view that, actually, they don’t believe the UK is worth preserving. That is not something I’d want to see.

The leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood.

Well, it’s clear that Wales is so wealthy and so prosperous that the status quo is the only option for us, isn’t it? First Minister, in recent years there have been a number of scandals concerning the quality of treatment of some patients in some wards in the Welsh NHS. How confident are you that the systems for identifying and correcting problems are now robust enough to prevent another Tawel Fan or Princess of Wales-style scandal?

We’re confident the structures that are in place now would avoid those scenarios, and are robust.

First Minister, one area of hospital treatment where problems have regularly been identified is that of hospital nutrition and hydration. Hospital nutrition is a basic healthcare need, I’m sure you’ll agree with me on that. Now, yesterday, the Public Accounts Committee released another report on nutrition, and this is five years after the last report on nutrition. The report found, and I quote,

‘a story of a distinct lack of leadership, stagnant activity, and frustratingly slow progress in a number of important areas.’

You claim to have introduced new initiatives to fix this. Why have they not yet succeeded, and what reasons can you give for the slow progress on hospital nutrition?

Well, of course, there is a formal process for responding to reports, but it’s right to say that nutrition and hydration is hugely important. The report did highlight good progress that had been made in a number of areas, but, of course, it’s hugely important to have reports such as this in order to make sure that there is as much improvement as we’d all want to see.

How many reports do we need, First Minister? The report highlighted that 9 per cent of patients were not being given enough water to drink. There are other areas where progress is non-existent—no progress on a computerised catering information system, and that problem was identified back in 2011. Not a single health board has a named director with responsibility for nutrition, and not a single health board has achieved 100 per cent compliance with nutritional care pathway training, despite it being mandatory since its introduction in 2011.

What you hear from management is very different to what we, as Assembly Members, hear from patients and our constituents. When can we expect to see some leadership from you on hospital nutrition? When will we get beyond apologies and claims of lessons learned to see that these simple, basic problems in the NHS have to be prevented before they cause serious harm to some of our patients?

We’ve already introduced a range of initiatives aimed at patients, staff and visitors in relation to healthy eating. We’re considering ways to improve healthy food provision in hospitals even further, including an upcoming review of the mandatory standards. And as I said earlier on, the statement by the PAC does acknowledge the huge improvements already achieved by the NHS. The auditor general, in his report, said that he recognised that NHS bodies have made good progress implementing the recommendations made by both himself and by the committee, and that two thirds of the recommendations were fully actioned, with ongoing work to address those recommendations not yet complete. So, most have been done. Some have not yet been done, but what is clear from what has been said by the auditor general is that what is left to do is in the process of being done.