Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:55 pm on 21 November 2017.
I am delighted to congratulate my old friend upon his assumption of office as a Minister. I've followed his progress through the several parliamentary institutions of which he's been a member over many decades, and I'm pleased that he still has the capacity to surprise us even at this late stage. And, in passing, I can say that I'm pleased that this country seems to be enjoying a kind of geriatric efflorescence. The Liberals are now led by a 74-year-old, I'm the same age as Jeremy Corbyn—69—and others of our vintage are still pulling their weight in politics, and I'm delighted that Dafydd Elis-Thomas is now a member of the Government.
Cadw performs two functions, of course. It's the state heritage agency on one hand, but it also has another role, which is capable of being commercial, as an operator of heritage visitor attractions. In the evidence that the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales gave to the culture committee, they said that Cadw needs to be free to be more entrepreneurial and commercial, which means that current constraints on recruitment, procurement, budgeting and succession planning all need to be addressed. And I wonder if the Minister can perhaps expand a little on what he said in reply to David Melding about enabling Cadw to take advantage of commercial opportunities but, nevertheless, inside Government, because this is what the recent inquiry has been about. I appreciate that the report says that the argument is finely balanced, but, clearly, Cadw does need to be able to spread its wings and I wonder how they might be able to do this.