Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:59 pm on 16 January 2018.
The leader of the house was very generous last week in responding to requests from me, and I'm hoping she will be as generous this week too. May I start by welcoming the fact that there's been a written statement this morning from the First Minister on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, stating that unless something happens by the end of the month, it's the Government's intention to introduce their own continuity Bill? I welcome that, but I would ask the leader of the house just to go two steps further today if possible. My colleague, Steffan Lewis, will be here tomorrow to propose his own continuity Bill in the slot that he has as a backbench Member. Will the leader of the house, as Chief Whip, state that the Government will support, in principle, Steffan Lewis's proposal tomorrow? I'm sure he'd like to hear that today. Secondly, will there now be a positive step in publishing the Bill in draft form, so that it's possible for us all to see what the Government has in mind? Not to be tabled formally, but in draft form, so that we can see that and use that as a means of encapsulating the need for the amendments that the Government wishes to see in the House of Lords.
The second thing I'd specifically like to hear is whether it would be possible to have a statement from the Minister for Environment explaining the situation in Cardiff, and in particular Roath brook and Roath park. It's not in my region, but many people have been in touch with me over the past few weeks, very concerned about the way in which the consultation took place in the Roath park area and the work that is now progressing in that area. I'm concerned that some of the figures used in the consultation were inaccurate, and I'd also like to ask whether there are any lessons to be learned here at a national level. I think it would be good to have a statement explaining what happened there, what the work done by NRW was and the advice received by Government, and why the work proceeded in the way that it did. It has certainly caused distress to many people in that area.