Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:05 pm on 17 July 2018.
First of all, just to say that, once again, it's been suggested that council mergers are inevitably on the table; they are not. There will be a local government Bill; there's a working group that's been set up in order to look at improvements in public service delivery via local government. It's right on the voting franchise—we've put this forward because it hasn't happened yet, so it's important that when it comes to local government elections that that is part of that process.
I have to say, passing laws on things doesn't mean they happen. Resources are needed in order for things to happen. She says we need legislation to have a publicly owned energy company; it doesn't mean anything unless it's got money behind it. If there's money behind it, where's it coming from? In terms of where it's coming from, does that mean the money's on or off the books? None of these things have been actually explained in terms of how that would deliver for the people of Wales. I am with her when she condemns the Swansea bay tidal lagoon decision because that was our decision as well, but we can't let Westminster off the hook by claiming that there's a plan that would deliver £500 million of investment in the meantime, because it simply wouldn't do that.
In terms of future generations, I come back to the metro—not just the metro in south Wales, but the plans across the whole of Wales. We see a much, much better public transport system being developed across Wales both in terms of heavy rail lines, but light rail and in time buses as well. Those options, as they become more attractive to people, will mean that fewer and fewer people will use cars, fewer people will feel that they cannot cycle or walk to work and that's the way in which we can ensure that we see better air quality in the future. A law is not going to help that; it's changing people's behaviour that will help that in terms of offering them better alternatives to what they have now.
She's right to say that we're a long way from being the safest country in the world to be a woman. We've seen what's happened in the last few months and it's right to say that we have the violence against women and domestic abuse Act that is a proud part of what this Government has done, but there is a lot to do, there's no question about that, which is why we've had phase one of the review and why phase two will take place after my time in this office, because we do need to do more. The gender pay gap is one such area but there's more than that. To my mind, things have gone backwards in the short term in terms of the way women have been treated. We've all seen what's happened on social media and we've all seen the work that has to be done there. So, I entirely agree with her in terms of the fact that we need to do more in order to deliver on what she and I would want to see.
In terms of the childcare scheme, she says it wouldn't deliver, but offers no evidence as to why it wouldn't deliver. This is a scheme that was voted for by the people of Wales. We were clear about what we would do with the childcare scheme and it will deliver for the people who voted for it and the people who need childcare for three to four-year-olds. Yes, of course it would be nice to be able to extend it, but the resources aren't there in order to do it. So, this is the furthest that we can go with the resources that we have available.
She mentioned the Welsh language Bill. The reason why we are considering a new Bill is because the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, which was taken forward by a Member of her own party, is not adequate and is not working for the people of Wales. So, we need to make sure that we improve the legislation—[Interruption.] We did vote for it, but it was Plaid Cymru votes as well, and so that's why we need to have a system that looks to encourage more people to use the language. Of course, we have our target for 2050, but there are aspects of the Measure that need to be strengthened, of that there is no doubt, and that is what we intend to do as a Government.
In terms of the way this place operates as an institution, that is not, respectfully, for me—that's a matter for the Llywydd and for all of us who are Members of this Chamber to work through what sort of structure we should have for this Chamber. There is great disagreement, not so much in terms of the numbers, but in terms of the electoral system and that will need to be worked through over the course of the next few months. There are very different views in this Chamber as to, firstly, whether there should be 80 Members, and secondly, if there are, how they will be elected, and that cannot be resolved quickly. That will need some time to be resolved.
Then, in terms of the other issues that she has raised, I did notice that, unlike, I have to say, the leader of the Conservatives, she didn't put forward any legislative ideas. Now, if Plaid have ideas, let's hear them and let's understand what their legislative programme might look like. Let's see what ideas they have for Bills, and then of course we can see whether those Bills would be practical and, indeed, supportable as far as the Government is concerned. We have put forward our legislative programme, and that is something that we will take forward, of course, over the next year.