Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:49 pm on 21 January 2020.
I would, business manager, like to ask for two statements, if possible, from the Government. The first relates to a matter that was raised during First Minister's questions, and that is the congestion charge that Cardiff county council has proposed as part of their work to improve transport within the city. Many of us will welcome the vision that Cardiff local authorities demonstrated in their White Paper, and many of us will support their ambitions, but many of us will not tolerate a Valleys tax to pay for it. It's important, I believe, that any charge levied on citizens of this country is done so fairly and with equality at its heart. The congestion charge as proposed by Cardiff county council fails on both of those measures. It is, of course, the Welsh Government that has responsibility for the trunk road network and the major roads into and out of Cardiff. I understand that Cardiff city council, Cardiff county council, will take responsibility for those roads within the city itself, but up until the entrance to the city, they are the responsibility of the Welsh Government. It would be useful, therefore, if we could understand what the policy of the Welsh Government is on road charging and whether the Welsh Government were consulted as part of this and whether the Welsh Government has signalled any consent or support for this potential tax. And for many of us, we are immensely concerned about the way in which this was announced and immensely concerned about the impact it will have on our constituents. So, I would be grateful if the Welsh Government could provide us with a statement on those matters.
The second is—I would like to ask for a statement from the health Minister on issues around drugs and the spiking of drinks. This matter has been raised with me in the last few weeks. We had, last week, a very good, I felt, debate on rape and how rape is dealt with within the criminal justice system. I think many of us welcomed that debate and I think there was a broad agreement on all sides of this Chamber about the need to improve the experience of people who've been victims of rape within the criminal justice system. But we must also recognise—particularly young women are at threat from drinks being spiked in all of our major towns and cities, and particularly students and young women face an enormous impact and fear that their drinks can be spiked and they may be attacked when enjoying a night out. This is something that I think is of profound significance to all of us, and it's something that I hope the Welsh Government could seek to take action to address.