Andrew RT Davies

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister cy

   4. Pa asesiad y mae'r Prif Weinidog wedi'i wneud o ddigonolrwydd lefelau staffio yn GIG Cymru? OQ64794

   Official English translation

   4. What assessment has the First Minister made of the adequacy of staffing levels in NHS Wales? OQ64794

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2. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   Thank you, First Minister, for that answer. Numbers do make a difference when it comes to general practitioner practices. Over the last 15 years, there's been a drop in GP numbers of some 20 per cent, from 1,845 to under 1,500 GPs now available within the Welsh NHS. You have a manifesto commitment to, obviously, put an extra 100 GPs into the service by the end of this Senedd term. How are those 100 GPs going to be allocated to the GP practices in Wales, given that, as a percentage, we have fewer full-time GPs working within the Welsh NHS, and yet patient numbers have gone up by a third for those full-time equivalent GPs?

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   Steve Bayliss highlighted the letter that you signed as leader of Plaid Cymru during the election campaign. There was a key ask in that letter, and it's stated quite simply: 'Honour agreed processes and upgrade all band 6 health visitors to band 7.' Do you still agree with that statement that you made back in April now that you're First Minister?

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2. 4. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability: Winter preparedness: Be flood ready en

   Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon. When I first got elected to this Chamber, I didn't think that one of the big things that I'd be dealing with right the way through the 19 years I've been a Member is flooding, to be honest with you, across the old South Wales Central region, from Merthyr Dyfan in Barry to Llantwit Major, to Pontypridd, to the Rhondda and the Cynon valley, as Vikki highlighted in her own constituency, and the devastating impact it has on households, but businesses as well, and the wider community, and the fear that it puts in people's minds that, when the next heavy rain comes, it could be them. That stench of sewage and foul water, as well as the personal items that sadly have to get discarded and left as rubbish on the side of the street, but are very personal and irreplaceable to the households who have lost them, is something that I, certainly as an elected Member, will never forget from the incidents that I've attended during my time as an elected Member. That's why this statement is so important this afternoon about being prepared for the winter and what actions the new Government, in fairness, is taking and what assessments you, as a new Government, have taken of the previous Government's actions in this particular area. Because flood defences don't happen overnight. They are long-term projects that need to be planned, worked up and built. The first point I'd like to ask you, Minister, is this: you highlight £85 million is going into flood prevention measures, but what sort of scale are we talking about? What assessment have you made of the moneys that are needed to make a dent in the massive backlog of projects that are available to be built across Wales, to move more houses into flood-safe zones rather than remaining in flood-risk zones? Because £85 million, I accept, is a lot of money, but it is my understanding that a considerable amount more money is required for that, and we all know the difficulties that the finance Minister is finding in reconciling the figures that all departments are demanding at the moment. We've also had the wildfires that struck in the summer, and many of the services that will be called on to deal with flooding incidents, should we see them in the winter, are the same organisations that have had their services called upon right the way through the summer. So, what assessment have you made as Minister of the resilience of those services to deal with the risk of floods going through the winter months, and, in particular, the working roles that they play working together, from the local authorities to the fire service to NRW, in making sure that they are in a position to respond accordingly? That is important as well from a Government point of view, because a lot of these responsibilities, such as the fire service, sit with the local government Minister, NRW sits with you, and then the finance Minister, who undoubtedly gets called for more resources on a financial footing, obviously has to make a call in that respect. How does the Government co-ordinate all that, so that there is a one-stop shop to make sure that you can respond in a timely manner, with financial help and also logistical help when it is required, and, in particular, the resilience of those services that have been called upon right the way through the summer and potentially could be called upon now in the winter to deal with many issues across Wales? I would also highlight the point that other Members have made, which is that only 27 per cent of houses are signed up to the NRW alerts. You touched on it in your statement that they've highlighted this fact and they've gone on a promotion campaign. The previous promotion campaigns clearly haven't worked if only 27 per cent—fewer than a third—of the houses that would benefit from that have signed up. What assessment have you made of the campaign that NRW are enacting across Wales to get more houses to sign up, so that those alerts can be received by the people who need them, and people can take the precautionary measures of moving valuable and personal items upstairs, and also take the building advice that's available out there about raising electrical fittings and sockets, so that they don't get damaged as badly if there is flooding, because that causes huge problems in the restoration work? And when it comes to insurance in particular, the scheme that is available for flood-risk properties is still available and should be available for the next 10 years, but that 10-year window will go very quickly. I notice in your manifesto that you did highlight how you would wish to lobby and work with the UK Government to make sure that there's a successor scheme in place. Well, if you're buying a house and you're in a flood-risk area, you haven't got a hope in hell of getting a mortgage unless you can get insurance. And if you're running a business, that insurance is critical to having confidence to invest in that business. So, could you highlight whether you have made any contact with the UK Government to support calls to make sure that that insurance scheme is available beyond the 10-year horizon that we can see at the moment? And, if you haven't done that, when will you be doing it?

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1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Health and Care en

   Minister, the energy pressure that is affecting the whole economy is immense at the moment. The care and health sector are feeling those pressures more acutely than most, given the environment they work in, and especially in a rural setting, where fuel for hospital transport, for example, is a big component of delivering that service. In 2022, when we had the last energy spike, the then health Minister said that the health service and social care sector had just had an unexpected energy bill of £200 million plus because of the Ukrainian crisis. Are you seeing those sorts of figures feeding through because of the crisis in the gulf, given that they happened at virtually the same time of year, in the February of that year, and we're now in the autumn? And if that energy pressure is building, and costing that much money to the health and social care sector, are you making a request to the finance Minister to support health boards and social care providers to meet these energy costs, or will they be expected to use their budgets as allocated?

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2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning en

   I refer Members to my declaration of interest. In the programme for government, Minister, there is a piece that talks of the Government looking at examining the permitted development rights and bringing into beneficial use redundant farm buildings for housing purposes. When councils are developing development plans, they require clear guidance from central Government so that those plans can be enacted and deliver the houses that many local communities are desperate to have. If that measure was introduced, that would have a big impact on freeing up redundant buildings for beneficial purposes and creating properties that people could live in in rural settings. It's already been enacted in many parts of the United Kingdom. When will the Welsh Government be giving that guidance to councils to bring forward those properties to be redeveloped out of redundant buildings that exist in the countryside?

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3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning en

   Resilience.

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   You touched on the price of fuel, First Minister, and your desire to see the rural-proofing relief scheme activated again. Has your Government put any pressure on the UK Government to bring this forward in the budget that is going to come at the end of October? If you have, can you release that letter or whatever correspondence you've put in to support that? The Treasury model shows that anything between 20 per cent and 60 per cent is the sparsity premium that is put on the delivery of rural services, and help with the price of fuel will go a long way to relieving that pressure.

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2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution cy

   5. Sut mae'r Gweinidog Cabinet yn gwella'r ffordd y mae polisïau'r Llywodraeth yn cael eu cyflawni? OQ64633

   Official English translation

   5. How is the Cabinet Minister improving the delivery of the Government's policies? OQ64633

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3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution en

   Thank you, Minister. You highlighted there your priorities for delivery. During the election campaign, the now First Minister signed a letter that has been quoted many times in this Chamber regarding the health visitors' dispute in the Cwm Taf health board area. The key line in that letter was: 'upgrade all Band 6 health visitors to Band 7'. There's no ambiguity there. The First Minister put his name to that letter. How are you getting on in delivering that pledge, or wasn't it a pledge, and it was misleading in its kindest form and an outright lie in its cruellest form?

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4. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution en

   Well, have you delivered it?

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5. 4. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Transport: Strategic Priorities for the Menai Strait Crossings and M4 around Newport en

   Thank you for your statement, Deputy Minister, on the M4 relief road in particular. Can I ask two things? First, you talked about disruption while this work is ongoing. What level of disruption are motorists going to have to endure? Because at the moment the road is gridlocked most days and, at its worst, it can be gridlocked back to the Severn bridge, or to Cardiff Gate if you're travelling east. So, any potential disruption is going to have a devastating impact. And secondly, the really important thing here is capacity. The issue you've got here is that the modelling that was done for the inquiry into the black route showed an 18 per cent growth rate in traffic over 15 years. You've talked of a 10 per cent reduction. That's still an 8 per cent growth in traffic using the M4 as it's currently constructed, or as you've outlined today. The real issue here is not the failure of body politic, as you put it, to agree the solution; it's the Labour Party supported by your party's refusal to build the black route. Because if we had the black route, that capacity would be there and the economy of south Wales and the wider region would be doing so much better.

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1. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I like a fan next to me. [Laughter.]

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2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   You announced at the Royal Welsh Show the national food strategy, which you have got a group working on at the moment, and I commend you for doing that, because it's something that has been missing. But it's really vital that both ends are joined up—the farm gate and the retailer selling to the consumer. Are you confident that you've got the mix right on that group? Because, when I look at the people on there, there doesn't seem to be a major retailer, who, at the end of the day, passes the bulk of the food on to the consumer. And I don't believe you've got a major processor on there either. And those are two key ingredients that are required to build a sustainable chain of supply here in Wales. I hope it'll be successful. And the other thing that is required is your ability to use legislation to drive improvements in public procurement and nutritional standards. You supported my colleague Peter Fox's Bill when it came to the floor of the Senedd. Will you commit today, as a Minister, that whatever the food strategy group recommends, and if it requires legislation to support those recommendations, you will pilot that through the Senedd as a Government Minister?

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3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   I didn't hear you refer to the legislation, and I'd be grateful if you'd reply back to me on that, because, as I said, you did support the food Bill when it first came here. Sadly, the Government at the time rejected it. I think it's an important instrument to use to drive up nutritional standards and also local procurement. But I'd also like to raise with you the point that I raised with you in committee the other day about the fertiliser tax that's coming in in January of this year. That could potentially be devastating to the ability to procure fertiliser to grow the crops for next year's harvest. And at a time when the uncertainty in the middle east is driving up fertiliser prices to double what they should be at this time of year for forward buying, it seems madness to me to actually introduce a fertiliser tax. Will you now lobby the Westminster Government—the point I made to you in committee—to hold that off for at least 12 months, as the National Farmers Union were asking, so that that situation, hopefully, in the middle east can get back to a sense of normality, so that that price pressure can come out of the system and farmers can purchase the fertiliser they need with confidence that there isn't this supertax being applied to it?

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4. 3. Topical Questions en

   Minister, the Veolia refinery in west Wales is classed by that company as a North American refinery for economic purposes. [Interruption.] Valero, sorry. If Trump brings forward his ban on diesel production coming over to the European market, and in particular the UK, have you had any conversations with Valero to understand what implications that would have for the refinery? Because that would have a devastating impact on the supply of diesel into the Welsh and UK market.

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5. 7. Welsh Conservatives Debate: The defence sector en

   Let's be absolutely clear about what we are talking about here today: we are talking about an industry that employs thousands of people across Wales, one that supports some of our most highly skilled jobs, and an industry that drives innovation, supports apprenticeships and contributes billions of pounds to our economy. And yet, at a time when the world is becoming increasingly volatile, we have a Welsh Government that is reluctant to engage in the opportunities that this sector presents. Some members of their own party have even been heard to say that we should move the arms industry out of Wales, because they do not want to have the guilt or the feeling of complicity in death. Plaid Cymru's approach risks weakening our defence industry at precisely the moment when we should be strengthening it. We cannot allow Wales and the United Kingdom to become vulnerable in a time of geopolitical instability. The Welsh Government's own figures tell us that the combined defence and aerospace sector directly employs around 16,000 people, with a turnover of £3.7 billion and approximately £1.5 billion in gross value added. And when we include security in space, these figures rise to around 18,500 people and £5 billion in turnover and £2 billion in GVA. These aren't insignificant figures. These numbers represent family apprenticeships, families paying their mortgages. They represent the very best of engineers, innovators, technicians and highly skilled workers who are contributing to Wales and the United Kingdom's safety. And we see that contribution in my own constituency of Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan. We have a proud tradition and history of contributing to Britain's defence sector and war effort. In the Vale, RAF St Athan played a major role during the second world war, training thousands of flight engineers, with more than 22,500 British Commonwealth and allied personnel passing through the site between 1941 and 1951. The area was also directly involved in the wartime scientific work, including radar research at St Athan, while Porthkerry Country Park in Barry was occupied by the British and American forces preparing for D-day. In Bridgend, the contribution was on an enormous industrial scale. The royal ordnance factory was one of the largest munition-filling factories in Britain during the second world war, and employed 40,000 people at its peak, making a major contribution to the production of ammunition and the war effort. That tradition of defence manufacturing continues today through businesses such as Spectrum Technologies in Bridgend, which designs and manufactures industrial laser systems for customers including the Ministry of Defence and the US Government Department of Defense. And as we heard from Darren a little earlier, IrvinGQ makes parachutes and ejector seats also in the constituency of Bridgend. From the factories and airfields of the second world war to the highly skilled defence manufacturing and aerospace businesses of today, Bridgend and the Vale have constantly played their part in keeping Britain safe. The defence sector provides skilled employment opportunities for our young people and supports a wider supply chain. That is why I welcome the work that is being done to develop the defence training college in Wales, because if we want young people to have opportunities, we need to give them the route into highly skilled careers. We know that there is a skills challenge across Wales, so we want to use the defence sector to address this skills challenge. Wales currently receives around 3 per cent of the UK Ministry of Defence expenditure. There is an opportunity to increase that, but we will not get that investment by turning our backs on the sector. And we certainly will not get it by allowing ideology to come before jobs, skills and economic interests of communities, such as my constituency in Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan. We should be ambitious for Wales. We should be saying to defence companies, 'Come to Wales, invest in Wales, employ Welsh workers, train Welsh apprenticeships and develop the technologies of tomorrow here in Wales', because supporting the defence sector means supporting our economy and building skills in the workforce across the whole of Wales, and we should be proud of that. And at a time when our allies are strengthening their defences and the threats facing the United Kingdom are becoming increasingly complex, Wales cannot afford to stand on the sidelines. We should be competing for that investment, we should be creating those jobs and we should be making sure that Wales plays its key role in keeping Britain safe. That is why I will be supporting today's motion and rejecting the Government amendment, and I urge all colleagues here this evening to do the same.

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1. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Education and Welsh Language cy

   5. Pa gamau y mae'r Gweinidog Cabinet yn eu cymryd i gefnogi cyllidebau ysgolion ym Mhen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg? OQ64533

   Official English translation

   5. What action is the Cabinet Minister taking to support school budgets in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg? OQ64533

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2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Education and Welsh Language en

   Minister, what are your asks of the finance Minister in supporting your portfolio? Many schools in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg are in a deficit situation and are looking to you as a new Minister to secure additional funding in the current budget settlement round. So, could you identify, given your experience in the education sector, especially as a former representative of the National Association of Head Teachers, what your asks are of the finance Minister, so that headteachers can have confidence that they will see more resource in the new financial year?

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister cy

   1. A wnaiff y Prif Weinidog roi diweddariad ar safbwynt Llywodraeth Cymru ar y Ganolfan Ragoriaeth Fyd-eang ar gyfer Rheilffyrdd? OQ64526

   Official English translation

   1. Will the First Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's position on the Global Centre of Rail Excellence? OQ64526

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2. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   Thank you for that update, First Minister. The Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee in the last session visited the site and looked into the proposals that were presented to us. When this concept was first thought through, there was the potential for 1,000 jobs coming to the site, and the Government of the day was told that there was huge demand for this testing facility. Regrettably, to date, not £1 of private money has gone into it. It is a huge site. I saw a media report saying it's the size of Gibraltar. There's a lot of remediation work to go into it. The one thing we were told as a committee was that the incoming Government, whoever that Government would be, needed to make a quick decision about future investment. The site has burned through £70 million of public money to date. When will you be in the position to formulate what the Government is going to do, bearing in mind £70 million of public money has already gone in and £350 to £400 million is required to build this Global Centre of Rail Excellence?

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3. 6. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability: Update on the Deposit-return Scheme en

   Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon. We on these benches do not believe that glass should be included in this scheme. It has been a position we've taken for a long time and we just think it complicates the situation and adds confusion to it. One thing that has to be crystal clear about any recycling scheme is that people have to understand it and buy into it, and the more you can simplify it, surely the better that has to be. As someone who used to come down the link road into Cardiff Bay and see the massive landfill site that is by Grangetown there, one can really appreciate the steps that have been taken in recent years to make recycling an integral part of what we now all do, and the industry that's been built up in recycling and reusing the products that we use in our everyday lives. That makes perfect sense, and it's something we should embrace. I commend the previous Government for what it did in getting the recycling rates up. But I fail to see why the Government wants to carry on penalising the hospitality sector and bringing glass within the orbit of this scheme that it's proposing. I know you touched on it in your response to the Labour spokesperson, but given that there was a 10-week delay in announcing the operator of the scheme, how are you going to catch up that 10 weeks, nearly three months, between now and next October, which is due to be the start date, to make sure that it does go live in October next year? The other thing that is really important is providing clarity on how the interaction between DRS and EPR will work. An exemption from the EPR fees for glass containers in the scope of the DRS is an essential precursor to the inclusion of glass. Although the Welsh Government have committed to this, they are yet to determine how the exemption will work in practice. This is particularly challenging given the difficulty in tracking where the container will end up for sale at the point it is placed on the market, as well as the different ways the producer fees for DRS and EPR fees are calculated, by unit or by weight. So, can you offer some clarity on that point, please, Minister? And then there's resolving the regulatory uncertainty of the reuse. The reuse targets included within the regulations for the DRS are not currently compatible with the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, given that the exemption of this was not granted. How are you going to overcome that particular aspect? Because you need to be compliant with the UK Act, otherwise you're going to be in the same position as Scotland found itself in. And maintaining accountability for post-transition periods. The transition period for glass, were it a 0 per cent deposit, is applied and there are no additional labelling requirements, which will end in 2031. At this point, a number of issues will come to the fore, including how the return of glass containers is managed within hospitality, the risk of fraud, of glass containers sold in other parts of the United Kingdom being redeemed here in Wales, the additional cost incurred by producers for other rolled-out glass return points, and how the aforementioned reuse targets will work in practice. So, some clarity on that. While you've got the four-year grace period, I think it's really important that we understand how this will be implemented after that four-year period. And there's the impact on hospitality, which is critical. We hear week in, week out people in this Chamber talking about the pressure in the hospitality sector in their own constituencies. We must ensure that pubs and bars and other hospitality venues are fully considered within the implementation plans, particularly given the cliff edge of 2031. The Welsh Government must address operational impact specific to hospitality businesses, which have not always been adequately reflected in the policy development to date. How are you taking the hospitality sector with you, Minister?

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1. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance cy

   1. Pa wersi y mae'r Gweinidog Cabinet wedi'u dysgu ers methu â phasio'r gyllideb atodol gyntaf ar gyfer 2026-27, a sut y bydd hyn yn llywio dull gweithredu Llywodraeth Cymru o ran cyllidebau yn y dyfodol? OQ64442

   Official English translation

   1. What lessons has the Cabinet Minister learnt since failing to pass the first supplementary budget for 2026-27, and how will this inform the Welsh Government's approach to future budgets? OQ64442

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2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance en

   Fair play, that's a fair answer, finance Minister, and thank you for giving so much information. One thing is critical: what was shown in the draft budget was that there was little dialogue of meaningful consequence with the other political parties, and hence the budget never passed. Can you confirm today whether you've begun those discussions with the political parties, or are you just in exclusive talks with a particular group in this Senedd? I appreciate the discussions are confidential, but I think it's a matter of public interest to understand exactly which parties the Government will work with and those parties you won't.

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3. 6. Reform UK Debate: Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board health visitor pay dispute en

   Thank you, Presiding Officer. I move the amendment in the name of Paul Davies on the order paper today. I can see the Minister sitting on the Government bench. When this subject first came to this Chamber, you were on the opposition bench on this side of the Chamber, and colleagues of yours who represented the Cwm Taf area ranted at the then Labour health Minister for inaction and not doing anything to call this dispute to an end and put pressure on the health board. Five months later, you're on the Government bench and you're not doing the work that your leader signed up to during the election campaign. We were out on the steps yesterday, and the health workers and their families were there, five months after this dispute started—not five weeks, when we were, back in March, in this Chamber, discussing this dispute. And the letter was signed in the election period, on 17 April. That's the letter, and your leader's signature is on the bottom in his capacity as leader. So, he signed for all your Members in this Chamber. And yet what do we have? We have health workers in the Cwm Taf health board still on strike, a health board not engaging and a Plaid Cymru Minister who fought a campaign that his leader signed up to bring it to an end. It does remind me of tuition fees and the Lib Dems, to be honest with you, in 2010. If you don't believe in something, you shouldn't sign up to it, Minister.  The argument here from the health workers is quite simple. They want to be recognised for their professional qualifications. This isn't saying, 'We want 10 per cent', this isn't saying, 'We want 5 per cent', this isn't saying, 'We want 3 per cent', this is the health workers saying that they want their professional qualifications recognised in the 'Agenda for Change' scheme at band 7 instead of band 6. It was done in Scotland in 2019, it can be done in Wales for this vital piece of the jigsaw that is the health family here in Wales. I call on you, Minister, to live up to the pledge that you made at the election, I call on you to live up to the pledges that your Members made in this Chamber back in March, and bring this dispute to an end. Recognise the dedication and commitment that those health workers and health visitors bring to the community of health workers that are so vital to our NHS, and instead of enjoying the power, exercise the responsibility, and use the responsibility that you have with the power that you have to get the health board round the table and get our key workers back to work so that families can be protected in the Cwm Taf health board area, and ultimately the professional qualifications that these dedicated workers have are recognised under the 'Agenda for Change' scheme and they get the band 7 banding that they deserve. Thank you.

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4. 6. Reform UK Debate: Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board health visitor pay dispute en

   Thank you for that, Minister. One thing that seems to be disputed here is that, on the health board side, they seem to say that it hasn't been through an independent evaluation process, the banding from six to seven. The union says it has gone through an independent evaluation process that is recognised by the 'Agenda for Change' pay scale. Is it the Government's view that that independent evaluation process has been undertaken, and that the outcome—irrespective of the interpretation—is quite clear that these posts should be banded at band 7?

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   First Minister, the Treasury Committee in the House of Commons came forward with a report over the summer that highlighted 28 recommendations to the UK Government, two of which really stood out as very simplistic, but having a big effect. One was around supplying good-quality information to students at the time of accepting their student loan, which you would have thought would be happening already, but isn't happening. And secondly, instead of using the retail prices index, use the consumer prices index, which again would have a significant effect of lowering the interest rates. Would your Government be supportive of adopting these recommendations to make a quick win in a complex field? Obviously, your review is looking at the higher education sector more generally, but students need help today, not in six, 12 or 18 months.

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   First Minister, one of the inquiries that the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee undertook at the end of the last Senedd term was to look at the Global Centre of Rail Excellence. It was made clear to us that an incoming Government would have to make a critical decision over whether it was going to back this particular venture, and the tag price on that was some £400 million. No small change in the back of the sofa for that, I would suggest. Has the Government had a chance to formulate a view on the future funding requirements for the Global Centre of Rail Excellence, and, if you have, when will you be bringing a statement forward so that we know what the commitment will be, going forward?

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2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution en

   Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister for delivery, it is vital that Plaid Cymru stick to their commitment prior to the election, and voted on many times in this Chamber, that they would enact a COVID inquiry—not a review, an inquiry. Can you confirm that the Government's thinking, whatever emerges, will be set up under the Inquiries Act 2005, which would compel witnesses to come before that inquiry and give evidence, because anything else will be a whitewash?

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3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution en

   Warm words, Minister, but little substance. The reality is that we found out, with the COVID committee that was set up in the previous Senedd term, that unless witnesses were compelled to give evidence, that committee was thwarted in its endeavours to get to the truth. Today, for example, the COVID inquiry reports that, on the FFP3 respirator masks that we were told Wales was well stocked with prior to the COVID pandemic in its emergency allocation, there wasn't a single mask in Wales available for the health service to use. These are the things we need to get to the core of as to what was not provided, what was mislaid, what was deliberately not ordered to save money, and what was not acted on on the emergency planning trials that were held prior to the COVID pandemic. If you don't set it up with the Inquiries Act 2005 in mind, whatever you bring forward will be pointless. So, I implore you and the Government to stick to your guns, stick to your morals, stick to the votes that you made prior to the Senedd election and have a full-blown inquiry that gets to the truth and, ultimately, prepares Wales for any future pandemic.

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1. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   Thank you, Presiding Officer. Minister, you would have been included in a letter that was sent to spokespeople from the NSA about issues at Hybu Cig Cymru—an issue you would be very familiar with from your time as opposition spokesperson. The Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee did a detailed report on this issue and on the governance at HCC. Its first recommendation was that it should be returned to the producers and actually be run by the producers and the levy payers. And I declare an interest as a levy payer. Are you minded, now that you're in a position to effect that change, to do that and return HCC to the levy payers, so that governance drives the organisation to the success we all want to see it have, which is promoting quality Welsh beef, lamb and pork on the world stage, rather than paying solicitors and human resources advisers to deal with ludicrous accusations levelled against many individuals within that organisation?

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2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   With respect, Minister, that letter only came four weeks ago from an organisation that would be very familiar with the workings of HCC, and they said the culture has not changed. And you didn't answer the question that I put to you, which you supported in opposition, and that your spokesperson supported in that report that was put together. And it does not mean ripping up all the governance in the organisation. It merely means returning the organisation to the producers and levy payers who pay the bills. And as I said, many of those levy payers have been paying high hourly rates to solicitors and HR advisers to deal with issues rather than putting it into the marketing of the quality produce that comes from Welsh farms. So, here's your opportunity, Minister: yes or no, will you allow the levy payers to take ownership of HCC and deliver an organisation that can be world beating on the world stage?

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   Could I take you up on that point, First Minister, about coherence? We have growth deals and city deals in Wales at the moment, covering the whole of Wales. How will the new development agency work with those growth and city deals so you don't get that conflict and that double spend of public money and you end up fighting the cause locally, domestically, rather than internationally by bringing good quality jobs into Wales and lifting the productivity of the overall Welsh economy? Because that's an important distinction over the economic landscape that we have today that we didn't have when the old Welsh Development Agency was in function.

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2. 3. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy: New Development Agency for Wales en

   Minister, thank you for your statement. You began your response to the previous contribution from the Labour spokesperson by saying that they were very good questions. The good thing about putting good questions is that you want some good answers back. I have to say there were a lot of fine words in this statement. I speak as someone who believes in moving economic development out of Government, because I believe in small Government, agile Government, and using the expertise that we have in the economy. But I generally can't get a sense that much work has been done on this particular project. We can't afford to stand still. We need this up and running as quickly as possible. Could you give me an indication—? In your previous responses you said 'as soon as possible'. You're bound to have an idea when you're going to bring this organisation into existence. Is it 12 months' time? Is it two years' time? Is it three years' time? Or is it the very end of this Senedd term? Can you at least give us a sense of when you believe that this organisation is going to come into being? I'm not going to ask you for every pound, shilling and pence, but can you give an indication on what your thinking is of the type of budget that you will make available to the organisation? As I said, I'm not asking you to drill down into every pound, shilling and pence, but give us a sense of the scale of the ambition that the Government has got. When we look at the old WDA, it had a complete offer, from building industrial sites to gaining the planning permission and promoting foreign direct investment. Does this organisation, in your mind, need to do all that, or will it be more specific in what it does about promoting Wales as a destination for inward investment? When we look at the organisation, are we thinking of an organisation that will look like NRW with a remit letter, or will this be a unique organisation that hasn't been seen in the Welsh public landscape before? I'd be grateful for answers to those questions, because they're not particularly difficult. As I said, from this side of the table, we do support the principle and we want to offer that support, but based on the answers so far, there's too much blank space.

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3. 7. Debate: Fair Funding en

   [Inaudible.]—many of these debates have been tabled over the years, and there's been a consensus in this Chamber, because people genuinely want to see resource spent wisely in Wales and if we can get more resource. What I'm baffled at is, from the three parties in this Chamber, you have 'delete all' amendments down. Did your Government reach out to try and find a consensus where the Chamber could get behind a motion? My understanding is that there were no discussions to reach a consensual motion that could put a united front in those discussions.

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1. 3. Business Statement and Announcement en

   Leader of the house, could we have a statement from the Government Minister responsible for Government delivery and the constitution? In his statement last week, he referred constantly to the COVID review rather than the COVID inquiry that the Government promised when they were in opposition. It was quite clear that, when you were in opposition, you were voting for an inquiry. I appreciate that you, your good self, on a tv programme, did refer to it as being more of a review, and the health Secretary in opposition said, 'No, it's an inquiry.' Can we have clarity, please, via a statement, to understand the Government preparations in putting this together and that it will be an inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005?

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1. 7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en

   Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the amendment in the name of Paul Davies on the order paper this afternoon. We will be supporting the motion this afternoon, but I have to say I start from the premise, as a Conservative, that, actually, legislation should be one of the last resorts that you should use, because all you do is create an argument between solicitors at the end of the legislation and actually don't solve any problems for people at large. So I'd like to see a small state rather than a big state, but, on this particular issue, people do feel disempowered and they do feel that nothing is happening to help them. Recently, I undertook a visit to the Kenfig National Nature Reserve and looked at the River Kenfig. I know other Members in this Chamber have done the same. To see a completely dead river is actually quite stark, to say the least—to see it putrid and smelling. We were talking about this in the office this morning, about this visit, and the one thing that really stuck in people's minds who came along with me to that visit was the complete lack of any birdsong in there. Because you could tell that the river was dead and everything in the river was dead with it, but actually the surrounding wildlife, through the putrid stench and the other pollution that was coming from it, killed off that wildlife as well then.  I'm really grateful to the Kenfig wildlife trust and the two Martins who met me on site to show me first-hand what was going on there, because Kenfig isn't a one-off; it is happening across the whole of Wales and, indeed, the United Kingdom, but, sadly, Wales is worst affected. If you look at sewage discharge across the whole of Wales, there have been 118,000 sewage discharges in 2024. If you compare that to England, that's 450,000 in England, with a population 18 times bigger than Wales. So, we've got a bigger problem here in Wales and we can't sit back and allow it to continue. I've been really grateful to Surfers against Sewage, who wouldn't be a natural bedfellow of the Conservative Party, I might say, for the information that they've provided and this comprehensive report that they put together, looking at all aspects of the situation across the UK. We're not unique, but the point that I was making in those statistics was that we are, sadly, top of the poll when it comes to some of these numbers, and we need to be doing far better. The reason why we have put that amendment down about NRW is because, sadly, NRW, as the regulator, are not doing the job that they were envisaged doing in the first place when they were created. And that's no fault of the staff at NRW. They work tirelessly to do the job that they can, but they really do face huge pressures over the organisation and the way it was constructed in the first place.  You brought together the Countryside Council of Wales, the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency, put it all together, and thought big was going to be beautiful. Well, big wasn't beautiful in this instance. And in this report, Surfers against Sewage, they actually have a paragraph or two specifically on NRW, and they say: 'A Lame Duck Regulator 'This is because Natural Resource Wales..., the environmental regulator which should be putting a stop to this pollution, is an absolute shambles. 'Last year the Welsh Government had to settle a £19 million tax bill following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs into how NRW was hiring contractors. The regulator is now slashing costs to try and repay the debt.' Two hundred and—[Interruption.] Yes, gladly.

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2. 7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en

   Well, that's the point of our amendment and it's something that I've stood on since 2019, when I had this job at that time, and called for NRW to be reformed and reconstituted, so that you spun out the commercial operations, such as the Forestry Commission, and you created a regulatory body that brought the expertise together, was budgeted properly to enforce the regulations that this place and other places put out there, and actually did the job that people wanted to see them doing. At the moment, they are too big and they lack focus, and you need to spin out the Forestry Commission side of it and build a regulator that can actually do the job that we're charging them to do. And I'll be really listening hard to what the Minister says in his reply, because I can recall that when he was in opposition, he had some very harsh words for NRW, he did, and I wonder whether he has done the same journey as the health Minister—listening to the health Minister earlier this afternoon—and the officials, as I said to him yesterday afternoon, have now put him in that civil service cage, and the speech that we will hear this afternoon will be a civil service speech, rather than that passionate articulate opposition spokesperson that Llyr used to be. I hope that he will be bold this afternoon in responding to this debate. I hope he will show us a road map to empower communities such as those I was speaking to in Kenfig and the volunteers of the Kenfig wildlife trust. Don't disappoint them, Minister. Give us something to go out from this debate with. Let's re-engineer the regulator, let's get behind the call for legislation on water pollution, and let's be that exemplar of good practice rather than, sadly, that laggard of pollution across the whole of Wales. Thank you.

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   First Minister, I've been here now for nearly 20 years, and I've never heard a Member put down their local high street, for obvious reasons. It's electoral suicide. But what we've seen over those 20 years, regrettably, is a decline in every high street across Wales, and that's because there hasn't been a joined-up approach from Government here. There is a recipe that can be endorsed by Government: reform the planning system so there's a more 24-hour look at the high street to introduce residential, shopping and amenity space within that high street; get the transport options right, and in particular free car parking; work with local authorities to reduce business rates; and make sure that town-centre managers are put in place to co-ordinate that redevelopment opportunity across the whole of the high-street complexes in local authority areas. Regrettably, that co-ordination hasn't come from Government here. You're a new Government—will you commit to breaking down the silos that sit within the portfolio areas, to use the planning system, use the finance department to drive down business rates and make sure that local authorities buy into the desire, which is expressed within this Chamber, of a rejuvenated high street that is the centre of civic pride?

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2. 4. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability: Priorities for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon. When I was reading it, I did think that that firebrand politician that used to sit this side of the Chamber had turned into the canary in the cage that his officials had put him in, and there was nothing really in the statement, to be honest with you. There were lots of reviews, there was little substance to benchmark what you were promising to do, and I regret that you have now been curtailed in your ambition by your officials. So, I hope that you will get a grip of your officials and actually start tackling the menace that is bovine TB that the Labour spokesperson was trying to take credit for, for their Government's failure to eradicate it. I mean, talk about smoke and mirrors, you can't make it up, to be honest with you. It is a serious, serious issue in the countryside, and the reason why numbers are going down is because your rural policy shut so many livestock farms down. That's why the numbers are going down, because people have lost heart and they want to see a Government that will tackle bovine TB once and for all. So, get a grip, Minister, come forward with a positive vision of what you want to do, and you will have this side of the Chamber supporting you in that. As I said to you in your spokesperson's questions the other day, there is a majority in this Chamber, for the first time in 20 years, that wants to see that step change in dealing with bovine TB. Use it, use it positively, and let's make Wales TB-free and eradicate this terrible disease from the countryside. I'd also like to ask the question that you didn't respond to from Laura Anne Jones when it came to abattoirs. Kepak have announced 85 redundancies, and then the Farmers Fresh abattoir in Wrexham has just shut as well. If you want to add value to Welsh produce, you need those processing facilities. What are you going to be doing to address that and the shortage of processing facilities here in Wales? The sustainable farming scheme talks about having a food security policy. We need to understand what that policy will look like and what difference it will make. The statement doesn't allude to anything on that. So, can we see for the first time what the Government wants to do when it comes to food security and investing in the sustainable farming scheme? I would also ask as well about the importance of working with the UK Government in particular and making sure that you have a strong relationship. I appreciate that's difficult at the moment, based on the uncertainty that's at the other end of the M4, but can you make sure that you build a relationship, to build those bridges, so that when it comes to the fertiliser tax, for example, you can deal with that? Have you made representations when it comes to the fertiliser tax, to make sure that there's change on that policy position, so that it doesn't drive up food prices? [Interruption.] Yes, I'm fine. I've most probably got a little excited on bovine TB. That is a really important issue, the bovine TB one is, because that does need addressing really importantly. But the fertiliser tax that's due to come in on 1 January really does need addressing too, because it'll add £50 to £100 in tax levels here in the UK, and we can't force up the price of food on the basis of the uncertainty in the middle east. What I'd also like to ask as well is what you believe NRW's role will be going forward, because obviously, you've got the environmental regulator that was legislated for in the last session. We need to understand the role of the environmental regulator and NRW in particular. So, if you could highlight what difference you believe that will make to the relationship between Government, NRW and the environmental regulator, to drive up standards here in Wales, that is really important. I look forward to the answers on those questions, please.

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3. 4. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability: Priorities for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   Yes.

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1. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Health and Care en

   Minister, I can remember talking to the then chief executive of the Cardiff and Vale health board some 10 years ago about the desire to build a new hospital on the Heath hospital site. I believe it is some 10 to 15 years overdue from the original projection when the Heath hospital was built in the early 1970s. You highlighted your own visit to the hospital, and anyone visiting there can see the fabric crumbling before their eyes. There is excellence going on every day at that hospital and staff are performing miracles, and patients are very grateful for that, but in the fabric of the buildings that exist on that site, that is no way to provide a regional health hub. Will you be the first Minister to commit to rectifying the neglect that Labour presided over in their term of office that allowed the deplorable situation that we've arrived at at the Cardiff and Vale health board's Heath hospital? And will you commit, at the end of this term, to have addressed the shortfall of funding and make the diggers dig the foundations to build a new hospital in Cardiff?

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2. 7. Reform UK Debate: Statutory register for lobbyists en

   Will the Minister take an intervention?

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3. 7. Reform UK Debate: Statutory register for lobbyists en

   Those of us who were here in the last Senedd term remember the purchase of Gilestone farm by the then Labour Government. There was no business case in place for that expenditure of £4.2 million, but what came to light in the development of the business case after the purchase was a private informal dinner party between two Government Ministers and a senior lobbyist, at her house, and the beneficiary of that purchase attending that dinner party. It's critical that the ministerial code is aligned to any register of lobbyists that comes into play. So, does the Government commit to putting it in the ministerial code that Ministers would fall under such a lobbying register?

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   First Minister, electoral reform is always important to make sure that the electorate engage fully with the opportunity to cast their opinion via the ballot box. Your manifesto touched on electoral reform in local government, which is an area that hasn't seen much electoral reform during this Senedd term. Is it your commitment that the elections that will be run next May will be run on the existing franchise, and there will be no change to the electoral way that people will vote, but the electoral aspiration for local government is more longer term and those are changes you will seek to make in the back end of this Senedd term?

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1. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I declare an interest as a director in a farming business. Minister, the point that was made by the Labour spokesperson on the slaughter of wildlife, no-one wants to see wildlife slaughtered. It is bizarre to me, in the time that I've been in this Senedd, that Labour Ministers have sat on their hands and allowed this to drag on and cause so much misery in the farming industry, with suicides in the industry because people feel hopelessly despondent about it, and the proliferation of this disease across the wildlife and farm populations. What I can never understand is why the last Government were not prepared to take out diseased wildlife, but they were prepared to take out diseased farm stock, which is wholly appropriate to eradicate this terrible condition in our countryside. So, can you indicate what science you have seen that will make this a whole-scale approach to eradicating bovine TB here in Wales? It's something we were very close to doing in the 1980s, and something that we desperately need to be on the same page on this time around.

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2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en

   Thank you, Minister. There are three parties in this Chamber who want to see a healthy wildlife population and a healthy farm population. It is vital that you encapsulate that support now and use that support to bring forward this new strategy. Twenty-seven years of doing nothing from the Labour Party has devastated the countryside. Don't be a Minister who, in three and a half, four years' time, looks back and hasn't captured this support in this Chamber. Bring forward that strategy, and could you today give us an indication of when it's going to arrive—is it before the Royal Welsh Show or in the autumn?

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1. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   First Minister, for the policies of the Government to be effective in the environment portfolio, you need some of the best land managers in the world to be looking after our countryside, and we have them in Wales in the farming community. One of the key issues, though, to make sure that they stay on the land, is to really make progress on bovine tuberculosis. Your Government has indicated via the Minister that there will be a new approach to bovine TB, so can you confirm what your interpretation is of the science that makes your approach different from the failed Labour approach that used to prevail here in Wales, and will we see that new bovine TB plan before the Royal Welsh Show and the summer recess?

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2. 1. Questions to the First Minister en

   Thank you. I should have declared a point of interest on the supplementary question on bovine TB, and I would like that to be on the record. Thank you.

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