Former Plaid Cymru MS for Mid and West Wales
I would like to say a few words about the way in which the Bill will affect Wales—and from the perspective of a Member of the National Assembly for Wales. I shall concentrate specifically on rail. The Assembly recently debated the Government's legislative programme, and an amendment stating: the Assembly … calls on the First Secretary and the Secretary of State to seek to ensure that all...
Should not the authority be obliged to listen carefully to what is said by the Welsh Assembly about the needs and priorities of services in Wales? What mechanisms will the Secretary of State introduce to ensure that it does so?
The Minister mentioned energy crops and I have made the point before that there is an anomaly in the situation in which arable area payments can be converted into support payments for energy crops, but livestock payments cannot. That is discriminatory between sectors, and also between regions and parts of the UK. Is not that wrong; will he undertake to put it right; and how long will it take?
First, there is no more important issue than the impact of climate change, and the fact that we again have time to consider it is welcome. Secondly, I repeat what I said earlier about the planning framework, which is vital—and not merely for wind generation. There have been planning objections to important biomass proposals. In one case in Wales, the Newbridge-on-Wye combined sawmill and...
All renewables except the tides are solar. That is not a correction but a helpful comment. The source of wind is solar. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that one of the great problems in the expansion of renewables is the planning framework, which is leading time and again to objections and obstacles to their development. The Government will have to address this matter. I hope that the hon....
I will be as quick as possible. I want to make a brief contribution about the need to apply the principle of choice and diversity in Wales. I would argue that diversity ought to apply territorially, especially at this time, and not specifically in relation to the Government's proposals for the teaching profession. That subject was recently debated in the National Assembly for Wales, of which...
The Government's concession is much appreciated. The Farmers Union of Wales, for example, has taken it as an indication of the Government's willingness to listen to such concerns. Does the Minister recognise that the same principle might apply to the Meat Hygiene Service? Huge costs and regulation are weighing down producers and abattoirs. Will the Minister undertake to consider that issue...
Does the Secretary of State agree with the NHS in Wales that there is a funding crisis of the utmost severity, and that only one of the consequences of the crisis is a block on the capital programme, which is affecting—among many others—the renal dialysis programme in Aberystwyth and the Porthmadog cottage hospital? Is it not time the Government really accepted that the NHS is...
