Agenda and decisions

The Presiding Officer will call the Party Leaders to ask questions without notice to the First Minister after Question 2. 

View Questions

 

The item started at 13.30

All 15 questions were asked. The Presiding Officer invited party leaders to ask questions to the First Minister after Question 2.

 

The item started at 14.20

 

Rhodri Glyn Thomas (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Will the Minister make a statement on the delay in bringing forward the Council Tax Reduction Schemes Regulations, and the implications this may have for those in receipt of Council Tax benefit.

 

 

 

 

The item started at 14.31

 

Byron Davies (South Wales West): Will the First Minister make a statement on the 580 Tata Steel jobs cuts in South Wales.

 

The item started at 14.36

 

Aled Roberts (North Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on recent road closures caused by flooding in North Wales?

View Business Statement and Announcement

The item started at 14.51

 

The item started at 15.01

 

NDM5102 Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan)

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Notes the progress made on sustainable development in 2011-12, as set out in the Welsh Government’s Annual Report of the Sustainable Development Scheme, which was laid before the National Assembly for Wales on 20 November 2012.

Supporting Document
The Sustainable Development Annual Report 2011-12

The following amendments have been tabled:

Amendment 1 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Welcomes the publication of the Annual Report of the Sustainable Development Scheme, in particular the commentary by the Sustainable Futures Commissioner.

Amendment 2 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to enact the recommendations of the Sustainable Futures Commissioner to ensure that sufficient attention is given to areas such as agriculture, food security and tourism in the future.

Amendment 3 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Notes the criticism of the Sustainable Futures Commissioner ‘that the report, seems to be championing money allocated and spent on initiatives, rather than championing the sustainable outcomes and benefits derived from those initiatives’ and calls on the Welsh Government to reconsider the way it assesses the success of Welsh Government programmes across all departments, based on outcomes rather than inputs.

Amendment 4 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Believes the Welsh Government will make further progress towards a sustainable Wales if it increases the availability of:

a) home energy efficiency programmes such as Arbed;
b) programmes to encourage communities to invest in small-scale renewable energy projects such as hydro-electricity; and
c) integrated public transport.

Amendment 5 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to electrification and the positive effect this will have on reducing Wales’ CO2 emissions.

Amendment 6 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Expresses concern that the Welsh Government has made little progress in improving its Sustainable Development Indicators in 2012.

Amendment 7 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Calls on the Government to bring forward urgent remedial actions to resolve the 22 Sustainable Development Indicators for 2012 that have deteriorated or shown no improvement.

The Sustainable Development Indicators 2012 can be found at:
http://wales.gov.uk/docs/statistics/2012/120829sdr1382012en.pdf[Opens in a new browser window]

Amendment 8 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Regrets that the headline indicator of Gross Value Added (GVA), as outlined in the report, was 74% of the UK average in 2010, the lowest amongst the devolved countries and English regions.

Amendment 9 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Regrets the limited use of economic indicators within the report to judge the success of the Welsh Government Sustainable Development policy.

Amendment 10 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Notes the continued concerns from the Sustainable Futures Commissioner regarding aspects of the structure and content of the report.

Amendment 11 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to implement fully the recommendations made in the report by the Sustainable Futures Commissioner.

 

 

The item started at 15:21

The following amendments were tabled:

Amendment 1 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Welcomes the publication of the Annual Report of the Sustainable Development Scheme, in particular the commentary by the Sustainable Futures Commissioner.

Amendment 1 was agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 2 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to enact the recommendations of the Sustainable Futures Commissioner to ensure that sufficient attention is given to areas such as agriculture, food security and tourism in the future.

Amendment 2 was agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 3 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Notes the criticism of the Sustainable Futures Commissioner ‘that the report, seems to be championing money allocated and spent on initiatives, rather than championing the sustainable outcomes and benefits derived from those initiatives’ and calls on the Welsh Government to reconsider the way it assesses the success of Welsh Government programmes across all departments, based on outcomes rather than inputs.

Amendment 3 was agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 4 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Believes the Welsh Government will make further progress towards a sustainable Wales if it increases the availability of:

a) home energy efficiency programmes such as Arbed;
b) programmes to encourage communities to invest in small-scale renewable energy projects such as hydro-electricity; and
c) integrated public transport.

 Amendment 4 was agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 5 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to electrification and the positive effect this will have on reducing Wales’ CO2 emissions.

Amendment 5 was agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Voting on the motion and the remaining amendments under this item was deferred until Voting Time.

Amendment 6 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Expresses concern that the Welsh Government has made little progress in improving its Sustainable Development Indicators in 2012.

A vote was taken on Amendment 6:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
18	0	33	51

Amendment 6 was not agreed.

Amendment 7 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Calls on the Government to bring forward urgent remedial actions to resolve the 22 Sustainable Development Indicators for 2012 that have deteriorated or shown no improvement.

A vote was taken on Amendment 7:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
26	0	27	53

As required by Standing Order 6.20 the Deputy Presiding Officer exercised his casting vote by voting against the motion without amendment. Therefore, the motion without amendment was not agreed.

Amendment 8 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Regrets that the headline indicator of Gross Value Added (GVA), as outlined in the report, was 74% of the UK average in 2010, the lowest amongst the devolved countries and English regions.

A vote was taken on Amendment 8:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
26	0	27	53

As required by Standing Order 6.20 the Deputy Presiding Officer exercised his casting vote by voting against the motion without amendment. Therefore, the motion without amendment was not agreed.

Amendment 9 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Regrets the limited use of economic indicators within the report to judge the success of the Welsh Government Sustainable Development policy.

A vote was taken on Amendment 9:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
19	0	33	52

Amendment 9 was not agreed.

Amendment 10 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Notes the continued concerns from the Sustainable Futures Commissioner regarding aspects of the structure and content of the report.

 

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 10:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
52	0	0	52

Amendment 10 was agreed.

Amendment 11 - William Graham (South Wales East)

Add as a new point at the end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to implement fully the recommendations made in the report by the Sustainable Futures Commissioner.

A vote was taken on Amendment 11:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
52	0	0	52

Amendment 11 was agreed.

A vote was taken on the motion as amended:

NDM5102 Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan)

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Notes the progress made on sustainable development in 2011-12, as set out in the Welsh Government’s Annual Report of the Sustainable Development Scheme, which was laid before the National Assembly for Wales on 20 November 2012.

Welcomes the publication of the Annual Report of the Sustainable Development Scheme, in particular the commentary by the Sustainable Futures Commissioner.

Calls on the Welsh Government to enact the recommendations of the Sustainable Futures Commissioner to ensure that sufficient attention is given to areas such as agriculture, food security and tourism in the future.

Notes the criticism of the Sustainable Futures Commissioner ‘that the report, seems to be championing money allocated and spent on initiatives, rather than championing the sustainable outcomes and benefits derived from those initiatives’ and calls on the Welsh Government to reconsider the way it assesses the success of Welsh Government programmes across all departments, based on outcomes rather than inputs.

Believes the Welsh Government will make further progress towards a sustainable Wales if it increases the availability of:

a) home energy efficiency programmes such as Arbed;
b) programmes to encourage communities to invest in small-scale renewable energy projects such as hydro-electricity; and
c) integrated public transport.

Welcomes the UK Government’s commitment to electrification and the positive effect this will have on reducing Wales’ CO2 emissions.

Notes the continued concerns from the Sustainable Futures Commissioner regarding aspects of the structure and content of the report.

Calls on the Welsh Government to implement fully the recommendations made in the report by the Sustainable Futures Commissioner. 

For	Abstain	Against	Total
39	0	13	52

The motion as amended was agreed.

 

NDM5107 Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan)

 

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales, in accordance with Standing Orders 33.6 and 33.8:

 

Suspends Standing Order 12.20(i) and that part of Standing Order 11.16 that requires the weekly statement and announcement to constitute the timetable for business in Plenary for the following week, to allow NNDM5108 to be considered in Plenary on Tuesday 27 November 2012.

 

The item started at 16:02

NDM5107 Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan)

 

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales, in accordance with Standing Orders 33.6 and 33.8:

 

Suspends Standing Order 12.20(i) and that part of Standing Order 11.16 that requires the weekly statement and announcement to constitute the timetable for business in Plenary for the following week, to allow NNDM5108 to be considered in Plenary on Tuesday 27 November 2012.

The motion was agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

 

NDM5108 Jane Hutt  (Vale of Glamorgan)

 

The National Assembly for Wales:

 

Welcomes the publication of the unanimously agreed report by the UK Government's Silk Commission and looks forward to its implementation.

 

The Report of the Silk Commission can be accessed on the following hyperlink:

http://commissionondevolutioninwales.independent.gov.uk/files/2012/11/English-WEB-main-report.pdf

The item started at 16:03

NDM5108 Jane Hutt  (Vale of Glamorgan)

 

The National Assembly for Wales:

 

Welcomes the publication of the unanimously agreed report by the UK Government's Silk Commission and looks forward to its implementation.

The motion was agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

 

The item started at 16:57

NDM5083 Nick Ramsay (Monmouth): 

Asbestos in Schools:  Revealing not concealing Parents’ right to know.

The item started at 17:01

NDM5083 Nick Ramsay (Monmouth): 

Asbestos in Schools:  Revealing not concealing Parents’ right to know.