Speeches by Ranger.

“We now want to look more at the UK Government legislation side of the issues. Dr Evans, when you wrote to the Committee, you noted that, of all households who get the housing element of universal credit that live in the private rented sector, six in 10 of them do not have their rent covered in full. What analysis or in…”

“That is really good news. I know that will make a difference in Wrexham, particularly with house building and land banking, as you have spoken about. That is really good news and I hope to see that develop further. Thank you very much.”

“As with that discussion with my colleague, there is a lot of talk about the future of Welsh devolution and it has often been talked about as a journey, not a destination, in many ways. We have spoken already today about how the partnership in power between the two Governments is really delivering for Wales. I was refle…”

“You have just spoken about the fantastic announcement about the AI zones in north and south Wales. Could you tell me a little bit more about how the UK Government are co-ordinating with the Welsh Government on the development and deployment of both those zones?”

“I was going to ask a question about Brand Wales but, as Steve said, you have covered that in great detail already. We had Lord Stockwood from the Office for Investment in front of us a couple of weeks ago, and one of the questions we asked was about how they and yourselves target the different regions of the UK, and ho…”

“Trust and confidence are the cornerstones of a functioning asylum system, yet both were damaged in Wrexham recently due to an unclear and poorly communicated proposal for large houses in multiple occupation to be used for asylum accommodation. Following years of Tory failure, we have inherited a chaotic system and wast…”

“To build on this point, how does the OFI evaluate its activity in Wales in terms of effectiveness and value for money? Is there a mechanism that does that, or is it across the UK?”

“On that question, how future-proof are those markets to potential shocks, given global insecurity? Is that a consideration you look at?”

“Same question—in terms of the UK, are you targeting specific markets?”

“Thank you very much. Moving on, is the Office for Investment targeting specific markets overseas to promote Wales?”

“You talked about place and regions. You mentioned local authorities—we have mayoral authorities and all those kinds of things. Is there capacity or ability to bring those together? I am thinking about Wrexham, where I am. The whole north-west England corridor—Manchester; Liverpool—is so important for us. I imagine that…”

“Thank you, both, for coming to see us today—it is good to see you again, Lord Stockwood. You have already touched on quite a bit of this in answering the Chair’s question, but how is the Office for Investment delivering benefits for Wales and where in Wales are those benefits being felt? Could you go into some more det…”

“They will feed back to you on their targets about employment and the quality of that employment—for example, the skill levels, regional prosperity and other things—but you measure the success of the activities you are taking on at more of a macro level.”

“The debate around the devolution of rail in Wales is absolutely worthy of further consideration, but I am not convinced that it would be right to do so as part of this Bill, which surely has to reflect the current situation, as the Minister is rightly pointing out. We heard evidence from a Transport for Wales official …”

“Last year, the Welsh Labour Government introduced a £1 bus fare cap for young people. Since then, these reduced fares have been used on 2 million journeys. Earlier this month, Welsh Labour announced in my constituency that after the Senedd election in May, we will build on that success with a £2 bus fare for all fares …”

“Thank you both for coming today. To add to that, you have the One Wales strategy, but it frequently treats community games like a monolith. What works for a small population club in Bala, for example, does not scale for a city like Wrexham, which is my area. How is the strategy nuanced to help with the differences betw…”

“You talked about investing in community organisations. FAW is doing lots of aggressive investment in 3G pitches, but rugby clubs are miles behind. Without those, they cannot generate passive revenue and all that kind of thing. That capital investment is really needed. The other thing I want to quickly flip to is whethe…”

“Some engagement officers are dealing with nine schools and several other things, and in other places you have almost a 1:1 ratio. How does that work in reality?”

“Q On the devolution aspect, how does the Bill reflect the interests of passengers and businesses’ needs, particularly in Wales, and ensure that the Welsh Government have sufficient input into decision making? Keir Mather: The Bill requires the Secretary of State to obtain the consent of Scottish and Welsh Ministers bef…”

“Q Mr Reeve, do you have anything to add? Bill Reeve: My Welsh colleague’s point about the importance of culture and behaviours and how that is given effect through the MOU will be the real test. As drafted the primary legislation seems fine, and there is indeed an obligation to consult on services that cross the border…”