���˿���

Vaughan Gething’s tenth session as first minister comes to a close.

Image source, Senedd

The idea of a levy on larger music venues to support smaller ones is "interesting" says the first minister in response to his Labour colleague Mike Hedges.

Mr Gething elaborates, "we are looking at issues around the potential for a levy. The progress being made on a potential voluntary levy that could come from larger venues to help support smaller venues, that's work that I think is genuinely interesting. We could potentially do that on our own in Wales. We could also look at the potential for a larger levy and how that could be undertaken".

He was questioned about what steps is the Welsh government taking to support grass-roots music venues across Wales by Conservative Laura Anne Jones, who was speaking in plenary for the first time since being removed from her culture spokesperson job after texts from her phone appeared to show an employee was asked to maximise expenses claims.

She says "despite many venues struggling with the already high running costs, this Labour government has decided to cut the business tax rate relief from 75 per cent to 40 per cent, causing them to suffer higher costs than their competitors across the border".

Image source, Getty Images

"The law requires updating" to protect whistleblowers, says the first minister.

He adds, "that is part of, actually, what's in our UK manifesto offer at this election - a part of the new deal for working people is to update and improve the legislation and rights of whistleblowers. This is something where, if you blow the whistle, it can be very painful in talking about your colleagues, managers or others, and it’s then how you're supported to do the right thing".

He was responding to Conservative Peter Fox, who said he raised the issue because "over the last couple of years, I have been approached by whistleblowers from two perspectives - firstly, from anonymous sources who know things are not right but are fearful of the repercussions to them and their employment if they do actually whistleblow, and then there are those - and I have some live cases at the moment - that have blown the whistle and are subtly or directly being intimidated or undermined by their organisation or work colleagues, and are fearful for their jobs and professional reputation".

Conservative Darren Millar describes the introduction of changes to bin collections in Denbighshire as "shambolic".

People in the county have said they are still waiting for their recycling and food waste to be taken away, three weeks after changes were made to collections.

When weekly pick-ups of stackable recycling bins - known as trolibocs - began in Denbighshire on 3 June, thousands of homes were bypassed.

Mr Millar says, "it's leading, frankly, to a summer of discontent in Denbighshire, with festering rubbish building up on local streets, some of which now, I'm afraid, are reminiscent of Labour-run Britain in the 1970s. This is totally unacceptable, it's leading to pests like rodents and seagulls having a field day."

The first minister replies, "when you look at what Labour-run Denbighshire are now doing, they're being honest and listening to what people are saying about some of the challenges in the system. They recognise there are improvements to be made in the fleet and in the IT systems to get to a place where we do make another step of improvement in what is taking place."

Council chief executive Graham Boase has previously apologised and said more recyclables had been collected than anticipated.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth refers to The Institute for Fiscal Studies' accusation that Labour and the Conservatives have not been addressing stark choices over public finances in their manifestos.

He says "with Plaid Cymru's calls for fair funding, and even the calls of Labour members for fair funding falling on deaf UK Labour ears, is the first minister really happy to just cross fingers and hope for the best, because I think there's more at stake than that?"

He also reiterates his call for the next UK government to scrap the two-child welfare benefit limit.

The first minister replies "if you're going to set such heavy store by what the IFS say, you will, of course, be interested in what they have to say about the Plaid Cymru manifesto, where it says that you are not honest about the costs of your own manifesto and ultimate objectives. The second point I'd make is that I do expect that a future UK Labour government, if that is what people vote for, will be fair about Barnett and Barnett consequentials".

Mr Gething also says the Welsh Labour government has a "proud record" of reducing poverty.

The IFS said the UK has the highest debt level for more than 60 years, taxes are near a record high and spending has swelled - but public services are "visibly struggling".

Image source, Senedd

Image source, Senedd

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, refers to a "deeply troubling" Channel 4 Dispatches programme.

Residents near the Withyhedge landfill site near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, have previously described it as like “a stink bomb on steroids”.

An “urgent review” must be taken into the environmental regulator’s actions following complaints about the controversial landfill site, the Welsh government has said in response to the programme.

Andrew RT Davies says "I think most people will be troubled to not understand why the government isn't driving this and putting a timeline on this investigation. That's not unreasonable here, because residents have had to put up with being physically sick because the stench is so bad. Can you imagine that, first minister? Waking up in the morning in your own home and the stench from outside is so great that you are physically sick, and yet you can't see no end to that, so you go through it the next day and the next day and the next day."

The company which operates the site has denied unsuitable waste has been placed in landfill and has apologised to residents for the smell.

Wales' environmental watchdog, National Resources Wales (NRW), has said it is working to address the issue.

The first minister tells Mr Davies, "when it comes to the actions that NRW are taking at Withyhedge, I've been really clear in this Chamber and beyond that they need to undertake action as the regulator without fear or favour. The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs has quite properly sought assurance through a senior official on the actions that they have taken in the past as well as the actions they are taking now, and that's both the previous operator of the site as well as the current one".

Mr Gething also claims that the reduction in the use of landfill is "a success story of devolution".

Image source, COLIN BARNETT

Conservative Natasha Asghar questions the first minister's integrity.

She says. "supporting low-income households across Wales, I'm sure, is one of the many areas this Labour government would like to do more on, but, sadly, all of the attention has been diverted to fire-fighting the controversies engulfing the first minister".

The first minister refers to the news that the Conservative Party has withdrawn support from candidates Craig Williams and Laura Saunders who are being looked into over alleged election betting.

The first minister says "if you really want to talk about scandals, then today is a day to do that, is it not, Natasha Asghar? Look at former Conservative Senedd staffer Craig Williams, now finally junked as a Conservative candidate. And let's be clear: if a professional footballer had placed a bet in the way that Craig Williams did, he'd be banned from the game".

Image source, Senedd

Llywydd Elin Jones conducts a ballot to determine the names of members who may table questions to the first minister.

Labour MS John Griffiths puts forward a case for the devolution of welfare benefits to the Senedd.

He says, "I do believe we can make a real difference here in Wales if the administration of benefits is devolved to the Senedd and Welsh government, because this would help that partnership and ensure that our values of social justice, dignity and compassion shape the delivery of that system, and we would have close working with devolved public services".

The first minister replies "it's a conversation I look forward to taking forward, if we have a change in government across the UK, if we have a UK Labour government. There's a clear manifesto pledge to devolve employment support funding to Wales, and I think we'd be able to make great use of that. The partnership that we seek is one where we do not have the legitimacy of this place questioned or undermined, but we have a partnership that recognises the path of devolution is something where we have more ability, particularly with an expanded Senedd coming into being, and I do believe we can make progress further on the track of the devolution of benefits".

Image source, Senedd

Llywydd Elin Jones begins by announcing that the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act has gained Royal Assent.

So key changes to be implemented in time for the 2026 Senedd elections include:

• 96 Members of the Senedd instead of the current 60.

• A move to having 16 constituencies across Wales, each electing six Members of the Senedd.

• All candidates to, and Members of, the Senedd will need to be resident in Wales.

• Senedd elections will be held every four years from 2026 onwards.

Image source, Senedd

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Vaughan Gething’s tenth session of First Minister's Questions.

The meeting is held in a hybrid format, with some members in the Siambr (Senedd chamber) and others joining by video-conference.

You can click on the play button above to watch the proceedings from 1.30pm.