Found: . • The Rt Hon Simon Hart MP – Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip (paid by HM Treasury

Found: -23 (FYE) Current Ministers Rishi Sunak56 Prime Minister (from 25/10/22) 75-80 30-35 (75-80) Simon Hart

Found: Hon Simon Hart M P , Secretary of State to 6th July 2022††† n/a 34,841 n/a nil n/a 4,000 n/a 39,000

Found: Hon Simon Hart MP, Secretary of State to 6th July 2022††† n/a 34,841 n/a nil n/a 4,000 n/a 39,000 Fay

Found: Hon Simon Hart MP, Secretary of State to 6th July 2022††† n/a 34,841 n/a nil n/a 4,000 n/a 39,000 Fay

Found: General Secretary & Operations Director, Community Trade Union 2022-06-22 00:00:00 Cyfarfod/Meeting Simon Hart

Found: Executive Director & CFO, Tata Steel Europe 2021-06-09 00:00:00 Cyfarfod/Meeting Simon Hart

Found: Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations • Rt Hon Professor Carwyn Jones • Rt Hon Simon Hart

Found: University • Professor John Denham • Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS, First Minister of Wales • Rt Hon Simon Hart

Found: registered charity falls within the remit of the Secretary of State Dorriesn@parliament.uk Rt Hon Simon Hart

Found: senedd.wales>; Heledd Fychan ; Joel James ; Simon Hart

Found: The summit brought together Secretary of State Simon Hart, Welsh Government and UK Government representatives

Found: Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart said: : “The UK Government is working to bring greater investment

Found: Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said: “The growth deals being delivered across Wales will help us build back

Found: other attendees were Iain Stewart MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland, Rt Hon Simon Hart

Found: First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford and Secretary of State Simon Hart chair Coal Tips Summit

Found: which is being overseen by First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford and Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart

Found: Secretary of State Simon Hart and First Minister Mark Drakeford chair meeting to discuss coal tip safety

Found: A letter from Simon Hart MP was received in September 2019.

Found: Recent assistance from Assembly Members, Angela Burns and Rebecca Evans and MP Simon Hart has been impeded

Found: Council ICE Cymru Milton Parish Council Natural Resources Wales Ofwat Severn Trent Water Simon Hart

Question

Will the Minister make a statement on the management and monitoring of old coal tips across south Wales?

Answered by Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs

The management of coal tips is the responsibility of the asset owner.

Where there are concerns about a coal tip, the relevant authorities have powers to inspect them and if necessary undertake remedial work.

The First Minister met with the Secretary of State for Wales on 24 February 2020 to discuss the arrangements for managing coal tips. A statement following that meeting can be found at: https://gov.wales/secretary-state-simon-hart-and-first-minister-mark-drakeford-chair-meeting-discuss-coal-tip-safety.

If anyone has any concerns about a specific tip they should notify their Local Authority.

Found: Simon Hart MP, appointed on 16 December 2019.

Found: The Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, suggested the funds would have “a greater degree of local

Found: Key issues for the Sixth Senedd However, the Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, suggested funds

Found: ƒ The Committee raised these concerns during a scrutiny session with Secretary of State, Simon Hart

Found: On 9 March the Committee took evidence from the Secretary of State for Wales, Rt Hon Simon Hart MP,

Found: The Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, told the House of Commons on 15 January: For the first

Found: On 12 January 2020, the Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart MP, told BBC Wales that details around

Found: General Election results 3 Queen’s Speech and Brexit legislation 3 Withdrawal Agreement Bill 4 Simon Hart

Found: Sir Faesyfed / Brecon and Radnorshire Stephen Crabb Preseli Sir Benfro / Preseli Pembrokeshire Simon Hart

Found: Sir Faesyfed / Brecon and Radnorshire Stephen Crabb Preseli Sir Benfro / Preseli Pembrokeshire Simon Hart

Found: who does that does not have much chance of getting re-elected in the next General Election. 12 Simon Hart

Found: the House of Commons after the referendum the Secretary of State responded to a question from Simon Hart

Found: in London are riding roughshod over the interests and concerns of the devolved countries. 62 Simon Hart

Found: the House of Commons after the referendum the Secretary of State responded to a question from Simon Hart

<p>Trefnydd, I’m asking for your guidance, please, on correcting the Record, because it’s disappointing that both the First Minister and the finance Minister have, I believe, unintentionally misled the Senedd in recent weeks. The First Minister, on 13 November, said,</p>
<p>'our officials were trying to talk to the last UK Government for four years about the need for them to support us in terms of coal tip removal. Nothing, absolutely nothing'.</p>
<p>And on 5 November, the Cabinet Secretary for finance said that, 'The Treasury turned him'—'him' being Simon Hart, as Secretary of State for Wales—</p>
<p>'down; that's what the Conservative-led Treasury did',</p>
<p>when discussing coal tip funding. However, in a joint statement by Simon Hart, as Secretary of State for Wales, and Steve Barclay, as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, it was confirmed that £9 million was given to repair vulnerable coal tips. And it's interesting that the finance Minister, who I'm grateful is in his place, would look to mistakenly mislead the Senedd, as, in February 2021, when he was First Minister, he actually confirmed that those moneys, that money had arrived, stating that,</p>
<p>'The £9 million received will be used to support the Tylorstown recovery work and immediate emergency maintenance required at other high-risk tips.'</p>
<p>I trust the Senedd and the Trefnydd will agree that accuracy in this Chamber is essential, and past misrepresentations must be addressed. How do we proceed?</p>

<p>Let me deal with the issue of coal tip safety, as that is the one point I heard a question on in what Janet Finch-Saunders had to say. The figure of £600 million is what is required over a period of 10 to 15 years. The Welsh Government has already invested millions and millions of pounds in addressing the worst risks to local communities. We did so as a result of a committee jointly chaired by myself, as the First Minister at the time, and Simon Hart, as the Secretary of State for Wales. I have no doubt, myself, that Mr Hart made representations to the Treasury so that there would be a contribution from the UK Government to set alongside the money that the Welsh Government has already provided. The Treasury turned him down; that's what the Conservative-led Treasury did. The Welsh Government now has £25 million next year as a result of a Labour Government, and people in Wales will see the difference that that will make.</p>

<p>Bore da. Simon Hart, I'm the interim chief finance officer.</p>

<p>Yes, okay. So, consultation has been really important, and engagement with Members. There are a couple of things: there's the statutory engagement we have to do, which is this; the&nbsp;Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee yesterday; and the Plenary debate on the budget. That's natural parliamentary procedure that enables Members to have a real structured say in how the Commission budget proceeds. We've been looking forward to today because I think we've got a very compelling story to tell about what we need to do to create a Parliament fit for the future. But, at the same time, we want Members to be on board with that at an early stage.&nbsp;</p>
<p>So, one of the things we've done is set up a Members reference group, which is partly about the works in Tŷ Hywel, but we've also got a Siambr group as well to talk about adaptations to the Chamber and discuss those things in order for Members outside of the Commission to have a direct say. I think some of them have been nominated by their groups, and that is happening and that has directly fed into the shape of the Chamber for Senedd reform. So, the shape of the Chamber has been driven by, not the Commission, but by Members who are not part of the Commission and not part of the Government even, to drive some of this stuff.&nbsp;And the same with the adaptations to Tŷ Hywel—that discussion has happened, and there have been detailed papers released to groups on these things too.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>One other thing I'd say is that I wasn't entirely happy about taking forward a big increased budget. An annual budget, which is 3 per cent, fine, but this budget is a step-change budget, and I wanted to see better engagement than previously. So, we decided to—. I think the four of us—of course, there was Kate Innes at that point rather than Simon Hart—went to groups to discuss—well, Kate and I went to the Labour group and other Senedd Commissioners ran them in the other groups—this budget that's before you today. And a detailed briefing paper was presented to groups, and to everyone's credit, it wasn't leaked to the media, at least not the day after, and it was a really helpful discussion in groups.&nbsp;And some of the questions that were asked—I know Rhianon, for example, asked some really good questions, and Mike as well, in our group—really did help us inform some of the things we wanted to do. It also enabled me to identify those Members who had concerns and I had further conversations with them.</p>
<p>What I'd like to do in future is perhaps have a formalised, codified process for consultation on the budget and, rather than doing it in September, perhaps do it in July, before Members go away for the summer so that they can think about it. And I think that having that process would enable Members to buy more closely into some of the decisions we've got. So, engagement is massively important.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Thank you, Chair. I'm the interim chief finance officer. My name's Simon Hart.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Diolch, Llywydd. I move amendment 1 and also refer you to documentary evidence in my previous speeches showing that the architects of austerity were Blair, Brown and Balls.</p>
<p>Like all parties here, the Welsh Conservatives support the provision of consequential funding from HS2 to be provided to Wales. The estimated £4 billion would be a boost for the economy and could be used for upgrading infrastructure in Wales. My colleagues and I have been consistent in making this argument to the UK Government. We also welcome, however, the UK Government's commitment to invest £1 billion in electrification of the north Wales railway line. However, after a quarter of a century of Welsh Labour failing to effectively use the powers they already possess, the Welsh Conservatives stand firmly against the creeping of greater devolution now. Devolving responsibility is by no means a sure-fire mechanism to improve them. Just look at the Welsh NHS, with over 21,000 waiting over two years for treatment, compared with around 200 in England, with twenty times the population. And our education sector has sadly become characterised by constant and severe underperformance compared to the rest of the UK, despite the dedication of staff.</p>
<p>The UK Labour Party have themselves not committed to devolving police and adult justice, with the shadow Welsh Secretary, Jo Stevens, stating that current problems with crime are too urgent to begin fiddling with the responsibilities of police, courts and prisons in Wales, and with the UK Labour manifesto only stating, 'We will work with the Welsh Labour Government to consider the devolution of youth justice.' In this context, it should be noted that when the last UK Labour Government left office, crime was rampant, but crime has been cut by over half under UK Conservative Governments since 2010.</p>
<p>As I pointed out repeatedly to the Counsel General, there are numerous factors that are too often overlooked in discussions on devolving justice, particularly the very real issue of cross-border crime. Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales has a heavily populated cross-border area with England, which is why approximately 95 per cent of the crime in north Wales, for example, operates cross-border, whilst almost none operates on a Wales-only basis. I again criticised the Thomas commission yesterday for making only one reference to cross-border criminality, with the north-west regional organised crime unit telling me that their evidence to the commission regarding this was largely ignored.</p>
<p>As the former Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, stated, there is no public appetite to devolve the Crown Estate in Wales, and to do so would fragment the market and delay the further development of key projects in the floating offshore wind sector. As he added,</p>
<p>'the emphasis and impetus come from investors, members of the public and port authorities, not from nationalists who just wish to look at everything through the prism of their own power base.'</p>
<p>The Crown Estate works closely with the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales to manage long-term land and sea bed sustainability, as well as broader economic, social and environmental benefits for Wales. As my colleague Janet Finch-Saunders told those who still insist on yet another power grab a year ago, stop wasting Senedd time droning on about more devolution when we could instead be making best use of the powers already in our gift and making a success of Wales.</p>
<p>Regarding the position of the Secretary of State for Wales, it is tiresome that the same nationalist talking point has reared its head again, driven by Plaid Cymru's purpose and desire to divide and destabilise. The Wales Office is Wales's best advocate in Westminster. Plaid Cymru cannot argue that Wales is not being listened to enough by the UK Government in one breath, but then argue for the silencing of its voice inside the UK Cabinet in the next. We need only to look at transportation, with over £2.3 billion UK investment in Welsh rail since 2019, the more than £2.5 billion of levelling-up funding spread across Wales, and the willingness to work with local communities to help empower them to push back against unwelcome agendas like the 20 mph mandates from the Welsh Government, to see just the latest benefits of having a strong advocate for Wales sitting at the Cabinet table in Westminster.</p>
<p>We will therefore—you won't be surprised to hear me say—be voting against Plaid's motion and also the Welsh Government's amendment. Only a UK Conservative Government will further cut taxes for people, bring £1 billion to electrification of the north Wales main line, bring nuclear power back to north Wales, keep the Severn crossing tolls free, give communities consent over 20 mph speed limits, and deliver £1 billion in continued levelling-up funding for Welsh communities.</p>

<p>Mark Isherwood made the point that we've had cross-party support for HS2, but I fail to understand why, then, that links to the defence of the Secretary of State. After all, they’ve failed to deliver that consequential for Wales, so surely your point illustrates that, even when there is a Conservative UK Government, even when there is a Secretary of State for Wales that represents a Welsh constituency, they fail to deliver for Wales. So, they can ignore the will of the Senedd, the united will of the Senedd, and yet not deliver for Wales. So, I really don't understand how those points are connected.</p>
<p>You also mentioned Simon Hart, who said that there's no public appetite for the devolution of the Crown Estate. Again, a Secretary of State for Wales—or former one—that claims to speak for the people of Wales and shows no understanding of, actually, the will of this Senedd either. So, I think you've illustrated with both those points why the post of Secretary of State has become so defunct.</p>
<p>Adam just hit the nail on the head in terms of being the Cabinet's representative here in Wales. That's exactly the point, isn't it? And what we're trying to say here, and what I'm dismayed about in the Cabinet Secretary's views, is: why doesn't the Welsh Government want to have this responsibility? Why do you want one individual making these calls and pretending to speak for Wales, rather than having the Senedd and our own Welsh Government having that voice? Surely that doesn't—. Well, it doesn't make sense, really.</p>
<p>Jenny Rathbone—I agree. You said about one individual and not personalised, but I think it goes beyond that, as was illustrated when Sioned Williams responded. It's not about one individual, but it is symptomatic of that post that one person can actually disregard, because, when the Cabinet Secretary mentioned all the things that we agree on here, well, surely, then, we want someone having that discussion with the UK Government that represents our views, not actually going against what the collective voice of this Senedd is. We've all referenced here all the things that we agree on, and not just us as politicians. Where there are experts, where there are panels, there's undisputed evidence to show why these changes are needed in so many different areas, and then you can have one individual speaking for Wales in the Cabinet not agree at all with us. So, that's why we don't agree, and that's why we think the Welsh Government should have that say. [<em>Interruption</em>.] I'm happy to take your intervention.</p>