Hwyl fawrpublished at 18:20 British Summer Time 1 May 2019
That brings today's proceedings in the Siambr to a close.
Senedd Live returns on Tuesday 7 May.
AMs should have the option of pledging allegiance to the people of Wales, rather than to the Queen, a Plaid Cymru politician says.
Plenary begins at 1.30pm with Questions to the Minister for Education
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Debate on the Public Accounts Committee report: The Welsh Government's relationship with Pinewood
Debate on the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee report: Wales' future relationship with Europe and the World
Plaid Cymru debate - Worker's Rights
Plaid Cymru debate - Climate Change
Short Debate: An Oath to the People
Alun Jones and Nia Harri
That brings today's proceedings in the Siambr to a close.
Senedd Live returns on Tuesday 7 May.
The Llywydd Elin Jones says the rules can only be changed by legislation in Westminster, or by the assembly if Parliament agreed to transfer the power.
She says, "My advice, therefore, to any Member who wishes to implement change of this kind, or any other change on any issue, is to hold positive discussions among Members in this place and the people of Wales, and across parties, of course, and to garner the support of a majority.
"Everything is possible, but only through garnering support."
AMs can currently swear an oath on a religious text or make a secular affirmation, say it in English or Welsh, and have the ceremony in private or in public in the Siambr.
Plaid Cymru's Bethan Sayed (South Wales West), external is using her Short Debate to argue that AMs should have the option of pledging allegiance to the people of Wales, rather than to the Queen.
They currently have to swear an oath or make an affirmation to the Crown after being elected to take their seats.
Bethan Sayed says her priority is her constituents, and an alternative oath would make them "feel respected".
She tells AMs: "I'm not asking to ditch the current oath to the Queen. Some would want to see that, but I'm not saying that.
"If we have an option not to do a religious oath, which is also fair, we should also have the decision not to do an oath to a royal family, a system that some of us simply do not believe in."
The rules are the same for MPs in Westminster, but members of the Northern Ireland Assembly have been allowed to take a pledge of office that does not involve swearing allegiance to the Queen.
On climate change, the Plaid Cymru motion with the Labour amendment is passed by AMs, declaring a "climate emergency".
There were 38 votes for and two against, with 12 abstentions.
Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, responds "climate change is not a distant threat", stating it is threatening lives and livelihoods of millions across the globe.
The Welsh Government supports the Plaid Cymru motion, and propose an amendment to add a new point at end of the motion, that AM's:
"Commends the Welsh Government for:
a) bringing forward the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act and the Environment (Wales) Act to drive urgent action on climate change;
b) committing the public sector in Wales to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 and for all public sector buildings to be supplied with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020 or as soon as contractually able; and
c) exploring all options for decarbonising the Welsh economy by working with all sectors and communities, drawing on the best available scientific evidence."
UKIP's Neil Hamilton begins, “I hope I can cheer everyone up with my little speech," to groans in the Siambr.
He attacks "alarmist forecasts" on climate change such as the warning quoted by Plaid Cymru that there are just 12 years left to prevent 1.5 degrees warming.
Declaring a "climate emergency" must be backed up with action says Plaid Cymru's Delyth Jewell, who calls on the Welsh Government not to build the six lane M4 relief road south of Newport.
"My generation is the generation that destroyed this planet, is continuing to destroy this planet, and our legacy to the younger generation is to solve the mistakes our generation has made" says the 64 year old Labour AM for Pontypridd, Mick Antoniw.
Conservative Andrew RT Davies calls on AMs to welcome "the leading role the UK has played working towards a global deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the Paris Agreement" and to note that "since 1990, the UK has cut emissions by more than 40 per cent while growing the economy by more than two thirds, the best performance on a per person basis than any other G7 nation".
He regrets that "emissions in Wales only fell by 19 per cent during the period between 1990 to 2015" and calls on the Welsh Government "to work with local authorities and the UK Government to ensure that new legally-binding carbon emissions targets are met moving forward in Wales".
The topic chosen for the second Plaid Cymru debate is climate change.
Llyr Gruffydd moves the Plaid Cymru motion, that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Notes the stark warning from the world’s scientific community that there are just 12 years left to prevent 1.5 degrees warming.
2.Further notes that warming beyond 1.5 degrees represents a threat to the future of humanity, and that even warming limited to that level will wreak havoc upon the livelihoods of countless people across the world.
3. Acknowledges that that an urgent and rapid global response is now necessary.
4. Welcomes the fact that solutions to the climate crisis are widely available including renewable technology, sustainable transport options and zero-carbon buildings.
5. Supports the decisions of community, town and county councils across Wales to pass motions declaring a climate emergency and setting net zero carbon emissions targets for their local areas.
6. Calls on the Welsh Government to declare a climate emergency.
On behalf of the Welsh Government, Julie James, Minister for Housing and Local Government, calls on AM's to "commend the record of successive Welsh Governments since 1999 in developing effective social partnership structures with trades unions and business in Wales," an approach which they say has "helped deliver tangible rights for workers in Wales through the Trade Union (Wales) Act and the Agricultural Wages Order which have overturned UK Government legislation".
She says the Welsh Government has a commitment "to make Wales a Fair Work nation" and to "develop a Social Partnership Act and to introduce it in this Assembly term".
She calls on the UK government to "ensure that as we leave the EU it commits to dynamic and legally binding standards on the protection and enforcement of fair work across the UK".
Conservative Russell George calls on the Welsh Government to "consult on the development of a social partnerships act", and says AMs should welcome the UK government's "commitment to protect workers' rights post-Brexit".
Plaid Cymru have chosen to split their hour into two 30 minute debates.
The first topic chosen is worker's rights, as today is International Workers' Day.
Leanne Wood says that "Wales is lagging behind the rest of the UK when it comes to fair wage levels, with many people in Wales on wages 30 per cent lower than the rest of the UK population", and that Plaid Cymru:
"Believes that legislation should be updated to:
a) deliver ‘Fair Work’ using policy and funding levers and raising collective bargaining coverage;
b) protect workers’ rights through more effective enforcement; and
c) embed social partnership and collective bargaining into the fabric of Welsh work life."
They call on the Welsh Government to "ban the use of zero hours contracts in all devolved Welsh public services and associated supply chains," and "to include a commitment to introducing a social partnership act and associated timetable to the current government’s legislative programme".
Eluned Morgan, Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language, sets out the response by the Welsh Government to the report.
She says "now is the time for a new, refocused, international strategy that will set out our international vision for Wales".
All the recommendations are accepted or accepted in principle.
The response by the Welsh Government can be seen in full here, external.
Committee chair David Rees (Aberavon), external presents the report, external, which has 11 recommendations.
Recommendation 1 is that "we recommend that the new international engagement strategy for Wales sets out the scale of the Welsh Government’s ambition in terms of international engagement after Brexit and that, in response to this report, the Welsh Government sets out the anticipated timescales for publication of this work."
We move on to a debate on the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee report: Wales' future relationship with Europe and the World.
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Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, sets out the Welsh Government response to the report.
He says the Welsh Government accepts eight of the nine recommendations, as it attempts to "correct the mistakes of the past".
The Committee recommendation that "the Welsh Government obtain surveys, not just valuations, on all property acquisitions above £1million" is rejected.
The Welsh Government state that "whilst we accept the general principle of the recommendation, there will be instances where a survey would not be relevant, for example, where the intended purpose of acquisition is to demolish the building being acquired. There may also be instances where such surveys are appropriate for acquisitions of lower value."
The Welsh Government response can be seen in full here, external.
Conservative Suzy Davies says the Welsh Government has hidden behind "commercial confidentiality" excuses to avoid scrutiny.
She says "the Welsh Government is not Harry Potter. It does not have an invisibility cloak, and it must stop treating 'commercial confidentiality' as if it is one."
Using another movie metaphor she adds, "If you are dealing with Darth Vader, you don't send Bambi in to negotiate the deal."
Plaid Cymru's Bethan Sayed says: "Throughout, the aim was admirable but the execution was pretty poor.... Almost every aspect of the project - from the location to the management agreement, to the estimated annual returns - have since been shown to be deficient."
She is critical of responses by Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, during committee inquiries into the government's relationship with Pinewood, saying many details only emerged after the Wales Audit Office report into the relationship. She calls for more transparency from the Welsh Government.
Labour AM for Cardiff Central, Jenny Rathbone says “the Welsh Government was a minnow by comparison with Pinewood, and although it is not possible to conclude that the Welsh Government was taken for a ride, it is certainly the case that the checks and balances were not in place to ensure that did not happen".
She adds it would be wrong to overlook the positive impact of the Welsh Government's investment in film and TV.
She asks whether TV producers Bad Wolf would have based themselves in Wales at all, had Pinewood had not come before them.