Francis: Protecting playing fields in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"For every acre of play space in Wales, there are 80 acres of golf club space. Across the UK, playing fields have been lost at a rate of one a day over the past eight years. Those are alarming facts.

The Sports Council ...

Francis: The Arts must be free from political interference

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I am pleased to propose those amendments. This review, as the Minister knows, was born out of political controversy, and it is clear that there must never again be a time when the Arts Council of Wales finds itself in such a tumultuous ...

Francis: Protecting playing fields in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"There has certainly been disagreement as to whether there is an issue with regard to the loss of playing fields in Wales.

There appears to be a perception—sadly, quite often among so-called experts—that, compared with England and Scotland, the loss of ...

Francis: Labour is failing the Welsh language

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"It is interesting to note that the 'Iaith Pawb' document places sizeable emphasis on the importance of the Welsh Language Board. Despite the fact that the Government wishes to take the Welsh Language Board under its wing, it has never come up with ...

Francis: Minister has failed the arts and Welsh language

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"The motion, as it stands, reflects the growing frustration at the Minister's incompetence and arrogance in his handling of the arts in Wales and the Welsh language.

At the start of the year, the Arts Council of Wales wrote to the Minister ...

Francis: Promiting culture and the Welsh language

To the Welsh Conservative Party conference in Llandudno.

"Boneddigion, Boneddigesau, Annwyl Gyfellion- Bore Da i chi gyd.

Mae'm arbennig o dda i weld chi i gyd yn edrych mor hapus, a dy ni wedi cael Cynghadledd llwyddiaunus ac yn wych yma yn Llandudno.

This, I am sure you will ...

Francis: Securing a viable future for the arts in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"What are the benefits of bringing the strategic planning functions of the Arts Council of Wales under Government control? This policy was announced 14 months ago, but we still do not know.

In future, six national organisations will be in a privileged position ...

Francis: The future of healthcare in Mid and West Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Earlier this week, over the border in England, the Secretary of State for Health, Patricia Hewitt, decided that she wanted more NHS services and facilities to be provided in the community.

A White Paper was published setting out a vision of care and ...

Francis: Safeguarding the future of the Welsh language

"Mae'r iaith Gymraeg wedi dod yn bell ers ymgyrchu a phrotestiadau y 1970au. Wedi dweud hynny, cred llawer nad yw Deddf yr Iaith Gymraeg 1993 wedi cyflawni ei llwyr botensial, a bod lle i wella a chryfhau.

Bwriad sefydlu Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg oedd rhoi cyfrifoldeb iddo i amddiffyn ...

Francis: Protecting historic monuments in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I was hoping, Minister, that you would have read the amendment that we tabled to both motions more carefully, because the fact of the matter is that these abolition Orders afford your Government a real opportunity to implement a proper strategy—a plan ...

Francis: Political interference in the arts in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Like Ieuan Wyn Jones, I cannot recall an occasion when a public body such as the Arts Council of Wales has been so damning of a Minister or a Government as it has been in laying bare its concerns about political interference in ...

Francis: Speeding up improvements on Welsh railways

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"In announcing your transport programme, this time last year, Minister, you said that it was designed to 'increase the speed of delivery on transport, support the development of the economy and help to spread prosperity across all parts of Wales.'

Clearly, an effective ...

Francis: Keeping Welsh tourism on the map

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"I will confine my comments to the matter of the Wales Tourist Board, and my colleague, Alun Cairns, will deal with the WDA.

The Wales Tourist Board is currently winning on many tracks, but the driver, it seems, is changing. Is he qualified ...

Francis: Safeguarding the future of the Welsh language

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Fel plaid, nid ydym erioed wedi credu bod Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru yn cydnabod bod angen cadw swyddogaeth hanfodol, neilltuol ac annibynnol Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg.

Mae pryder mawr y bydd diddymu Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg yn arwain at wneud yr iaith yn ...

Francis: Labour failing the Welsh language

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Minister, about 10 months have passed since we last debated 'Iaith Pawb'. Unfortunately, little has changed since then.

Last September, you rejected our amendment in that debate on bringing the Welsh Language Board into the Government, saying that it was obviously linked to ...

Francis: Equal access to the arts in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"In your last statement regarding the Wales Millennium Centre in November of last year, Minister, you stated that the company's final business plan showed a balanced operation for the first three years, but that the capital fundraising deficit was then below £2 ...

Francis: Welsh communities suffer fresh flooding blow

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales.

"Our sympathies go out to the people of the Conwy valley, who are suffering from the consequences of flooding for a second time in less than a year, and we sympathise with the financial implications that this will have for them in the ...

Francis: Don't politicise the arts in Wales

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"So far, this administration has not fully or properly explained the reasons for bringing the Arts Council of Wales in-house.

Let us face it—it still has much explaining to do about its interpretation of a bonfire of the quangos.

The only thing ...

Francis: A future for the National Eisteddfod

Speech to the Conservative Policy Forum in Llandudno

"When I was a small child growing up in the village of Dinas Mawddwy in South Meirionnydd, every Saturday night, the roadhouse hotel owned by my parents would be packed to the rafters for a traditional sing-song.

Saturday night was organ night ...

Supporting the Welsh language

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"The Welsh Conservative group recognises that the distinctive role of the Welsh Language Board needs to be preserved.

We need to listen to those who have experience of safeguarding the language since the board's inception. That will colour the review that we ...

Tourism training in Wales - what people want

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"In our country, where the nature of the tourism business is mostly small and fragmented, where competition is high and where businesses struggle against a backdrop of rising fuel prices, increasing business and interest rates and poor transport connections, how do we provide ...

Welsh Government urged to act on floods

Communities need protection, say Welsh Conservatives.

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"According to 'Flood Defence Arrangements in Wales—The Future', it is estimated that, over the next 50 years, flood damage could increase by 50 per cent for river flooding and in excess of 200 per cent for ...

Francis: Wales needs a National Art Gallery

Conservatives back Welsh arts projects.

Speech to the National Assembly for Wales

"The Assembly Government's policy to ensure free access to museums and galleries has proved to be extremely popular and the Conservative Party supports that policy.

Since this policy was implemented and entrance fees abolished, the number of ...