, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Ministerial scrutiny session—The co-operation agreement
Okay. The horticulture development grants and the start-up grants were very welcome, but, obviously, we were talking about, I think, 26 farmers who took up the development grants and another 18 who took up the start-up grants. They're relatively small sums of…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Ministerial scrutiny session—The co-operation agreement
We'll come on to the free school meals programme later. At least three Welsh Ministers have visited Can Cook/Well-Fed in Shotton, and I'm keen to explore whether whatever they've taken away from those visits has been fed back into the discussions about the…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Ministerial scrutiny session—The co-operation agreement
I want to talk about the community food strategy. We don't have the levers to eliminate poverty in Wales, as discussed earlier with the First Minister, but we do have the capacity to eliminate food poverty, according to the Well-Fed coalition in Flintshire…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
Is this something you're actually looking at with local authorities?
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
Going back to buses, the Deputy Minister for Climate Change said on Wednesday that either 20 per cent or 25 per cent of the education budget is used on school transport. I nearly fell off my chair. What are the opportunities to collaborate and integrate…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
Okay. You talked about the working poor, and that chimes with—. Citizens Advice, in terms of cost-of-living support, is calling for the Welsh Government to move away from a sticking-plaster approach to address cost-of-living issues to a more preventative…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
Okay. I was going to move on now, Chair.
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
So, the Welsh Government's not considering any of these inducements—you know, a reduction in council tax or whatever it might be.
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
Thank you for that clarification. I appreciate the financial constraints the Welsh Government is under. But, 40 per cent of all houses are owned outright, either by the occupier or the landlord. Surely there's a role for Welsh Government to make it absolutely…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
A similar invest-to-save argument could be applied to the Warm Homes programme. The Equality and Social Justice Committee as a committee is very concerned that we do not know what the next iteration of the Warm Homes programme looks like in any shape or form…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
Thank you.
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Cost of Living
I just want to go back to energy and the £400 that the UK Government is no longer going to be paying out. Jane Hutt's doing a great job chasing Ofgem and the energy companies but, at the end of the day, this is a UK Government policy. This £400 went to every…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Bus emergency scheme
Thank you very much. We are in a very difficult situation here, and I think it’s absolutely right that we do debate this issue, so I thank Plaid for that. This is going to be a much more fruitful debate than the one we’ve just concluded. The Welsh Government…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Minister for Health and Social Services
There was a hole in your argument, which is that the Minister is not entitled to sack the executive board members. That is the problem. That is the job of the health board, to organise their own workforce.
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Minister for Health and Social Services
So, what would you do differently? Because you're supposed to be the official opposition. What would you do differently?
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Minister for Health and Social Services
Cardiff and the Vale have not had to cancel a single operation throughout this winter, despite the strikes, despite the continuing of COVID, and I don't understand how, therefore, you're saying that this is an underperforming health board. It's much better…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Minister for Health and Social Services
I want to probe your proposal, Mike, because what you're saying is, if you want to divide secondary from primary care, you'd need to set up 22 local primary care organisations. That would just make the problem far worse. We already have far too many…
, Plenary
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Prepayment meters and energy advice services
In your meetings with Ofgem and indeed with the UK Government, can you establish that the other scandal around prepayment meters, which is the so-called prepayment premium, which forces people to pay even more, is actually going to end in July? Can you get…
, Plenary
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Prepayment meters and energy advice services
It is an absolute scandal, is it not, that over half our energy is now generated by renewables, yet we are still submitting poor people to this sort of treatment? The energy system is absolutely broken. I wanted to focus on how effective the method of getting…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I absolutely endorse your ambition, and also NRW’s ambition, to reimagine urban spaces. At a time when people’s mental health is quite fragile, this is a really important thing. In my experience, it isn’t local vandals who are the problem—it’s people…
, Plenary
Debate: The President of the Welsh Tribunals Annual Report 2021-22
I think the access to all types of justice is hugely important, and the matters that tribunals deal with are obviously absolutely crucial for the individuals involved. Here we are again on the jagged edge of the justice system. Reading this annual report, I…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: The Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) (Wales) Bill
I very much welcome this Bill, although I hope we'll be able to find a slightly more Daily Mirror-ish title for it. Asthma is the third biggest killer after cancer and heart disease, and I completely associate myself with everything that Delyth Jewell has…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We have half a million people actively using our swimming pools in Wales and so, they're a really important resource for ensuring that everybody's active as far as possible. But sustainability in the long term is only possible if they are using renewable…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
7. What is the Welsh Government's strategy for sustaining swimming pools? OQ59327
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Motion under Standing Orders 17.42(vi) and (ix) to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting
Under Standing Order 17.42, are Members content to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting? Thank you. We now move into private session.
