, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I suppose, for me, personally, I wouldn't want to leave it in a worse state than when I came into the portfolio. So, for however long I'm in that portfolio, I wouldn't want to do that. But, of course, I would want to see—. Particularly if we have a change of…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I don’t think you can have a timescale. So, if you'd have told me back when I was in this portfolio 10 years ago that I would spend—. Well, certainly, when I was in the previous portfolio, all I did was Brexit. It was just so, so intense; there was so much in…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
So—I’m speaking personally, obviously—I certainly hope to see a UK Labour Government in, and, as you say, we will have far more opportunities to have discussions, to influence, and to help, I hope, set the agenda. So, even now, during the kind of pre-election…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Thank you. I don't disagree with what you're saying, and when I came into the portfolio, one of the first questions I asked was, 'How many children are living in poverty in Wales?' And it's shameful, it's absolutely shameful, the number; it's 29 per cent now…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Well, certainly organisations—. You'll appreciate that I haven't met with a huge number of third sector organisations in the past 12 weeks, but the ones I have met with, certainly, that's not coming over as much as it did 10 years ago. But I'm very happy to…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Well, I hope there has been a change.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Yes, absolutely. That is a classic example of working smarter. I remember when I was in this portfolio 10 years ago, the third sector really pushing me to have more than three years' funding. If you think about it, probably over the last 10 years, several…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
We do. We are in the here and now, aren't we, at the moment? Because you will be very aware of the impact that the cost-of-living crisis has had on so many people in Wales. Before I came into this portfolio, my predecessor, Jane Hutt, chaired a cost-of-living…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
As I said, we have to be very pragmatic about it. In relation to the third sector, I heard a great line when I was at the partnership council. They said, ‘We should be called the first sector’, and I thought that was really good, because they are often at the…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Again, I think it's about making sure that everybody is looking at what they've done previously. So, I was at the third sector partnership council—not last week, the week before—and clearly the voluntary sector and the third sector are very important in…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
I think it's definitely working smarter. I say in every portfolio I've been in that you just can't keep doing the same things differently, you have to do different things. It's working with partners in areas. Certainly, in sport, I've been having discussions…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Thank you. As you say, it's a very large portfolio, it's a very diverse portfolio, but I do think that culture and social justice go very well together. I've been in post 12 weeks now, I think it is, and I've been looking at the opportunities to do that. I…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice
Sorry, just to say that Ruth Meadows isn't here.
, Plenary
Debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee Report, 'Actions, not words: towards an anti-racist Wales by 2030'
I think it's really important that we work collaboratively. I'm not aware of the specific words that you referred to, but I think it is really important that we work together. You can say this about many aspects of policy development: the Welsh Government…
, Plenary
Debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee Report, 'Actions, not words: towards an anti-racist Wales by 2030'
Can I just finish this? John Griffiths very eloquently identified Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities, which absolutely do face that. Yes, I'll take an intervention.
, Plenary
Debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee Report, 'Actions, not words: towards an anti-racist Wales by 2030'
Sorry?
, Plenary
Debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee Report, 'Actions, not words: towards an anti-racist Wales by 2030'
Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Welsh Government regarding the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan' inquiry, and I very much welcome the Equality and Social Justice Committee's report, 'Action…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Absolutely. I mentioned I'd had meetings with the senior leadership team, so obviously the officials in the probation service, the representatives for Wales, and I met with the deputy directors—that was on one occasion—from Parc prison. And we did discuss…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you. I will certainly be seeking a meeting with Will Styles who, as you say, is the new director at HMP Parc. I mentioned in my answer to Altaf Hussain that I had a joint meeting with the Minister for mental health because I thought it was really…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Well, as I say, the operational running of the prison is absolutely the responsibility of the UK Government, and it is imperative that the staff and inmates are not impacted again in the way that they have. My thoughts certainly go out to the staff and the…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you. Well, I will certainly be making that case, as you say, hopefully to a UK Labour Government, but I shall be doing be doing it to any colour Government, because I absolutely think the Welsh Government's position is very clear: we do believe that…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
The operational running of HMP Parc is reserved to the UK Government. I'm extremely concerned at the recent events and have sought frequent meetings with the relevant senior leadership teams.
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice: Culture and Social Justice—Reaffirmation of our values
Thank you. I was just reflecting, when you were talking about nation of sanctuary and cohesive communities, that this morning I met with HOPE Not Hate, and we had a very interesting discussion about information sharing and how important that is. We'd focused…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice: Culture and Social Justice—Reaffirmation of our values
Thank you. I have already met with both Prospect and PCS, and I think I'm having a separate meeting with the Musicians' Union, who I've also met, but I think they've asked for a further meeting. You will know that, as part of the co-operation agreement, Dawn…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice: Culture and Social Justice—Reaffirmation of our values
Thank you. Well, as I think I mentioned earlier, I have already met with the WNO, with the interim director, and I look forward to meeting with you also. I think it's fair to say we've never quite seen or heard a protest like the one we had from the WNO…
