, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Absolutely possible, and, of course, having a Senedd Member to speak up for you and to make that case is always a great advantage. There, there may be more direct routes. I'm always very pleased to hear, myself, directly from any Senedd Member that has a…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Just to give you one practical example from the same sort of field that Hefin raised, it's Wales in Canada Year, and, as part of that, three major supermarket chains across Canada have been promoting Snowdonia cheese. And that will have happened in exactly…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Sure. Well, look, maybe I'll ask Andrew to explain what the process would be, because it is a well-trodden path, so he can set it out for you.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Well, the primary focus of those international offices is on trade and on making sure that, where there are opportunities either to identify and work with inward investors or where there are exporters from Wales wanting to find opportunities elsewhere—. That…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Not at this point, Chair. The offices are really only now being able to get back to doing the sort of things that we would have normally expected them to be able to do. At the height of the pandemic, they were pretty fundamentally repurposed. Our people on…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Yes, absolutely happy to have that sort of discussion—set it out on paper to begin with, and then at a future occasion to discuss it, if that was useful.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
[Inaudible]—as I can. I say to my team all the time I want our efforts as a Welsh Government to be focused on delivering the strategy, not going over and over the strategy. The strategy was designed, and the action plans published, after we left the European…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
It does vary. They're all captured in the annual report. We report on the waterfront there. Written statements are issued, but not invariably. How can I put this, Chair, in the best way? Some of the visits from ambassadors have a work programme and a lot of…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Some of it will be shared, some of it I will do directly myself. Amongst our key partners in all of this would be, for example, arts organisations. A lot of what we do involves the promotion of cultural links with the rest of the world, and so that would be…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
It has always been the case that responsibilities for international relations are spread across the whole of the Welsh Government. Just to give a couple of examples, Jeremy Miles as the Minister for education has responsibility for our educational links with…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
I'll give you a ticket now. [Laughter.]
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Of course.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Visits to Qatar during the World Cup itself are still being thought through, and we're in discussions with the FAW and so on. If there is to be a visit, then you want the visit to be at a point when it can have the maximum return on the time that would be…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Well, Chair, we'll be doing it in the run-up to the tournament as well as at the tournament itself. I met the ambassador from Qatar here in Cardiff last week; he came as a result of Wales's qualification. I was able to say to him that, had he come into the…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
First of all, I'd just thank you for what you said. I'm wearing this tie deliberately this morning, Chair, knowing I was coming here and we would be talking about international matters. This was a tie given to me when I was in Llangrannog. The motif here, it…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Well, Cadeirydd, diolch yn fawr. The world cup is one of a series of major international sporting events where Wales will be represented on the world stage over coming months—the biggest, of course, with the largest international reach, but not the only one…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Ministerial scrutiny
Thank you very much. Joining me this morning are Des—I'm sure you've met him before—who is the head of my office, and Andrew Gwatkin, who leads on all the issues we're going to discuss this morning.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, thank you to Llyr Gruffydd for that supplementary question. It's true what he said. Some figures show that over 3 million households additionally have bought pets during the pandemic than was previously the case. So, something major has…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, the cost-of-living crisis has had an impact on all aspects of life in Wales, including increased risk to animal welfare. We assess that risk together with our partners in the farming unions, third sector organisations, and through the Welsh…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, can I thank Darren Millar for raising that issue this afternoon? While I'm very familiar with Llysfasi and the work it does, and indeed the excellent work carried out by Coleg Cambria, that's the first I've heard of the specific issue that he's set…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank the Member, Llywydd, for the question. All children in Wales have a right to access education within their own areas. Local authorities are responsible for planning school places and must ensure that there are sufficient schools providing primary and…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, thank you very much to Siân Gwenllian, and thank you to her for co-sponsoring the event next week. From everything that I've heard, the first year of the unit in Tonna Hospital has been very successful, and we're trying to draw lessons out of those…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you. Llywydd, recurrent investment of £3 million has allowed health boards across Wales to develop community perinatal mental health teams. Prevention and early intervention ensures that more women receive effective support as close to home as possible…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I agree with the Member about the need for very significant investment, but the investment comes from water companies. They are responsible, not the Welsh Government. There is money that the Welsh Government invests, and we have £40 million already being…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Laura Anne Jones for that question, Llywydd. The privatisation of the water industry by previous Conservative Governments transferred responsibility for the sewer system to water companies. Some sewer systems, such as septic tanks, remain the…
