, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank the Member for that supplementary question, and I agree with much of what he said. I too welcome the decision by the PCC of Dyfed-Powys to become an accredited employer, and Rhys ab Owen is right to point to the success of the higher education sector…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, I imagine the Member is a good deal stronger a supporter of the market economy than I would be, but he appears willing to intervene in it when he thinks that it's to his advantage. I was pleased, Llywydd, to see that six care companies announced…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Mike Hedges for that. It's an ambition he set out that I certainly share, and, Llywydd, the good news was that there was a larger move forward in the number of employers accredited as paying the real living wage last year than for a number of years…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Mike Hedges for that question, Llywydd. According to the Living Wage Foundation, in 2021, the proportion of employee jobs in Wales paid at least the real living wage was 82.1 per cent. Yesterday’s announcement of an increase in the hourly rate of the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I think Sir Keir Starmer, who led for Labour during those long months of the exit negotiations, will have been pointing to a distinction that the UK Government was so reluctant to recognise. The United Kingdom has left the European Union. That…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, first of all, let us hope that they don't pursue such a course, because, as Adam Price has said, it would simply be to make a difficult situation even more damaging—economically, in terms of trade, but also in terms of the situation on the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I want to thank the leader of Plaid Cymru for that question. I think the point he made is worth repeating, Llywydd, isn't it, that the OBR, the Government's own advisers, in the run-up to the budget two weeks ago, concluded that the impact of Brexit in…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, there is a depth of cynicism in that question that I think is genuinely concerning. The Member makes partisan political points while pretending that he does nothing of the sort. The attacks on the Welsh Government on this matter from his party are…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, the Member wanted to suggest that we weren't taking the advice of the chief medical officer on one score—he's wrong there, by the way: we do follow the chief medical officer's advice, and he supports our position on the COVID pass—but then he…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, the Member has got it completely wrong. COVID passes are there to help to keep Wales open. They are there to follow the advice that we have from SAGE that Governments should take those low-intensity early measures that you can put in place to…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, it's no great celebration in Wales to be offered £25 million by a Government that is taking nearly £250 million out of the pockets of our poorest citizens. That's what I call very small change indeed. I'm glad that the Welsh Government has been…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Alun Davies for that. I think he's generous to describe the policies of the Conservative Government as the result of incompetence. My view is that they are very often the deliberate decisions of a Government that knows what it is doing, knows that…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, households are under unprecedented financial pressure resulting from the pandemic, our exit from the European Union, the rising cost of living and cuts to welfare support. Deliberate and damaging decisions made by the UK Government are plunging many…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, I simply don't recognise the dismal picture the Member paints; a little more cheerfulness about Wales and our prospects for the future would not go amiss. This Government has taken radical action, usually opposed, of course, by her Members; whenever…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, I thank John Griffiths for that, and thank him for being at COP to represent his own committee and to make sure that, at the parliamentary level, Wales was represented and able to hold conversations, I know, with parliamentary representatives from…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank John Griffiths for that question, Llywydd. COP26 will provide opportunities for Wales to innovate, collaborate and develop international partnerships to help us achieve our net-zero by 2050 ambition. We will increase our exports of green skills and…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, the Welsh Government is investing £27 million, one of the largest ever coastal risk management projects in Wales at east Rhyl, in the Member's constituency—a two-year project that will see 600m of new sea defence wall and promenade constructed…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, residents of the Vale of Clwyd have already experienced the impact of climate change in river flooding and flooding by the sea. COP26 brings new ideas and a chance to learn from experiences elsewhere in the world, so that those can be put to work to…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Joyce Watson for that, Llywydd. She is right about the disproportionate contribution that Wales makes to the armed forces. Wales is 5 per cent of the UK population, but we provide 9 per cent of service personnel, and yet only 2.5 per cent of service…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, the practical actions taken by the Welsh Government to support service and ex-service personnel are set out annually in our armed forces covenant report. The latest edition, published in June, highlights the progress made, as well as our future plans…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Carolyn Thomas for that, Llywydd, and I thank her for writing to the Welsh Government, to my colleague Vaughan Gething, on behalf of the company, and as a result of her letter I know that the economy Minister's officials met with FibreSpeed last week…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Peter Fox for that, Llywydd. I'll make an enquiry into the postcode facility and what has happened to it, and I'll make sure that I write to the Member with a reply on that. It's an interesting question about what lies beyond the current round of…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Peter Fox for that, Llywydd. Responsibility for connectivity lies with the UK Government. Where there are gaps, we continue to step in. Over 27,000 premises have now secured access to full fibre across Wales under our £56 million full fibre roll-out…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, I thank the Member for drawing attention to the success of the Welsh Government's policy of minimising the number of people who need to be in the workplace during a global pandemic. Personally, I think it is a terrific achievement that Welsh…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank the Member for that. Llywydd, Welsh Government’s remote working policy aims to secure 30 per cent of the workforce working remotely on a regular basis during this Senedd term. There are many environmental and economic benefits to remote working, which…
