, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, we have a sense of the scale in that we know that in every single part of Wales—from Haverfordwest in the south right to the north—there have been individuals badly affected by this scandal. We don't have definitive numbers, because we know…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, the UK Government has at last promised action to exonerate and compensate people affected by these appalling miscarriages of justice. But the scandal illustrates wider factors in access to justice, factors highlighted in the Thomas commission report…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, it's a very clear contrast, Llywydd, isn't it? Here is a highly successful scheme. It was in September of 2022 that the designated Member, Siân Gwenllian, and I went to the Member's region to launch the universal free-school-meal service. And it's very…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, I don't have the figures for those particular strands in the effort that we make to hand, but I'm sure they can be provided to the Member. Look, I think the key point is this—and some of the things we've learnt over the years are—that in order to…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Cefin Campbell for that supplementary question, Llywydd. Of course, I agree that there is important work to do, and we are funding people to do that work here in Wales to help people draw down the benefits that are available to them out of the UK…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Cefin Campbell for that question, Llywydd. We are doing all we can to support people affected by the cost-of-living crisis, including those in mid and west Wales. We are helping people to access their financial entitlements, providing targeted help to…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I very much agree with the point that Carolyn Thomas has made about bus priority measures being the right answer to making sure that buses are able to move through communities, particularly where there is a great deal of traffic. That's why the Welsh…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I'm happy to help the Member as best I can, and to say again what I've said here and what the Deputy Minister set out in some detail last week. We are committed to a review of the guidance that we provide to local authorities. If it has not been sufficiently…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
People across Wales, including the Vale of Clwyd, will benefit from fewer collisions in communities, saving lives and reducing casualties. In addition to reduced deaths and injuries, we can expect increases in cycling and walking, and improvements in public…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I certainly believe that business rates is a system ripe for reform, and the Welsh Government, of course, has done a great deal of work on an alternative system to business rates. We wouldn't be beginning work now, because we've been working on this topic for…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We will not be reconsidering that decision, unless Plaid Cymru can tell me where the money that has been diverted from business rate relief to support many other programmes, including many of the other programmes that, week after week, Plaid Cymru Members…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, we begin Plaid Cymru's questions with this week's topic for more investment; another week and another area in which Plaid Cymru wants the Welsh Government to find more money. Where is this money to come from? We never have an answer to that…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
As Members will know, the budget laid in front of the Senedd is the most difficult budget we've ever had to set. There's a choice to be made, and here you can see the choice in front of you. The Conservatives, through their leader, say that they would invest…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I don't doubt for a moment that the quotation that the leader of the opposition offered was a direct quotation. The point is that it was a partial quotation—that it took part of what the report said and aimed to suggest to us that that was the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I've read the inspector's report. It's a good deal more balanced, as you would expect, than the question from the leader of the opposition. It does point to unrelenting pressures on the service, it does point to increasing demand, but it also…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, the issue of local authority reserves was very effectively dealt with by the leader of RCT council, Councillor Andrew Morgan, on Sunday. He offered to debate any Conservative politician who wished to take him on in explaining how reserves are…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, home-to-school transport is a statutory duty of Welsh local authorities. Proposals put forward by Rhondda Cynon Taf will continue to meet the requirements of this Senedd’s learner travel Measure.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, first of all, the myriad of trade deals to which the Member refers are, in the main, simply deals that were already available to us on better terms while we were inside the European Union. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the office on…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, Members of the Senedd will remember very vividly the promises that were made here on the floor of the Senedd—how Wales would not be a penny worse off as a result of leaving the European Union. Although, in fact, of course, as we know, we are £1.3…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Jayne Bryant for that question, Llywydd. Leaving the single market has worsened trading conditions with Europe, to the detriment of businesses and consumers across Wales. Newport West is also affected by the UK Government’s failure to replace more…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Vikki Howells for that, Llywydd. She makes an important point that when a report of this sort is published, and it is a shocking report to read, one of the difficulties is that it casts a shadow over all of those people who do such good work in the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, this is a highly critical report that exposes underlying failures in leadership, governance and decision making within the service. It demonstrates the need for fundamental cultural and managerial change. The Deputy Minister for Social Partnership…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Peredur Owen Griffiths for that, Llywydd. The Trussell Trust figures are stark, and they demonstrate the point I made earlier about the sharply unequal society in which we live and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on so many families here in…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We continue to utilise all the levers available to us to support those living in poverty in South Wales East and across Wales. Our draft budget prioritises help for those households that are hardest hit and leaves money in the pocket of those who need it most.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We have very regular engagement as a Welsh Government, primarily through the Minister for Social Justice, with our police and crime commissioners. Formally that is done through the policing partnership board for Wales that we jointly chair, but it also…
