12 January 2022 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Okay, thank you. Moving to your overarching responsibility for fuel poverty finally, last month, on Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, the Welsh Government published its cold weather resilience plan for people at risk of living in a cold home, something I've been…
12 January 2022 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Well, as Professor Debbie Foster told the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee this morning, which I was chairing, to drive the change required will need change to the way we work across the public sector in Wales, with embracement of true…
12 January 2022 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Diolch, Llywydd. I was re-elected as chair of the cross-party group on disability at its first meeting this Senedd term on 17 December. The online meeting included a presentation by the chief executive of Disability Wales on the 'Locked out: liberating…
11 January 2022 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
How do you respond to concern raised with me by deaf community representatives in north Wales about the lack of information in British sign language on the official website on how to take lateral flow tests and PCR tests, where, as they state, if their…
14 December 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Supporting the creation of a Community Bank for Wales
Therefore, Minister, what work is being done to identify and deliver the skills needed to support the model for the future? And finally, how is access to the branches for disabled people with both visible and hidden impairments being designed in?
14 December 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Supporting the creation of a Community Bank for Wales
I thank the Minister for his statement. I'm also grateful to the team at Banc Cambria for the time they've given in recent months to keeping myself and colleagues updated on the development of a community bank for Wales. Having previously worked in the mutual…
14 December 2021 , Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
I call for a Welsh Government statement on the provision of support for the families of veterans with mental health conditions. Last week, the Forces in Mind Trust published their new report, developing a model of the Restorative Approaches Veterans and…
8 December 2021 , Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Food poverty
I move amendments 1, 2 and 3. As our amendment 1 states, every human being has a right to a nutritious and adequate food supply. Every day, people in Wales go hungry because they're in crisis. There are many reasons for this, including low income, debt…
8 December 2021 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Mental health services
Speaking here in September, the health Minister said it was important to note that a summary report was published in 2015, including the Holden recommendations. But this is the very brief summary report referred to above, which did not describe the 31…
8 December 2021 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Mental health services
My recent call for a Senedd debate in Welsh Government time on the Holden report published last month, documenting failings on the Hergest mental health unit in Bangor, was rejected. We have therefore brought forward this opposition debate on a matter that…
8 December 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
At the weekend, I was contacted by a constituent who said, 'I took the train from Cardiff about 3.23 and arrived in Chester after midnight on a train that should've arrived at 6.23 p.m. Passengers and I think Transport for Wales were aware of the problem…
7 December 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: The Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Strategy
Diolch. Working alongside Plaid Cymru’s Jocelyn Davies and Liberal Democrat, Peter Black, I was one of the three party spokespeople in the fourth Assembly who took the Welsh Government to the line over passage of the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and…
30 November 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: International Day of Disabled People
The 2021 theme of the International Day of Disabled People on 3 December is 'fighting for rights in the post-COVID era', celebrating the challenges, barriers and opportunities for disabled people. As you know, I've chaired the cross-party group on disability…
30 November 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
I actually had my Pfizer booster on Sunday. But in your written statement last night, 'COVID-19 Vaccination—JCVI further advice on boosters', you stated that you have accepted the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in line…
30 November 2021 , Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
I call for a Welsh Government statement on music education in Wales. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting Denbighshire Music Co-operative, a not-for-profit organisation providing quality music tuition in the Denbighshire and Wrexham areas, and…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee and Equality and Social Justice Committee Debate: Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015: Scrutiny of implementation
Time and again, we've heard that not enough has been done to achieve this and bring about the shift to sustainable development across public services that the Act seeks to deliver. We can all appreciate that raising awareness and understanding and changing…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee and Equality and Social Justice Committee Debate: Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015: Scrutiny of implementation
Well, I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak in this joint committee debate as Chair of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee. Joint committee debates are uncommon and this debate highlights the importance of the Senedd taking a…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Okay. Thank you. My final question, a slight change of tack, but the latest Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales's annual report shows that of the 149 applications not still pending at the time of the publication, only 21 were dismissed, suggesting…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you. Three years ago, I attended the event held in Wrexham by Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service in Wales to discuss the 'Strengthening probation, building confidence' paper, under which all offender management services in Wales sit within the…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Diolch, Llywydd. In your 30 September written statement—update on the development of the justice system and the legal sector in Wales—you said that, although the UK Government had rejected the Thomas commission report's central recommendation regarding the…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
I was pleased to sponsor and speak at the second Sanctuary in the Senedd event with the Wales refugee coalition five years ago now, but as I said here in January 2019, integration is key to making Wales a nation of sanctuary, noting that unless we can break…
23 November 2021 , Plenary
Debate: President of the Welsh Tribunals Annual Report
As the president of Welsh Tribunals states, a substantial part of his report focuses upon how the Welsh tribunals have dealt with the disruption brought about by coronavirus. As the report states, tribunal members and the staff of the Welsh Tribunals unit…
23 November 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Second Homes and Affordability
Thank you.
23 November 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Second Homes and Affordability
Perhaps I should start, given the Minister's comments, by declaring that, in my previous employment working for a building society, I worked with Tai Cymru to introduce a number of low-cost home ownership schemes in Wales. But last Friday, I visited Penmachno…
23 November 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Diolch. Thank you very much indeed. What hope can you give to the constituents who have contacted me saying that they have had one vaccination in England and one in Wales, and, despite being passed from pillar to post for weeks, they still can't get their…
