Joel James: Thank you, Deputy Minister, and, as you know, the Modern Slavery Act UK specifies that companies with a turnover of £36 million or more need to declare the measures that they're taking to stop slavery in their supply chains. More recent developments by the UK Government in 2020 have, in what was a world first, extended this requirement to all public bodies and local authorities in England...
Joel James: 1. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact of anti-slavery legislation that affects Wales? OQ57402
Joel James: Thank you, Minister. As you'll be aware, agricultural greenhouse gases that emanate from soil, manure and fertiliser, along with methane produced by cattle, have added considerably to climate change and are considered as bad, if not worse, than carbon dioxide. There is an urgent need to encourage everyone within land management, in particular those who grow food and manage livestock, to...
Joel James: Thank you, Minister, for your response. For transparency purposes, I'd like to highlight that I am a community and county borough councillor. As you know and as you've said, community and town councils play such an important role in the sustainability of the communities that they represent, and they are the very definition of local democracy. I understand the role of community and town...
Joel James: 5. Will the Minister make a statement on the role of community council clerks? OQ57366
Joel James: 9. What measures has the Government put into place to ensure that agricultural supply chains are eco-friendly and sustainable? OQ57369
Joel James: —are NEETs. Again, given the sampling data does not accurately consider the complexity of the data, such as the relative mobility of young people and those attending further education, colleges or independent schools, the percentage of 16 to 24-year-olds who are NEET in reality could already be much lower and, in theory, it could already be met. It implies that the Government is bereft of...
Joel James: Firstly, Minister, with regard to the gender pay gap, which you are aiming to eliminate by 2050, the data that is frequently used—and it has even been used in the 'Well-being of Wales: 2021' report—is a measurement based on median full-time hourly earnings. This simple measurement collates the salaries of men and women and divides them by 37 to give an hourly rate. It then adds hourly pay...
Joel James: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you, Minister, for your statement today. I would like to start by providing a few comments about the first wave of milestones in the hope of focusing on the rationale behind them and in the hope of discovering why the Minister considers these milestones ambitious, given the 30-year timescale.
Joel James: Thank you, Llywydd. Cardiff Council, as the previous Member has explained, has fallen consistently short when meeting the recycling targets set out by the Welsh Government, and the council's predicted that it will have to invest in secondary recycling in order to meet them. Perversely, they do not have the budget to implement secondary recycling, and the council predicts that the estimated...
Joel James: Thank you, Minister. A RenewableUK Cymru analysis report has recently highlighted that, when spatial limitations are applied, such as proximity to housing, Ministry of Defence training areas, main river corridors, and even proximity to other windfarm developments, which would be applied during any planning application process, then the actual usable land that's available for windfarm...
Joel James: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on pre-assessed areas for wind turbines in Wales? OQ57313
Joel James: A recent British Medical Association tracker survey has revealed that over half of the doctors surveyed in Wales have worked extra hours during the pandemic with a quarter of them reporting that these hours were unpaid. Over a third of the doctors who responded to the BMA's survey felt pressurised by their employer to work extra hours and over a third had also either skipped taking their...
Joel James: Thank you. I appreciate your comments, and I would urge you to investigate this further and get more of the details, then, because if the allegations are proven to be true, I think it's a serious issue that needs investigation. As someone who no doubt passionately reads The Socialist, the mouthpiece for the Socialist Party, formerly known as Militant, you would have been interested to see an...
Joel James: Thank you, Deputy Minister, and thank you for taking the initiative there and meeting with the Royal Mail for that. As you will know, a recent investigation by a national newspaper has shown that Royal Mail HGV drivers have been logging fraudulent overtime claims, regularly signing up for lengthy lucrative and long distance overtime shifts on weekends and bank holidays. However, these...
Joel James: Thank you, Llywydd. As you are aware, Minister, throughout the current pandemic, there's been ruthless targeting of vulnerable people by text scammers claiming to represent the Royal Mail. In these scams, fake text messages have been sent, supposedly from the Royal Mail, informing their intended victims that a parcel or letter is waiting to be delivered to them, however a small admin fee...
Joel James: Thank you, Minister, for your statement. As a member of the Local Government and Housing Committee, one of the things that has struck me the most is the lack of any reliable and quantifiable evidence on what is actually happening in communities that appear to be affected by second home ownership, despite the fact that this Government is looking to change planning policy in this country to...
Joel James: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you for giving me an opportunity to correct the record. It was just with regard to the business statement earlier. As you know, I’m a councillor, and I forgot to mention that when I spoke. Thank you.
Joel James: Trefnydd, as you may have seen, despite council and community opposition, developers have finally secured permission to demolish the historic Roath Park pub along City Road in Cardiff, following the trend that has seen the gradual destruction of Cardiff's historic fabric. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident, and campaigners are fighting right across the country to preserve buildings that...
Joel James: Thank you, First Minister. As you know, the land used globally to grow crops for Welsh consumption is equivalent to 40 per cent of the size of Wales, and one of the largest crops grown overseas for Welsh consumption is soy bean, which is used primarily by the Welsh poultry industry. As such, for Wales to change its farming practices so it doesn't contribute to deforestation overseas, we would...
