Sioned Williams: Although more women work part-time than men, they have less time free from work. They're more likely to be trying to stitch together several part-time jobs to try to keep their heads above water. But they are far more likely to have less free time because they fulfil unpaid roles. When the order came to work from home, I was part of a team of employees who were mothers. I can testify to the...
Sioned Williams: Although it's affected us all, the effects of the pandemic have been anything but equitable. Research underlines this time and again. We hear talk of learning the pandemic's hard lessons, of building back better, of grasping the opportunity for change offered by the new perspectives forced on us by crisis. Adopting a new way of working is, of course, one such opportunity. A four-day working...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Minister. Of course, that isn't going to tackle the problems and gaps that there are for those children not at school. I would also appreciate further information from you, perhaps, in relation to another challenge in this area. In a way, your last answer outlined that, because finding information is still a significant barrier for many parents. As you depicted in your response,...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Minister. Although steps to fund childcare for more families where parents are in education or training is to be welcomed—and you made reference to that—could you provide us with any further information about the nature of this additional funding and how consideration of inequalities steers these current plans?
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, the programme for government contains few new commitments in relation to the issue of childcare. While the inclusion of continued investment in Flying Start and expanding the current offer to those in education and training are to be welcomed, this will do little to address the challenges faced by those with younger children who live on low incomes or who require...
Sioned Williams: One way that the Welsh Government could mitigate the effects of the universal credit cut is to maintain the flexibility of the discretionary assistance fund—the national fund that provides small funding grants for vital living costs and support for one to live independently. The scheme was changed at the beginning of the pandemic to enable more people to claim financial assistance if they...
Sioned Williams: The duty of this Senedd and of this Government, as I stated at the beginning, is to best serve the interests of the people of Wales. The end of the universal credit uplift will be disastrous for people all across the United Kingdom, but families in Wales will be hit harder, and a significantly higher proportion of families with children in Wales will be affected than some other areas....
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to open this important debate on behalf of Plaid Cymru, and I'd like to ask my fellow Members to seriously consider voting in favour of our motion this afternoon. In responding to Adam Price's question here yesterday, we heard the First Minister talking about people's right in Wales to be treated in a way that is fair and...
Sioned Williams: The price of coal has been too high in Wales. We must ensure everything is done so no more families like those of the Gleision miners pay this terrible and unacceptable price. We remember them today—fe'u cofiwn.
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd. The Swansea valley community where I live, and the community I represent, and the whole of Wales today commemorates the Gleision colliery disaster exactly 10 years since the disaster. On 15 September 2011, four local colliers were killed—Charles Breslin, David Powell, Phillip Hill and Garry Jenkins—in the Gleision quarry in Cilybebyll near Pontardawe when the colliery...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Weinidog. I also want to raise the issue of pet theft with the Minister, alongside Natasha Asghar, and especially dog theft, because we did see that sharp rise in the demand for pups during the pandemic, which has been linked to the recent rise in dog thefts, as, sadly, dogs have increasingly become a profitable target for thieves. In my region of South Wales West, 59 dogs were...
Sioned Williams: 5. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact of pet theft on animal welfare in Wales? OQ56815
Sioned Williams: There's a growing and vocal movement in favour of expanding free school meals in Wales. I met with representatives of the anti-poverty coalition last week. The frustration at the growing levels of child poverty and the determination to see this stain on our society addressed made a very deep impression on me. This broad-ranging and passionate support for expanded free school meals provision...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd. The unprecedented impact of COVID has held a mirror up to our society. What we see in the reflection is not only the impact of the last difficult months on everyone, but also the difference in the impact on different parts of our society—the difference that arises from economic inequality. And the picture that we see is not a new one, either. It is tragically familiar,...
Sioned Williams: Prif Weinidog, the ability of pregnant women to have their partners present during pregnancy assessments, scans and around the birth is something that has been raised throughout the pandemic. It's been a particularly difficult time for many women who ordinarily would have had the support of their partner or nominated person to support them during what can be a very challenging and emotional...
Sioned Williams: Thank you for that response.
Sioned Williams: It's been three years since the UK Government once again turned its back on Wales by refusing to invest in the Swansea bay tidal lagoon, and it's two years since the Swansea bay city region submitted a revised vision, the Dragon Energy Island project, to Welsh Government. Despite that particular report suggesting that by July 2021 construction could begin on the lagoon, that time has arrived...
Sioned Williams: 6. What assessment has the Minister made of the contribution that a Swansea Bay tidal lagoon would make towards meeting the Welsh Government’s environmental targets? OQ56774
Sioned Williams: —beyond the sphere of education. So, what are the plans in order to support these as part of the work programme? Thank you.
Sioned Williams: The Minister will be aware that the Swansea valley, in his own constituency, is linguistically significant because it includes the highest number and highest percentage of Welsh speakers in Neath Port Talbot—among the highest in the whole of Wales in fact. In relation to the objectives set out by the Minister today in terms of developing Welsh-medium education, safeguarding and developing...
