Julie Morgan: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m very pleased to speak in this debate about the committee’s report. Previous speakers have stressed how important it is that we have a fully developed advocacy scheme that covers the whole of Wales and that covers every local authority because it is the most vulnerable children who need it. We are letting them down if we don’t actually deliver...
Julie Morgan: I’ve recently been doing some work to support the campaign to raise awareness of ME or chronic fatigue syndrome ahead of ME Awareness Week in May and to support the work of ME Support in Glamorgan, which is run by a constituent of mine. What the campaigners tell me is that they’d like not only better awareness among GPs about the condition, but faster diagnosis. They also say that...
Julie Morgan: Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the Welsh Government consultation about the Wales and Borders Franchise and Metro?
Julie Morgan: I wanted to raise two issues. Refugees who come to Wales and to the UK are keen to work and want to do their bit for society, but they’re hindered by being unable to get a driving licence, because the theory test is only done in English or in Welsh. I understand that, up to 2013, you could do it in languages like Bengali or Arabic. As transport is such a big issue for people getting to...
Julie Morgan: I know that many of the journalists working at the sub-editing hub in Newport were from Cardiff, having already been made redundant by Trinity Mirror, which has also seen wave after wave of job losses. What more can the Welsh Government to do stop large private companies that run our local press titles decimating local news coverage still further? And does the First Minister know of any...
Julie Morgan: Thank you for that response.
Julie Morgan: Bovine TB is a devolved issue and hunting with dogs remains reserved. However, I’m sure that the Counsel General will have seen the recent report by the League Against Cruel Sports, finding that there was bovine TB in a pack of hounds in Buckinghamshire, and that this resulted in about 40 hounds being put down due to the risk of the dogs spreading the disease to cattle. Does the Counsel...
Julie Morgan: Could the Minister confirm that cover supervisors are not required to teach classes, because there is anecdotal evidence that this does sometimes happen? Their task, as I understand it, is to hand out the lessons that are prepared by the regular class teacher. There does seem to be some confusion about this.
Julie Morgan: 2. What assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of the role of cover supervisors in secondary schools? OAQ(5)0105(EDU)
Julie Morgan: 1. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the Welsh Government’s legislative powers in relation to hunting with dogs? OAQ(5)0031(CG)
Julie Morgan: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on support for deaf children in schools?
Julie Morgan: Last week I spoke at an event organised by the British Deaf Association to give deaf school pupils a taste of future careers and to help them to fulfil their absolute potential. This event coincided with British Sign Language Week. I wondered if it would be possible to have a statement from the Welsh Government about what their views are on making British Sign Language an official language....
Julie Morgan: I thank the First Minister for that response and congratulate him for raising this very important issues for so many years. Would he agree that the unwritten constitution of the UK is unstainable, in view of leaving the EU and with the threat of a second Scottish independence referendum?
Julie Morgan: 4. What progress has been made in setting up a constitutional convention? OAQ(5)0517(FM)
Julie Morgan: The Chancellor announced in his budget a £5 million fund to celebrate next year’s centenary of the first British woman to get the vote in 1918. This is, I know, a small amount of money in relation to the whole of the budget, but I wondered if the Cabinet Secretary could tell us how much of that money we would receive in Wales, how would that money be distributed and to what sort of projects.
Julie Morgan: 3. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on any Barnett consequentials arising from the Chancellor’s Spring Budget? OAQ(5)0114(FLG)
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak in this very important debate. I’d like to start by saying, as the Cabinet Secretary did in his introduction, how proud I am of what we’ve managed to do here in Wales about recycling. I’m sorry that UKIP is so grudging in some of their comments, because I think where we’ve made such really good progress, we need to acknowledge...
Julie Morgan: Last week, I held a meeting with the senior management of Barclays bank after it announced it was making 100 people redundant at its Llanishen mortgage advice centre. Many of these people have been working there for many years—20 years or more—and are highly skilled. So, it is a real body blow that these skilled workers are going to be made redundant. Would she be able to ask for a...
Julie Morgan: I feel great sympathy towards the individuals working in the NHS who have been affected in this way and also, of course, those who are working outside the NHS in Wales who also have been affected. I do, however, think that the Velindre hospital trust that runs the radiation protection service based in my constituency of Cardiff North has responded appropriately to this incident, which was, of...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’d like to congratulate the Members who’ve put forward this debate, because I think it does give the space to try to look at economic strategy and perhaps try to do it at a bit of a distance and to try to think of new ideas. So, I congratulate them on doing that. The argument about what makes certain city regions, countries or areas grow faster than...
