Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd. I speak to amendment 78, the only amendment in this group. One of the central principles of this Bill is to try and break down the borders between the different sectors of the post-16 education sector, which, historically, have been seen as being isolated from each other. Naturally, perhaps, there is concern, with a move towards a more comprehensive system, and we heard...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd. Yes, I would just like to place on record that Plaid Cymru supports the Minister's views on the amendments tabled in the name of Laura Anne Jones, that is, 81, 82, 83 and 84. Freedom of speech is not unconditional, and, as was noted in the debate, we already have legislation to safeguard freedom of speech in HE institutions and to safeguard students and staff within those...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd, and I welcome the opportunity to open the debate on group 5, and to specifically speak to amendment 166, tabled in my name. During our scrutiny work on the Bill as introduced, the Children, Young People and Education Committee was eager to ensure that this legislation and the new arrangements that will be created through it will maintain and extend the long-established...
Sioned Williams: Plaid Cymru, of course, supports the principle of securing resources to promote and enhance the demand for Welsh-medium tertiary education, and we voiced our concerns about this during Stages 1 and 2, concerns that were shared during Stage 1 by UCAC, the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the Welsh Language Commissioner. We were therefore pleased to have seen during Stage 2 a robust amendment to...
Sioned Williams: Plaid Cymru supports the amendment in this group, certainly amendment 6, which responds to issues that were raised during scrutiny stages. As the Minister and Laura Anne Jones said, it is a period of significant change in ALN, and it's important that this Billl, which introduces major changes to tertiary education, does deliver for our ALN learners. As we know, there are barriers for people...
Sioned Williams: Thank you very much for the statement, Deputy Minister.
Sioned Williams: I'm proud that the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru commits the Welsh Government to making Wales the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe and to calling for the powers to legislate to improve the lives and protect the safety of trans people in Wales to be devolved. It's clear how crucial those commitments are, given how hate crimes against people based on sexual orientation have risen...
Sioned Williams: Thank you for the statement, Minister, to mark Refugee Week.
Sioned Williams: I'm looking forward to attending the Home Away From Home exhibition in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea later this week, which is a celebration of the people and organisations who've been involved in making Swansea a city of sanctuary for over 10 years. Getting to a safe place, of course, is only the first step—an often perilous and exhausting step—on a long journey for refugees,...
Sioned Williams: There are many things to celebrate in terms of how the innovation of the well-being of future generations Act and the work of the future generations commissioner help to steer the vision and implementation of policy, but we also know that there are many challenges. As a member of the Equality and Social Justice Committee, which has been scrutinising the work of the commissioner, I agree that...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Weinidog. The Reid review contained five central recommendations for the Welsh Government on how to support research and innovation in the aftermath of Brexit. With higher costs now eroding small businesses' margins at a rate that many have not experienced before, many small firms are now facing multiple headwinds that threaten the stability of our economy. Giving small businesses the...
Sioned Williams: 1. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's innovation strategy? OQ58177
Sioned Williams: Thank you for the statement, Minister. It's concerning, of course, that the supersponsor scheme has had to be temporarily paused, because we know that this was a scheme where we can best guarantee that the needs of refugees are met, and that their safety and well-being are safeguarded. We understand and also appreciate the need to ensure that the appropriate support is available and that...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you for your statement, Minister. The scale of the crisis facing too many households in Wales is truly horrifying. Inflation, as we've heard, is at a 40-year high, and energy prices are going up 23 times faster than wages. Given this emergency facing households, Plaid Cymru agrees that the UK Government should reinstate the £20 uplift to universal credit...
Sioned Williams: Again, we need timescales for this crucial work. It must not be swept aside. Hybrid working is also a key component of workplace practice, and it isn't mentioned, unfortunately, in the committee report. So, I would like to hear if the Government would consider addressing this as a part of Senedd reform.
Sioned Williams: Yes. I hope this is only the first step of many towards a Senedd that truly reflects and represents the citizens it serves. As Mary Wollstonecraft said, 'The beginning is always today.' I'm glad to see that today is dawning.
Sioned Williams: No, you've had enough say this afternoon, Darren. Well, there are those who believe that the playing field—[Interruption.] There are those who believe that the playing field is already level—
Sioned Williams: —that structural inequality, which we debated in this very Chamber yesterday, doesn't exist, although report after report points to the contrary, and the make-up of this Senedd proves it beyond a doubt. There are those who feel that we don't need statutory measures to ensure better representation. After all, we wore our early gender balance achievements as a badge of pride and patted...
Sioned Williams: So, why are gender quotas a necessary step? How will they be effective? Well, gender quotas will provide a quick and simple solution to the unjustifiable fact of women's under-representation, or potential under-representation, in elected politics. International research shows that they are the single most effective tool for fast-tracking women's representation in elected bodies for...
Sioned Williams: Simply, the Senedd should reflect the Wales that it serves. Its Members, those who speak for their communities in this place, those who scrutinise the impact of policy and legislation, and the way in which our nation is governed, must be representative of those communities. Currently, only 26 of the 60 Members sitting in this Chamber are women, although over half the population of Wales is...
