Natasha Asghar: I'd like to thank my colleague, Hefin David, for raising this question. Minister, shop-level vacancies in Wales remain amongst the highest in Wales. According to the Welsh Retail Consortium, in the second quarter of this year, the vacancy rate was 16.7 per cent. In England, a package of measures has been introduced to regenerate high streets and shopping areas by introducing a new permitted...
Natasha Asghar: Please can I ask for a statement, Minister, from the Minister for health, about the real living wage? Since Welsh Government announced its financial support to social care providers to ensure that all support workers will receive the real living wage, there have been complaints that providers are not receiving the funding that was supposed to be channelled to them through local authorities...
Natasha Asghar: 1. What discussions has the Minister had with the Deputy Minister for Climate Change regarding the future of the welcome ticket that provides free bus and rail travel for refugees? OQ58649
Natasha Asghar: Thank you so much, Minister. Minister, as far as I'm concerned, the welcome ticket is a fantastic initiative and has been very much welcomed by refugees all across Wales. However, it has been brought to my attention directly from asylum seekers and the Welsh Refugee Council that improvements are needed to make the scheme even better. I do apologise to everyone here if I do sound like I'm...
Natasha Asghar: 8. How have the Welsh Government's spending priorities helped public services recover from the effects of the pandemic? OQ58746
Natasha Asghar: I'd like to thank my colleague Jayne Bryant for raising this question. Minister, the decision of the UK Government to block the acquisition of the Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia for reasons of national security has obviously caused great concern amongst the workforce about the safety of their jobs and the future of the company, which my colleague just mentioned. Judgment on issues of national...
Natasha Asghar: Thank you for your answer, Minister. The devastating effects of the pandemic are still, sadly, being felt by public services all across Wales. It would be reasonable to assume, therefore, that your Government will take every opportunity to assist public services to recover. However, a recent meeting of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee scrutinising the Welsh Government's...
Natasha Asghar: What plans does the Welsh Government have to improve public transport?
Natasha Asghar: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Deputy Minister, during a recent interview on Sharp End, you hit out at Cardiff Bus for raising concerns about your controversial plans to roll out 20 mph speed limits across Wales. They feared that the move—which, I must stress, will cost upwards of £32 million—will lead to slower and more unreliable bus journeys. Deputy Minister, in response to the...
Natasha Asghar: Thank you, Deputy Minister. Believe me, I did study your interview, and sticking with the Sharp End theme here, Deputy Minister, you were asked if the people of Wales should expect to see more 50 mph speed limit zones—just like the ineffective ones already placed along the M4 at Newport, where I live—pop up across the road network. You replied, and I quote, 'Yes.' The 50 mph cameras in...
Natasha Asghar: Thank you, Deputy Minister. I appreciate your call for my future career change, whereas I'm quite happy where I am. I plan on staying here for a very long time because someone needs to hold you to account. In the same interview, returning back to Sharp End, Deputy Minister, you were asked if motorists across Wales should expect to see road charges introduced. Again, your response was, and I...
Natasha Asghar: How is the Welsh Government encouraging people to use public transport?
Natasha Asghar: First Minister, from last week, millions of pensioners across the UK began to receive an initial £300 as the Conservative Government's pensioner cost-of-living payments began to be sent out. These payments will be made to over 11 million pensioners in receipt of the winter fuel payment, including some 15,600 pensioners in Newport West. In addition to this £300 uplift to the winter fuel...
Natasha Asghar: Minister, please can I ask for a statement from the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being about mental health provision? I recently went on a ride-along with Gwent Police to get an insight into what life is like for police officers across south-east Wales. It was an incredibly eye-opening experience, and it was a great opportunity to have some open and frank discussions with...
Natasha Asghar: Minister, the global beef industry has enjoyed a series of anti-meat campaigns recently from various sources, making serious claims about environmental damage, animal welfare problems and health issues. Beef farming in Wales has suffered as a result. I appreciate my colleague's question to you earlier, but one of the ways to counter this misinformation would be to, obviously, as you mentioned...
Natasha Asghar: I'm grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate and to highlight the vital importance of small businesses to our economy and also to our communities. In a fast-moving world where businesses will all seek the best opportunities, large companies have the advantage of being able to relocate to other regions and even other countries to take advantage of the tax breaks and other...
Natasha Asghar: Thank you, Presiding Officer. In this debate, I've agreed to give time to Peter Fox, Jayne Bryant and Heledd Fychan to contribute to this debate today. It's a worrying fact that the scale and extent of child sexual abuse online has been steadily increasing. Research by the NSPCC shows a tenfold increase in online sexual abuse offences recorded by police in England and Wales over the last...
Natasha Asghar: The Online Safety Bill, currently at Report Stage in the House of Commons, delivers the UK Government’s manifesto commitment to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online, while defending free expression. The Bill has been strengthened and clarified since it was published in draft in May 2021, reflecting the outcome of extensive parliamentary scrutiny. So, let me tell you all...
Natasha Asghar: First Minister, I don't think you'll be shocked by what I'm about to say. I may not share the same sentiments as Hefin David in relation to this. This co-operation agreement, which, quite frankly, my colleagues on these benches and those outside of this Chamber have been referring to as a coalition, because if it looks like one it normally is one, has brought in one damaging proposal after...
Natasha Asghar: Thank you, Presiding Officer.
