Michelle Brown: Thank you for your update, Cabinet Secretary, but I have to say that it’s such a shame for the people who need Betsi Cadwaladr that the Cabinet Secretary’s statement doesn’t contain more good news than the broad assertions that there have been unquantified improvements in some areas. Now, I’m not going to rehearse the disgraceful statistics that have come out of Betsi Cadwaladr;...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary, although I note that, once again, you press-released your key announcement before announcing it to us. Since you're able to issue a press release on the matter, you're clearly in a position to issue the statement to AMs, but you didn't. I do find it rather disappointing that you released it to the press first before making the announcement...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you for your statement, Minister. I'd also like to thank the advisory group for their work so far. I'd also like to congratulate those involved in delivering the improvements in transition services and other positive steps that you've updated us on today, Minister. In an ideal world, no child would have to go into the care system—I think that's...
Michelle Brown: I support this motion. Under Labour, the people of Wales have had to endure a crumbling health service, a failing education system and economic and local government policies that make no business sense whatsoever. Once again, Labour have tabled a series of amendments that show they're in complete denial about the problems they have caused and, regrettably, I have to say that it's their...
Michelle Brown: Abstain.
Michelle Brown: I also support the motion. I agree that it is the producers of the packaging that need to be responsible for their part in the creation of the vast amounts of waste that end up in the bin every year. For too long legislatures have been content to burden householders with the responsibility for recycling and waste disposal of packaging, even though they have almost no control over what most...
Michelle Brown: Just one more line.
Michelle Brown: Perhaps an obligation on retailers and manufacturers to take back the packaging they choose to use in their business may focus their minds on whether the packaging that is currently being used is really essential. And that's it—thank you.
Michelle Brown: Plastic pollution and littering from flushed wipes are on the rise. Last year, the Marine Conservation Society recorded that over 14 wet wipes were found per 100 metres of coastline, a rise of 700 per cent over the last decade. Most people have seen or will have heard of the massive problem of plastic polluting our oceans, and the problem obviously isn't confined to cotton buds and wet wipes,...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Minister. It's all very well heralding this wonderful new assessment tool and, granted, I think an adaptive tool is an improvement on a paper test, and the explanation you've given about the tool—it sounds like a very, very good online tool, but don't you think it should be up to the individual schools to decide how they assess their learners? It's the...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Presiding Officer. The children's commissioner and anti-bullying charities have called for statutory recording of all bullying incidents. The Welsh Government said in 2017 that it was reviewing the policy. Have you finished the review yet? If not, why has it been taking so long?
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Minister. The question, really, is: you're saying that there's a consultation ongoing at the moment—fair enough, there's a consultation. However, bullying in schools isn't a new issue. This has been a devolved matter for a long time now. Why is it only now that you're coming up, or only relatively recently coming up, with a consultation? Are you going to propose...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Well, you've thought about statutory recording of incidents of racism in schools and you've thought about paper tests for reading and other assessments. At the same time, one in 10 learners in Welsh secondary state schools suffer bullying every week. That means that there are more children being bullied than there are children not hitting literacy or...
Michelle Brown: I'd like to thank Paul Davies for introducing this Bill. I'm in complete support of this Bill and agree with everything that's been said so far in support of it, so I'll try not to repeat the points already made. But, turning to one of the representations that we've had against the Bill, I'm sure that everyone here has received the e-mail about the Bill, authored by a number of clinicians...
Michelle Brown: 1. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of why the rate of sex attacks in Wales is higher than the UK average? OAQ53273
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. A woman who has conceived via rape faces a set of decisions that most people would find incomprehensibly difficult to make. She ought to be able to be certain that having to see or have her rapist be part of her child's future life is not a factor that needs considering when making any of those decisions. Recently, Sammy Woodhouse, a rape and child...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Minister. If this Government is so concerned about the impact of Brexit on the Welsh NHS, is the Minister comfortable with the admission that the First Minister made to me in committee recently that the Welsh Government hasn't spoken to a single pharmaceutical company about the implications for supply of Brexit but, instead, has left it up to the UK Government?...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Minister. Your statement paints a very grand description of a very grand plan for a new curriculum, and I can't say that I disagree with the objectives of that curriculum. But, as you know, the Association of Directors of Education in Wales, along with the Welsh Local Government Association, have said that pupils' learning could be left to chance, because the...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Deputy Minister. I welcome the statement and completely agree that we should make sure that Wales is indeed a nation of sanctuary for those who need it. As a comparatively prosperous nation, we have a moral obligation to offer sanctuary to those fleeing persecution or war, and we must do all we can to increase our capability to do so and to offer everyone here,...
Michelle Brown: Will the First Minister make a statement on efforts to enhance democracy in Wales?
