Siân Gwenllian: ...more generally. And women do that far more often than their male counterparts. For the sake of natural fairness, but also in order to remove the barriers facing women generally, we must have 50:50 representation among those making decisions here in Wales. And that is why I agree entirely with the recent proposals made by the expert panel on Assembly reform, which suggest making it a...
Julie Morgan: ...of issues that you look at, but I think there has been such a long history and such a long struggle that we do owe it to everybody in Wales—to women and men—to make sure that we have equal representation here. I just think we must never forget that what we do here in this Assembly is working for the good of the people of Wales, and we're trying to improve people in Wales's lives, and,...
Joyce Watson: Diolch, Siân. Thanks very much for bringing this debate. This figure for local government, the representation of women, is 28 per cent if I remember the figure right. At a time when austerity is hitting really hard, right down to local government budgets, the lack of women around the table in the first place and the serious lack of women driving the economic agendas forward in cabinets is of...
Julie James: ...when I've been negotiating my own salary in private sector legal firms and I've been told what my bonus or whatever is going to be and I've said, 'What are the men getting?' In firms where it's not a problem, they tell you instantly and where they won't tell you, it's never because they're not getting as much as you. So, I have to say that one of the things I've also liked since I've been...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...the root causes of the problem of voter disengagement and the disconnect with politics felt by so many residents in Wales will be covered by the proposals you are bringing forward. Local authority representation in Wales is in danger of becoming a closed shop. In the 2017 local government elections, 7 per cent of county borough councils seats were left vacant. At town and community council...
Alun Davies: Presiding Officer, I think the whole Chamber will be with me when I say I'm delighted that I'm not always accountable to this place for the actions of the United Kingdom Labour Party and their press office. I would say to the Conservative spokesperson to perhaps move away from her counsel of despair. We seem to have listened to five or six minutes of a list of all problems and difficulties...
Siân Gwenllian: I want to focus on three aspects that you've noted in your statement this afternoon, and all three relate to increasing participation and better representation within local government. The way that young people come into contact with politics in their early years is crucially important for the future of representative democracy, and therefore Plaid Cymru welcomes your intention, as a...
Alun Davies: ...-Sunders raised in her contribution with regard to the lack of competition for some seats in some parts of Wales. But I, and I would suggest that you too, will have to acknowledge that there is not sufficient support currently to move to this system. Without general support across the country, I don’t believe that we should force or impose change of the electoral system on people. We...
Alun Davies: ...the question. Look, I'm a strong supporter of fair votes, to ensure that your vote counts wherever you happen to live and to encourage people to participate in elections. And I think proportional representation does do that. However, we must all recognise that we don't have the mandate for that at present, and we don't have the support to do that at present, although I would say that, most...
Alun Davies: ...that is a great way forward for all of us. But let me say, as I conclude, on this matter, we have expected and we expect young people to take decisions on their future life chances at 16. We should not exclude them from taking decisions on their community at 16. The American revolutionaries in the eighteenth century made it very clear to the British Government of that time that there would...
Paul Davies: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It'll come as no surprise to the leader of the house that I, too, continue to receive representations from constituents regarding the lack of delivery when it comes to broadband services. I have whole villages in my constituency, like Mynachlog-ddu, for example, where some infrastructure has been upgraded, but not completed. I know that other Members have...
Kirsty Williams: Perhaps there's one silver lining to the predicament I find myself in: at least the Welsh Liberal Democrats can claim 100 per cent female representation in this particular Assembly term. [Laughter.] Although, I must admit that's not a particular silver lining I would have welcomed. I have always, throughout my political career, paid tribute to other political parties that, I believe, took...
Mick Antoniw: ...a lack of control over what they can do to the property they own. When the Scottish Government legislated to abolish feudal tenure, they got the tone exactly right. Like many Members, I've received representations from constituents where the root cause is the inherent unfairness, complexity and outdated nature of leasehold contracts. Complaints about spiralling ground rents, people feeling...
Andrew RT Davies: ...provision for women from Northern Ireland and the consultation that has been brought forward by the Government. I make no observations about the substance of the consultation, but I have had heavy representations over the weekend about the length of the consultation that the Government has allowed for this important piece of work. Apparently, the length of the consultation, it has been put...
Julie James: On the first very important matter, the Cabinet Secretary certainly heard your representations, and if you have specific instances that are leading you to the conclusion that that consultation is too short, then I suggest you write to the Cabinet Secretary and set those out. He's indicating his willingness to consider them. And on the second, I think you can hear the Cabinet Secretary...
Jenny Rathbone: ...getting a limited vote—of course, this was at a time when men also had a limited vote; it wasn't all men who had the vote either—we need to make sure that women's votes count and that women's representation in our political institutions counts as well. I wanted to raise, leader of the house, the issue of period poverty, because it is shocking to learn that one in 10 women cannot afford...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Today marks the significant, 100-year anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which was passed on 6 February 1918. This Act enabled all men and some women over the age of 30 to vote for the first time. It is worth noting, however, that it wasn’t until 10 years later, with the passing of the Equal Franchise Act 1928, giving women the right to vote at age...
Jane Hutt: Can I just also very much welcome the statement by the leader of the house on the centenary of women's suffrage? We do, as you say, leader of the house, celebrate today the Representation of the People Act passed on 6 February 1918. It gave women the right to vote whilst also noting that women had to be over 30, and they, or their husband, had to meet a property qualification in order to...
Julie James: ..., to assist people to continue those exhibitions into the future or to develop them in any way that they see fit. I should have answered in response to Siân Gwenllian, but I'll say it now: we are not looking at a short timescale to come back. We're imagining that a lot of these schemes will be towards the end of the year when some of the other centenaries are coming forward. The...
Julie James: ...forward to. I'm also looking forward to taking forward the debate about votes at 16, so that we lower the voting age so that everybody in this country who is eligible to pay taxes has proper representation in the places that represent them. We had the Brexit vote, and of course the Government will honour it, but what we didn't do is have a vote about the terms of that Brexit. We've had...
