Vaughan Gething: ...change, regulation and inspection. During the consultation a number of stakeholder meetings and focus groups were held across Wales. These included approaches to reach some people who do not traditionally respond to and take part in consultations. The consultation ran until 29 September last year. There were 336 submissions from individuals and organisations, as well as 1,328...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...of what was in the White Paper. I will start with the concern on the intention to get rid of the community health councils. I will make the point again, as I’ve done previously, that we’re not asking for the CHCs to be kept forever—that’s not what people are asking for—but for the retention of their function and the purpose that was and is delivered, as the voice of the people. I...
Vaughan Gething: ...for those people who don't regularly take part in consultations. We engaged Communities Connected to do so. I realise that the Consultation Institute wanted to run their own event. We said we would not engage with that because I don't believe that the Welsh Government should send Ministers or officials along to events where our stakeholders pay for that access. I do not believe we should...
Gareth Bennett: ...arrangements in Wales. One of your proposed reforms is to extend the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds. One of the arguments that has been used recently in support of that move is the principle of no taxation without representation, but I note that 16 and 17-year-olds aren't actually supposed to pay council tax, and figures from HMRC for 2014-15 suggest that only around 15 per cent of 16 and...
Vikki Howells: ..., noting how far we have come in terms of promoting equal rights and diversity, but also the challenges and barriers we still have to overcome. The year 2018 marks the hundredth anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, so it's perhaps no surprise that LGBT History Month this year explores the role that lesbians and bisexual women played in the votes-for-women campaign....
Julie James: ...the progress we are making in Wales and the challenges we continue to face. Gender stereotyping is both a cause and consequence of gender inequality. All too often, women and girls are still not given the opportunities to fulfil their potential. We are working hard to change and challenge this on many fronts. Our work around STEM—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—is...
Siân Gwenllian: ..., assess this situation and also consider introducing a similar policy to what is being introduced in the Rhondda, and do so across Wales? Finally, we need to take positive steps to create equal representation between men and women as elected representatives. How on earth can it be right that half the population is under-represented so appallingly in public life? Only 27 per cent of...
Joyce Watson: ..., we are celebrating the centenary of women getting the vote, but of course it wasn't every woman, was it? Let's be clear. It was those with property and older than 30. So, immediately, we see the Representation of the People Act 1918 deliberately excluding working-class women from voting, and that, in my opinion, set immediately the difference and the fight that women would have to have...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Llyr, I have met with both UK-wide officials of UCU as well as Welsh representation, and I continue to be in correspondence with them. Unfortunately, because of the bad weather in Cardiff on Saturday, I was unable to attend the UCU conference, because the conference was cancelled. Officials keep in close touch with both the employers and the employees, and I have, at every opportunity,...
Llyr Gruffydd: I'm glad to hear that you've made representations to the UK Government. Clearly, UCU has said that their colleagues in many other European countries in post-1992 universities, schools, FE colleges, the NHS and Government all have their pensions underwritten and guaranteed by the state of course, and they're asking why UK pre-1992 universities should have a pension scheme with no Government...
Mick Antoniw: However, we echo the concerns raised by the Hansard Society in respect of the scrutiny procedure that applies in certain urgent cases. These concerns are that the Bill does not impose a statutory duty on the Ministers of the Crown to explain the urgency; that there are no defined limits to the cases, which may or may not be urgent; the sift mechanism can be bypassed completely, again without...
Julie James: Taking those in reverse order: the developer, I understand, has responded to the letter issued by the Welsh Government. Officials are currently considering the representations made before a final decision on the need for an EIA is made. Residents who have been affected by the activities that Jane Hutt has mentioned several times in this Chamber—our advice is for them to raise their concerns...
Paul Davies: ...review since 2013, and so it's important that the Welsh Government now brings forward plans to manage these landscapes. It is disappointing that the Welsh Government's statement only confirms that another statement will be published in a few months' time. Therefore, my first question is to ask the Minister: why is this process taking so long, and does the Minister agree with me that the...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and, again, without sounding too repetitive, I'd like to thank you for your considerations. The one thing that's stuck in my mind on this is not only have you listened to Assembly Members, but you've listened to the genuine and general concerns out there. Of course, I have Snowdonia National Park within my constituency of Aberconwy, and there you've had...
Vikki Howells: 7. What legal representations has the Counsel General made on behalf of the Welsh Government in relation to its new economic contract? OAQ51909
Julie James: ...Sheffield area of England and appear to have been targeted at random post boxes. It's particularly hateful and it's obviously designed to make people afraid. You're absolutely right that that's not something we can tolerate in any way at all, and, in fact, we very much want to do the very positive things that you've been saying, and we do do a lot of those. So, a lot of our mosques had...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...questions tomorrow, so no doubt I'll be teasing some of the more contentious points out. But, you know, reform in any guise, however required, can be contentious, especially given that this is yet another attempt by your Government to get a grip of a failed local government system, and it's failed under a Welsh Labour Government. I don't blame our hard-working staff, our officers or our...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Okay. Okay. With your proposals for larger local authorities, does the Cabinet Secretary envisage that councillors will be elected by proportional representation or first-past-the-post? We would like the answer to that today. And, finally, will you confirm how many council leaders have asked you to leave their councils alone and actually continue in the model now of 22 local authorities?...
Gareth Bennett: ...we are moving to a Green Paper, so things can still change, and are subject to consultation, hopefully we will soon know what the final map of the Welsh councils will look like. Now, that is not to say there won't be controversy over which councils we do end up with. Janet raised the issue earlier today of possible political fixing. Now, I won't use the same term, but we know that's always...
Jeremy Miles: ...under the law—something that has become increasingly important since repeated cuts have been made to legal aid and to other services designed to advise those in need of assistance or representation. We are the custodians of the Welsh statute book, made up not only of the laws made by this Assembly and the Welsh Ministers, but also those pre-devolution laws that we have inherited. That...
