Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, you will be aware that there are hospitality businesses who at present do not have access to outdoor spaces to operate, and you'll also be aware of the steps that are being taken by local authorities to open up our public spaces to enable more businesses to trade outside, predominantly hospitality businesses. It is, of course, possible to do that in the short term...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answer. I think that he would agree with me that those outdoor spaces will continue to be useful to businesses, though; because of social distancing, they will be able to serve fewer customers indoors and that has an effect on their profit. If I may turn now to the matter of those businesses that have not yet been able to receive support either from the...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answer, and I trust that Business Wales is providing that advice to self-employed people who contact them. I know efforts are being made to make the contact with businesses as simple as possible, but it can still be daunting. The Minister in his answer refers to the role of the UK Government in supporting business to deal with this crisis, and I think...
Helen Mary Jones: Does the First Minister acknowledge that the further education sector faces a great deal of unacceptable uncertainty as students return for the new term? For example, it is unclear as to how they will be resourced for the additional cost to be able to educate students, particularly vocational students, safely in a socially distanced way, and the potential £10 million extra pay bill that...
Helen Mary Jones: First Minister, you mentioned in your response to Mark Isherwood the code of practice around face coverings for autistic people, and you'll be very aware, I know, that as well as autistic people finding it sometimes difficult to wear a face mask, they can also find it difficult to communicate with somebody who is wearing a face mask, and the same would be true, for example, of deaf people who...
Helen Mary Jones: It was my privilege last week to visit, with my colleague Adam Price, a wonderful Llanelli-based organisation, CYCA—formerly the Carmarthenshire Youth and Children's Association, now Connecting Youth, Children and Adults. I have known of and supported CYCA's work for almost 20 years, and it was really inspiring to see how they've gone from strength to strength supporting children, young...
Helen Mary Jones: I want to begin by commending this report to the Senedd and congratulating the committee. I would argue that this is an example of our Senedd, our Parliament, at its best: detailed evidence collected, carefully considered, and strong, well thought through, detailed recommendations. As a Parliament and as a nation, we should be grateful to the committee for its work. Unfortunately, the...
Helen Mary Jones: 1. What discussions has the Counsel General had with law officers following the loss of the appeal against the High Court ruling by women born in the 1950s affected by the state pension age being changed from 60 to 66? OQ55546
Helen Mary Jones: Can I begin by thanking the First Minister, in his response to Angela Burns, for reiterating the point that Wales is a nation of sanctuary and we want to make people welcome and we want to make sure that they receive the support that they need? I was, Llywydd, shocked by what the First Minister has said about the Home Office's response, and it is quite unusual for me to be shocked by the way...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Counsel General for his reply. He will know that I have been working very closely with campaigners across my region, particularly in Llanelli and Pembrokeshire, on this issue. The result was obviously disappointing, but it didn't come as a complete surprise. I wonder if the Counsel General will agree with me that it now seems likely that the solution to this will come from...
Helen Mary Jones: 3. What discussions has the Commission had on how to inform the electorate of the Senedd elections in May 2021 despite coronavirus restrictions? OQ55564
Helen Mary Jones: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I’m particularly pleased to hear about the work that’s been done with young people. I want to ask what further work the Commission can do to ensure that people who don’t have English or Welsh as their first language understand that they have a right to vote. There will be many people who don’t have official citizenship, but who are Welsh citizens, in our...
Helen Mary Jones: We got the gist.
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. This week is Adult Learners' Week. The campaign, led by Learning and Work Cymru, aims to inspire and encourage thousands of adults every year to continue in and return to education and skills development, and to raise awareness of the value of adult learning by celebrating the achievements of learners and providing inspiration to see how adult learning can change their...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd, and can I thank the Conservatives for tabling this important debate today? There is much in the motion that we can support, but, as Suzy Davies has rightly highlighted, we are approaching the issues from a slightly different perspective. So, given the constraints of time, Dirprwy Lywydd, I'll confine my remarks to advocating for our amendments. Our first...
Helen Mary Jones: Trefnydd, I'd like to ask for a statement from the Chief Whip in her role as Minister with responsibility for equalities, to update the Senedd about the position of the asylum seekers arriving in Penally. I understand that there were further disturbances, albeit, thank goodness, of a minor nature, yesterday. The Government will be aware of a very strongly worded letter that was written by the...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his statement today and for the positive engagement that he and Russell George have already referred to, across parties, during this crisis. And I'm very grateful that, in some of the announcements that the Minister has made today, he clearly has actively engaged with those discussions and has taken that on board, and particularly referencing here that I know...
Helen Mary Jones: I thank the Deputy Minister very much for her statement. As she says, our towns are very important to us, and I'm sure that she'd agree with me that the crisis has highlighted just how important local communities are, but that we will also be perhaps using our towns and our town centres in different ways, partly as a result of the crisis. The Deputy Minister mentions in her statement...
Helen Mary Jones: 6. What recent assessment has been made of the demand for Welsh-medium education in Mid and West Wales? OQ55607
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. Yesterday, Minister, the First Minister said in response to a question from Adam Price regarding students returning home for Christmas that he wouldn't treat students differently from anyone else. Now, I'm very glad to hear what you've just said to Suzy Davies—that you won't treat them less favourably—but I would suggest to the Government that this is a very...
