John Griffiths: Perhaps I would, actually, Llywydd.
John Griffiths: May I begin by saying how much I agree with what Jane Dodds has just said? And I think much of what I will have to say will complement those comments. I think if we had responsibility here in Wales, Dirprwy Lywydd, for policing, and indeed criminal justice, we would have a much more progressive, and indeed productive, system that would really improve life for our communities here in Wales,...
John Griffiths: I think we hear a lot of rhetoric from the UK Government, Mark, but it's not always evidenced in practice. Yes, there may be individual examples, but we want to see a consistent approach, in terms of policing and criminal justice, that moves on to that more, what I would say, progressive and enlightened territory that we've already heard about in this debate today, which I think is badly...
John Griffiths: What is the Welsh Government's latest assessment of the impact on devolved responsibilities of the war in Ukraine?
John Griffiths: 8. What policies is the Welsh Government following to support the most vulnerable through the cost-of-living crisis? OQ57801
John Griffiths: Minister, as we know, the crisis is already with us, but, sadly, it's set to get considerably worse in terms of the cost of food, fuel, energy and much else besides. We know that specific steps have been taken by the Welsh Government to put schemes in place to help, and that's very welcome indeed, but, obviously, a lot of the responsibility lies with the UK Government and, for example, the...
John Griffiths: —if Welsh Government could take a fresh overview of these matters.
John Griffiths: It's good to follow that contribution from Luke. Dirprwy Lywydd, we do face a crisis, as we all know, a crisis in the cost of living. And sadly, as we also all know, it's likely to get worse and considerably worse; the cost of food, of fuel, of energy and many other things, it's a tremendous strain on the household budgets of those least able to withstand the impact. And particularly, it...
John Griffiths: First Minister, would you agree with me that, when children are in residential care, the policy direction of Newport City Council is appropriate? Through its Project Perthyn, it's bringing provision of care for looked-after children back in-house, with out-of-authority placements returning to new Newport City Council homes. It's bringing those children back to their home areas, families and...
John Griffiths: I think this is undoubtedly a very important and timely debate given the food crisis that we're all aware of, and the fact that that's just going to increase in its severity over the months to come. We all know that it's also a medium and long-term challenge because of the impact of climate change, and we really need in Wales to play our part in getting these localised food chains developed...
John Griffiths: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'd like to thank Heledd Fychan for bringing this debate to the Senedd today, and I very much agree that we do need to find ways to empower our local communities more in terms of flood prevention, because they know their local communities best. In December 2020, the Gwent levels experienced flooding in Magor and other parts, and there was great concern that the reens...
John Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm speaking, yes, in my capacity as Chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee, and we laid our report on the supplementary legislative consent memorandum for the Building Safety Bill today. We previously reported on the initial LCM and supplementary LCM No. 2 at the end of last year in December. As mentioned in the report, regrettably, we did not have sufficient...
John Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. We laid our report on the legislative consent memorandum for the Elections Bill in December last year, and in that report we noted the Welsh Government's position that it would be inappropriate to grant consent to the UK Government to legislate on the devolved matters included in this Bill. Most of our committee agreed that consent should not be granted on the basis that any...
John Griffiths: 3. How is the Welsh Government supporting families in Newport East with rising household bills? OQ57943
John Griffiths: First Minister, this morning, as chair of the Senedd's cross-party group on poverty, I chaired a joint meeting with our counterparts in the UK and Scottish Parliaments, and we heard from organisations and charities right across the UK on the scale of the current cost-of-living crisis and growing poverty. Clearly, these organisations are very worried indeed, as I think we all are. First...
John Griffiths: 7. What is the First Minister's assessment of progress in building an inclusive and tolerant Wales? OQ57988
John Griffiths: Diolch, First Minister. I would firstly like to say 'Eid Mubarak' to our Muslim community in Wales. The celebration marks the end of Ramadan and the month-long fasting from dawn to dusk. I was very pleased to take part and join my constituents for iftar suppers and a midnight game of football. The football was organised by Newport County's County in the Community and Exiles Together. Speaking...
John Griffiths: 4. How is the Welsh Government promoting strong public health messages with Wales's black, Asian and ethnic minority communities? OQ58026
John Griffiths: Thank you for that, Minister. During the pandemic, I think it became ever more clear that there are very considerable health inequalities within our ethnic minority communities. There were issues with getting messaging across with vaccination rates and a host of economic and social conditions. And thankfully, Minister, Muslim Doctors Cymru stepped forward—and a constituent of mine, Dr Kasim...
John Griffiths: 9. What action is the Welsh Government taking to tackle the climate emergency? OQ58111
