Jenny Rathbone: 4. What financial support has the Welsh Government provided for taxi drivers to help them through the pandemic? OQ56337
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you, First Minister. I'd like to pay tribute to the Unite union for having highlighted the extent to which taxi drivers were suffering from being unable to qualify for the UK Government grants. And also to pay tribute to the Welsh Government for reaching out to taxi drivers and enabling them to get some targeted compensation for the disappearance of most of their customers as a result...
Jenny Rathbone: Yes, thank you. So, looking to the future and our need to ensure that we have a clean, decarbonised public transport system, what financial support could be made available to taxi drivers to enable them to upgrade their vehicles to the clean air standards that we're going to be requiring in the future, so that they'll be able to continue serving the communities that they obviously have such...
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you very much. In 'Our Economic Resilience & Reconstruction Mission' you highlight that nearly half of NHS Wales's food budget is spent outside of Wales, and so that's at least £10 million that we could be recirculating into the Welsh economy. I would guess that the local authorities' catering budget for school meals and for care homes would be of a similar order. So, this is a really...
Jenny Rathbone: I think this is an important debate to ensure that people realise in the farming community that we are listening to them, but I think there has been some exaggeration of what the problem is as far as what we're asking of farmers. We're asking farmers not to pollute the land and not to pollute the rivers, and that is a perfectly rational and civilised ask. We can't go on having nearly 3,000...
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you very much indeed for announcing that the WHQS is going to be raised to the highest A rating standard, which I know will be really, really good news to the tenant I was speaking to last week who lives in a no-fines home—you'll recall that this is one without a cavity—and in addition, he lives on the end of a terrace, so the heating...
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you very much. Apologies, Llywydd, for not having my headset on.
Jenny Rathbone: I also met some representatives of Teach the Future, and like most young people, they are extremely concerned, as they should be, about the environment. But I think that Llyr's amendment is misguided, because I think he misunderstands what the curriculum Bill is actually doing, which is to provide a framework for what teachers need to teach, rather than telling them exactly what they've got...
Jenny Rathbone: I agree with everything that Lynne has said, and I'd like to commend the fantastic work done by the children and young people committee to really get that consensus around such an important subject. I absolutely agree with her that this is all about children's rights, and particularly the rights to understand how their own bodies work, as well as their rights to ensure that they are only...
Jenny Rathbone: 6. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to support the economic recovery of Cardiff city centre in light of the pandemic? OQ56358
Jenny Rathbone: 5. What is the Welsh Government doing to protect the rights of musicians to work and travel across the European Union and beyond? OQ56359
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you for that, and I'd also like to add my loving remarks about your excellent targeted use of limited resources to supplement what is available from the UK Government to support businesses like taxi drivers and freelancers like musicians, which has really been appreciated. But turning back to the challenges facing Cardiff city centre, obviously, we have lots of unique selling points,...
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you. I'm very proud of Cardiff, which became the first—and possibly only—music city in the UK, because it is central to our economy as well as our culture. Because musicians are all freelancers, if they don't earn any money, they don't eat, so on top of the pandemic, leaving the EU has caused new barriers for musicians to travel. Now, happily, I understand that the Musicians Union...
Jenny Rathbone: I look at the Nuffield report that relates to these two conflicting petitions, and it makes it clear that we cannot go on delivering these services in a hospital building that is well past its sell-by date. If we want to improve cancer survival rates for the population of south-east Wales, we really do have to take things forward now, and we can't go on delaying decisions. It has to be—....
Jenny Rathbone: —by the petitioners. So, I don't think this discussion is going to be resolved today, but it does need to be resolved fairly soon, but there's a lot of money involved and it's really important we get this right.
Jenny Rathbone: I just wondered if we could have some clarity over the relevance of the consultation by the Food Standards Agency on revising food inspection regulations, which they launched just before we knew about the thin EU transition deal. It does rather pose a question mark as to whether it is seeking to undermine the standard we have come to expect, rather than simply an adjustment of the code. And...
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As the motion highlights, Wales has the highest prevalence of diabetes in western Europe. It currently gobbles up 10 per cent of our NHS budget—that's £950 million of next year's health budget. This debate isn't about type 1 diabetes, a complex medical condition that normally hits young people in adolescence, the triggers for which are complex and not...
Jenny Rathbone: What is the Welsh Government doing to improve air quality in Cardiff Central?
Jenny Rathbone: Just in relation to the call by Darren Millar and Suzy Davies for a statement on how we combat antisemitism in our universities, could that statement clarify that, whether or not universities are signatories to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, all universities must abide by the Equality Act 2010, which, obviously, protects Jewish people as people of protected characteristics?...
Jenny Rathbone: I think it's sensible to give the extra 12 months to enable local authorities to confer with Gypsies and Travellers, because it is extremely difficult to have any meaningful consultation whilst we're under the current restrictions, particularly as many of them do not have any internet devices that would enable Zoom meetings et cetera. However, I do hope that this is not going to be seen by...
