Leanne Wood: The matter I wish to raise today concerns Christopher Kapessa, a 13-year-old black boy whose body was found in the River Cynon near Fernhill last year. I mentioned the colour of Christopher's skin because his family strongly believe that it's a factor in the Crown Prosecution Service's decision not to bring a prosecution in connection with his death. The decision came despite the CPS's...
Leanne Wood: I'd like to place on record my thanks to the emergency services, as others have as well, but I also want to pay a special thanks to the community volunteers because, initially, some people saw no-one official at all, and these volunteer teams were a lifeline to people. I have to say as well that last week was one of the toughest weeks I've had to face as an Assembly Member representing the...
Leanne Wood: I want to use this opportunity that this Plaid Cymru debate brings to follow on from yesterday's statement on flooding. I raised a number of issues in the Minister's statement yesterday that were not dealt with in her subsequent response. So, I want to return to those matters today and to raise some more issues that time did not allow for yesterday. The first matter relates to Natural...
Leanne Wood: I understand that the chief executive of Natural Resources Wales visited Taff's Well this morning to speak to people who have been flooded. Last week I asked the Minister to come to the Rhondda with me to speak to residents about their experiences, and I want to convey a message to your Government from one of the residents in Ynyshir in the Rhondda. Mr Cameron says, and I quote, 'We have had...
Leanne Wood: Diolch. I welcome the steps that the Welsh Government is taking to acknowledge the problem with hate crimes today, as well as providing this space for discussion. I'd like to start my contribution to today's debate with two case examples, which go some way towards highlighting that more needs to be done to take on hate crime in all its subtle and sinister forms.
Leanne Wood: The first case is one from the Rhondda that came to may attention last year. A 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted. The perpetrator pleaded guilty and last September received a sentence of 24 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. A sexual harm prevention order was made for 10 years and he was also registered as a sex offender for 10 years. The suspended sentence has resulted in...
Leanne Wood: Minister, last week, when I questioned the First Minister on what was being done to assess the safety of coal tips following recent heavy rain, he told me that all the tips that posed the greatest risk will have been investigated by the end of last week. So, can you confirm if this has happened and can you inform us whether these assessments have discovered anything that would cause us...
Leanne Wood: I'm sure the people who've been affected by floods, the last thing they want to see is a shouting match in this Chamber. I welcome the extra £500 that the Government has announced for people without home insurance for flood damage. I'm also grateful for the additional money that has been generously donated by people to the various appeal funds. Money raised throughout the Rhondda by...
Leanne Wood: I know that a fair bit of time has been given in the Senedd to debating and scrutinising the Government on its planning and action in terms of the floods, but I've got a number of matters outstanding from my constituency that have so far stalled. I've got a case of a resident flooded in Treorchy who's seen his kitchen flood six, seven, maybe eight times now since the heavy rain began a few...
Leanne Wood: The British Government seem to have recognised the damage that they've done with 10 years of cuts to policing. However, one year, or even two budget increases will go nowhere near far enough to reverse the damage that's been done. So, this increase in funding must be the first step in addressing the chronic lack of funding that still exists. To address the chronic problems that Welsh police...
Leanne Wood: I was encouraged by the response of the First Minister yesterday, who indicated a willingness to consider adopting a scheme similar to the property resilience scheme that operates in England. This allows flood-hit homes and businesses to apply for up to £5,000 to help protect against future flooding. Yet, an answer that I had from the environment Minister this morning says that those...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. I move the self-explanatory motion. We've rehearsed the argument that people require an accident and emergency service within reasonable distance of their homes here on many occasions. The clinical evidence is clear that there's a relationship between distance and mortality in emergency situations, which is even clearer for respiratory conditions; in other words, the sorts of...
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: Do you accept that the south Wales programme is actually preventing the recruitment of consultants? If you do accept that point, do you think that the Government can intervene to get that changed?
Leanne Wood: I eagerly await the statement from the Minister with responsibility for business and the economy later, and I will be asking some questions about that. I also look forward to the statement from the Chancellor. Now I, as I'm sure have many other Members, have had scores of messages—if not hundreds—from people who are concerned about the economic impact of coronavirus. This was ramped up...
Leanne Wood: I welcome the business rate announcement, but it won't help the majority of small businesses and self-employed people in the Rhondda as they're not eligible to pay business rates. I've been overwhelmed with messages from concerned people whose income has come to an abrupt end in the last few days, and many people don't have savings because they've sunk everything into their businesses. People...
Leanne Wood: First Minister, some arrests have been made in connection with the deliberate setting of mountain fires in the Rhondda on Monday evening. People locally are very angry as these fires pose a risk to life. We've got mountain rangers, and I'm sure that people will support those with encouragement. Can you facilitate community involvement in mountain fire prevention? If you don't, I'm concerned...
Leanne Wood: It's an inexcusable failure, Minister, that you've not carried out the 5,000 tests a day in Wales that you promised. The World Health Organization advises that the countries that are best coping with this pandemic are mass testing, they're tracing and quarantining. There must be, at the very least, weekly testing for all key workers, whether they work in the public or the private sector, and...
Leanne Wood: I've written to you, Minister, about a number of businesses that have fallen through the gaps that everybody has been talking about in the provision to prevent unemployment and the collapse of businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these businesses doesn't qualify for financial support because it's not VAT registered and run from home. Now, the business owner has tried to get...
