Lynne Neagle: Can I thank Llyr for his kind comments to me, and thank him, too, for his questions, which I will do my best to answer? I completely agree in relation to prevention. We know that it’s absolutely key in all sorts of areas, and it’s something that we always need to be trying to do more of. I think that is one of the reasons why our inquiry into the first 1,000 days will be so important,...
Lynne Neagle: Can I thank Mark Isherwood for those questions? As far as I’m aware, we didn’t receive any evidence from the John Summers school because our inquiry was specifically around the decision of the Welsh Government to amalgamate the funds that were given to support Gypsy/Traveller learning and minority ethnic learning into one big grant, called the education improvement grant. It’s been a...
Lynne Neagle: 10. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the importance of green spaces and parks in Wales? OAQ(5)0086(ERA)
Lynne Neagle: Thank you. I was absolutely delighted that Pontypool Park was named the best park in Wales for 2016, following a public vote by the charity Fields in Trust towards the end of last year. The park was also shortlisted from 214 entries for the UK’s best park award, narrowly missing out to Rouken Glen Park in Scotland. We have so much to be proud of in Pontypool, and the park itself is unique....
Lynne Neagle: Will the First Minister outline his priorities for improving support for communities in Torfaen?
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Llywydd. I’m very pleased to open this debate on the first report of the Children, Young People and Education Committee’s inquiry into youth work in Wales. I’d like to place on record my thanks to the 1,500 young people from across Wales who gave their views to the committee. Their evidence was very clear that youth services are very important to many young people and can...
Lynne Neagle: During the course of the inquiry, the committee identified several key issues that needed urgent and radical action by the Welsh Government. These were a lack of strategic direction and leadership from the Welsh Government, the sector and young people not being sufficiently involved in developing policies, and the need for greater collaboration between the statutory and voluntary sectors to...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I thank all the Members who’ve contributed to an excellent debate on our report this afternoon? I’d like to thank Darren Millar for his positive comments about the outcome of the inquiry, which are very much welcome. I also wholeheartedly endorse what he said about the importance of the youth parliament. I, too, was there today to receive the...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Llywydd, and I’d like to begin by showing a short video, please.
Lynne Neagle: Thank you. I know there are some Members who attended the launch of the ‘State of Child Health Report 2017’ that the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health organised, who have seen that video, but I did think that it was definitely worth giving it wider viewing. I’d like to thank Naomi Lea and the Fixers organisation for allowing us to show that film today, which is called...
Lynne Neagle: 8. Will the First Minister make a statement on the 21st century schools programme in Torfaen? OAQ(5)0459(FM)
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, and I was delighted to welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Education to Torfaen last week to officially open two new primary schools in Cwmbran: Llantarnam Community Primary School and Blenheim Road Community Primary School, and these have been constructed as part of the twenty-first century schools programme. With Ysgol Panteg, which is due to open to pupils later this month,...
Lynne Neagle: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement, and also thank him for his engagement with me as a backbencher who’s been deeply worried about these proposals, and also for meeting with my local authority? I firstly wanted to place on record my thanks, and pay tribute to the staff who are delivering Communities First in my constituency, who have done an absolutely sterling job. I know...
Lynne Neagle: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on progress with regard to the Circuit of Wales?
Lynne Neagle: Thank you for giving way. I wonder whether you would concede that that is a very unfair accusation, because on those occasions, we voted because the inclusion of zero-hours contracts would have led to a Supreme Court challenge of very important legislation on things like the social services and well-being Act, and that we have always made clear our opposition to these kinds of employment...
Lynne Neagle: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on how the Welsh Government is helping to improve the local environment in Torfaen?
Lynne Neagle: 4. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the implications of the UK Government’s 2017 Spring Budget on the Welsh block grant? OAQ(5)0110(FLG)
Lynne Neagle: Minister, I really welcome the fact that this Welsh Labour Government has continued to prioritise investment in social services, in contrast to the approach that’s been taken in recent years in England, but it remains the case that pressure on social services is immense. I hope that you are giving very serious consideration to using the additional funding to tackle those pressures. I know...
Lynne Neagle: 4. Will the First Minister outline how the Welsh Government is working to develop emotional resilience in children and young people in Wales? OAQ(5)0540(FM)
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, First Minister, for meeting with me last month to discuss my concerns about the impact that putting the family fund money in with the sustainable social services fund has had on disabled children and their families. Given that we now have this extra money available, and given your assurances to me in that meeting, and that these are some of our lowest income families who, in my...
