Leanne Wood: There can be no doubt that racism, in all its forms, is real and rife for so many people in Wales. The Wales Governance Centre has shown us how imprisonment rates of people coming from black and minority ethnic groups are much higher here, with average sentence length being greater too. The 2018 report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, 'Is Wales Fairer?', found that race was a...
Leanne Wood: On the weekend, I was tagged into a tweet of a photograph from 1965 asking me if I could identify the location from the background surroundings. The photograph was entitled 'Brass band, Wales', and it was taken by Evelyn Hofer. It turned out to be a picture of the Mid-Rhondda Band, which is still going strong despite the challenges that all entertainers face because of COVID. When I shared...
Leanne Wood: 8. What is the Welsh Government doing to help people in the Rhondda to overcome the impact of coronavirus? OQ55680
Leanne Wood: Research from Save the Children has shown that more than half of the families in Wales on universal credit, or child tax credit, have had to cut back on essentials, and I'm seeing this at a community level, with demand for the anti-poverty food project that is run from my office, with the help of local councillors and fantastic volunteers. Will you provide more support for struggling...
Leanne Wood: Following on from the last point, Minister, this week is Baby Loss Awareness Week, and I'd like to ask the Government to bring forward a statement letting us know what is being done to help families and mothers cope with the trauma and psychological difficulties that can arise as a result of baby loss. There have been specific challenges, as we've just heard, that have arisen as a result of...
Leanne Wood: It's interesting how different statistics can tell different stories. The Minister uses police figures, but caseload data from Victim Support's National Hate Crime Report and Support Centre Wales shows that cases of hate crime have increased by 70 per cent between April and September of this year. Now, I'm sure this won't come as a major surprise to many, especially those in minority groups....
Leanne Wood: I'm here.
Leanne Wood: Okay. Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, this update will be welcomed by the women who raised concerns all those years ago, and who were patronised at that time and ignored. Now, I'm pleased that the review panel has concluded that improvements have been made to maternity services, but there will be understandable concern in the community about whether lessons have been learned. There will, of...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. On 22 September, the First Minister said that a payment of £500 would be made available for those people on low incomes who have to self-isolate. Since the announcement of the firebreak, many people in the Rhondda have asked me how they can claim this payment and if it has been made available for those people who'll lose income as a result of the firebreak during the next...
Leanne Wood: People in England who are clinically vulnerable and can't work from home have been given new shielding advice, and the over-60s have been advised to minimise contact with others. In Wales the advice to the clinically vulnerable group, including the over-60s, is to continue to work if you can't work from home. Your advice says your employer should be able to explain to you the measures that...
Leanne Wood: Can I have a statement about the new isolation payment of £500? I know the question was asked earlier on, but it was dismissed by the First Minister. I want to know whether a chunk of it will be clawed back by Westminster in the form of tax, national insurance and deductions for universal credit purposes, just as the £500 carers bonus was. We need information about this payment to be better...
Leanne Wood: Trefnydd, the Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board has very high rates of COVID-19, with the Merthyr area having the highest rate in the UK. Given these figures, I can't understand why we've not seen additional protective measures in our schools, where asymptomatic spread is taking place. Why are there no masks in the classroom? What is being done to reduce the risk of spread on school transport?...
Leanne Wood: Since COVID, the Royal Mail service in the Rhondda has deteriorated dramatically. Constituents have reported examples like a first-class letter taking eight days to get from Porth to Pentre, and another six days to get from Porth to Pontypridd. People are being told to make appointments with the sorting office in Clydach if they can't wait for urgent mail. Now, this would be bad enough in...
Leanne Wood: 3. What is the Welsh Government doing to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on people's health in the Rhondda? OQ55862
Leanne Wood: The coronavirus isolation scheme has finally opened after much delay, but it will not provide much comfort for the parents of children who have to self-isolate. Only people formally told to isolate by the track and trace teams are eligible for payment, and this is no good for a parent without childcare who has to take time off work to look after a child who has been ordered to stay at home....
Leanne Wood: Before I raise issues under the business statement today, I'd like to take this opportunity to correct the Record. Last week, I mistakenly voted against the joint motion on Armistice Day, and I'd intended to abstain on the motion as tabled, in order to vote on Plaid Cymru's amendment. Though I understand that the vote can't be changed retrospectively, I am very grateful for this opportunity,...
Leanne Wood: 2. What is the Welsh Government doing to reduce the risk of flooding in the Rhondda? OQ55863
Leanne Wood: In the last month, your Government's Natural Resources Wales have published reports into this year's floods, and my interest is clearly in the Rhondda. Few people were surprised to find out that NRW found no blame in themselves in those reports. The closest it got to an admission of liability was when it said that it was underfunded to respond to the magnitude of February's events, something...
Leanne Wood: I'd like to ask Members to imagine this: a bomb goes off and in a split second your life is turned upside down. A conflict has broken out and there's fighting in your street. The communities that you once called home are no longer safe, and your life, and your families lives, are at risk. You've got two options: to remain in your country, risk your life and the lives of your family members,...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. Plaid Cymru wants extra support for communities that have been disproportionately hit by COVID. The areas with the highest rates of COVID cases are Merthyr, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Blaenau Gwent. The figures for Blaenau Gwent, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr have been higher than Liverpool's, which has benefited from extra support and priority for new...
