Jenny Rathbone: The only sustainable way to improve the justice system is to reduce the number of people coming into contact with it. That's what you said, Mick Antoniw, and I completely agree with that, and we need to start with children, because we've still got nearly 18,000 children every year experiencing the trauma of their mother being sent to prison, which is 'nothing short of catastrophic'—the...
Jenny Rathbone: I, too, would like to congratulate Helen Reeves-Graham for raising this issue, because without that, we would not have discussed it. And I'm very grateful to Diana Beljaars, who is an academic expert at Swansea University, who has done research on this subject, not least because a close family member of hers has Tourette's, so, obviously, that has prompted her interest in this. And from...
Jenny Rathbone: I was astonished to hear you say, 'Why does Wales need this money any longer?' We're in the middle of a climate emergency and we have a massive programme of decarbonisation that we need to achieve, and that's one of the things that the European programme was used for.
Jenny Rathbone: Minister, I very much look forward to scrutinising this Bill at Stage 1 in the Equality and Social Justice Committee. I think it's a very exciting Bill. I wanted to look at the public procurement aspects, and particularly the reporting duties on public bodies and Welsh Ministers in relation to socially responsible procurement. I just want to query why only socially responsible procurement,...
Jenny Rathbone: I very much look forward to the awarding of the Betty Campbell award in July, and I very much welcome the statement you've made today. I'm very glad that you have announced that you're going to extend the anti-racism activity to early years and further education, because, obviously, when children start in early years, they don't bring any racist baggage with them—it's learned from adults or...
Jenny Rathbone: I'm particularly concerned about the deferral of the Act on private tenants. Last year's report by the Equality and Social Justice Committee into debt and the pandemic was unanimous on the need to avoid any gap between the end of the current temporary regulations, which protected tenants during the COVID lockdown, and the coming into force of the renting homes Act. So, deferring...
Jenny Rathbone: Today is the fortieth anniversary of the biggest loss of life of the Falklands war. Most of the 48 killed and over 150 injured from the bombing of Sir Galahad were Welsh Guards. And unlike the hand-to-hand fighting that occurred in battles like Goose Green, the casualties on board the ship anchored at Fitzroy bay occurred in plain sight, which I'm sure those who are old enough will still be...
Jenny Rathbone: So, if there were no compulsory gender quotas in our Bill, would the Conservative Party consider following the example of the Labour Party in Wales, which is to have had gender balance ever since the Senedd was first founded?
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you very much. I think no change is not an option, not least, as already outlined by Rhys ab Owen, because we simply don't have enough Members to make proper, good scrutiny decisions. I used to be a member of the Public Accounts Committee, so I was never short of examples from the Auditor General for Wales of things that had gone wrong that might have benefited from better scrutiny at...
Jenny Rathbone: I will in a minute, but not quite now. The Tory benches are never slow to come forward to remind us of the millions that have been lavished on trying to reinstate this most extensive strip of proposed road, led by your good self—
Jenny Rathbone: Okay. I'm sure the finance Minister can speak for himself. But I wasn't in the Senedd in 2014—
Jenny Rathbone: Well, I was in the Senedd in—. I wasn't in the Senedd in the earlier, third Senedd, but I'm not aware of any proper scrutiny of decisions by either Andrew Davies or Ieuan Wyn Jones approving and then scrapping plans, and I can't recall any proper scrutiny of a decision to spend £1 billion and then £1.5 billion and then what would certainly have risen to £2 billion by the fourth Senedd. I...
Jenny Rathbone: I think this idea of having a referendum on the method of election is completely ridiculous, because I recall in 2011 people asking me, 'How should I vote on this referendum?', because they absolutely did not understand what it was about.
Jenny Rathbone: Okay. Okay, thank you.
Jenny Rathbone: I'll come back another day.
Jenny Rathbone: Is it not the case that half the people on your benches are constituency representatives and half are list Members? So, whilst I applaud the virtues of the constituency link, you already have half your Members who are list Members.
Jenny Rathbone: 1. What plans does the Welsh Government have to insulate the most energy inefficient housing? OQ58189
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you for that information. As the constituency with the highest number of private sector renters, I know that they are really shivering in all winters, and with bills expected to rise to nearly £3,000 a year per household—something that we have no control over—I wondered why it is not possible to have an emergency programme to protect the most vulnerable households living in fuel...
Jenny Rathbone: Diolch. The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is getting noticed, both by other nations and by Welsh organisations not covered by the Act. For example, I was delighted to see that NFU Cymru's future agriculture policy was framed in the context of the seven principles of the Act, and that's really excellent, to see that happening. But given this external interest in the...
Jenny Rathbone: So, to remind you, then, in November the Equality and Social Justice Committee held a joint debate with the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee on the implementation of the Act, reflecting the work of the auditor general and the Public Accounts Committee's work in the fifth Parliament. The remit of the Equality and Social Justice Committee specifically includes scrutinising...
