John Griffiths: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. I very much look forward to that widening of access, which I think is probably long overdue. It’s very important that more people in Wales, Cabinet Secretary, enjoy our great outdoors, which we are so fortunate to have. There are the obvious health and activity benefits, as well as appreciating the countryside more and, perhaps, being more environmentally...
John Griffiths: Cabinet Secretary, the Flying Start scheme is making a very significant contribution to tackling issues amongst some of our youngest children and delivering considerable benefits in my constituency, but there are some families that are outwith the reach of the scheme due to the postcode nature of accessing that particular provision. So, are you able to say anything today to those constituents...
John Griffiths: Will the First Minister make a statement on the promotion of active travel in south-east Wales?
John Griffiths: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I’m pleased to be able to contribute to today’s debate as Chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee. I’d like to thank all those who provided evidence to the committee to help inform its work, including those who took time out to attend our focus group discussions. The UK Government’s Trade Union Bill, introduced at Westminster in 2015,...
John Griffiths: What further action will the Cabinet Secretary take to improve educational performance in schools serving Wales's most deprived communities?
John Griffiths: 8. What policy will the Welsh Government follow to encourage and support sporting success in Wales? OAQ(5)0596(FM)
John Griffiths: I thank the First Minister for that answer. I believe it is really important, for reasons I think all Members here would recognise, First Minister, that we support sport and physical activity at an elite and grass-roots level in Wales. So, I would like to return briefly to Newport County’s success, because I believe it’s very important for both levels. We had a local boy, Michael Flynn,...
John Griffiths: I, too, very much welcome this statement today, allowing us to focus on these very important services that matter so much to people and their families across Wales. And like many others, I’m familiar with my local services in Newport, and the St David’s foundation, and I know that they have very impressively grown and expanded their services and presence, not just in Newport, but...
John Griffiths: Very quickly, then. First of all, there’s the taboo that is involved in discussing these matters. Obviously, today is a way of addressing how we overcome that taboo by the very nature of the statement, and the debate and the delivery plan. But it does seem to me that there was a time when death was much more a family and community experience, you know when bodies were in the home, as it...
John Griffiths: Just on black and ethnic minority services—
John Griffiths: Very, very quickly, Dirprwy Lywydd—only to say that we do have an example through Marie Curie of how we can provide an enhancement of service and a greater access. And I think we do need to roll that out, that sort of approach, throughout our communities in Wales.
John Griffiths: What policy will the Welsh Government follow to support city centre businesses in Wales?
John Griffiths: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I think at the root of this debate today is the fact that all of us here live in a secure, stable and prosperous part of the world, but as we all know, and as we’ve heard already, and as the briefings from Oxfam Cymru, Save the Children and the Red Cross provided for this debate show with their tragic statistics, very many people in the world are not in that...
John Griffiths: 4. Will the First Minister provide an update on progress with integrated transport in south-east Wales? OAQ(5)0614(FM)
John Griffiths: Thank you for the opportunity to pay tribute to Rhodri in the Senedd today, and, of course, in the presence of Julie, who formed such a strong partnership with Rhodri over so many years, in marriage and politically. It was a privilege, Llywydd, to serve with Rhodri in the Assembly, and indeed in Government, and I’m very grateful to Rhodri for giving me my first opportunities as a member of...
John Griffiths: Excuse me, Llywydd, I’m temporarily embarrassed, I’m afraid. I’ll have to get that question up.
John Griffiths: Would you agree with me, First Minister, that active travel must be an important part of integrated transport in south-east Wales, and now that local authorities are working up their integrated plans for the future, Welsh Government must continue to take a keen interest in those plans and make sure that they fit with that wider integrated transport agenda?
John Griffiths: Could I add my voice to those expressing the very obvious value that the people of Wales and, indeed, far beyond Wales, put on our great outdoors? It’s obviously very important in many ways to our country and we’re very lucky to have such an attractive landscape and, indeed, seascape. It’s obviously very important to tourism, to activity tourism as part of that, and to the general...
John Griffiths: How representative of the diversity of Wales's population are our local authorities following last month's local elections?
John Griffiths: Minister, I wanted to raise matters that I know you are aware of, because we've corresponded about them, and that is the issue of the AB company failure in the Goldcliff area in my constituency, because that failure has left residents without internet access, which, as we can all imagine, has created a great deal of problems and frustration for them. There is a temporary solution in terms of...
