Janet Finch-Saunders: I'd like to thank Laura Anne Jones for her excellent contribution, and I don't think that we do talk about this enough. She recognised the value of our high streets, and how the initiatives—. We could look at business rates, car parking charges, new initiatives. It's a fact that—. Oh, I must declare an interest as a commercial properties owner. I beg your pardon, Llywydd. I had it written...
Janet Finch-Saunders: What steps is the Welsh Government taking to support the provision of medical training in North Wales?
Janet Finch-Saunders: How is the Welsh Government supporting health and wellbeing in schools?
Janet Finch-Saunders: 'Cymraeg 2050' acknowledges the importance of Welsh-speaking communities as places that facilitate the use of the language in every aspect of everyday life. However, with the Welsh Government only delivering 4,616 of the 12,000 new homes required annually in Wales, there is a huge shortage of houses for our youngest generations to remain in their home towns or villages. In fact, a cumulative...
Janet Finch-Saunders: I am. To expand on TAN 6 that maybe children of farmers can more easily gain planning permission to build homes on their own family land. Diolch.
Janet Finch-Saunders: I'd like to thank Alun Davies MS for what I consider to be an exceptional legislative proposal. Now, whilst the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales is targeting all farmers in relation to water pollution through the Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021, Welsh Water and other water companies are effectively responsible for too many water pollution...
Janet Finch-Saunders: —rivers to be unhealthy. Okay, that's it. Thank you.
Janet Finch-Saunders: St David is our country's patron saint, whose good deeds and actions continue to inspire many across our whole society. St David’s Day also marks a day of national festivity across Wales and in Welsh communities around the world. Creating a bank holiday to mark this occasion would allow our communities time to reflect and celebrate our history and culture and the important role both have...
Janet Finch-Saunders: First Minister, despite BT having been paid approximately £220 million to bring superfast broadband to around 96 per cent of premises between 2014 and 2018, and the organisation currently running a successor scheme to connect 39,000 premises, it still remains the fact that there are premises across Wales with unreliable internet. And in my constituency of Aberconwy, I have people who cannot...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Trefnydd, I was just wondering, given the awful situation in Ukraine, as another sign of our solidarity, whether you do have on site within the Welsh Government offices and things a book of remembrance where staff and Members or Ministers can send their thoughts across. I have also raised this with the Llywydd and had a positive response, but I just wondered whether any books have yet been...
Janet Finch-Saunders: So—
Janet Finch-Saunders: Just for clarity, are you saying we cannot have a book here, then?
Janet Finch-Saunders: I'm sure that all Members would love to join with me in welcoming the UK Conservative Government's budget 2021 announcement of an extra £2.5 billion per year, on average, for the Welsh Government through the Barnett formula over the spending review period. And let us not forget that this is on top of its annual baseline funding of £15.9 billion. The Conservatives are giving Wales the...
Janet Finch-Saunders: —of just under £1 million, the Local Government and Housing Committee have warned that tenants may have to carry a significant proportion of the cost. I believe that this budget doesn't go anywhere near enough to deal with our environment issues and our climate emergency. I know there were voices over there about us putting a budget forward. Believe me, if we were in Government, we would...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Diolch yn fawr.
Janet Finch-Saunders: During the committee inquiry that we held into the Welsh Government's response to the February 2020 flooding and other times when Carmarthenshire and other constituencies have been flooded, the committee report published in 2020 highlighted that the level of revenue funding meant that authorities were a long way away from being fully prepared and resilient, and that authorities received the...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Horticulture in Wales has been in long-term decline, with fewer than 3,000 hectares now under cultivation for potatoes, field vegetables, small fruit and commercial orchards. The number of hectares has halved in 40 years. Now, according to Cardiff University, in order for Wales to produce the amount of fruit and vegetables required to meet nutritional recommendations of five servings a day, 2...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Diolch. And I wish to remind Members of my own declaration of interest in terms of property ownership—second homes, holiday let. Owning your own home is one of the major bulwarks of individual freedom and choice. Home ownership provides you with the security and confidence to develop local roots, to become part of your local community, safe in the knowledge that your home is your own. For...
Janet Finch-Saunders: It isn't the same problem. Targets have actually been reached a lot easier in England than they have here. Approximately 67,000 people—I'll say it again: 67,000 people—in Wales languish on a social-housing waiting list, equivalent to around 20,000 households. Four of our local authorities saw a cumulative total of 14,240 young people in the 20 to 29 age group leave Wales between 2012 and...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Would you work with these local authorities to overcome these challenges? Now, additionally, we're all aware that there are communities facing local affordability difficulties, and I see this myself in Aberconwy. But I do believe that we need a balanced, proportionate and fair approach when seeking to address the problems facing us. I'll say it again: seeking to target second home owners with...
