Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, for giving me the opportunity to speak in this debate on such an important subject. I’m not on this committee, but I’d like to thank the committee for looking at the very important Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, because I think, as so many people have said, it was groundbreaking legislation and I...
Julie Morgan: I’m very pleased to take part in this debate today, and congratulations to the Members who have put it forward. I think this does give us an opportunity to celebrate the advances that are being made towards equality and to celebrate the individuals who’ve made this possible. First of all, I want to say I think it is so important that we have gay and lesbian Assembly Members leading the...
Julie Morgan: What plans does the First Minister have to increase the number of GPs in Wales?
Julie Morgan: I welcome the Cabinet Secretary’s statement and I also had very good feedback from people who attended the bus summit. I really welcome his support for buses because I think buses are absolutely key. Certainly in my constituency of Cardiff North there is a very positive perception of buses. I think I really see them as absolutely crucial to the running of transport in Wales. Would the...
Julie Morgan: I’m a member of the committee and I found the scrutiny process productive and collegiate, as other members of the committee have said today. I’d like to concentrate my remarks on two areas: smoking and the provision of public toilets. I welcome the extension of protection from smoking, particularly for children, that is in the Bill. I think those are absolutely crucial steps forward, and...
Julie Morgan: Of course.
Julie Morgan: Yes. I think that is another way that this can be progressed, but one of the points—. Just one slight caution on that is that some elderly people in particular have said that they don’t want to go into cafes just to use the toilet, because they feel very conspicuous. So, I think it is a step forward on the public toilets in this Bill.
Julie Morgan: 3. What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had about the relocation of DWP jobs throughout Wales? OAQ(5)0136(EI)
Julie Morgan: I thank the Minister for that response. I am extremely concerned about the plans for 1,000 DWP jobs leaving different parts of Wales and being concentrated in or near to Cardiff North. Could the Minister tell the Chamber what the plans are for the DWP jobs that are currently based in Cardiff North and what she can do to bring home to the Ministers in Westminster the folly of concentrating...
Julie Morgan: I was very pleased to meet patients and families who are affected by haemophilia and contaminated blood at the rare disease event that David Melding referred to. As the Cabinet Secretary knows, I’m very concerned about the treatment of people with haemophilia who were given contaminated blood in the 1970s and 1980s, which has resulted in 70 deaths in Wales and many more other families...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, for calling me to speak in this debate. I must start off by saying that I think it is ironic that UKIP has brought forward this debate. When you think of the huge significant improvements in pay equality, protection from discrimination, childcare, parental leave, care for pregnant women and care for new mothers that membership of the European Union has...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, and thanks very much to Jayne Bryant for holding this very important debate. I think Jayne has illustrated the huge toll that caring can take on the carers, especially when they’re elderly themselves. I think it’s very important to remember that, however great the toll is, the carers want to care because it’s often their most loved person that they are caring for. I just...
Julie Morgan: Would it be possible for the leader of the house, or for the Government, to clear up the implications of Trump’s latest travel ban and its effect on Welsh residents and their families, by perhaps a written statement? The list of countries includes Somalia, and, as the leader of the house knows, there are many people from Somalia living in Cardiff, nearly all from Somaliland. Would it be...
Julie Morgan: In my contribution today I want to talk about the implications for women of leaving the EU. I want to start off with European structural funds. European structural funds are worth £2 billion to Wales between 2014 and 2020. The Treasury has guaranteed that all projects started before the UK leaves the EU will be fully funded until their completion, but we don’t know what is going to happen...
Julie Morgan: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Welsh Government support for environmental projects?
Julie Morgan: I think everybody agrees that the parks in Cardiff are glorious, and I was very pleased that the friends of Cefn Onn park, which is in my constituency of Cardiff North, secured a £495,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant towards improving the park. Work is actually beginning on this this month. So, would she congratulate the friends of Cefn Onn park and the local authority in definitely taking...
Julie Morgan: Cofio Val—Remembering Val: Val Feld was the AM for Swansea East and it’s fitting that we remember her here on International Women’s Day. Val was passionately committed to equal opportunities and social justice. She was one of the key architects of devolution: one of the leaders of the ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign. The embedding of equal opportunities in the Assembly is largely due to...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’d like to congratulate the Members who’ve put forward this debate, because I think it does give the space to try to look at economic strategy and perhaps try to do it at a bit of a distance and to try to think of new ideas. So, I congratulate them on doing that. The argument about what makes certain city regions, countries or areas grow faster than...
Julie Morgan: I feel great sympathy towards the individuals working in the NHS who have been affected in this way and also, of course, those who are working outside the NHS in Wales who also have been affected. I do, however, think that the Velindre hospital trust that runs the radiation protection service based in my constituency of Cardiff North has responded appropriately to this incident, which was, of...
Julie Morgan: Last week, I held a meeting with the senior management of Barclays bank after it announced it was making 100 people redundant at its Llanishen mortgage advice centre. Many of these people have been working there for many years—20 years or more—and are highly skilled. So, it is a real body blow that these skilled workers are going to be made redundant. Would she be able to ask for a...
