Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thanks for the opportunity to speak in this debate. It's an unusual one in that it brings together two conflicting petitions, two contrasting opinions about the same issue. And it's a really important issue, the future of cancer services in the south-east of Wales, and whatever the particular issues at play here, however strong the opinions are about a number of different aspects of this,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 2. Will the Deputy Minister make a statement on efforts to prevent modern slavery in north Wales? OQ56405
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. I had a meeting recently with Soroptimist International on Anglesey, an organisation doing very valuable work in the area of modern slavery and county lines, and raising awareness and so on. They are concerned that the pandemic has made it more difficult to identify modern slavery, with those suffering being more isolated and more hidden from sight during lockdown...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I once again congratulate everyone who has ensured that we've reached these incredible milestones—over 1 million people having their first dose; almost 1.2 million will have had either their first or second doses. It bodes very well for reaching targets in the coming months. I'll make a few points, as I do every week. You don't need to respond to these, Minister, because we know that we...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Two changes here that we agree with, the first relating to venues for weddings and civil partnerships, and the second allowing households with one child under the age of one to form an extended household. I'm very pleased to see this happening in terms of well-being, and I make specific reference to the work that Bethan Sayed has done in this particular area, where she's been raising...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: You only need to read the explanatory notes with this third supplementary budget and you will see what an unprecedented year this has been. I'm sure we can all agree to that. Huge allocations like this within financial years isn't something that we've traditionally seen as part of the usual budgetary processes over the years. May I praise the comments made by Llyr Gruffydd as Chair of the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'For instance, Wales has a higher share of retail, leisure and hospitality properties (43%) compared to England (38%)—though this is likely to be offset by their lower average rateable values. Their lower rateable values meant that a relatively larger share of Welsh premises (75%) qualify for the £10,000 grant compared to England (70%). This is despite the fact that the grant is only made...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: This is a budget that we in Plaid Cymru hope to inherit in a little over two months' time, so I will start with those parts that we welcome, although we do believe that the Government could have gone further. The £380 million in addition for the NHS, we welcome that. We welcome any additional funding for health and care at this time, given the acute pressures faced during the pandemic, and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: —a future—I will wind up—driven by green economic stimulus, creating 60,000 jobs, as we've mentioned, meeting our needs in terms of the climate and employment and higher salaries at the same time, and igniting the Welsh economy. And that's why the Welsh budget would be in safer hands in Plaid Cymru hands after the election in May, and that's why we'll be voting against this budget.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the importance of home adaptations as a way of helping older people to live more healthily and independently? OQ56408
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for that response. I will make the point that it's not only older people who can benefit from home adaptations. I applaud the Motor Neurone Disease Association for the campaign that they're running at the moment pushing for more home adaptations for people living with that condition. But looking at older people particularly, we know that older people falling is very...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I also thank Laura Williams for bringing this petition forward and for managing to gather so many signatures? It's proof that this is an area where people want to see greater action from Government. I think we are in a far better position these days in terms of our willingness to discuss mental health issues. A lot of stigma is being tackled slowly, but there's a long way to go too, and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. My contribution won't be very long to this debate. I want to take this opportunity once again to thank everyone who is working so very hard on our behalf across health and care services in all parts of Wales. The willingness of staff to go that extra mile time and time again over the past year is something that each and every one of us has appreciated, and I hope...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I have two questions and two points, Minister. The two questions relate to questions that are raised with me by constituents, and I'm sure with other Members, on the process. I want to start, of course, by thanking everyone involved in the vaccination process. It's still working well, and we're clearly on the right track. One of the questions is about what happens at the end of the day....
Rhun ap Iorwerth: In the spirit of positivity, I will say at the outset that I sympathise with the Minister, to the extent that the pandemic, of course, has had a very great impact on the broader context and on all of our capacity to look at health and care in the longer term. And that pressure on capacity, of course, is very real. We see it in the fatigue of our staff, in the financial pressures, the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. Over the past few weeks, Welsh councils have been making very difficult decisions on the level of council tax for next year, at such a difficult time for so many of the people that they serve. Can the Minister tell me whether she believes council tax is fairer now than it was when she became Minister for finance in 2018?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I appreciate the Minister's efforts to put a spin on things, but what I see there is an admission that we need so many mitigation steps in place because council tax is fundamentally unfair. And the right answer—if there is such a thing—is that council tax wasn't fair when she came to post, and it's still not fair today. Because of the impossible situation that councils find themselves in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. There was no mention of the freezing of council tax there. We've made our views clear on that. That's a temporary step, of course, and we need to think carefully about how to reform local taxation for the longer term. It's not a politically easy thing to do, but we are talking here about tackling major inequalities, and, even with mitigation steps in place, we know that, according...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thanks for just giving me a minute or two to make a short contribution—and can I thank Osian Jones for organising the petition? What I want to do is just highlight one of the problems we face, and that's the loophole that I've spoken about on numerous occasions here and elsewhere that allows second home owners to register their homes as businesses, and in so doing, avoid paying council tax,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's my pleasure to open this debate and to formally move the motion in the name of Siân Gwenllian. How many of us have said 'thank you' over the past 12 months? How many of us have stood on our doorsteps clapping?
