Sam Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today as another new Member here in the Senedd. And congratulations, First Minister, and to you, Llywydd, on your reappointments this time around. Thank you, First Minister, for your statement. Similar to previous speakers, I too have noted the omission of the title of tourism within the title of a Minister within your Cabinet, but...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, First Minister, for your responses so far to the important points raised by Rhun. Certainly, there are some pressures that have been added to the housing market due to second home ownership, but, perhaps at a risk of being seen to be fiddling while Rome is burning if that becomes the primary focus in a way to support this important area of work, surely the most important thing to...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and congratulations to you, Minister, on your appointment, and thank you for your statement this afternoon. I'd like to first of all just join with you in thanking our hard-working professionals and also our learners for all their efforts in these last 14, 15 months or so, through very difficult circumstances. Your statement is specifically about the...
Sam Rowlands: Let me first of all congratulate you, Minister, on your appointment. I don't think I've had an opportunity to do that yet, so congratulations to you. Of course, this item was raised yesterday in FMQs, and it is an important issue. We had some positive contributions from Mr Hedges and Mr Davies, my colleague here, and the First Minister obviously responded yesterday, but this was before...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you to Plaid Cymru for bringing forward today's debate, the first one I've had an opportunity to speak in, and it's been an interesting and impassioned debate so far through this evening. I just thought it would be useful to share some of my own reflections on what I've heard so far and the item before us, of course. The opening part of Plaid Cymru's motion is quite a bold claim, in...
Sam Rowlands: 6. What assessment has the First Minister made of the role of local government during the COVID-19 pandemic? OQ56617
Sam Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd. I was struggling with the mute button there. Thank you, First Minister, for your response to that point. I too would like to praise the work of councils specifically through this very difficult time of the pandemic. I know from my own experience the sacrifice, hard work and dedication that council staff have shown through this crisis, and they of course deserve a lot of...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you to the Government for tabling today's debate, with contributions so far certainly impassioned around a very important issue, around the UK levelling-up and shared prosperity funds. The insinuation, of course, in this debate today from Welsh Government is that the UK Government's approach to this fund does not guarantee that Wales will not be a penny worse off and represents a clear...
Sam Rowlands: 3. Will the Minister outline the Welsh Government's plans to tackle the effects of climate change in north Wales? OQ56605
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Deputy Minister, for your response. Congratulations to you, of course, on your appointment, and to the Minister, too, Julie James, on your appointment as well. And thank you for the engagement so far in my role as shadow Minister for local government. I want to raise the issue of rising sea levels and the impacts of this across north Wales. According to a climate change study by...
Sam Rowlands: Let me join, first of all, with Mr Giffard and all colleagues across the Chamber in wishing every luck to the Welsh men's football team this evening. I too am looking forward to watching that game shortly. As Mr Giffard stated, sport does have the power to unite us. That's one of the most fascinating things about sport. Even I, as a frustrated Nottingham Forest fan, can join with Mr Sargeant...
Sam Rowlands: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government’s economic priorities for North Wales? OQ56666
Sam Rowlands: Thank you for your response, First Minister. You will know that one of the biggest employers in north Wales is the tourism sector, which supports around 46,000 jobs and in usual times generates over £3.5 billion annually to the local economy. However, as you touched on earlier, we're aware of your plans to explore a tourism tax on visitors holidaying in Wales. The Wales Tourism Alliance has...
Sam Rowlands: Let me join also in paying tribute to the hard work of local authorities during this time, and pay credit to all the efforts made by those at the front face of this, but also to those behind the scenes in those support services who have been doing things like balancing the books to ensure that the services have been able to continue and support our communities. One of the issues this...
Sam Rowlands: I did find it interesting that, on a recent visit to a farm with the National Farmers Union and a number of farmers, their significant concerns were not trade agreements but actually areas that you, Minister, have control of, such as nitrate vulnerable zones and the growing threat that TB is posing to their livestock and, therefore, their livelihoods. But that aside, in light of the...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you for the opportunity to contribute in this important debate today, tabled by my colleague Mr Millar. Today, of course, as you clearly know, marks five years since the people of Wales voted to leave the European Union along with the people of the United Kingdom. And for me, one of the most fascinating aspects of the referendum was that it was the biggest democratic exercise that our...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Mr Deputy Presiding Officer, for calling me. Thank you to Ms Finch-Saunders for raising this important topic this afternoon. As somebody who's spend most of my working life behind a computer screen in an office, I'm not going to stand here and pretend to know the inner details of sheep scab. But I was certainly struck by the references Ms Finch-Saunders made to the allocated...
Sam Rowlands: What assessment has the First Minister made of the effectiveness of pharmacies administering the COVID-19 vaccine in Wales?
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, First Minister, for your response to Mr Skates there. May I join you and the Member for Clwyd South in the encouragement for everybody to get hold of this vaccine as quickly as possible because, as you say, it makes such a difference to everybody? I recently had the privilege of visiting a community pharmacy in my region, in which there was a COVID clinic and they were...
Sam Rowlands: I'd just like to start by declaring my interest as a county councillor on Conwy County Borough Council. Minister, as you'll be aware, north Wales has an exceptional reputation for delivering world-class events and being a world-class destination. Over the past few years, Conwy County Borough Council has developed an innovative new culture strategy that places culture at the heart of all...
