Helen Mary Jones: Can I just say how delighted I am to be in this Chamber today to see this piece of legislation brought forward? As Siân Gwenllian has said, it has been a long time coming, but that is no reason not to welcome it very warmly today. I'd like to associate myself with everything the Deputy Minister has said about her predecessors, but I also feel that I need to say that I can think of no more...
Helen Mary Jones: 1. What resources are available from the Welsh Government to boost diversity in local government? OAQ53663
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Deputy Minister for her response. Minister, I've been looking at the legal equality statements in local authorities in Wales. I found that several—and I'm not going to do a naming and shaming here, because I think that would be very unfair, but I will write to the Minister with the specific concerns. I have found several that haven't been updated for quite a long...
Helen Mary Jones: 3. What discussions has the First Minister had to strengthen the accountability of universities? OAQ53719
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the First Minister for his answer, and I will be interested to see the strengthened guidance. However, the First Minister will be aware that there are issues in the sector now that need addressing. I refer particularly, of course, to the situation in Swansea, of which I know he is well aware, and I entirely accept the First Minister's point that universities are autonomous...
Helen Mary Jones: Trefnydd, I would like to support David Rees's request for a Government statement on the very problematic inspection report on youth offending services in Western Bay, and I would ask you and the Government to reconsider your decision not to bring forward a statement. I won't reiterate the points that David Rees has already raised about the seriousness, but I would point out to you and to...
Helen Mary Jones: I thank the Minister for his statement. It's good to hear some positive progress—always ready to acknowledge that—but there are a few particular issues that I'd like to raise with him and I would also like to follow up on some of the points Darren Millar has raised. If I can begin by looking at the issue of agency working. Now, we know that there are real challenges and I've certainly—I...
Helen Mary Jones: If I can return to a couple of issues, then, relating to general practice, and the first I want to raise with him is the issue of accuracy of data. Now, the Minister will of course be aware that StatsWales has not provided the full-time equivalent numbers of GPs. They can tell us how many GPs there are, but they can't tell us how many full-time equivalent GPs there are. They haven't been able...
Helen Mary Jones: It is clear, of course, that effective co-operation between health and social care services can reduce the pressure on both health and care budgets. I'm very grateful to the Minister for agreeing to meet me yesterday to discuss the ways forward to potentially develop some consensus around innovative ways of funding care. Does the Minister agree with me that we will continue to face increased...
Helen Mary Jones: 3. What steps does the Assembly Commission take to ensure that disabled people have full access to the Assembly estate? OAQ53721
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Commissioner for his answer. It is with some regret that I have to raise a concern with him this afternoon. I recently had a disabled visitor for whom we had booked, weeks in advance, a car parking space. She's not an user of a wheelchair but she has a mobility impairment. When she arrived to take up this opportunity the space was not available to her, she was not able to...
Helen Mary Jones: Can I associate myself with everything that Lynne Neagle has said, and Darren Millar, about the seriousness of the situation? The Minister says that the current level of capacity reflects the level of what we would expect from population, but, clearly, it doesn't reflect the level of need, if we continually have, for that very small number of young people, accommodation facilities outside...
Helen Mary Jones: 2. What recent discussions has the Minister had regarding the future of the Trostre plant in Llanelli? 297
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his answer and reassured to hear that he is in regular contact. I'm sure I speak for everyone on all sides of this Chamber when I reflect the deep concern at the reports that Tata may be required to sell its Trostre site in order to facilitate the proposed merger with Thyssenkrupp. Of course, we faced, in the Trostre plant, a situation similar to this before,...
Helen Mary Jones: The WorldSkills finals will be taking place between 22 and 27 August later this year. Dubbed the 'skills Olympics', it's an opportunity for the world's brightest and most skilled apprentices to challenge the best in the world in their respective professions. More than 60 countries will be sending teams to the event, which will be shown on live tv and streamed across the world. Thirty-two...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Can I thank the Conservatives for bringing forward this important motion? I welcome the opportunity to take part in this debate, and I'd like to associate myself with much of what Darren Millar has said. I think it was a very thoughtful portrayal of what is a very complex problem. I think, particularly, we can all agree that there is something really wrong with the...
Helen Mary Jones: I'd be very happy to take an intervention.
Helen Mary Jones: I think, absolutely, it could. I think we might bring a very different set of values to those assessments and I'm very glad that the Welsh Government has finally agreed to keep that under review. I'll turn very briefly, with the Llywydd's indulgence, to our amendment 2, which looks at the case for data. If I can just give one example very briefly, we've been raising for a long time the...
Helen Mary Jones: Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's Welsh language policies?
Helen Mary Jones: I'm obviously grateful to the Minister for the statements that he's provided, for publishing the report and for the briefing I was unable to attend in person but I have been able to speak to colleagues who were present and we're grateful to the Minister for that. The Minister, of course, is right to say that this report makes for very difficult reading. I've only had a day to read it and it...
