Jane Dodds: 9. Will the Minister make a statement on the impact of recently announced school closures in Powys on the Welsh Government's targets to expand Welsh-medium education? OQ57888
Jane Dodds: Diolch, Weinidog. You will be aware of the decision of Powys County Council to close rural schools in the area, which has been a devastating blow for many communities. I am increasingly concerned about the impact this so-called transformation programme will have on Welsh-medium education in Powys, so thank you for your response. The commitment of many of these rural schools to Welsh education...
Jane Dodds: Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you, Minister, and thank you to Russell for asking this question.
Jane Dodds: It's just a very short point. Many residents in south Powys attend Nevill Hall Hospital in Aneurin Bevan health board in Abergavenny. In the statement last night from Aneurin Bevan on the Grange, there was a recommendation that patients are diverted to other hospitals like Nevill Hall. I'm sure this has been considered, but could you just reassure us that additional support is being offered...
Jane Dodds: May I thank fellow committee members for their work, and all of those organisations who gave evidence to us as part of our work?
Jane Dodds: Thank you also to Sam Rowlands for joining us. Childcare is the most frequently cited barrier for women in work. It is a huge cost for working families, and it's a barrier for parents looking to re-enter the workforce, as we've heard from Laura Anne. That's before you consider the complexity of the arrangements and eligibility criteria that parents and carers need to navigate, as Jenny...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. I wonder if I could request two statements, please, Trefnydd. The first statement is from the Minister for Health and Social Services on what steps the Minister is taking in relation to international GP trainees. The Welsh Government supports around 160 trainee GPs a year, and I understand that NHS Wales has indicated that 80 trainees—half that cohort—will not be...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. Can I thank you and your officials once again for your hard work on this programme, and also for keeping me updated? I'm very grateful. As you know, there is a resident, Sarah, in my region, who, with a team in Poland, has worked in applying for over 400 visas for Ukrainian people who have fled to Poland. This was in response to the slow, complicated and...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. I do echo and endorse the comments made by Sam Rowlands and thank him for raising this issue, and also those comments by Joyce Watson as well. The same also applies to our town and community councils across Wales. There are 735 community and town councils in Wales, covering approximately 94 per cent of the land area and 70 per cent of the population of Wales. There's...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, First Minister. Thank you to Sam for raising this issue. I'm very pleased to see the issues of social care for children being discussed here. I am very concerned, First Minister, about the situation in children's services in our local authorities. What support is the Government providing to local authorities, such as Pembrokeshire, to ensure that services are on a robust...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. I'm sure you know what I'm going to be asking you, but it's in relation to those greyhounds. Could I request a statement from yourself in your capacity as Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales on progress towards a ban on greyhound racing? I do want to thank you for your promise to attend our Hope Rescue walk tomorrow, and I do welcome any other Members of the...
Jane Dodds: This week is Dementia Action Week. I wanted to put on record my thanks to those communities and services for the work they do to support individuals and families living with dementia, particularly those in my own region of Mid and West Wales. We have Brecon dementia-friendly family community, who won an award for their work in 2016; Llanelli market was the first dementia-friendly market in...
Jane Dodds: Can I thank James for bringing this debate forward? Diolch yn fawr iawn, James. I'm very grateful to you. I speak as a former child protection social worker who worked for around 25 years with children and young people. Part of the battle for me was actually getting those children and their families into CAMHS services. I just want to recognise a few things in Wales that I think have gone...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. May I just start by asking you to pass on thanks to the First Minister for joining me in a farm visit to Merthyr Cynog, where we heard about many of the pressures facing farmers and the farm sector? But I want to touch on one of the key topics that we've heard about in this session, which is about the pressure on farmers right now in terms of the real crisis that...
Jane Dodds: Thank you, Llywydd, and I'm very grateful to Plaid Cymru for this debate today.
Jane Dodds: People have been repeatedly told since the 2016 referendum—it seems like a very long time ago, doesn't it—that we would not be a penny worse off than when we left the EU. I'm not going to retrace the arguments about how inadequate the UK Government has been around the new arrangements, but I do want to say it feels a bit like groundhog day, because we keep coming back to this really...
Jane Dodds: Well, thank you very much for your intervention. Perhaps you could respond to the NFU. As Mabon has said to us, the NFU themselves have told us about the lack of funding for our farmers and how let down they feel, so it really is important that we think about those farmers and our agricultural community. And R&D is absolutely essential to Scotland, England and Wales. My challenge to you, and...
Jane Dodds: What consideration did the Minister give to supporting community energy schemes when formulating the Welsh Government's budget for 2022-2023?
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, First Minister.
Jane Dodds: 4. What steps is the Government taking to support local authorities with the growing number of children who are subject to a child protection plan? OQ58156
