Siân Gwenllian: Well, it’s entirely apparent that the jobs location strategy isn’t working if the intention was to spread Government jobs to all parts of Wales, retaining those that already existed. People in my constituency feel that we’re being left behind, a feeling that is backed up by facts. Fact 1: your Government intends to close and sell a building in Caernarfon without any intention to erect a...
Siân Gwenllian: We, of course, welcome any progress with the work of developing low-carbon homes, and we welcome the statement, certainly. But we see it as part of the attempt to build 20,000 affordable homes, and it would be good to have a statement in the near future about how that strategy is coming forward in its entirety, as it were. We’ve been talking about ending the right to buy, but hand in hand...
Siân Gwenllian: One of the main problems with universal credit is that it is paid to households rather than to individuals, and I will focus on that aspect for a few moments. Only one person can be in receipt of the funds on behalf of the household, so there are issues of equality arising immediately from that because it is likely that it’s the male that will receive that money in most cases, not always,...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you for that explanation. In Scotland when some welfare powers were devolved, the UK Government did actually work out how much needed to be added to the block grant and a baseline was put in place. So, there are ways around these financial problems, and we are talking here about the administration—and that’s what we must emphasise time after time. And that is the point: if we were...
Siân Gwenllian: A few weeks ago, it became apparent that new trains of the Great Western Railway service, which serve south Wales, won't include any bilingual signage or announcements. As expected, there were a number of complaints made to the company by passengers, following this news, condemning the decision taken, including by the former Welsh language Minister, Alun Davies. Now, the company's excuse was...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you, Llywydd, and I’d like to congratulate Eluned Morgan on being selected in the role of Minister for the Welsh language and I’d like to thank Alun Davies for his work. I’d like to move amendments 1 and 2 in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth, and I note that the Government is in favour of amendment 1, but is against amendment 2. Our amendments to this debate today do emphasise the...
Siân Gwenllian: These are questions to Eluned Morgan. First of all, I welcome the full commitment that you made yesterday during the debate on the Welsh Language Commissioner’s annual report to continue with the Government’s aim of reaching a million Welsh speakers by 2050, and Plaid Cymru, of course, is fully supportive of that target. The strategy ‘Cymraeg 2050’ puts education centrally to your...
Siân Gwenllian: So, you may have to review the targets contained within the ‘Cymraeg 2050’ strategy. In the ‘Education in Wales: Our National Mission 2017-21’ document, there is a suggestion that pupils will not take the new Welsh language qualification, which will replace second-language Welsh, until 2026 at the earliest. Now, that’s a cause of concern because it contradicts what was said in this...
Siân Gwenllian: In this case, of course, with the new qualification, there is a whole host of evidence supporting the need for this change, and a decision has been taken to accept that. It’s a matter of making progress now, and it’s this sluggishness that concerns me. The consultation period on the Welsh language Bill White Paper has now concluded, and, again, I welcome your commitment, made yesterday,...
Siân Gwenllian: It shows a lack of respect for the Welsh language. Do you agree that the recent history and experiences of people show that persuasion alone won’t be an effective tool in securing the rights of Welsh speakers?
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you for the statement. The news doesn’t come as a shock—to some of us at least—because you did allude to this at the Welsh language committee last week. It is all-important that our national cultural organisations are protected, supported and developed. These institutions play a very important role in the life of our nation. Today’s statement states that Cadw will continue as...
Siân Gwenllian: Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the Caernarfon and Bontnewydd bypass scheme?
Siân Gwenllian: Women’s Aid in Bangor, in my constituency, are extremely concerned about the talk of integrating the violence against women, domestic violence and sexual violence grant into a single composite grant. They are concerned that the same thing that’s happened in England could happen here: 17 per cent of specialist shelters were lost and a third of all referrals to shelters had to be rejected...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you, Llywydd. I want to speak to the amendments, but I also want to outline Plaid Cymru's stance on the Bill. Plaid Cymru has opposed the right to buy for some time, with our members supporting the abolition of the right to buy in motions to Plaid conferences over a period of decades, from the time when the policy was implemented first of all by the Conservative Government. And when we...
Siân Gwenllian: I think it’s quite apparent what the intention of these amendments is. The amendments, were they to be passed, would restrict the implementation of the Act to 10 years, and following that, Welsh Ministers could bring forward regulations that would make the abolition permanent. Now, I would argue that these amendments are entirely unnecessary. In 10 years’ time, or at any point in the...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you, Llywydd. These amendments are tabled in the name of Bethan Jenkins and reflect the need for information about the Bill to be provided in an accessible manner that reflects recommendation 4 made by the equality committee, which looked at this. We've worked with the Government on these amendments, and these are necessary in order to ensure that communication with tenants happens in...
Siân Gwenllian: Formally.
Siân Gwenllian: It’s a great pleasure to take part in this debate. It is a debate about fairness and it’s an issue that affects the lives of thousands of people in Wales. Cavity wall insulation has been installed in almost four million homes across the United Kingdom, but in three million of those it has caused a great deal of problems. This kind of insulation, retrospective insulation, was promoted by...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you to Nick Ramsay for at least trying to justify the budget, but in our opinion, Wales is losing out as a result of the announcement of a budget that was designed to grow the economy of the south-east of England at the expense of every other part of the United Kingdom. It’s a budget of austerity in every way. Not only were we promised more financial austerity from the Chancellor; we...
Siân Gwenllian: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on progress in relation to technical advice note 20?
