Neil McEvoy: 6. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on progress in funding level-5 status training for teaching assistants? OAQ51276
Neil McEvoy: Okay, thanks. Level 5 is not a qualification but it's a status. It brings no increase in pay. Level 1 teaching assistants can attain it—this is all from a teaching assistant who's raised concerns with me. Training takes just six weeks—just three days out of school. Only a single piece of work needs to be prepared for a child, a group or a class. The qualification you need to do it is a...
Neil McEvoy: Leader of the Chamber, I'd like to congratulate you as well, to start off. I'd like a statement about International Men's Day and what the Government in Wales did to recognise it. The second point is the legal opinion given to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, published in the Western Mail today, which found that men are being discriminated against in the field of domestic abuse...
Neil McEvoy: It's a follow-on, really, from Mark Isherwood. I wanted a statement about domestic abuse that can affect everyone, both male and female. The Welsh Government figures on violence against women and girls include all the assaults and all the abuse of males in with those figures, but the word 'male' isn't mentioned. So, the figures are not really what is written on the tin. So, I'm wondering...
Neil McEvoy: First of all, I endorse David Melding’s comments about the former Minister and the non-partisan nature of this. I also extend congratulations on your new position. There are lots of good things here, and I’ve heard lots of good things that you’ve said today. I notice that you said you want to see a reduction in the numbers of children coming into care. I note that you say ‘the more we...
Neil McEvoy: 2. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on electoral reform in local government in Wales? OAQ51357
Neil McEvoy: Thanks. Cabinet Secretary, I recently responded to the consultation. Question 33 stated: do you agree that it should not be permissible to serve both as an Assembly Member and councillor? Aside from that being very leading and unbefitting of a serious consultation, it's the Government's position, I understand, to ban AMs from also being councillors. I'll just point out that you're carrying...
Neil McEvoy: In terms of roles, we also have company directors and people otherwise employed. So, really, to get to the nub of the question—[Laughter.] Thank you. What is it that offends the Government so much about an AM being a councillor? And, really, are you planning to stop AMs from acting as councillors simply to frustrate democracy and do through Government and legislation what you cannot do...
Neil McEvoy: First Minister, you've finally referred yourself for investigation under the ministerial code. I've been asking you to do so for months, on three separate occasions when I believe you've misled this Senedd. You've either ignored the calls or just smeared me instead. Now, the ministerial code is clear: if you knowingly mislead the Assembly, you will be expected to tender your resignation. If...
Neil McEvoy: First Minister, you're now investigating a potential leak after it was alleged that many people knew about your Cabinet reshuffle before it happened. It also seems that there are many people here who know who the complainants are against Carl Sargeant and the nature of the complaints. It can't be raised here because of data protection laws. By Friday there were—. On the Monday of the...
Neil McEvoy: I'm looking at two statements from the leader of the Chamber. The Government has rightly issued statements about terrorist atrocities over the past 18 months. We have a Yemenese community in Cardiff, and in Wales, and civilians in the Yemen are being bombed and starved to death every single day. I'm wondering what the Welsh Government position is on this, and the daily terror—Saudi...
Neil McEvoy: I won't be supporting this legislation. I asked in this Chamber what is wrong with selling a council house as long as all the money is used to build new ones, and I still haven't had a satisfactory answer. I'm not prepared to vote to take away an option for working class people to own their own home without any new ways for them to buy a house being introduced. The legislation is part of an...
Neil McEvoy: I won't be voting for this draft budget. I won't be abstaining. I'll be voting against. This budget is bad. Wales still has tuition fees to the tune of £9,000. Are we supposed to be grateful for that? It's really not good enough. There are still people in Wales being evicted from their home because of the bedroom tax; the most disadvantaged in our society being thrown out of their homes for...
Neil McEvoy: No. The amount of money also being wasted is staggering—staggering. Tens of millions of pounds on questionable land deals, questionable business supports—that's where the money goes. And, I'm tired of the dependency culture in Wales. I want to see a budget that demands we stand on our own two feet. I want to see a budget that leads to people being empowered to live their own lives. With a...
Neil McEvoy: I'm looking for a Government statement on Roath brook. I welcome the proposed work being put on hold on by Natural Resources Wales, but if it goes ahead then people in this part of Penylan will lose half their park and a large number of mature trees will go. The reason given is flood prevention, but there's been no flood in this particular park for certainly more than 70 years, if ever,...
Neil McEvoy: Some really good words across the Chamber. I did smile at the UKIP Member's reference to 'so-called human rights'. Well, human rights are human rights. And I disagree with the phrase 'minority rights'; I would, preferably, say 'rights for all'. Everybody needs to be respected and everybody should have a right, because, when everybody is respected, that brings harmony to our society. The...
Neil McEvoy: Will the First Minister make a statement on how the ministerial code delivers accountability in relation to the actions of cabinet members?
Neil McEvoy: 2. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the use of mesh implants in Wales? OAQ51465
Neil McEvoy: Cabinet Secretary, the list of mesh implant survivors is growing every day and so is the campaign against its inappropriate use. New Zealand has effectively just ended the use of vaginal mesh implants and questions around consent are increasing all the time. Some people's bodies are rejecting this mesh in a very painful way, but they often are not given the proper chance to reject having the...
Neil McEvoy: I've looked through the document and I can't see any reference to the new growth industry in Wales of dumping nuclear mud in the Welsh marine environment. As the Chamber knows, there are proposals to dump 300,000 tonnes of mud from outside Hinckley Point just off the coast, not too far from where we sit and stand today. In the Petitions Committee today, it was revealed that the licence has...
