Huw Irranca-Davies: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the recent Estyn monitoring report on Coleg Cymunedol y Dderwen? OAQ(5)0733(FM)
Huw Irranca-Davies: I’m delighted that the First Minister has seen that report, and he will note that the comments of Nick Brain, the executive head of the school, have been that they’ve flown out of special measures. I think it may even be unprecedented—the turnaround has been incredible. I remember shortly after the not-far-short-of-a-crisis that the school went into, the headteacher standing up in a...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Diolch, Gadeirydd. We reported on this Bill on 7 July, and we made five recommendations to the Cabinet Secretary. In general, we were satisfied with the balance struck between what is on the face of the Bill and what is left to subordinate legislation, and also that human rights are engaged as set out in the explanatory memorandum and the Cabinet Secretary’s evidence to us. However, we did...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the contribution sports day events make to the health and wellbeing agenda in Wales?
Huw Irranca-Davies: I’m sure the business manager is aware of the private Member’s Bill going through the House of Commons at the moment in the name of the MP for Rhondda, Chris Bryant. It’s based on the Protect the Protectors campaign, looking at increasing—strengthening—the legislation, the education, the workforce protection for not only members of the police services dealing with emergency...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Could I just begin by welcoming the, I believe, genuinely constructive way in which the First Minister has laid out the amendments he’s put forward, and the way in which he’s willing to work with the UK Government not to thwart the voice that was clear within the referendum, nor to thwart the EU withdrawal Bill, but to make it fit legally and constitutionally as well? The First Minister...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Diolch, Llywydd. In opening this debate, could I just point out that I’ve agreed for Suzy Davies to speak in it, and Dai Lloyd also? So, in opening this debate I’m putting a request to the Cabinet Secretary this evening for his help in resolving a long-running issue affecting primary care in Llanharan, Brynna and the surrounding area. The request isn’t made lightly. I’d prefer not to...
Huw Irranca-Davies: A brief history of this matter would be of help. Around 18 months ago there was a sudden and unexpected change to the service provided to Llanharan and Brynna residents by the local Pencoed Medical Centre. There had long been a so-called satellite GP branch surgery provided in Llanharan and Brynna under contract by the Pencoed Medical Centre, which the residents would say is no substitute for...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for taking this intervention, and he makes a very valid point. This isn’t—and, in fact, I would want to make sure that the existing Pencoed Medical Centre was part of this conversation, but there are good examples with Rhondda Cynon Taf. The proposal they’re looking at in Mountain Ash at the moment is very much a partnership between the local authority,...
Huw Irranca-Davies: What assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of the level of assaults on front-line staff in the fire-service?
Huw Irranca-Davies: I’m sure the First Minister would agree with me that some of the most inspiring visits that we have as Assembly Members in our own constituencies are to employers, big and small, who take on apprenticeships on a regular basis, whether those are what we might call entry-level apprenticeships, higher apprenticeships or even degree apprenticeships as well—they’re graduate apprenticeships....
Huw Irranca-Davies: Could I first of all begin by echoing Mike Hedges’s call for either a statement, or actually a debate, I think, on the issue of cavity wall insulation? When it’s done well, it can really transform homes for the better. When it’s done poorly—and I suspect probably every Assembly Member in this place will now have instances of poor installation—it is a disaster. I have one constituent...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I welcome today’s statement, but may I ask the Cabinet Secretary to explain how today’s announcement will assist Welsh-medium education in particular? I am pleased to have two excellent Welsh-medium schools in my constituency. Ysgol Llangynwyd serves the west, and Llanhari serves the east, but both will find difficulty in finding sufficient numbers of chemistry, maths, and physics...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Will the First Minister make a statement on the importance of Flying Start provision to the Welsh Government’s priorities in the fifth Assembly?
Huw Irranca-Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. And I feel I’m under pressure now, with our esteemed visitors in the gallery.
Huw Irranca-Davies: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary explain how he intends to assess the implementation of the code of practice for ethical employment in supply chains in the Welsh public sector? (OAQ51064)
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. And could I say, as the chair of the cross-party group on universities—and I know I have fellow members here—how welcome was the announcement by the chair of University Wales, Professor Colin Riordan, when he said that, by the end of July 2017, all Welsh universities will have to become signatories to the Welsh Government’s code of practice...
Huw Irranca-Davies: First Minister, the child poverty action group has identified very early on that the way that universal credit is structured poses a real risk to the financial autonomy of women in the household. It actually undermines their ability to be autonomous and to have financial independence. We now know from Citizens Advice Cymru that some people in the pilot areas, some women, are giving up work...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you, Neil, for giving way. I just wanted to make the observation that Moody’s, in their downgrading, about a fortnight ago, of the credit rating of the UK—they’ve also positively ascribed that to the very specific issue of uncertainty over Brexit. I wonder whether he has any comments to make on that—the downgrading from Moody’s they have directly ascribed to uncertainty over...
Huw Irranca-Davies: I thank David for raising this because I think the success of the school is integrally linked to the involvement of parents. Would she acknowledge, however, that there are some schools with more significant challenges in that engagement with parents and of parents with their children as well generally? Perhaps she could comment on what measures she can take within the Welsh Government to...
