Sioned Williams: Thank you for the statement, Minister. It's concerning, of course, that the supersponsor scheme has had to be temporarily paused, because we know that this was a scheme where we can best guarantee that the needs of refugees are met, and that their safety and well-being are safeguarded. We understand and also appreciate the need to ensure that the appropriate support is available and that...
Sioned Williams: 1. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's innovation strategy? OQ58177
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Weinidog. The Reid review contained five central recommendations for the Welsh Government on how to support research and innovation in the aftermath of Brexit. With higher costs now eroding small businesses' margins at a rate that many have not experienced before, many small firms are now facing multiple headwinds that threaten the stability of our economy. Giving small businesses the...
Sioned Williams: There are many things to celebrate in terms of how the innovation of the well-being of future generations Act and the work of the future generations commissioner help to steer the vision and implementation of policy, but we also know that there are many challenges. As a member of the Equality and Social Justice Committee, which has been scrutinising the work of the commissioner, I agree that...
Sioned Williams: Thank you for the statement, Minister, to mark Refugee Week.
Sioned Williams: I'm looking forward to attending the Home Away From Home exhibition in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea later this week, which is a celebration of the people and organisations who've been involved in making Swansea a city of sanctuary for over 10 years. Getting to a safe place, of course, is only the first step—an often perilous and exhausting step—on a long journey for refugees,...
Sioned Williams: Thank you very much for the statement, Deputy Minister.
Sioned Williams: I'm proud that the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru commits the Welsh Government to making Wales the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe and to calling for the powers to legislate to improve the lives and protect the safety of trans people in Wales to be devolved. It's clear how crucial those commitments are, given how hate crimes against people based on sexual orientation have risen...
Sioned Williams: Plaid Cymru supports the amendment in this group, certainly amendment 6, which responds to issues that were raised during scrutiny stages. As the Minister and Laura Anne Jones said, it is a period of significant change in ALN, and it's important that this Billl, which introduces major changes to tertiary education, does deliver for our ALN learners. As we know, there are barriers for people...
Sioned Williams: Plaid Cymru, of course, supports the principle of securing resources to promote and enhance the demand for Welsh-medium tertiary education, and we voiced our concerns about this during Stages 1 and 2, concerns that were shared during Stage 1 by UCAC, the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the Welsh Language Commissioner. We were therefore pleased to have seen during Stage 2 a robust amendment to...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd, and I welcome the opportunity to open the debate on group 5, and to specifically speak to amendment 166, tabled in my name. During our scrutiny work on the Bill as introduced, the Children, Young People and Education Committee was eager to ensure that this legislation and the new arrangements that will be created through it will maintain and extend the long-established...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd. Yes, I would just like to place on record that Plaid Cymru supports the Minister's views on the amendments tabled in the name of Laura Anne Jones, that is, 81, 82, 83 and 84. Freedom of speech is not unconditional, and, as was noted in the debate, we already have legislation to safeguard freedom of speech in HE institutions and to safeguard students and staff within those...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd. I speak to amendment 78, the only amendment in this group. One of the central principles of this Bill is to try and break down the borders between the different sectors of the post-16 education sector, which, historically, have been seen as being isolated from each other. Naturally, perhaps, there is concern, with a move towards a more comprehensive system, and we heard...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd. I'm pleased to have the Government's support and the support of the Conservative Party for my amendment 78, and I would like to put on record that I am grateful for the constructive collaboration that there has been throughout the journey of this Bill, in all of its stages, and that that constructive relationship with the committee and the two opposition parties has led to...
Sioned Williams: This group of amendments includes amendments related to sixth forms. We will support amendments 76 and 77 whilst voting against the rest. The reason for that is that we believe that the proposals that will come before the commission will require approval—I couldn't remember the Welsh term—
Sioned Williams: —by Welsh Ministers as a result of amendments made at Stage 2, which we supported. I'm glad that improvements have been made in this regard when it comes to sixth forms during Stage 2, and that a whole range of concerns raised by Plaid Cymru and others in this area have been addressed by the Minister.
Sioned Williams: Sixth forms play an important and unique part within Welsh-medium education, safeguarding elements of immersion and securing a crucial contribution to the skills of learners who have been taught through the medium of Welsh, and to allow them to contribute to the Welsh language ethos of their schools and to be linguistic and cultural role models for younger pupils. It is crucial that the...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Llywydd. Prynhawn da, Weinidog. Wales's level of research and innovation investment is significantly below that of the UK and EU averages, and this picture will get worse as Welsh universities are disproportionately disadvantaged by the losses of EU structural funding given the high level of historical dependency on that funding. By now, gross expenditure on research and innovation in...
Sioned Williams: Thank you. School reorganisation in the Pontypridd area has been a contentious issue for years now. One of the main concerns is the closure of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pont Siôn Norton in Cilfynydd, which will mean that the children living in Ynysybwl, Coedycwm, Glyncoch, Trallwng and Cilfynydd will have to travel miles further to receive Welsh-medium education. Campaigners presented evidence...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Weinidog. I fully support the pilot as a step towards a permanent universal basic income. On 4 May, during social justice spokespersons' questions, I raised with you that young people leaving care often access semi-independent accommodation, such as flats in a complex, where a young person has their own independent space but has access to significant support to help make the...
