Siân Gwenllian: This place was an excellent role model for gender equality, but since 2003, the situation has changed and has moved backwards. I'd like your opinion on the principle of introducing legislation to create equality in terms of representatives in the National Assembly as a means of leading to equality in other areas, including in our schools and education more generally.
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. Thank you for bringing this issue to the Assembly's attention. I'm very pleased to be able to participate in this debate. At the outset, I want to refer to one example—just one example but one that's quite complex and demonstrates the problems in this area, and one I'm very familiar with in my constituency. I want to mention a block of flats built for people over the...
Siân Gwenllian: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the progress that has been made in relation to the Welsh language Bill?
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much for the statement, and I too am very pleased to mark today as an important day on the journey towards equality for women. The journey continues. It continues in trying to arrive at full equality in all aspects of life. It's a journey that’s seen loss of life, and it continues to be a long and tiring journey. But I do believe that my generation of women is determined to...
Siân Gwenllian: I too welcome the report of the expert panel on Assembly electoral reform, and I congratulate everyone who has been involved in the work, and I congratulate the Commission and the Llywydd for commissioning the work in the first place and moving with a sense of urgency following receipt of the Wales Act 2017, which makes all of this possible at last. Without that Act, of course, we wouldn't be...
Siân Gwenllian: The settlement that we’re discussing today for the police services shows clearly, once again, why we need to devolve policing to Wales as a matter of urgency. This settlement is worsening the financial problems facing the police here in Wales. Whilst the United Kingdom Government alleges that the settlement gives a boost of £450 million to police budgets, in reality, £270 million of the...
Siân Gwenllian: Plaid Cymru supports this motion today, as we do accept that there are pragmatic reasons as well as sound budgetary reasons for this legislation. The categorisation of housing associations as public corporations means that they will be treated like public bodies in terms of their accounts, and that, of course, has major implications as borrowing of the housing associations will be counted...
Siân Gwenllian: Will you take an intervention?
Siân Gwenllian: Although you say it's not in the Bill, what about the unintended consequences that I raised, not necessarily in the legislation itself, but the knock-on effects?
Siân Gwenllian: 'Planning Policy Wales' in its draft form noted the concept of sustainable development has been broadened, of course, under the well-being of future generations Act, and there is now a requirement to improve the four aspects of well-being—economic, environmental, social and cultural. There are also seven well-being goals that the Act has brought forward to help to ensure that public bodies...
Siân Gwenllian: The Welsh Government offices in Caernarfon are for sale, with the staff moving from the site to a leased site. Caernarfon has seen the loss of far more Welsh Government staff than the national average over the years. What I don't understand is how reducing the number of staff in an area such as Caernarfon is contributing to the economic development plans of the Government, a model of...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you to Dai Lloyd for bringing this debate forward this afternoon. I think it's the third debate that we've had on similar areas. We've talked about cavity wall insulation and leaseholds, and now this issue today. These are issues that do concern our constituents, and it's very appropriate that we discuss them here at the National Assembly and, more importantly, that we seek solutions to...
Siân Gwenllian: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Natural Resources Wales's recommendations for new byelaws on catch control, which have been submitted to the Welsh Government for approval?
Siân Gwenllian: Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's local government reorganisation plans?
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. I have had an opportunity to read your blog, where you discuss local government reform, and I was very pleased initially that you mentioned that the blog was some sort of response to a question that I posed to you in this place a few weeks ago in terms of the kind of style you are going to adopt in dealing with local authorities. I'm very pleased that I have inspired you...
Siân Gwenllian: Well, from that it appears that the only thing that has been achieved is the waste of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money and the time of Welsh Government officials in holding consultation upon consultation, with proposals on legislation that will now be ignored. At least with the most recent White Paper, there was a way forward that didn't require local authority mergers. So, can I ask...
Siân Gwenllian: I entirely accept that it's local government who have told you, and I quote from the blog:
Siân Gwenllian: 'the inherited policy of mandated regional working wasn't a runner'.
Siân Gwenllian: That suggests to me that it wasn't a runner for them, and you agree with them, and you're going to turn your back on that policy. That was the policy in the White Paper, so I don't quite understand what you're trying to say. Having clarity would be most useful. So can you confirm today whether your vision, on the basis of what you've heard from local government, will include regional...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. This week, your Government has published the continuity Bill to ensure that EU law in terms of devolved issues is transferred into Welsh law. But of course there is another important aspect of leaving the European Union, and that is the risk to human rights. So, what is your Government intending to do to ensure that human rights are maintained in Wales in the post-Brexit era?
