Michelle Brown: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Good afternoon, Minister. Minister, you've recently announced a new sex and relationships education regime, which is to be imposed on schools and that parents won't be able to opt their child out of. Will you make sure that the new SRE curriculum covers identifying what constitutes abuse, why it's wrong, how to prevent it, and what to do if it happens?
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Recently, we've seen the first ever conviction involving a parent performing or allowing female genital mutilation to be performed on their child. Despite years of this abuse taking place and it having been made illegal a long time ago, the UK and Welsh Governments and the institutions under their control have been ineffective at preventing it and dealing...
Michelle Brown: I understand what you said about not wanting to impose on teachers a long list of items to teach—I understand where you're coming from there, Minister—but FGM is such a horrific abuse of a girl. It's now being undertaken on babies, because, and I quote, 'The girls are unable to report, the cut heals quicker and prosecution is much harder once evidence comes to light and the girl is...
Michelle Brown: Thank you to the Petitions Committee for introducing this debate. I'd like to thank the petitioners for their efforts in highlighting that we're not doing enough and how we can improve the lives of deaf people, particularly children and young people. There are many laws and accepted principles that seem unquestionable now, but would not be in existence without those like Catherine...
Michelle Brown: Will the Minister make a statement regarding recruitment into the NHS in Wales?
Michelle Brown: Yesterday, we saw an admission from the Government that all their previous promises about how the transition away from the ILG system would be painless for its recipients meant nothing. The panic statement, no doubt prompted by Plaid's motion today, came not so much out of concern for the disabled people involved, but because they don't want to be politically embarrassed. But that statement...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Deputy Minister, updating us on your Government's activities to try to address gender inequality. I join with you in wanting all women to have economic independence, for their paid and unpaid work to be valued, for women to be empowered, and those other excellent objectives you have summarised in your statement. I also share your vision that Wales should be a...
Michelle Brown: 2. What money has the Minister allocated to the housing and local government portfolio in respect of regeneration of Welsh high streets? OAQ53526
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Sir John Timpson, chairman of the Timpson chain, has said that making town centres more friendly to motorists will stop the rot of the high street. He doesn't subscribe to the simplistic assumption that the death of the high street is down to online retail—'You can't get keys cut online', he says—but it's largely down to motorists preferring to go...
Michelle Brown: 3. What contact has the Welsh Government made with non-EU countries in the run up to leaving the EU? OAQ53525
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Minister. A recent media report shows that the UK public finances are on the mend, recording a healthy surplus in January on booming tax receipts. Employment—[Interruption.] Read the papers. Employment is at record levels with real-wage growth at a two-year high. Despite a global slowdown, Britain expanded 1.4 per cent last year, recording just 4 per cent...
Michelle Brown: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on the level of support the Welsh Government gives to armed forces veterans? OAQ53587
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. There are 51,000 veterans in north Wales alone, and although we have Veterans' NHS Wales, there are only three psychologists to look after their mental health needs. That's clearly not viable, but that isn't really what I'm driving at here. But having said that, I don't think it's fair to expect Government and the NHS to do everything, and we should...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Relating to your earlier announcement about covering the funding for the pension changes, I think schools across Wales are going to be breathing a sigh of relief on that one, so I welcome your announcement. Last year, a review showed that fining parents for taking children out of school in term time in Wales has had no effect on overall absence rates. Is it right...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Minister. You'd like to add an extra in-service training day to the Welsh school calendar. It doesn't seem fair that the state can deny a child five or six days of schooling, but if a parent does it to take them on a holiday they might otherwise not be able to afford, they face being fined. If schools are to have INSET days, would it not make sense to have each...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Minister. There's no denying that teachers are very, very busy during term time, and are possibly feeling under more pressure because of the pressure on education spending, but having INSET days spread throughout the year, forcing many parents to use up a week or more of their annual leave in a way that is basically useless to the family, does make some working...
Michelle Brown: Will the First Minister make a statement about efforts to increase the availability and take-up of vocational training?
Michelle Brown: Yesterday, we saw another motion from this Labour Government that was little more than patting itself on the back, as if everything in the Welsh NHS was hunky-dory, and we see it regularly. The Minister's been sitting there most of this debate, with his little smirk on his face—I don't know how you can, Minister. Seriously, I don't know how you can. The amendments tabled—[Interruption.]...
Michelle Brown: Homeworking in certain circumstances can be very valuable for both employer and worker, but I just don't see the advantages claimed by this motion as actually being there. Homeworking obviously has to be carefully considered and not forced on employers or employees, whether they're in the private or public sector, but homeworking really, really isn't feasible for a lot of roles, particularly...
Michelle Brown: 8. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of how effective the current funding models for public infrastructure projects are in attracting potential investors? OAQ53880
