Sioned Williams: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Following the passing of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act last year, the process of establishing the commission for tertiary education and research has already commenced. The names of the chair and vice chair were published before Christmas, and the process of advertising for other board members is now ongoing. However, there is no white...
Sioned Williams: So, you can't tell us as to when we can expect an announcement in terms of the candidate for chief executive. Because this delay is a concern, given the crucial role that one would expect a chief executive to play in shaping and developing a body that adheres to the ambitious vision that is at the heart of the legislation. Given that the appointments announced to the leadership of the...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'd like to declare an interest, as my husband is a professor in Swansea University and is a member of the University and College Union.
Sioned Williams: 5. What is the Welsh Government doing to promote social partnership in the higher education sector in South Wales West? OQ59263
Sioned Williams: Diolch. The recently published Welsh Government innovation strategy recognises how crucial universities are in driving research and development, but the University and College Union have warned that excessive workloads are impacting all levels of staff, with 60-hour weeks being common, and high numbers reporting strain, and these issues are especially affecting those on low-pay precarious...
Sioned Williams: What steps is the Welsh Government taking to protect leaseholders' rights in South Wales West?
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you for your statement, Minister. In your statement, you make a great deal of reference to the central role of reforms in the post-16 sector to the national vision for education, and we in Plaid Cymru were pleased that the steps to establish the commission for tertiary education and research was part of our co-operation agreement with the Government. I...
Sioned Williams: I welcome this debate. While fully supporting the motion's contention that it is a national scandal that 600,000 people were forced onto prepayment meters because they could not afford their energy bills, I would point out that, while the distribution and supply of gas and electricity and consumer protection are reserved matters, we will never be able to be fully confident that we can protect...
Sioned Williams: In the Swansea valley where I live, there are no trains—none. The same is true for the neighbouring Dulais valley, the Neath valley and the Afan valley. And although there are some great cycle paths, the geography and terrain of these valleys make active travel more challenging than in other urban areas of Wales. They are areas that are completely dependent on buses for public transport....
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, yesterday—last evening—MPs debated the UK Tories' Illegal Migration Bill, and illegal it certainly is, because it's a Bill that has been deemed by dozens of human rights organisations and legal experts as incompatible with the international human rights treaties of which the UK is a signatory, including the European convention on human rights, the 1951 refugee...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Gweinidog. I would also like to talk about the events, the despicable events, in Uganda. Plaid Cymru, of course, has been proud to work with Welsh Government on the LGBTQ+ action plan to make Wales the most LGBTQ+-friendly nation in Europe, but the plan also commits, of course, to demonstrate Wales's international duty to show leadership on equality. People who identify in Uganda, as...
Sioned Williams: 7. How does the Senedd estate accommodate people with photosensitive epilepsy? OQ59354
Sioned Williams: Diolch. Through the Equal Power Equal Voice programme, I'm mentoring a fantastic campaigner from my region, Becci Smart, from Coytrahen in Bridgend. Becci has organised an event I'm sponsoring at the Pierhead building next month to raise awareness about premenstrual disorders, and she is also a long-standing campaigner on epilepsy, a condition she herself lives with. The point of the Equal...
