Dawn Bowden: What recent discussions has the First Minister held with the UK Government over the operation of the probation service in Wales?
Dawn Bowden: 8. Will the Minister provide an update on Welsh Government plans to improve financial inclusion in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? OAQ53850
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Minister, and I'm very aware of the good work that is done by organisations like the citizens advice bureau in my constituency. Yet, there are Valleys communities that are facing a steady withdrawal of many vital services, and many of us will have seen that. Working with my colleague Gerald Jones MP, we've campaigned to save some of the commercial banking services in towns like...
Dawn Bowden: 2. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve educational outcomes in the south Wales valleys? OAQ53947
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Minister. As we know, the life opportunities of people living in areas like Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney are determined by many factors, but especially their educational and training opportunities. The Learning and Work Institute Cymru has recently published a youth opportunity index, showing that young people in my constituency, and across the south Wales Valleys, have the least...
Dawn Bowden: David, will you take an intervention?
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, David. You were recently in Merthyr Tydfil with Nigel Farage and Mark Reckless, and you were at a rally at Trago Mills, where Mark Reckless stood on a platform with Nigel Farage and roll-called Labour AMs and MPs who he alleged were remainers and, as a result of that, those Labour AMs and MPs were abused verbally on social media and two of them—one of them me—had their offices...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I thank everyone who's taken a keen interest in this debate and contributed? With the time available to me, I don't think I'm going to be able to go through everybody's contributions, but I do want to thank John for tabling the debate and Mike Hedges for co-sponsoring it. Within the debate, we heard John Griffiths open by talking about the highest...
Dawn Bowden: I will come on to what I think about the Government's position in a moment. Rhianon Passmore obviously referred to the equitable distribution of wealth, and I think, for those of us who are socialists, that's a fundamental point for all of us: fairer distribution of wealth. Jenny Rathbone and Huw Irranca-Davies both talked about the impact of food poverty. Huw Irranca particularly talked...
Dawn Bowden: —establishing and expanding the Flying Start programme, investing in the life prospects of young people. So, our task is to keep that strong focus on the tackling poverty agenda. It is our challenge and it is the reason why this debate was brought here today.
Dawn Bowden: First Minister, would you agree that maintaining universal benefits like free prescriptions, free bus passes, and offering relief to those council tax payers in financial need are a far better way to tackle poverty than Tory tax breaks for the highest paid and scrapping of tv licences for the over-75s?
Dawn Bowden: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's priorities for biodiversity in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? OAQ54053
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Minister. Clearly, all the expert advice received points to the decline of much of our biodiversity, so I believe it is vital to continue strengthening the connections between people, the local communities and their wider environment, and there's much to applaud in those local communities. In Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, for example, we've seen the local angling association managing...
Dawn Bowden: 8. What action is the Welsh Government taking to speed up the planning and delivery of home adaptations? OAQ54061
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Minister, and, in some ways, this question follows on from the earlier question from Rhun, and you mentioned earlier that we both have just come from an event organised by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, and they were talking about this very issue. I won't repeat what you and others have already said about the benefits of adaptations, but we all face the challenge of...
Dawn Bowden: Could I thank Mike Hedges for giving me one minute in this debate, and in that minute, I cannot cover all the reasons for poverty or to talk in detail about how we can alleviate it? But I wanted to mention two things that I think we need to recognise. Firstly, the invaluable role of the trade union movement in the fight against poverty. It was the very experience of poverty amongst working...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I rise to speak as the species champion for that most beautiful of creatures, the European eel. There is excellent work being undertaken by groups in my constituency, including Salmon and Trout Conservation Cymru and the South East Wales Rivers Trust, supported by members of Merthyr anglers and Natural Resources Wales, to try to restore our eel stocks. In...
Dawn Bowden: Diolch, Llywydd. My topic for this debate relates to a subject that I know is close to the heart of Members across this Chamber, and that is housing. More specifically, I want to propose that this National Assembly should consider making a national commitment to the fundamental principle that every one of us should have a human right underpinned by law to access adequate housing. I'll...
Dawn Bowden: So, first, let me set out the reasons why I believe that establishing such a right is important. At this point, can I immediately thank those organisations and people who've recently brought this subject to the fore for debate, including Tai Pawb, the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru, Shelter Cymru and Dr Simon Hoffman of Swansea University? Indeed, my interest in this idea was sparked by...
Dawn Bowden: Now, at this point, I believe it's worth noting that in the policy and legislative context of Wales, we are already very familiar with a rights-based approach. Perhaps the most notable for me has been the work in respect of the rights of children and young persons. Those were incorporated into Welsh law via the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011. Through this Measure,...
