Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Llywydd. I’m sure the Minister will be aware that Carmarthenshire County Council has launched its strategic plan for Welsh in education this week, which is an ambitious plan and one that has been approved by the Welsh Government and it’s put the county on the road to increasing the number of Welsh speakers significantly. Of course, it will provide an opportunity for every pupil...
Llyr Gruffydd: I didn’t quite hear an unequivocal confirmation that you will support the council. Maybe you can actually make that clear in answer to my next question, if you wish to do so. At another extreme, in terms of your ambition in Wales to see growth in Welsh-medium education, many of us were shocked to see that Flintshire County Council last week had considered a possible option—and I’m...
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, yes, and it’s important therefore, in terms of the WESPs, that, if you are talking about creating greater expectation, the regulation surrounding those WESPs reflects that aspiration and I would be very eager to see that happening. We know that Aled Roberts has been looking at this area and continues to work for Government in this area, and your predecessor—. And I’m sure you...
Llyr Gruffydd: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the Welsh Government's school admissions policy?
Llyr Gruffydd: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on patients' satisfaction with access to GPs?
Llyr Gruffydd: I also want to record my disappointment with the poor response of the Government to the recommendations made in this report. It’s clear to me that the Government doesn’t share the same ambitions as committee members in terms of the transformational change required in this area, particularly in looking at the trajectory in terms of the increase in the problems that we see. We need to meet...
Llyr Gruffydd: I'm sure you will be aware of questions that have been asked by the children and young people committee and by the children's commissioner on the Government's budgeting process, where we more and more receive integrated impact assessments, rather than, for example, specific impact assessments on the rights of children. So, can I ask you as a Government to look at that again, and for you, as...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I say at the outset that I and my party agree with the main recommendations of the committee? The main recommendation, of course, is that this should become a designated national priority. We've heard reference to previous reports done by committees—one in 2014, for example, which led to some changes in terms of care in this area. But we now need to move to the next level, and the...
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer—[Interruption.]
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm sure that many of us will have been watching the World Cup over the last few weeks—indeed, it's been impossible to avoid it in the past 24 hours. But I refer to that because I had the experience of reading an article recently about the terrible poverty that one of the most prominent players in that competition had experienced as a child, and he had...
Llyr Gruffydd: 'Children in low income families in Wales are facing considerable pressures and are growing in number. Figures again show that child poverty is prevalent in all parts of Wales with an increasing number of families struggling just to get by. The impact of changes introduced by the UK Government's programme of welfare reform at a time of rising everyday costs is hitting many families hard....
Llyr Gruffydd: I mentioned access to food banks a moment ago, and I was speaking to a trustee of the Vale of Clwyd food bank only last week, and he told me that around a third of the people who receive food packages from them are children. Over 500 children received food parcels from them last year alone. All of this means, of course, that people are having to make impossible choices on a daily basis, which...
Llyr Gruffydd: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on the impact of Brexit on further and higher education? OAQ52519
Llyr Gruffydd: Last week, in answer to the Plaid Cymru leader here in the Assembly, you told us that you and your Government had no plans for the Welsh NHS if there was to be, as is, of course, increasingly likely now, a 'no deal' Brexit. In fact, your exact words were 'There is no planning for a "no deal" Brexit. It's more like people running around in circles screaming. There are no plans at all for...
Llyr Gruffydd: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on the future of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board? OAQ52565
Llyr Gruffydd: This is the response that I’ve been hearing over five years of asking this question, to all intents and purposes, and we’ve heard reference to another damning report that has just been published recently. It is a beast of a health board; certainly the largest health board we have in Wales, and perhaps the biggest public body we have in Wales. But over the last three years, it has been in...
Llyr Gruffydd: Could I start by also thanking Donna Ockenden and her team for their work in preparing this report? I wish I could extend the same thanks to you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement, but I fear that I can't. I don't feel able to do that, and I have to say that the tone is set in the first paragraph, isn't it? You just have to look at the second sentence, 'This is another difficult report...
Llyr Gruffydd: I was very pleased that Plaid Cymru was able to achieve an additional investment of £30 million capital funding, as part of our agreement on the supplementary budget, to expand Welsh-medium education. By now, I have received confirmation that all local authorities in Wales have put in a bid for a proportion of that money. In fact, the total of applications is over £100 million. So, I would...
Llyr Gruffydd: The local authorities that I've spoken to are worried that this is all very last minute, and clearly that underlines the fact that it was a bit of a rearguard action to the scrapping of the school uniforms grant. So, I too welcome this u-turn from the Government. Local authorities have told me that you published your written statement outlining the proposals for the new scheme, but there was...
Llyr Gruffydd: I will start by disappointing the Minister in saying that I won’t be changing my view on my intentions, and Plaid Cymru’s intentions, in relation to opposing this Bill. He referred to the fact that the Bill is brief and technical, and that’s quite right, and there is some disconnect between the Bill and the Government’s policy. But, of course, whilst the words in the first clause of...
