Llyr Gruffydd: It's not right that families earning up to £200,000 a year can get free childcare when, of course, the poorest children from workless households are excluded from enjoying those very same benefits. We know that the poorest children, by the time they're three years old, are already 10 months behind their better-off peers in terms of vocabulary, literacy and speech development. Indeed, the...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Llywydd. I’m very pleased, of course, that the intensive care department, the SuRNICC, has now opened at Glan Clwyd, and it would be good to be able to congratulate the Government on their vision in that regard. But, of course, the truth is that the Government and the health board, back in 2013, had approved the downgrading of intensive care services for newborn babies in north...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move those amendments in the name of Plaid Cymru. Of course, we have seen a number of changes and reforms over the years, particularly maybe over the last two Assembly terms. We've seen the review of the qualifications system, we've seen an ongoing review now of the national curriculum, we've seen changes to additional learning needs as well, of...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Llywydd, and may I refer Members to my register of interests, which is pertinent to this topic? May I start by regretting the language used by UKIP in their motion, as we've heard? It is an inflammatory start to a debate that many of us have been trying to encourage in a constructive and positive manner over the last few years. I think it’s entirely irresponsible to present the...
Llyr Gruffydd: I'd like to say a few words now about the Welsh Government's ongoing consultation, 'Brexit and our land'. Now, the last time the Government considered major changes to farm payments in Wales, they assessed how much each business, each sector, each county in Wales would lose or gain through very comprehensive modelling before making any key decisions. Now, these latest proposed changes are...
Llyr Gruffydd: But the point is valid, isn’t it? There is something unique about the figures here in Wales because the rest of the UK has seen an increase of 2 per cent in the undergraduates coming from the EU while Wales has seen a reduction of 10 per cent. Now, the suggestion made by your own education Secretary, of course, is that the way that student support in Wales has changed now means that, in...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Tomorrow is World School Milk Day, and I very much hope that Assembly Members will enjoy the pint of milk that I will deliver to your doorstep, in your offices, tomorrow morning, in order to highlight and to remind you of the healthy properties of milk for our children, and the importance of the dairy sector for the rural economy. This programme, of...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement and welcome it too? Clearly, we will want to see the framework and the details when they become available, but I certainly welcome the direction of travel. Very often, we forget—we certainly have done so in the past, perhaps—that we need to trust in our teachers more than perhaps we have done in the past. I've said this in the context...
Llyr Gruffydd: Will the First Minister make a statement on the future of funding for agriculture and the countryside following Brexit?
Llyr Gruffydd: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on improving transport in North Wales? OAQ52635
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for your answer. The A483, of course, which you're familiar with—the Wrexham bypass—is a key transport artery for north-east Wales, and for many years now improvements have been needed to the junctions connecting it to the town, and it is the responsibility, of course, of the Welsh Government. I think you yourself described Ruthin Road junction earlier this year as dangerous,...
Llyr Gruffydd: The First Minister has confirmed, of course, to my fellow Plaid Cymru Member, Adam Price, in response to a written question, that the report of the public inquiry and the decision on the statutory orders will be subject to a debate and a vote in this Chamber before a decision is taken. Can you, therefore, confirm to us all whether that vote will be a binding vote?
Llyr Gruffydd: I have to say that this episode really raises fundamental questions as to whether Natural Resources Wales is truly at arm's length from Welsh Government, or whether it's just beholden to the views of its political masters in Cathays Park. Back in July, NRW made a decision unanimously against a ban. You didn't like the decision. You intervened, and weeks later, the decision was changed. Now,...
Llyr Gruffydd: Will the First Minister make a statement on the future of credit unions in Wales?
Llyr Gruffydd: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the Welsh red meat levy? OAQ52689
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, I share your frustration, because I’ve been a Member of this Assembly for seven years and I’m sure I’ve been asking the same question regularly over that period of time. But the agricultural unions are also concerned that changes in farm payments that you’re proposing in ‘Brexit and our land’ are going to lead to less red meat being produced in Wales and, as a result, there...
Llyr Gruffydd: Diolch, Llywydd. When your predecessor, Cabinet Secretary, proposed changes to agricultural funding in Wales, the Government published detailed assessments and extensive modelling of the impact that the proposed changes would have on each farm type, on each agricultural sector, even the impact on jobs in all the local authority areas that we have here in Wales. Now, given that your latest...
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, I think people will be very disturbed by the fact that the Government clearly hasn't done its homework, because you are pursuing particular proposals, albeit in consultation form. So, how can you put those forward without knowing what the implications will be? How can you expect people to respond meaningfully to a consultation when, actually, you're not able to tell them what effect, if...
Llyr Gruffydd: I'm not doubting when you tell us that your policy is Welsh Labour policy, but I'm telling you that it's also UK Tory policy, which clearly is rather uncomfortable for you and your backbench Members, I'm sure. Now, as well as removing the safety net that I have referred to for Welsh farmers in these turbulent times of Brexit, under your proposals, of course, funding will now become—or is...
Llyr Gruffydd: 4. What advice will the Cabinet Secretary give to local councils that are facing service cuts? OAQ52691
