Dawn Bowden: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Clearly, we need to retain a long-term commitment to uplifting the economic conditions and opportunities for communities like Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, so I very much welcome the wide-ranging economic interventions that Welsh Government are making in my constituency. So, I'm thinking of things like support for companies like Sharp Clinical Services in...
Dawn Bowden: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government’s spending priorities in the south Wales Valleys? OAQ54712
Dawn Bowden: Thank you for that answer, Minister. I recently visited Elite Paper Solutions in Merthyr Tydfil, who are creating valuable jobs, supported by the Welsh Government. I also attended an event at Idris Davies School in Merthyr; it's a fantastic twenty-first century school in the upper Rhymney valley. And I was with the First Minister to visit the offices of Merthyr Valleys Homes, and to hear...
Dawn Bowden: Will the Minister make a statement on Welsh Government support for community sport in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney?
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Certainly, Deputy Minister, I welcome the steps that you've already taken, especially in conjunction with the Valleys taskforce to invest and quickly spread best practice and innovation that we find in the foundational economy. I'm not going to go through all my preamble, because I'm conscious of time, but I know that amongst some of the beneficiaries in...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I hope the National Assembly will join me in marking Electrical Fire Safety Week Wales, which is taking place between 25 and 29 November 2019. Electrical Safety First is a charity that works to prevent electrical accidents and fires in the home in Wales. Whilst the overall number of accidental fires in Wales is in sustained decline, fires with an...
Dawn Bowden: Will the Minister make a statement on Welsh Government support for allied health professionals in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board area?
Dawn Bowden: Can I thank you for your statement, Minister, and the Welsh Government for its efforts in trying to tackle this issue? Because I think it is important to recognise the Welsh Government does not hold all the key economic levers in this situation, and that you've worked against that backdrop of Tory austerity that you've already referred to, and which as you rightly point out includes the...
Dawn Bowden: Will the Minister make a statement on Welsh Government action to mitigate child poverty?
Dawn Bowden: 6. What discussions has the Counsel General had with the legal sector regarding the impact of the Shared Prosperity Fund? OAQ54872
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Counsel General, for that reply, and I think it's clear from the questions to the First Minister that we do continue to have a specific interest in the role of devolved nations in the delivery of the long-promised shared prosperity fund. I do think it's interesting that we've already seen Tory priorities, with Russell George actually suggesting moving support out of the...
Dawn Bowden: 7. Will the Minister make a statement on the distribution of lottery funding within Wales? OAQ54871
Dawn Bowden: Thank you for that response, Deputy Minister. I'd see first hand the value of lottery funding within my constituency, particularly when I meet community groups and other organisations that are local beneficiaries. However, I'm keen that all efforts are maximised to secure even more funding for our more disadvantaged communities. So, can you tell me what more could be done through your role in...
Dawn Bowden: Diolch, Llywydd. The Committee on Assembly Electoral Reform was established by this National Assembly in September 2019 to examine the recommendations of the expert panel on Assembly electoral reform. Members will recall that, in 2017, the expert panel reported on a wide range of issues, but at the core of its work was a recognition that the Assembly and its Members need to be able to carry...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Llywydd.
Dawn Bowden: It's okay, I was waiting for the questions, and they were very supportive statements, so thank you both for that. Can I just deal, firstly, with the point that Delyth Jewell raised about the lack of a Conservative Member on the committee? I think I too and other members of the committee would very much welcome the Conservative Party reviewing their position on that. I have had conversations...
Dawn Bowden: Yes, thank you, Huw, I'll take that in reverse order. The final point that you made about the implications on our performance, I think, from the limited evidence that we have taken so far, the evidence that we have taken was consistent and was very clear in terms of the implications for us. If we come to a point where we are unable to expand the size of this Assembly, then I think that it is...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Hefin, for those comments. I think there's probably much in that that the committee would agree with. Now, what I'm not going to do as the Chair of the committee, and neither are any of the members of the committee at this stage going to come down and say what we believe should or will happen around electoral reform, but electoral reform is part of the brief that the committee has....
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Llywydd. I'll keep my response very brief. Janet, you're absolutely right, and I think I did touch on this earlier on in a response, about looking at—it was actually in response to Huw Irranca-Davies. One of the things the committee will be doing is looking at the way that we work, because even if we get agreement on recommending an increased Assembly, and the Assembly votes for...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you for those comments, Alun. Not much there to disagree with, other than to say that obviously we haven't yet concluded our deliberations and so we haven't reached conclusions on a number of those issues that you raise. My final comment, really, is just to say that we are seeking evidence and submissions from political parties both inside and outside this place. We are also seeking...
