Rhianon Passmore: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. I wish to thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing today's debate to the Senedd, and, if I may, I will take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the residents of Islwyn within Caerphilly County Borough Council for their compliance and the very real sacrifices being made. I also wish to thank and pay tribute to Councillor Philippa Marsden and her...
Rhianon Passmore: First Minister, prior to this morning it had been many months before that the Prime Minister of the UK had called a COBRA meeting with the devolved leaders across the United Kingdom's family of nations. Would issues of cross-border transport during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on many other matters, be far better served by regular and routine communication between the relevant...
Rhianon Passmore: It is clear that the UK wishes to plough ahead and intentionally break international agreements, whilst simultaneously hiding the Bill's true intent, to attempt to take back control of this democratic place, but with a new ability to top-slice the budget of Wales for Tory priorities. What would this mean for the programme of government that the people of Wales have democratically elected this...
Rhianon Passmore: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the support required to aid Islwyn’s cultural and musical organisations through the pandemic?
Rhianon Passmore: Health Minister, the COVID-19 pandemic has now claimed over a million people's lives across the world, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. In the United Kingdom, the current death toll with coronavirus is 57,860, and in Wales, our death toll is 1,612. These numbers represent human beings—someone's mother, someone's father, someone's brother and someone's sister. As the...
Rhianon Passmore: Thank you. So, to summarise, health Minister, what message, now, would you give to the people of Islwyn about how they can influence the next six months, and what message of hope would you give them that these regulations are needed and work? Thank you, Llywydd.
Rhianon Passmore: 8. Will the Minister provide an update on the number of incidents in Islwyn of children who have been sent home from school to self-isolate following a positive test for COVID-19? OQ55586
Rhianon Passmore: Diolch, Minister. Thank you for that answer. The Welsh Labour First Minister, Mark Drakeford, has stated that keeping schools open was a top priority for the Welsh Government. For the parents and children in Islwyn, it is imperative for their social and mental well-being that they are able to continue their education in school with all the necessary precautions. From Risca Primary School in...
Rhianon Passmore: I speak in this debate to support amendment 1, tabled by Rebecca Evans, and in particular point 1, which notes the poor value for money represented by austerity economics, as highlighted by the UN criticism of UK poverty. Angela Burns and her Conservative colleagues would need the skills not of Job but Jackanory to explain how the Cameron and Osborne devastating austerity project, alongside...
Rhianon Passmore: 8. How does the Welsh Government intend to ensure that Islwyn builds back better from the COVID-19 pandemic? OQ55665
Rhianon Passmore: Thank you, First Minister. As the Member of the Senedd for Islwyn, I warmly welcome this publication by the Welsh Government of its policy and strategy paper. Within the 'Covid 19 Reconstruction: Challenges and Priorities' paper, the Minister states that 'The Welsh Government wants to be open to new ideas and to constructive challenge, so part of this work must be a national conversation. We...
Rhianon Passmore: Thank you, Minister, and to the Welsh Government, for bringing this very important debate to the Senedd Chamber. Llywydd, black lives matter. 2020 will be a year that will be burnt into the collective consciousness with the COVID-19 pandemic; however, we here in this place can ensure that 2020 is also remembered for the year that we collectively said, all of us, that enough is enough when it...
Rhianon Passmore: The UK Tory Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, yesterday was asked what was his message to musicians, actors and freelancers in the arts, and the Chancellor eventually told ITN that everyone is having to adapt. Quite frankly, that is not good enough. Llywydd, musicians, actors and freelancers in the arts are integral to the cultural and economic soul of our great nation. It is imperative that this...
Rhianon Passmore: How does the Welsh Government intend to ensure that Islwyn builds back better from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Rhianon Passmore: 3. Will the First Minister provide an update on Wales’s COVID-19 testing capabilities? OQ55715
Rhianon Passmore: Diolch, First Minister. Thank you for that. Wales's first specialist COVID-19 lab in Gwent is due to open this month, and I would like him to join with me in thanking all of our dedicated staff working across Wales flat out within them. The hope is that the new lighthouse facility will process 20,000 tests a day, and as the First Minister has already alluded to, these lighthouse labs are...
Rhianon Passmore: I thank very much the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip for her statement on Hate Crime Awareness Week, and I do agree that there are different statistics that will offer different measures, but the prescience of this statement can be seen by the 2019-20 national hate crime statistics for England and Wales that were published by the Home Office today. They show that overall 2 per cent increase...
Rhianon Passmore: I wish to request two statements to the Senedd—firstly, a comprehensive statement outlining the support measures put in place across Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic to support musicians, freelance and otherwise, and their livelihoods, and the measures to support community music—the very heart and soul of Welsh communities—such as choirs, choral societies, brass bands and community...
Rhianon Passmore: In Wales, the situation is stark. In just six very short weeks, we have moved from having very low levels of coronavirus to high levels of infection spreading rapidly within our nation, and this is despite the knowledge and understanding that without localised health protection areas, the situation and virus prevalence would have been even worse, with more deaths, and not just of the very...
Rhianon Passmore: Minister, on 17 August this year, the Welsh Labour Government announced a funding boost of more than £216 million for local councils in Wales to provide them with that certainty they do need to plan for the remainder of the year, and it is disappointing in regard to the comprehensive spending review. That additional investment from the Welsh Government in August takes the total amount of...
