Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Minister. Clearly, the announcement from Kasai about the statutory consultation process with its employees is disappointing, particularly on the back of job losses and closures that we have recently seen announced in Merthyr at Hoover and Triumph. This particular announcement reflects, I think, the ongoing pressure on the motor manufacturing sector at this time, especially given...
Dawn Bowden: 5. What discussions has the Minister had with the UK Government regarding any additional funding that will be provided to the Welsh Government to deal with damage caused by storms Ciara and Dennis? OAQ55204
Dawn Bowden: Thank you for that answer, Minister, and thank you for the submission that you made to the UK Government regarding the budget. You made a number of important points regarding regional and national inequalities across the UK. You talked about welfare reform and the need for greater co-operation between the UK and Welsh Governments to deliver better social care in the future. Could I, however,...
Dawn Bowden: Can I thank you, Minister, for the statements that you've made about Welsh Government's support for business? The details of these announcements, I'm sure, have been very comforting to the businesses in my constituency that have contacted me with their concerns, so I thank you also for the additional information you've set out today. However, you probably won't be surprised to hear that the...
Dawn Bowden: I think most of the questions that I wanted to ask have now been answered, bar one: around testing, again, First Minister. But hopefully, this is not one that you've already dealt with. It is in relation to residential and care home settings. I've been asked to raise this in particular: whether there has been a particular decision not to routinely test in care and residential settings....
Dawn Bowden: First Minister, can I firstly put on record my thanks to all of our key workers that are keeping our emergency and front-line services going, but also to put on record my thanks to you and to your Ministers for the way in which you've been handling this unprecedented situation that the country finds itself in? The regular updates and information, together with tailoring to the specific needs...
Dawn Bowden: For my contribution, I want to give a very personal rather than a legal or even a political take on this, really, in terms of what we're considering today. I reflect back now on when I stood for election to this Senedd in 2016 and, really, all I was hoping for was that my life experiences would bring something to this institution and that I could do my little bit to make life for my...
Dawn Bowden: Will the First Minister provide an update on the provisions for homeless people during the coronavirus crisis?
Dawn Bowden: Thank you for your statement, First Minister, and can I add my thanks to those of others to you and your Ministers in terms of everything that you're doing at the moment? It's really, really difficult times for all of us. Two issues from me: firstly, I know that we all recognise the remarkable voluntary efforts that we're seeing across our communities to help vulnerable neighbours and...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I think I'm just down to one point now, Minister, seeing as all the others have been covered. In fact, one on the VAT gap has been asked by about half a dozen Members in different ways. So, I'll skip that one and I'll go straight to my point, which is on the business insurance. Now, thank you for writing to me about that just recently, because I understand...
Dawn Bowden: [Inaudible.]—follow on briefly from questions from Vikki Howells and Alun Davies, on a similar theme, because the longer this crisis goes on, there's increasing evidence about some of the differential impacts that the pandemic is having on our most disadvantaged communities, and that certainly seems to be the case with mortality data. So, can I ask you whether you have any analysis or...
Dawn Bowden: First Minister, during your press conference on Monday, and again in your statement today, you've touched upon some of the important factors that helped to determine your decision making in Wales, including the health inequalities in our population. Now I know that some people see an opportunity for change in our current circumstances, so, for example, delivering on active travel plans or...
Dawn Bowden: Can I just follow on from a question asked earlier by Angela Burns? Because this week I had reason to use an NHS facility myself, on a matter that was non-COVID related, and, following a remote consultation with my GP, I was able to promptly get an x-ray, a service that in my area has been transferred now from Prince Charles Hospital to Ysbyty Cwm Cynon for non-COVID related matters, and...
Dawn Bowden: Okay, thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Sorry, I had to unmute. Thank you, Minister, for your statement. One of the things I'd like to say was that I'm very grateful for the continued briefings and updates that we get—Members of the Senedd and the Members of Parliament across my area—for meeting both the health boards and getting the regular information from them. I think it probably...
Dawn Bowden: We've heard reports of people not respecting social distancing in some areas, but I'd like to know if there is something more that's going on in these communities? And I'd be grateful if you could advise what work the Government's epidemiologists are doing to try to establish if, in fact, there is anything other than behaviours going on in these communities which is keeping infection levels...
Dawn Bowden: First Minister, can I welcome the fact that, at the last review of the COVID regulations, the Welsh Government were able to ensure that apprentices can return to college in order to complete their practical studies, and therefore complete their qualifications? That's great news for those young people, and we hope, of course, that it will benefit the economy, too. However, I do fear the scale...
Dawn Bowden: Okay. Thank you, Llywydd. I was having trouble unmuting then. I do apologise.
Dawn Bowden: 3. Will the Minister provide an update on flood recovery work in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? OQ55315
Dawn Bowden: Thank you for that response, Minister. Firstly, can I add my sympathy to others' for those people who have been yet again affected by flooding in recent days? In parts of my constituency, the problem is not just about rivers flooding, but it's also the adequacy of largely Victorian local drainage and culvert systems, which frankly seem unable to cope with the extreme weather conditions that...
Dawn Bowden: Can I thank you for that, Minister, and thank you for mentioning Merthyr Tydfil in your response to Rhun ap Iorwerth? Because I was very disturbed, but not surprised to hear reports over the weekend of significant numbers of people testing positive for COVID-19 at the Kepak meat processing plant in Merthyr, and perhaps even more alarmed to find that this has actually been going on since...
