Bethan Sayed: Thank you for the statement. I am speaking on behalf of Siân Gwenllian as she's not here today, so I'm sure she will want to follow up any progress with you when she returns. From listening to the debate already and from reading the statement, obviously broadly we would support personal appraisals if that means that we can be taking the pressure away from young people in terms of those...
Bethan Sayed: Whilst Plaid Cymru has been supportive of some of the changes that you've made in relation to schools, when it comes to post-16 education, some of the people that I've talked to have said that they believe that the Government have taken their eye off the ball. Even the former Minister—I'm not sure of the title at the time—said that further education was not given a priority. Do you agree...
Bethan Sayed: Thank you for the reply. I appreciate elements of this is new, but, obviously, higher education isn't new. We've seen major pressures in the college sector, strikes averted at the eleventh hour, but that doesn't take away from the fact that workload pressure is still a reality. We need to see progress on Hazelkorn and on FE legislation. Where is that in the round? There are major governance...
Bethan Sayed: Thank you for that answer, of course, but I think many of the universities would say back to that that they need imminent support because they are making those cutbacks in the here and now, and any intervention that you can make as Minister would be welcome. I'd like to turn finally to Swansea University and governance issues in higher education. Yesterday, my colleague Helen Mary Jones asked...
Bethan Sayed: My view is that the system is currently broken. We have a perverse situation where councils are cutting key services like libraries and community centres in the Afan valley, with four more proposed for Neath Port Talbot ongoing, expecting people from the Afan valley, then, to travel further to get to those services, but then they can't get to those services, because the buses are simply not...
Bethan Sayed: Would you take—? Would you agree with me that there are some people in our region who have had to travel to places such as Norwich in order to access private support because they wait so long for assessment? If there were to be a Bill such as the one being proposed today, it would be possible to ensure that they receive the treatment earlier and that they get that assessment at an earlier...
Bethan Sayed: What assessment has the Counsel General made of how proposed changes to immigration rules outlined in the UK Government's proposed EU withdrawal agreement will impact Wales?
Bethan Sayed: What discussions has the Counsel General had with the UK Government on the impact that Brexit will have on current state aid rules?
Bethan Sayed: I was wanting to request a statement on the Government's position with regard to criminal justice. I heard what the First Minister said earlier in relation to the three priority areas, and, while I welcome that, I am concerned that that has somewhat pre-empted the role of the Commission on Justice in Wales, who are currently looking at all options in relation to the devolution of criminal...
Bethan Sayed: In July last year, you said that you weren't minded to follow through with the concept of an animal abuse register for Wales. I'm taking it hard, but there we go, I'll try and move on. But, in that statement, you said that you would look at alternative measures—the RSPCA led that taskforce—you said things in relation to better information sharing between law enforcement, health...
Bethan Sayed: Diolch. I'd like to first of all thank the campaigners, especially John Benson, who, despite years of fighting for their rights and basic fairness and justice, have not given up hope and have not caved in to Governments at Westminster that have either treated them with contempt or with basic ignorance and silence over the years. We don't want to bring this debate again to the Assembly. When I...
Bethan Sayed: So, this issue has been going on for many, many years. The workers at Allied Steel and Wire in Cardiff first found themselves facing a loss of their pensions in 2002. ASW was a big employer in Cardiff, and it’s easy to forget now, with the changes that have taken place in this city, how we did attract those big industrial employers. Some of the workers here today worked at ASW for 40 years...
Bethan Sayed: Well, I'll have to check my e-mail because I don't think I was invited to that meeting as a regional Assembly Member. We all know there's a dire lack of investment in south Wales west train lines. A report received by the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, by Rowland Pittard, noted that there was, and I quote, 'a long history of promises' of a half-hourly service from Maesteg, and it...
Bethan Sayed: Could I request that in light of today's publication of the Health Inspectorate Wales report into how ABMU health board handled the Kris Wade investigation and review, the health Minister initiates a debate in Government time on this issue and not only a written statement, which we were given today? After all, we were told that it would be ready in December, and it wasn't, so, I, if nobody...
Bethan Sayed: I do welcome the fact that this role exists, particularly as it’s important that Wales can express views on things that happen at the international level. In that context, I wonder whether you could explain to us what kind of debates you can bring before this Chamber so that we can have debates on what is happening on the international stage. For example, I’ve been working with the...
Bethan Sayed: 1. Will the Minister respond to the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales review into Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health board’s handling of sex assault claims from patients with learning difficulties against a care worker? 272
Bethan Sayed: Thank you for that reply. This report is, of course, the third one if we include the desktop review into safeguarding at the health board, and the report shows there is still a lack of clarity on how some recommendations, which stretch back before this particular scandal, have or will be put in place. When we discuss this report, I think we should all remember what it's about—sexual...
Bethan Sayed: Will you take an intervention?
Bethan Sayed: Thanks. I think it's really important that we keep this particular issue at the top of the political agenda and try and discuss this in a constructive way if it's possible—not from what I've heard from some contributions today. One of the things I was most keen to talk about and to put on the agenda when we had the campaign in Port Talbot against a new superprison in Baglan was that the...
Bethan Sayed: What the proposed prison in Port Talbot was truly about, in my view, was a Westminster Government that had failed to invest in Wales, had cancelled major infrastructure projects or failed to back others. It was another example of a Westminster Government that believed that Wales, having a flatlining economy, would jump at the chance to host anything with even a mild prospect of investment,...
