Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much. On the first issue, where you expressed concern over Barclays Bank not allowing their customers to use the Post Office for their banking needs, obviously we would share those concerns, because as you say, when banks decide to pull out of communities, we're regularly told that it won't have an impact on those individuals because they can use the local post office. And if...
Paul Davies: ...our schools, and I'm sure that supporting those professionals is also a priority of yours. Now, I've received correspondence from local supply teachers who are deeply worried that many are not being paid the basic recommended minimum rate, as outlined in the supply teaching framework. As you know from my previous representations to you on this matter, supply staff have had a really tough...
Dawn Bowden: ...who trade with the European Union. They depend on supplies that are from and come through the European Union into Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. Would you agree that as 2020 draws to a close, not only are we faced with a shambolic situation, but also a very uncertain future for many jobs in our communities, because the Prime Minister of the UK lied to the people of this country? And can you...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, it would have been up to the Assembly to decide whether the Chair would have been allocated to her. That is not the issue that we are currently debating this afternoon. This is about the allocation of Chairs to groups. That has nothing to do with the individual holder of the Chair. I'll come to David Rowlands in a moment. If we really do belive in respecting minority rights, which is...
Caroline Jones: ...are long overdue. These duties will instil an honest culture of openness and transparency in health and social care in Wales. Whistleblowers must have the confidence to come forward when things are not as they should be—how else are we able to improve or correct mistakes? I've spoken many times about the need for a no-blame culture in health, a culture in which we accept that mistakes...
Mark Isherwood: ...joined-up approach now. We haven’t got the through-ticketing, which bodies such as Llangollen railway are proposing. And a concern raised with me has been that the bodies have had insufficient representation from tourism and heritage bodies in the region themselves. It’s good that Glandŵr Cymru are on board, but where are all the others? Do you agree with me that we therefore need to...
Angela Burns: It is good to see you back and I know that, like me, you and most of the other Assembly Members here will have received many constituent representations over concerns with littering, dog mess and fly-tipping, and of course it’s vital for public health, and particularly in areas that rely on tourism, that we have clean, safe and pleasant streets to walk in. Pembrokeshire has recently been...
Jenny Rathbone: ...getting a limited vote—of course, this was at a time when men also had a limited vote; it wasn't all men who had the vote either—we need to make sure that women's votes count and that women's representation in our political institutions counts as well. I wanted to raise, leader of the house, the issue of period poverty, because it is shocking to learn that one in 10 women cannot afford...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, we work with our local authority colleagues, of course, to make sure that the contribution they can make through their representation at further education, and in the schools that they themselves run, to make sure that the skills agenda is understood and implemented there. It's one of the key things that Government does, Llywydd, to invest in people and to provide them with the...
Helen Mary Jones: ...agree with me that it now seems likely that the solution to this will come from political decisions rather than from any legal ruling. Would this be a timely moment for the Welsh Government to make representations once again to the UK Government on behalf of the women of Wales so affected? It seems to me that, in the aftermath of the COVID crisis, this is particularly pertinent. We of...
Mick Antoniw: ...one, and I understand now that the four Welsh police and crime commissioners are also supportive of the need for there to be an inquiry into this issue. Can I ask the First Minister that any representations made will be supportive of what is the need to have an inquiry into a long-outstanding injustice that still remains in the minds of many former miners from south Wales?
Carwyn Jones: ...there and acquiesces a bung to Northern Ireland of £1.67 billion—some of it on health—and he did nothing to represent his country. [Interruption.] He did nothing to represent his country. What representations did he make to the UK Government and his colleagues to demand that Wales should get a Barnett equivalent of that money? Nothing; he’s too scared of them.
Janet Finch-Saunders: Diolch, Llywydd. Of course, GWLAD is advertised a conversation starter that will encourage discussion about the future of Wales. Now, despite the festival not having taken place yet, you can certainly be proud that it has technically achieved its aim—it is very much a conversation starter now. Not least, this is because of some of the invitations that have been extended to the speakers at...
Dawn Bowden: ...library in 2023-24 and 2024-25. With regard to recommendation 2, again, this refers to a UK Government scheme. The energy bill relief scheme is a UK Government initiative, and we've already made representations to the UK Government around including intensive users, such as swimming pools, within the highest threshold for support. We're working closely with Sport Wales, with the Welsh...
Rebecca Evans: I recall, in response to your representations to the Minister on this particular issue, that she was happy to come to the Rhondda to undertake a visit. I know that she's already been to Rhondda Cynon Taf more widely on two occasions, and Members right across the Government have been visiting and speaking to people who are quite understandably completely distressed by the flooding. I've spoken...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, the funding formula is reviewed every year. A group of people with expertise in this field, including representation from local government look, every single year, at the formula. They look at all the component parts of it: demography, geography, economy and social factors and, every year, they bring forward proposals, and governments, in my experience, accept the advice that they...
Mark Isherwood: ...for Crown Court defendants; provide 3.5 million more people in Wales and England with access to criminal legal aid at the magistrates' court; and for the first time ever, provide free legal representation for all under-18s and for parents challenging doctors over the withdrawal of their child's life support, and free legal help for families at inquests where there's been a potential breach...
Mark Drakeford: ...of the Senedd—every nine months. Where's the referendum on that, I wonder? Now, I agree entirely with what my colleague Alun Davies has said. You cannot find an independent report into the representation the people in Wales need in order to take the important decisions that are made here on their behalf that believes that 60 Members is a sufficient quantum to discharge those...
Adam Price: ...UK Government has benefited from £8 billion from this surplus, at a rate of £1 million a day. Steffan was a champion of the cause of mineworkers, supporting their petition and making countless representations to the UK Government. The Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in July last year that she would explore options for the future of the scheme, with...
Adam Price: It's right, of course, for us not to be just parochial, if you like, and comparing ourselves to other nations in these islands, but comparing ourselves to some of the best in the world. We know, of course, by Sunday, Israel had vaccinated 20 per cent of its population—I think it's now up to 28 per cent. It was initially expected that their programme would also suffer a slow down with Pfizer...
