Dawn Bowden: You got fooled by my little sentence in Welsh this morning, didn't you?
Dawn Bowden: Okay. Sorry.
Dawn Bowden: I have to say I absolutely share the Member's concerns about the current position with the licence fee. I've met both with BBC Cymru Wales and with S4C and discussed the fee settlement, and my concern—I think when you raised this question at the time—then was the direct impact that this would have on Welsh language programming. We know that the BBC provides a lot of input for S4C as well,...
Dawn Bowden: Okay. Well, thank you for that question. You will have seen that, within the culture division, we have allocated an additional £600,000 in the budget specifically to invest in this area of equality of access, whether it is through digital means or any other means, and we're looking to create innovative programmes of training and support for local museums, for instance, to develop their...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you. Can I first of all thank all those Members who have spoken in this debate this afternoon, and for highlighting the strength of feeling towards this former school? And I do understand the strength of feeling that has been expressed, and I've had a similar issue myself, in my own constituency, with the Hoover building, which is hugely important to Merthyr Tydfil for all the reasons...
Dawn Bowden: Okay. If I carry on, I may cover some of those points. But the conclusion was that, unfortunately, the criteria are not met in this instance. The assessment—contrary, Darren, to the point that you raised—did recognise the historical importance of the introduction of intermediate schools for girls, but architecturally, this building has undergone extensive change, both historically and in...
Dawn Bowden: I think we need to—. Again, you need to listen to the rest of what I'm going to say, because I am dealing with how I feel that buildings like this do need to be dealt with. I do recognise that what I've said so far is not the answer that the campaigners want to hear, and I know that they have requested a peer review by heritage organisations in England and Scotland, but further review is...
Dawn Bowden: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank John for leading the debate this afternoon and for Jayne's contribution as well? I recognise John's passion for sport and leisure, and Jayne's, actually—she's a big rugby and football fan, I know—but certainly John has always been a strong champion for the various clubs and sporting facilities in his constituency, and I think he enunciated that quite...
Dawn Bowden: I must also add that Newport has been the training base for some outstanding athletes: Paralympians Jordan Howe, Rhys Jones and James Ledger, all trained by Christian Malcolm in the city; and many cyclists who have trained at the Geraint Thomas national velodrome, including Paralympic silver medallist James Ball. And at this point I'd like to personally wish those who've been selected to the...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. Can I thank Members of the Senedd for bringing forward this really important debate on the issue of closure of religious buildings throughout Wales, and for the passion with which all of you have spoken on the issue—an issue that I think is of concern to all of us? Because we all have these buildings, don’t we, in our constituencies. Alun Davies...
Dawn Bowden: And I'd like to start by perhaps giving a few good examples of where this approach has been successful and then briefly explain how Welsh Government is currently working with partners at a strategic level to address some of these shared concerns. So, there are, for example, conversion schemes that respond to the social value of religious buildings, with new uses that deliver community...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, for that. Can I thank the committee for their report and for tabling this debate, and for their continued engagement on this matter? As a Government, we absolutely remain concerned about the ongoing HGV driver and wider logistics sector labour shortages, which, as Paul Davies highlighted in his opening comments, have been exacerbated by issues and restrictions...
Dawn Bowden: The driver shortages are, of course, compounding wider domestic and global supply chain problems, leading to widespread cost inflation and longer delivery times for a broad range of goods. At present, we believe that no particular sector of the Welsh economy faces severe risks from supply problems, but the resilience of the Welsh supply chain will remain fragile as we emerge from the winter...
Dawn Bowden: Can I thank Tom Giffard for that question? Certainly we're aware of the reports in the press that the WRU is exploring options for a change in their structure. You'll appreciate that I and my officials meet with the WRU on a fairly regular basis and one of the things that we do talk to them about is the ongoing financial sustainability of the WRU and the regions. But as you've already said,...
Dawn Bowden: Sorry, I didn't catch the last bit of your question. Sorry.
Dawn Bowden: Well, you know—. Bail him out? I mean, what we want to do is ensure the sustainability of our national organisations, our cultural organisations, and one of the things that we've committed to in the co-operation agreement with Plaid is that we will do just that. The national library is one of those organisations that we want to ensure will be sustainable going forward. So, I don't look at...
Dawn Bowden: Can I just assure the Member that I am fully aware of what is going on in Amgueddfa Cymru and that I'm having regular discussions with officials and with the museum itself? However, what you would also appreciate is that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to bring to the floor of this Senedd internal staffing issues that are currently being considered. There are various legal processes in...
Dawn Bowden: First of all, Heledd, thank you for those questions. And I would say that I'm not 'just' the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, I am the Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport and I have an integral role in the Government of Wales, and my views and my input into Government is as valuable as any other Minister's. But in terms of the cultural announcements, I can assure you culture is not being...
Dawn Bowden: That is absolutely right and very important as well, because that is exactly what the establishment of the creative skills board is about. The creative skills board will be working with all the creative industries across Wales—and Screen Alliance is very much one of those bodies that is involved with that—so that we do reach out to people across the country, and get them to look at...
Dawn Bowden: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'd like to thank the Minister for Social Justice for her statement announcing the publication of the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan'. For my part, I'm committed to delivering the goals and actions set out for culture, heritage and sport, which focus on the themes of leadership, funding, celebrating cultural diversity, the historical narrative and learning about our...
