Vikki Howells: 4. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the decision by Natural Resources Wales to ban trail hunting on land it manages? OQ57507
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister. I'm following up on my question to the rural affairs Minister before Christmas, and specifically her reply that the Welsh Government would support the consideration of a permanent ban on trail hunting by those responsible for publicly owned land in Wales. We know that trail hunting is used as a smokescreen for the hunting of live animals. Following on from the examples of...
Vikki Howells: 6. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact of the rising cost of living on people in Wales? OQ57562
Vikki Howells: Supermarket grocery bills have risen and will climb further, households could end up paying £700 per year more on energy costs, and the Tory national insurance tax hike looms on the horizon. The Office for National Statistics is changing the way that it reports on living costs, so we'll get a more accurate picture of the impact of Tory decisions in Westminster. They party; our communities...
Vikki Howells: 7. What consideration did the Minister give to supporting businesses to deal with the impact of COVID-19 when allocating funding to the economy portfolio? OQ57550
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister. Many businesses in Cynon Valley benefitted from the COVID recovery fund to help them make adaptations to enable social distancing and carry out other interventions in response to coronavirus—businesses like Cheryl's Fruit and Veg in Abercynon, Aberdare market cafe, Temple Bar in Aberaman and Penaluna's Famous Fish and Chips in Hirwaun. I want to thank Welsh Government...
Vikki Howells: First Minister, Wales is home to some internationally recognised brands such as Penderyn whisky, based in my own constituency, and their slogan, 'From Wales to the world', emphasises this global outlook. In addition to the comments you've already made to the previous Member, could you outline for us how the Welsh Government is building on the reputation of these world leaders, both to promote...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister, for your statement today on an issue that is of concern to very many of my constituents. I've got three questions for you. Firstly, I note the comments from the Minister for Social Justice that Welsh Government has called on the UK Government to consider introducing a differentiated domestic energy tariff cap, or a social energy tariff. I wonder whether you could say a...
Vikki Howells: First Minister, as a former teacher, I take pride in my close connections with schools in my constituency, all of whom report to me very favourably on the speed of the roll-out of the new curriculum. Indeed, a few weeks ago, I enjoyed a virtual visit to Aberdare Town Church in Wales Primary School where year 6 pupils were keen to show me their fantastic work on Cynefin, a central tenet of the...
Vikki Howells: 5. What action is the Welsh Government taking to support business start-ups in Cynon Valley? OQ57659
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister. As you note, there is a lot of support out there for start-ups, not just from Welsh Government, but also from, for example, Rhondda Cynon Taf council, with its nine-to-five hub for budding entrepreneurs. However, recent research from the Bevan Foundation suggests that there needs to be at least 1,000 new businesses in the Cynon Valley just to match the Welsh average. How...
Vikki Howells: 1. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve access to specialist medical care in the community? OQ57660
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister. 'No place like home', recently published by the Royal College of Physicians, builds an urgent case for increased investment in intermediate care provided in a patient's home. This can improve the quality of care, reduce admissions to hospital, and also get people back out of hospital and home more quickly. I'd welcome your response to this report and information on how...
Vikki Howells: Deputy Minister, as you know, a key element of the south Wales metro, funded by a Welsh Labour Government, will be the introduction of cleaner, greener, environmentally friendly electric tram-trains on the core Valley lines, including between Aberdare, in my own constituency, and the capital. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact that these trains will have on reducing...
Vikki Howells: 5. What action is Welsh Government taking to improve access to Welsh-medium early years provision? OQ57713
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister, for that answer. Now, Cynon valley has a number of flourishing meithrins, in Penderyn, Aberdare, Mountain Ash and Abercynon, and it is important that they are sustainable and can access suitably qualified staff. The extra financial support from Welsh Government for meithrins that you announced a little while ago is of course very welcome, and I know you referred to Cam...
Vikki Howells: First Minister, last week I chaired the launch of a very interesting report from the Wales Co-operative Centre into enhancing community ownership of land and increasing community housing opportunities. I know this was raised in Plenary with the climate change Minister and I welcome her comments, but an additional key recommendation from the report was to develop a standardised approach to...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister, for your statement today. I was really pleased to hear mention of the Elaine Morgan statue that will shortly be unveiled in Mountain Ash in my constituency. I'm looking forward to attending, with you, the official unveiling a week Friday, which I know will be a wonderful focal point in the town. I recall when I was first elected to this place in 2016 that I spoke out...
Vikki Howells: Minister, tomorrow Rhondda Cynon Taf council will be voting on their budget for 2022-23. Thanks to your local government settlement, which empowers Welsh councils, under these proposals services will be protected, and additional funding will be allocated to schools, social services and to support a minimum rate of pay above the real living wage, all whilst limiting the council tax increase to...
Vikki Howells: 6. How is the Welsh Government engaging with partner organisations to ensure animal health and welfare standards are being upheld? OQ57745
