Suzy Davies: Well, thank you for that, First Minister. On Saturday, I joined a number of colleagues from here, actually, at Swansea’s Stand as One rally. Although Swansea, along with Port Talbot, have managed to resettle a very modest number of refugees, most local authorities in Wales haven’t. Now, Welsh Government and Assembly Members have been clear that we want to welcome refugees here. You...
Suzy Davies: Thank you for your statement, First Minister. In it you mentioned a ‘what works’ approach and innovative delivery. There’s a nod in the shared challenge and opportunities section of your pamphlet today to the Government not having a monopoly on good ideas nor on delivery. In which portfolio areas do you anticipate seeing more co-production, more localism and less command and control by...
Suzy Davies: I’ll be as quick as I can on this. We hear, albeit anecdotally, that one of the deterrents to recruitment and training in Wales is this rather unfortunate myth that you have to be able to speak Welsh to work in the Welsh NHS. But it’s a Government priority—and it’s one that I agree with—that key individuals within professional primary care need to be able to speak Welsh in order to...
Suzy Davies: Yes, can I also be associated with those remarks? And Mike Hedges is quite right to say we’re all rather concerned about this. The membership of the board is pretty evenly balanced between public sector and private sector, but there’s no place on it for business membership groups like the Federation of Small Businesses or other key organisations that really could help maximise use of...
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I move the amendments in the name of the Welsh Conservatives. May I thank Plaid Cymru for bringing this matter of Welsh as a second language back to the Chamber so soon in the Assembly term? The Government amendment shows that there are constraints, might we say, on your cosy relationship after all. But, by bringing it back so quickly, it shows that...
Suzy Davies: 4. Will the First Minister set out the next stage of the Welsh Government’s small business rates relief scheme? OAQ(5)0158(FM)
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. The Welsh Government’s decision to stick with its existing business scheme hasn’t received the reception you might have liked in your own constituency, First Minister. Traders are already vocal in the criticism of the highest business rates in my region, and perverse rates incentives to keep shops empty. In Bridgend town, in particular, they’re...
Suzy Davies: First Minister, the health board’s integrated performance report of July 2014 states, and I quote, that ‘The Health Board continues to experience significant challenges in the delivery of the Urgent Suspected Cancer referral target in particular.’ At that time, they were reaching 86 per cent of the target rather than the 95 per cent that the Government was looking for. Notwithstanding...
Suzy Davies: Can I thank the Welsh Government for tabling this debate? I hope that the administrations in the other nations of the UK will give as warm a welcome to the final charter as the Welsh Government has. Reading statements by the Secretary of State and the Minister has been as heart-warming as opening a Hallmark Valentine’s card. We even have the Minister applauding a strong financial settlement...
Suzy Davies: Professor Sioned Davies’s report recommends that post-16 qualifications should be reformed to develop better oral language skills that would be appropriate for the workplace, and, following that, the Welsh Government have said that you ‘will work with Awarding Organisations and other stakeholders’. Who are those? Have you been speaking to Tata Steel, Tidal Lagoon Power, Aston Martin or...
Suzy Davies: 8. Will the Minister set out how the Welsh Government plans to incorporate Welsh language training with vocational qualifications? OAQ(5)0024(EDU)
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that response, and I’m very pleased to hear that, but, recently, I contacted the company Ynni Cymru, which has received quite significant financial backing from Welsh Government to help support new business in Wales, and that would actually include useful vocational qualifications. The company doesn’t have any Welsh language policy or any understanding of your ambition as a...
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you for that, Bethan. Mewn gwirionedd, gobeithiaf fod y Cynulliad wedi ei ysbrydoli gan y ffordd y mae’r pwyllgor hwn yn ceisio ymgysylltu’n ehangach, ac wrth hynny yr hyn rwy’n ei olygu yw bod ymgysylltu yn broses ddwy ffordd. Mae’n un o’r geiriau jargon hynny rydym yn eu cymryd yn ganiataol, mewn gwirionedd, ond nid yw hyn yn ymwneud yn unig â’r...
Suzy Davies: I now move to the short debate, and I call on Eluned Morgan to speak on the topic she has chosen.
Suzy Davies: Thank you. Would you like to give a minute of your time to other speakers?
Suzy Davies: Okay. I call on Mike Hedges.
Suzy Davies: I call on the Minister for Social Services and Public Health to reply to the debate.
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Minister. That brings today’s proceedings to a close.
Suzy Davies: 4. Will the First Minister provide an update on the Swansea Bay City Region? OAQ(5)0180(FM)
Suzy Davies: First Minister, you’ll be aware from questions last week that Assembly Members were getting a little bit restless that we weren’t hearing much from the city deal board, but I’m pleased to say that we’ve had a modest briefing from them now. From that, it seems that their major concern at the moment is the issue of governance in the short to medium term, and they’ve been working with...
