Siân Gwenllian: 3. Will the Minister provide an update on the Arbed scheme in Arfon? OQ55852
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. Constituents in those four areas—in Carmel, Y Fron, Deiniolen and Dinorwic—have been very patient, but we do need to move forward to do the work that has been promised. I have been raising this issue with you since the summer of 2017. At the beginning, the company denied that there were problems, but you did—and I am grateful to you—hold not one, but two...
Siân Gwenllian: 3. Will the Minister provide an update on Welsh Government plans to tackle the issue of second homes across Wales? OQ55860
Siân Gwenllian: I'm not going to apologise for raising this issue again. I'm very grateful to you for the recent discussions between our party and your Government, and I look forward to joining in a virtual meeting between the First Minister and representatives of the Hawl i Fyw Adra campaign next week. But it's one thing to have meetings and assessments and to make the right noises in terms of...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you to the committee for another report and for the opportunity to discuss it today. This series of reports has been very useful in shining a light on the impact of COVID on different parts of the cultural and creative sector, and, more importantly, puts forward recommendations about what we can do in this regard. This report looks specifically at the impact of COVID on heritage,...
Siân Gwenllian: 8. Will the First Minister make a statement on dental services in Arfon? OQ55946
Siân Gwenllian: I understand that there will be a training centre for dentistry opening in north Wales, and that's very good news, but it is two or three years away, and in the meantime, there is a very real crisis developing in my constituency. Part of the problem arises from the way in which the contracts work between dentists and the health board, and there has been a pledge for some time that this...
Siân Gwenllian: I would like to know with whom exactly within Welsh Government the theatre sector should be having discussions about reopening in a safe manner. With bingo halls, cinemas and casinos and so on being able to reopen, those working in theatres, and some of us who enjoy attending theatres, do need to know when they will be able to reopen safely. The problem is that they don't know with whom...
Siân Gwenllian: Plaid Cymru welcomes the intention to improve support for pupils with additional learning needs, but I do note, however, that there are a number of challenges arising in introducing these changes, particularly in light of COVID and bearing in mind the far-reaching curricular reforms that are also in the pipeline. The changes to ALN education have a cost to them, but it is not clear exactly...
Siân Gwenllian: 'We need to look towards the future not the past' according to the Minister in her foreword to her annual report on the 'Cymraeg 2050' strategy. And our work in the Senedd today is to review the activities of the 12 months between 1 April 2019 to 30 March of this year, which is what is reported on and encapsulated in the two reports before us today—a period that was almost entirely prior to...
Siân Gwenllian: It is right to say that COVID has changed society overnight, but it was only having an impact during the final fortnight of this reporting period, so COVID cannot excuse or hide the lack of progress that is so apparent in the Government's record. And one example that jumped out at me was the sweeping statement in the report that the head of the 2050 project had now been appointed and was in...
Siân Gwenllian: 3. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's plans to create new taxes before the end of this Senedd? OQ55933
Siân Gwenllian: I thought that there might not be time, but there is one new tax, or relatively new tax, being operated in Wales for around three years ago, namely the land transaction tax. This morning, the First Minister and I heard powerful presentations by residents from the Llŷn peninsula who are being priced out of their communities because of the huge increase in the purchase of second homes....
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. I want to start where you finished there, namely with the tests on a wide scale. I'm aware that you are doing work and considering introducing a programme on a wider scale in schools and colleges, for pupils and teachers, and I agree entirely that we do need a planned programme of tests going forward. There are tests going on in schools in the Liverpool area, and you've...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much, and I'm sure that you'll agree the sooner the better that this programme is rolled out, especially remembering that there is some slackening going to be over the Christmas period, and that this testing will be vital in January, as we move forward. As well as the large-scale tests, and the wearing of masks that we discussed earlier, what further measures are you...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. And, finally, may I turn to the COVID catch-up scheme? There are doubts with regard to this particular scheme. It's not very clear how the assistance is targeted, how the needs are measured, what monitoring is taking place. Now, clearly, we need to ensure that the funding is used in a purposeful way to deal with the loss of education that is certain to be happening at the...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you, Llywydd. By next Tuesday, of course, the new regulations will have been implemented. So, what further pressure can you as Llywydd put on the Government to ensure that we do have a vote on the principle of introducing these regulations before they come into force on Friday? A precedent was set with the firebreak lockdown, when there was an opportunity to vote prior to the...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Will the Minister provide an update on the legal steps that the Welsh Government is taking, or not taking, in response to the decision of the administrative court in the case of Driver v. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council?
Siân Gwenllian: I'm very grateful to the Minister for putting on the record today that you will not be challenging basis 2(g) of the decision. It will be a relief for pupils, parents and teachers in Rhondda Cynon Taf who have fought for the right to continue with the Welsh-medium education journey within a reasonable distance of their homes. I do very much hope that the council too will reconsider its...
Siân Gwenllian: I don't think I heard you confirm that you were in favour of introducing a code of practice in relation to the curriculum Bill, but we will return to this issue at some future date, I'm confident of that. Introducing a code of practice on the teaching of Welsh in the curriculum would be an important step forward. And I do believe that there is a consensus developing across parties on the need...
