Llyr Gruffydd: The disappearance of council farms should be a cause for concern for the whole of society. It's an important foothold into the industry for new blood and a new generation of farmers. So, please, Minister, don't sit on your hands; work with the councils, not only to protect what remains, but to work towards creating a public farm estate that will excite the next generation to want to go into...
Llyr Gruffydd: Would you agree with me, Minister, that the erosion that there’s been in local authority budgets and Natural Resources Wales is partly responsible for the situation we find ourselves in? Because, of course, it’s things like cleaning rivers and culverts that are cut when human resources and budgets aren’t in place. And this, of course, reminds us of a point that I’ve raised here dozens...
Llyr Gruffydd: I'm sure, First Minister, that you'll be aware of the recent fire at Kronospan in Chirk, an area that I represent in this Assembly. I'm told it's the seventeenth fire in around 18 years, although anecdotally local people are telling me that they happen even more often than that. Be that as it may, they're absolutely fed up with these kinds of incidents. There are big questions to be answered...
Llyr Gruffydd: Nobody's questioned whether there's a need for regulation. The question here, of course, is the proportionality of those regulations. Not even Natural Resources Wales agree with your Minister's approach for a whole-Wales designation, and it's certainly been a matter of concern and correspondence for a huge number of my electors. I raised with the Minister last week in questions serious...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Llywydd. It's worth waiting for, if I may say so—[Laughter.]
Llyr Gruffydd: 5. Will the Minister make a statement on the safeguarding of children who attend private schools in Wales? OAQ55064
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for your response. I know that you're very aware of the situation that arose at Ruthin School in my region. And before saying any more, I think we should thank Kelly Williams, the Daily Post journalist who did so much to expose the situation there and to bring it to the attention of the wider public, and also to help bring matters to a head. And now that some of those heads that...
Llyr Gruffydd: Anyone who watched Ffermio on S4C last night will know that the lambing season is upon us now, and it's an issue I've raised regularly in this Chamber, of course, namely this concern about dog attacks on sheep and lambs at this time of the year. Now, I've previously raised the need to tackle this, and the response I've heard is that the Government is doing more in order to promote awareness...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I endorse the thanks and the tributes that have been paid to the emergency workers, council workers, NRW workers, volunteers and the communities that have come together in light of the exceptional pictures that we have seen over the past few weeks? May I ask first of all, Minister, how do you respond to two north Wales council leaders, in Denbighshire and Conwy, who have criticised the...
Llyr Gruffydd: As I’m sure everyone appreciates, the aim of this debate is to place a real spotlight on the potential that hydrogen has, not only in terms of the environmental impact in Wales, but also the social and economic impacts that we could take advantage of if this sector were to be given the support and opportunity to grow that it deserves. We often think that we're in the vanguard in trying...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Yes, half an hour is a very short period of time for a debate like this. It's not the only one we’ll be having, and the other half an hour, of course, was used to point to one way of getting to grips with climate change. A core theme is shared by both debates, namely that the climate crisis is a reality. That's the message that comes through clearly to all of...
Llyr Gruffydd: In the opening remarks to this debate, when we were hearing about the need to futureproof, there were words that stuck in my mind: we need to 'readjust' and we need to 'recalibrate'. As a society, we need to readjust and we need to recalibrate. The economy needs to readjust and recalibrate. Our communities, and all of us as individuals, really have to readjust and recalibrate. And the...
Llyr Gruffydd: Can I make a very short intervention? Thank you. Were you here when we debated Betsi Cadwaladr a few weeks ago? Were you here when we debated the A55 earlier this afternoon? Were you here when we discussed broadband connection a couple of months ago? Because it sounds to me as if you're totally oblivious to what's happening in this place.
Llyr Gruffydd: We're not going to vote against this, but there are a few questions that have been raised, actually, and I think I'd be interested in hearing your response to those before we come to voting. I know that some within the sector, for example, have queried whether the legislation actually requires funding to be paid to farmers, or whether devolved nations could actually use the money for...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much. I am very pleased to have this opportunity to contribute just a few comments in this debate on the Welsh Government’s final budget in my role as Chair of the Finance Committee. I am pleased that the Minister has accepted, or accepted in principle, all of the committee's recommendations, and I'm particularly pleased that the Minister has agreed to consider how we could...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. I am very pleased to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Finance Committee. The committee met to consider the Welsh Government’s second supplementary budget for 2019-20 on 12 February. Our report makes a number of recommendations, and I will briefly cover some of those today. As mentioned during our earlier debate on the final budget for...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, you told this Assembly, in light of the recent flooding a few weeks ago, that you had organised a meeting with the chair and chief executive of NRW, and that the resources available—be they human or financial resources—would be at the top of the agenda for that meeting. Can you give us an update on the discussion that you had and...
Llyr Gruffydd: It is disappointing that there are vacant posts, because, of course, they have been shown up at a moment when all that workforce was required—and I join with you in paying tribute to those who were working—but at that time when they needed to be at their very best, unfortunately they didn't have a full complement of staff. Now, I've consistently raised with you—and you will be aware of...
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, you haven't answered my question because I asked whether you were comfortable with the principle that people were receiving different levels of support based on where they were in Wales, and what you were doing to work with local authorities to see if you could bring their level of commitment up to where it should be. You didn't address that, but there we are, maybe you'll do so in a...
Llyr Gruffydd: Yesterday I attended a meeting of the cross-party group on woodlands, forestry and timber, and attention was drawn to the fact that one of the trees that has the biggest role in tackling flooding was the particular strain of tree that is used to capture floodwaters. Now, we know very well that very many of these trees are dying because of ash tree disease. But I now know that the project...
