Llyr Gruffydd: What steps will the Minister take to protect the interests of Welsh businesses in any international trade deals after the end of the transition period with the European Union?
Llyr Gruffydd: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on the effectiveness of the track and trace regime in North Wales? OQ55428
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for your response. Of course, the success of any such initiative is very much dependent on the initial testing, and we've seen as we have this week with some cases relating to pubs in England that immediate tracking based on quick testing is the most effective way to identify those who should be self-isolating. At the same time, we're still hearing of cases where people with...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon. I'll just start by maybe asking you to explain a few inconsistencies that I think I'm spotting in your statement and in the associated policy response document that you published to go with the statement today. You tell us in your statement that you'll be undertaking a range of economic analyses to understand the impact of moving from...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to move the two Plaid Cymru amendments in this group. At the moment, of course, the Bill only prohibits the use of wild animals in performing or being exhibited for entertainment in a travelling circus environment. For me, that definition is far too narrow, and Members, of course, will have received messages from organisations...
Llyr Gruffydd: Under the legislation, a wild animal can still legally be taken on tour with a travelling circus and trained for performance in Wales— perhaps, of course, for later exhibition in a country without a ban. Now, this would still subject those animals to many of the issues that compromise welfare and make itinerant circus life so difficult for them. The legislation presently fails to address...
Llyr Gruffydd: Diolch, Llywydd. Well, thank you for the contributions to this discussion around this first group of amendments. I'm slightly saddened, Minister, by you sort of grudgingly accepting that wild animals could tour with circuses in Wales in the autumn, when actually we could legislate now, today, to stop that from happening. And you referred to the 'peaceful enjoyment of possessions', to quote...
Llyr Gruffydd: Move.
Llyr Gruffydd: A number of rural businesses over the years have been receiving business support through the rural development programme, for example, and we saw a recent report from Audit Wales that had highlighted maladministration by the Welsh Government on certain aspects of that—£53 million-worth had been distributed in a way that didn't have measures in place to secure value for money. We received...
Llyr Gruffydd: 2. How is the Welsh Government planning to support the recovery of Welsh towns following the effects of Covid-19? OQ55467
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for that response. One does accept, in the circumstances that we face, that it's inevitable that jobs will be lost. But what we are seeing now, and what I've noticed recently, is that we are seeing companies choosing to close sites in rural or coastal towns—the more peripheral communities—and to centralise jobs where there are headquarters, or where they have a greater presence...
Llyr Gruffydd: Plaid Cymru will support this Bill this afternoon. Plaid Cymru has been committed to legislating on this issue for a number of years, and it's good to see that that will be delivered today. I will echo the thanks to everyone who's participated, particularly through the committee's work, in ensuring that the Bill gets on to the statute book, it is hoped, in a little while. The only thing that...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, temporary Deputy Presiding Officer, and, as Chair of the Finance Committee, I am very pleased to be opening this debate today on the future spending priorities for the Welsh Government. As this Chamber will know, of course, for some time the Finance Committee has expressed its concern that the Senedd does not have a formal opportunity to debate and, hopefully, as a...
Llyr Gruffydd: The upcoming draft budget will inevitably be affected by the outbreak of COVID-19, the end of the Brexit transition period and the delayed UK spending review. Last week, we had a summer statement from the UK Government, which included further funding consequentials for the Welsh Government. However, we still have no forward funding figures for 2021-22. It is clear that, for effective planning...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, acting Presiding Officer, and may I thank everybody else who has participated?
Llyr Gruffydd: I was going to start by saying that this isn't a debate about a shopping list of investment items. But, of course, people obviously feel very strongly about various different fields. But, this debate is not a sort of extended letter to Santa Claus, as Alun Davies may have suggested at the outset. This is an opportunity, of course, for us to consider that cultural shift from a situation where...
Llyr Gruffydd: Minister, could we have a statement on the steps that the Government is taking to respond proactively to the housing crisis that we see in so many communities across Wales? It is a crisis, of course, driven mainly, but not only, by the fact that an increasing number of homes are now being bought as second homes or holiday accommodation. It's intensified also by the fact that more people are...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Minister, for the statement. I noted what you had to say about the work to tackle homelessness and to increase the number of social houses available. I had hoped to hear more from you in the statement on how the Government is going to use the planning system to tackle the inequality and the increasing unsustainability in housing markets in many communities across Wales, driven...
Llyr Gruffydd: Will the First Minister make a statement on the governance of public projects funded by the Welsh Government?
Llyr Gruffydd: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Minister, your consultation on proposals to continue agricultural support for farmers in a post-Brexit transition period through to whatever point it is that we manage to get a new Wales agriculture Bill passed proposes to close the young farmer scheme for new applications from next year onwards. Can you give us confirmation or clarity as to longer term intentions in...
