Jane Hutt: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Interfaith Week celebrates the contribution people of faith across this country have made to their communities. It's hard to imagine when than in the recent history of the COVID-19 pandemic this contribution has been more necessary or more appreciated by so many, and it is at times like this, times of adversity, that care and compassion in people and communities of...
Jane Hutt: In February, communities were devastated by storm Dennis, Ciara and Jorge, and, just a few weeks later, we moved into a national lockdown that brought unprecedented and extraordinary restrictions on every aspect of our lives. The critical need for such restrictions has never diminished, however difficult they have been. As we know, the virus is cruel, spreading from loved one to loved one,...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Laura Anne Jones, for those very positive comments and contributions, acknowledging the importance of Interfaith Week. I'm glad you mentioned the fact that Interfaith Week actually coincides and starts with Remembrance Day, and in fact I was very privileged, and I'm sure that everyone was aware of the fact that Race Council Cymru, for the second year running, organised a...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Dai Lloyd, and thank you so much for your very positive, enthusiastic and sincere response to this statement, and I know how much it means to you personally as a lay preacher, a Senedd Member, a long-standing colleague, and recognising over the years how important the development of the Interfaith Council for Wales has been for Wales. In fact, I just wonder, Dai Lloyd, whether...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much indeed, Mike Hedges, and I would like to say thank you for the generosity of all those in Swansea East, from your local chapel to all the other faith communities who have shown their generosity of faith, as you have said, in terms of responding to the coronavirus. We've had other examples of that in response to the flooding, as well, pre COVID—so often it was the...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Caroline Jones, for your support for Interfaith Week, which is not just for the week, as you say, it is for 365, the whole of the year. And we do embrace those principles and those values of understanding, sharing, tackling hate crime and raising awareness of the strength of our faith communities. I think what is very important is that we look to this when we start with...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Darren Millar. Can I start by thanking you for the work that you do in chairing the cross-party group on faith? I also just recall that wonderful event that we had in the Senedd last year, a Holocaust Memorial Day event, where we all came, with the cross-party group very much leading that event, as you have done. I think it is important to just look at some of these...
Jane Hutt: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. I'd like to thank Helen Mary Jones, Joyce Watson and Leanne Wood, supported by Mick Antoniw, John Griffiths and Llyr Gruffydd, for bringing forward this important debate. Can I also thank those Members—bar one—who have contributed constructively to the debate? The Welsh Government's position is clearly in line with the Members' motion. The First Minister wrote...
Jane Hutt: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Prynhawn da. This Thursday is the United Nations international day of disabled people. Since 1992, the United Nations has designated 3 December as a day for promoting the rights and well-being of disabled people and celebrating their achievements across the world. The theme for 2020 is building back better towards a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable...
Jane Hutt: Since 2002, the Welsh Government has adopted the social model of disability, a model that recognises that people with impairments are in fact disabled by the actions of our society and not by their impairments. When we say 'actions of our society', we must remember that disabling actions are designed and carried out by people, and it is people and systems that disable people, whether that is...
Jane Hutt: Well, diolch yn fawr. Thank you very much, Laura Anne Jones. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. And I am very grateful for her support to join that celebration and recognition of the positive endorsement of the United Nations International Day of People With Disabilities, and thank you for not only welcoming the statement, but also bringing out other issues, particularly issues that I didn't address,...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Leanne Wood, and thank you for acknowledging the statement, and also, I think, implicit in that was the acknowledgement of the importance of the social model of disability. It's about the actions we have to take to remove the barriers, where we are disabling through policy and practice because we have not taken into account the impact of these barriers. I'll go first to...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Joyce Watson. I think it's so important that you are going to be marking the day, as you say, on Thursday, by joining Leonard Cheshire. In fact, I spent time not just with the disability equality forum but also with other organisations like Leonard Cheshire, who have engaged with me and with other Ministers, with young people raising questions with us about the issues...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. As I said, I thank the cross-party group for the work you've done. I've appeared before you and it's been such an important contribution, again from a cross-party perspective. But also I very much welcomed the report from the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, which covered the whole range of inequalities exposed as a result of the...
Jane Hutt: This year, we have invested over £4 million of additional funding in the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence sector. This includes £1.3 million of new money for disbursed community-based accommodation, which will free up refuge space. And during the pandemic, I've repurposed funding to support refuges and published guidance for providers.
Jane Hutt: I thank Vikki Howells for that important question, and I have raised this with the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategic group. That meets regularly with all the service providers, and they invited the test, trace and protect officials to attend the meeting to discuss this with the strategic group, to answer questions and address concerns. So, Welsh Government...
Jane Hutt: Thank you to Angela Burns for that important question. And the issues of rurality are being addressed. In fact, I thank Joyce Watson, who convened and hosted a meeting on the White Ribbon Week that specifically focused, with the National Federation of Women's Institutes, on issues of domestic violence in rural areas. And issues—. For example, the ways in which we can support and help have...
Jane Hutt: We've invested an additional £1.52 million since April in our community cohesion programme. The regional cohesion teams in north Wales work closely with key partners, including local government, the police, third sector, fostering cohesive communities, providing support and information, and monitoring and mitigating community tensions.
Jane Hutt: Thank you to the Member for that question. And I'm sure she would have welcomed the audit that was undertaken, led by Gaynor Legall, looking at those monuments and also street names, and recognising also not only have we got to address these issues, but also we have got to look at how we can celebrate those who have played such an important role—particularly in terms of black, Asian and...
Jane Hutt: Combating digital exclusion is crucial in terms of enhancing and supporting community cohesion, but particularly reaching out to the most vulnerable people in our communities, as you say, Janet Finch-Saunders, affected by coronavirus. And I think what we have been able to do over the last nine months—and certainly through my budget, through the third sector and equality budget—is...
