Nick Ramsay: The project works in partnership with a local law firm, which has provided over £30,000 pro bono legal advice and representation to fathers in my constituency in south-east Wales. A quarter of fathers involved have gained or improved access to their children over the past year thanks to the initiative. Dads Can has received queries from across south Wales and even as far as London. What's...
Samuel Kurtz: ...owners were dumping their once-beloved pets on the sides of quiet country lanes, in the hope that their misjudged lockdown purchases could be easily forgotten and erased. Unfortunately, this was not an uncommon occurrence. Up and down Wales, there are rescue centres and sanctuaries that have now reached a crisis point. RSPCA Cymru highlight that the 998 cases of pet abandonment that have...
Rebecca Evans: I absolutely agree with you and I'm glad that you feel that way as well. I really would urge you to be making those representations to the candidates for the new leader of the Conservative Party. Because I'm sure that—. Well, we're certainly on the same page and I would hope that they would be as well. And I do intend to come back to address some of the comments in relation to the...
Sarah Murphy: ...increase, 2022 poses a great threat to the most vulnerable households, as we've heard from my fellow committee members today. I know that the Welsh Government continues to make strong and urgent representations to the UK Government on behalf of those in our community who are suffering, yet time and time again, we see decisions made in Westminster that penalise the most vulnerable and...
Julie James: ...Sheffield area of England and appear to have been targeted at random post boxes. It's particularly hateful and it's obviously designed to make people afraid. You're absolutely right that that's not something we can tolerate in any way at all, and, in fact, we very much want to do the very positive things that you've been saying, and we do do a lot of those. So, a lot of our mosques had...
Sioned Williams: ...childcare is part of the Government's co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, but we know that this must really just be a first step. In a round-table discussion with Chwarae Teg last week, it was noted that, when looking at gender inequality data and assessing its root causes, it almost always comes back to the burden of caring responsibilities falling disproportionately on women. Their...
Vikki Howells: Anyway, I wanted to make a few remarks, starting off with transport, which I know all of us Valleys AMs have raised at one point or another. Better transport links both in terms of roads and public transport are absolutely crucial, and I'm really pleased to see that this is one of the priority areas for the Welsh Government to focus on. I will start by talking about the dualling of the Heads...
Heledd Fychan: ...at this point in time are the services that people in our communities currently use and rely on, and the risk to the future of that service. That's why we're putting forward this debate, because of representations by those directly affected by proposed cuts to services. Looking at census data, which is really interesting, when you drill down in terms of car ownership, you get a picture of...
Jane Hutt: ...seven to 21 say that gender stereotypes affect their ability to say what they think. Fifty-two per cent of women report being sexually harassed in the workplace. We know we have a responsibility, not just the Welsh Government but here in this Assembly, to address the Me Too issues that have come out this year. One in three women in Wales will experience physical or sexual violence at some...
Kirsty Williams: ...who are knowledgeable about their culture, their community and society and the world, now and in the past, and to respect the needs and rights of others as members of a diverse society. The under-representation of BAME communities in the education workforce is also an issue that I want to actively seek to redress. We have set up a project to specifically look at the issues around...
Mick Antoniw: However, we echo the concerns raised by the Hansard Society in respect of the scrutiny procedure that applies in certain urgent cases. These concerns are that the Bill does not impose a statutory duty on the Ministers of the Crown to explain the urgency; that there are no defined limits to the cases, which may or may not be urgent; the sift mechanism can be bypassed completely, again without...
Vaughan Gething: ...a nation, we regularly talk about diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol. The challenge that we've set ourselves is: is this piece of legislation a useful way to generate greater public health gain or not? And we believe that it is. It is not just the view of this Government, of course; we have consulted previously on introducing a minimum unit price in Wales, once in 2014 as part of the...
Nick Ramsay: ...have a certain amount of control over business rates prior to that, but the full devolution of business rates, we believe, brings a real opportunity for the Welsh Government to act in this area—another tool in the economic toolbox, as the First Minister and as the Cabinet Secretary for finance’s predecessor were keen to call it. Having the tool is one thing, using it to improve the...
Mark Drakeford: ...statement in the second half of this summer term. I'm grateful for what Andrew Davies said about the agriculture Bill. He will remember that in the previous Senedd we agreed, partly because of representations from opposition parties, that the powers we took through the UK agriculture Bill would be time-limited—that there would be a sunset clause. Now, I think that was the right thing to...
Andrew RT Davies: ...like to congratulate Natasha Asghar, the first lady of colour to come into this Chamber, and I'm sure many will follow in her footsteps, just like her father as well. And we can be proud of the representation that's here, reaching out across the aisle, across all parties, to see the new blood that has come in along with the returning blood that generally has the best interests of Wales at...
Carl Sargeant: ..., neither am I convinced, in the absence of a complete and reliable picture of the industry’s economics, that a case has been made to maintain the status quo. Indeed, I’ve received very strong representations suggesting that there may be good reason to reduce or even abolish the commission rate. Clearly, I must base my final decision on the best possible evidence. I would like,...
David Melding: Can I just say that we are content to note the report, and we do hope it starts a process of policy development that protects our designated landscapes while seeing their wider economic, cultural and social potential being extended? I think that’s an appropriate way to go forward. The report sets out a new proposition for designated landscapes to go beyond their current purposes of...
Helen Mary Jones: ...of getting our post-Brexit support for farming—if we do end up with a post Brexit, and I live in hope—the consequences of getting that support wrong could be grave. We are of course not disputing in this part of the Chamber the benefits of using some of the support paid to farming businesses to deliver specific direct public goods, including environmental goods, animal welfare, access...
Mark Isherwood: ...trans university students in higher education had experienced negative comments or behaviour from staff in the previous year. When I was speaking here in February 2017 on LGBT History Month, I noted that Stonewall Cymru had stated that 55 per cent of LGB pupils had experienced bullying on the basis of sexual orientation, 83 per cent of trans young people had experienced verbal abuse...
Mark Reckless: ...put my congratulations on the record for your investiture with a CBE yesterday from Prince Charles? The Petitions Committee, I was quite struck that the Petitions Committee was coming here today notwithstanding how long ago these petitions initially came. There may have been particular reasons for delays, but for my part, I would like to thank David Rowlands as Chair, and the committee,...
