Joyce Watson: Thank you very much for bringing this extremely important debate forward here today. I’m going to focus my minute on young carers, those under 18 years of age, who, according to the 2011 census—it identified over 11,500 young carers in Wales offering ongoing care and emotional support to their family members. Young carers often experience isolation, bullying, and they struggle...
Joyce Watson: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on community pharmacy services in Mid and West Wales?
Joyce Watson: We are, here in the Welsh Assembly, a young institution, but this Assembly has indeed got a very proud record of honouring and enacting the principles and the aims of International Women’s Day, as do successive Welsh Labour-led Governments. Since devolution, we’ve been amongst the most gender-balanced legislatures in the world—the first to elect an equal number of able women and able...
Joyce Watson: Last week, I asked what was being done to prevent female genital mutilation and to support those who are affected by it. A year ago, on International Women’s Day, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and BAWSO, supported by the Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board, launched Voices Over Silence, and it’s a project aimed at doing just that. It is a Welsh...
Joyce Watson: I’m sure that you will recall coming to Kidwelly and visiting the new houses being built at Morfa Maen in 2013 under the then Labour leadership of Carmarthenshire County Council—the first council to build council houses in Wales since the 1980s. We now have 11 home-owning Welsh authorities that have exited the housing revenue account subsidy, and that does mean that they now retain their...
Joyce Watson: Thank you for allowing me to take part. I don’t want to repeat anything that’s already been said, so I want to focus my contribution to today’s debate on the different methods of waste collection. There are three main types. The method advocated by the Welsh Government in its collection blueprint is kerbside sort. That involves the users sorting the dry recyclable waste into different...
Joyce Watson: I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure to reply to the debate.
Joyce Watson: Thank you. That brings today’s proceedings to a close.
Joyce Watson: It’s really hard for us to think here that, in 2017, young girls across the UK, and possibly in Wales, are actually missing school because they can’t afford the sanitary protection that they need. And it is quite clear that this is an issue of poverty. So, I ask you, Cabinet Secretary—or Minister—if it’s possible for you to assess the prospect of working with schools, through...
Joyce Watson: 6. Will the First Minister provide an update on the new treatment fund? OAQ(5)0533(FM)
Joyce Watson: I thank you for that answer. The new treatment fund certainly does demonstrate the Welsh Government's commitment to delivering on their 2016 election pledge and, as I understand it, that new treatment fund will help expedite access to new medicines that have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NICE, and the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group, for a whole...
Joyce Watson: As you know, Cabinet Secretary, two of those local health boards that are affected are in my region. Before the hares start running—and they already have today—I would like you, if you will, to please restate that services will not suffer, and I will ask you also if you will bring back to this Chamber the programme for action that you intend to ask those health boards to implement to...
Joyce Watson: You did.
Joyce Watson: 4. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on support in improving road safety in Mid and West Wales? OAQ(5)0154(EI)
Joyce Watson: I was particularly pleased to see that, as part of that announcement last week, there was funding for road safety measures in my area, and particularly near schools. Hakin and Hubberston, Newtown High School, Presteigne primary and Lampeter are all now going to benefit. So, I thank you for that. But, under the Wales Act 2017, Welsh Ministers will now have more power over roads and transport,...
Joyce Watson: Leader of the house, I’d like to request that we have a debate on the licensing fees for dog breeders and pet shops in Wales. It was recently brought to my attention that the licensing fees for both can vary significantly—dog breeding licences from £23 to £688, and pet shop licences can range from £23 to £782. As a consequence of the UK Government austerity, many local authorities...
Joyce Watson: 2. What is the Welsh Government doing to help promote the production of healthier food? OAQ(5)0122(ERA)
Joyce Watson: I thank you for that answer, and this is really, really good news, because we all know that, by the age of 11, 40 per cent of children are obese in Wales, or they’re overweight, and that is a very, very unhealthy state for children to arrive at in such an early age. You did mention the £1 million funding from Welsh Government and Innovate UK, and that it will be open to companies and...
Joyce Watson: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the licensing system for breeding and selling animals?
Joyce Watson: 9. What assessment has the First Minister made of the impact of the Trade Union Act 2016 since it came into force in March this year? OAQ(5)0565(FM)
