Sioned Williams: Our discussion today on the draft budget is taking place in exceptional circumstances, circumstances that call for radical and ambitious action, the likes of which haven't been seen before, if we as a nation are to ensure an economic and social recovery that is fair and effective. Yes, the pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on public spending in Wales, and the cost-of-living crisis...
Sioned Williams: What steps is the Government is taking to help parents with the cost of the school day?
Sioned Williams: 1. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language regarding the rights of disabled schoolchildren? OQ57596
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Weinidog. I wrote to the education Minister last year expressing concerns about the lack of tangible action to address the disruption to the education of disabled and additional learning needs pupils during the pandemic. Mark Edwards is one of many constituents who have contacted me on this issue. He feels that his son, an additional learning needs pupil at Ysgol Maes y Coed,...
Sioned Williams: The need for shelter is one of the most basic human needs, but this need can be exploited. Many of the problems that we discuss day in, day out with our constituents are related to the housing emergency that has engulfed our communities. Because be in no doubt, this is an emergency, and it is hitting the poorest and most vulnerable in our society the hardest. We must act to protect them. ...
Sioned Williams: Yesterday, I was with members of Swansea City of Sanctuary and the people who they are supporting who are seeking asylum. It was at a wonderful event at the Hoogah restaurant, who have recently pledged to support Swansea City of Sanctuary in their aim of promoting a culture of welcome for asylum seekers and refugees, and to be a safe space for those seeking a new home in the city. The people...
Sioned Williams: 3. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that the Welsh Government's economic policy includes a strategy to tackle the cost-of-living crisis? OQ57644
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Weinidog. More than three in 10 households with a net income of less than £40,000 have seen their income drop since May 2021, and for households with a net income of more than £40,000, more than one in five have seen their incomes increase. Wage growth stagnated in October, fell in November, and is unlikely to start growing again until the final quarter of this year,...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you, Minister, for the statement.
Sioned Williams: The first campaign I ever ran was on something related to period dignity. Similarly to Laura Anne Jones, we've been there. I remember we had outdoor loos in the comprehensive school I went to, which used to freeze in the winter. They were awful, awful things. And I remember that there weren't bins inside the cubicles for sanitary products, so you had to, you know, at a tender 12 years of age,...
Sioned Williams: We know that the most vulnerable people in our society are the most badly affected by a lack of period dignity and period poverty, including people who are already facing homelessness, on low incomes, have disabilities, and suffer from systemic discrimination because they are members of peripheral groups. These are the people who have to go without other fundamentals, cut back on their...
Sioned Williams: Currently, the lack of period education and stigma around periods has resulted, unfortunately, in many young people who have periods lacking knowledge about what normal menstruation should be like. In most cases, period pain should not be completely debilitating or unbearable. However, we have created a society where some young people having periods are either expected to deal with the pain...
Sioned Williams: Despite the unstinting efforts of some politicians of all parties in the UK Parliament and the arguments and debates once again yesterday, which went on until the early hours, it's clear that we can't rely on the failing mechanisms of Westminster to protect us in Wales from the dangerous extremism of the Tory Government, which threatens to undermine civil and fundamental rights. I have...
Sioned Williams: How many times have we spoken here also about the need to tackle violence against women and girls, yet the amendment to make misogyny a hate crime, introduced by the Lords, was voted down by the Tory Members of Parliament? This at a time when trust in the police, particularly the trust of women, has been so damaged, and crimes motivated by gender hatred are rising and prosecutions falling....
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Llywydd, and I'd like to declare an interest that my husband works for Swansea University.
Sioned Williams: Today, students from Wales are taking part in a strike organised by the National Union of Students, and the aim of the strike is to imagine a new vision for education, and is also a show of support for the industrial action taken by members of University and College Union, which has seen staff at Swansea University and the Open University in Wales strike over insecure contracts, unfair...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Weinidog. Qualifications Wales was established in August 2015, and is an independent regulatory body set up to ensure that qualifications are effective for meeting the reasonable needs of learners in Wales and to promote public confidence in qualifications and the Welsh qualifications system. Qualifications Wales must produce an annual report detailing how it has exercised its...
Sioned Williams: We do know more about it, but we still have a very long way to go, and there are more and more, as we have heard, nuances and types of eating disorder coming to light every day. We do know, given the stats that we've heard this afternoon, that anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, 60,000 people in Wales have an eating disorder, and we do know shockingly little, still,...
Sioned Williams: There is a clear link between eating disorders and social media and the wider media. Often, apps that change the appearance of the shape and size of the body can lead to the exacerbation of eating disorders, by encouraging and normalising an unrealistic notion of what is acceptable in terms of physical appearance. There is pressure on social media influencers to edit their posts, and...
Sioned Williams: How will the Welsh Government use the student finance system to support students and graduates during the cost-of-living crisis?
