Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Deputy Minister, for your response to the important issue raised by the Member for Arfon. The issue raised there can be repeated in many areas across Wales, particularly my region of north Wales, where there's a particular risk of coastal flooding. In the Chamber earlier this month, I did welcome your statement, or Welsh Government's statement, on flood and coastal erosion risk...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you to the Member, also, from Ynys Môn for putting this really important question forward today—not just the effect in Holyhead and Ynys Môn, but the north Wales region, because of the significance and the potential significance of the site. The announcement that Orthios has been placed into administration is clearly extremely worrying, and I fully share the concerns made by the...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you to the Equality and Social Justice Committee for bringing forward today's report. You may be a little surprised to see me speaking on this item today, but I must say, I had the pleasure of attending two of the committee's meetings on behalf of my good friend and colleague over recent months, and I enjoyed the committee's work, carried out regarding parental employment and...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Could I first of all start by thanking Members from right across the Chamber today for making some fantastic contributions to our important debate and recognising the exceptional role that pharmacies and pharmacists carry out, and how we can do our part in helping them to enhance their work even further, making the lives of our residents even better. As...
Sam Rowlands: It was really refreshing today—many have mentioned it—the cross-party recognition for this good work, and we can all thank the incredible work that pharmacists have carried out. I'm sure all Members have also had the pleasure of visiting our brilliant pharmacists, something that Gareth Davies mentioned. I've seen first-hand the exceptional role that they carry out in a broad range of...
Sam Rowlands: Of course, one of the key duties and obligations that councils will be taking on now is the free school meals, part of the co-operation agreement, of course, First Minister, you have with Plaid Cymru over the next few years. But, of course, the revenue funding for that has only been committed for a couple of years from Welsh Government, and, as you'll know, First Minister, your colleagues in...
Sam Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd, and good afternoon, Minister. As an avid council enthusiast, I'm sure the Minister is as equally thrilled as I am to see the local government elections next week. And, firstly, Minister, with the election cycle coming to an end, I'm sure you'd like to join me in thanking all those councillors who have been carrying out that role these last five years. It's been a challenging...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Minister, and you do mention some of those regional bodies that have been set up, I think, from your point of view, to help those councils deliver on their priorities. But I do hear from councils and councillors some of the frustration about the layers of bureaucracy and the layers of governance and boards and bodies being put in place, and public services boards, regional...
Sam Rowlands: Thanks, Minister, and it is really welcome to hear that that work will be undertaken to understand the effectiveness of all those boards and bodies, and the importance, of course, of our locally elected councillors delivering on the ground for their residents. But, over the last 20 years or so, we have, of course, also seen this historic underfunding of councils, which has forced councillors...
Sam Rowlands: 3. What assessment has the Minister made of the number of uncontested seats in Welsh local government elections? OQ57910
Sam Rowlands: Thank you for your response there, Minister. I'm really concerned at seeing that number of uncontested seats, with 28 of those being in Gwynedd and 19 in Pembrokeshire. It's really disappointing that that's taking place, removing the ability for what I would see as proper democracy to take place via a vote. I'm sure, Minister, you saw the BBC news article earlier this month that did...
Sam Rowlands: 6. How does the Minister work with the Minister for Economy to ensure north Wales benefits from equal economic outcomes to the rest of Wales? OQ57909
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Minister, and I welcome the fact that you have those conversations with the Minister for Economy. I'm sure that you agree with me that it's really important that north Wales does receive its fair share compared to other parts of Wales. But, we do continue to see a divide between north and south Wales, which is sad to see. An example of that is GVA. We see, for example, that Ynys...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank all Members from across the Chamber this afternoon who have contributed today. It's been a really important and, at times, a very impassioned debate about a really important sector here in Wales. In closing today's debate, I'd like to focus on three issues that I think have been brought to the fore amongst us, and first is the importance...
Sam Rowlands: Certainly.
Sam Rowlands: Thank you also to the Member for submitting this important question today. Last week, Minister, I attended a Cardiff University webinar, and other Members of the Senedd were there as well, where they shared their evaluation of the policy response to the cost-of-living challenge. They highlighted that one of the disproportionate challenges facing those on lower incomes is of course the...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I say that I'm absolutely delighted to be moving today's motion in the name of Darren Millar? For the last time in this term, certainly, I'd like to declare my interest as an elected member of Conwy County Borough Council, with my 14 years of being a county borough and town councillor sadly coming to an end. I'm sure we're all disappointed to hear...
Sam Rowlands: Diolch, Mabon. You make some really interesting points there, particularly around the community ownership and the definition around communities. So, would you agree with me on the points I raised earlier that what we're seeing at the moment is that lack of trust in terms of that community ownership, and there are some barriers in the way that do not allow a community to get a sense of...
Sam Rowlands: As outlined by Paul Davies, who of course opened today's debate—a really important debate about the stewardship of the Welsh economy—we are seeing the poor stewardship of our economy by the Labour Party in Government here in Wales, with the highest business rates in the United Kingdom, the lowest weekly wages, and the lowest amount of disposable household income in the UK. These...
Sam Rowlands: Certainly.
