Cefin Campbell: As I have outlined, social businesses and enterprises that are run by the community have been in the vanguard in terms of social, economic and environmental innovation in Wales. It is, therefore, surprising that they haven’t been prioritised, perhaps, in the innovation strategy for Wales put together by the Government. I would ask for the final version of the strategy to place much greater...
Cefin Campbell: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the potential role of regenerative ocean farming in combating climate change and restoring biodiversity in Mid and West Wales?
Cefin Campbell: On Christmas Day this year, as we feast on turkey and mince pies, there will be a notable milestone marked in Carmarthen as Radio Glangwili celebrates 50 years of broadcasting. The service was inspired by a meeting of members of the Urdd who came together and, in no time at all, led by Sulwyn Thomas and Gerwyn Griffiths and others, they broadcast the first programme on Christmas Day in 1972....
Cefin Campbell: 6. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to provide support to businesses in Mid and West Wales as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies? OQ58880
Cefin Campbell: Thank you very much. As we all know, small businesses are the backbone of our rural economy. However, the cost-of-living crisis has been a significant blow to them, with a recent report by the Federation of Small Businesses noting that 63 per cent of small businesses have seen energy costs increasing over the past year—two out of every five have seen their costs more than doubling. Now, Mid...
Cefin Campbell: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on the women's health plan and its relevance to women and girls in Mid and West Wales? OQ58882
Cefin Campbell: Diolch yn fawr iawn. Minister, you may recall me sharing my constituent Emily's story some months ago during Plaid Cymru's opposition debate on women's health. Tragically, she was forced to endure almost a 10-year wait for a diagnosis of endometriosis, a condition that affects one in 10 women across Wales. Now 24, Emily lives with stage 4 endometriosis, adenomyosis and other symptoms that...
Cefin Campbell: Minister, you said that the first stage—and we've heard you confirm this—of the update to the women's health plan would be published in the autumn, and now we are in the final week before the Christmas recess. So, I urge you to say when exactly this plan will be published, and it should be published immediately to avoid the kinds of experiences that individuals such as Emily have faced...
Cefin Campbell: We are all far too aware of how common child poverty is in Wales. It's not a new phenomenon—it's an issue that is deep rooted here in Wales, and has been for far too long, and it continues to have far-reaching and damaging impacts. Wales has been on the top of child poverty league tables across the UK year upon year, which is a cause for national shame. With the current cost-of-living...
Cefin Campbell: In Mid and West Wales, recent figures showed the seriousness of the situation in our rural and coastal communities. Those several areas of Wales saw a fall in child poverty rates between 2014 and 2019. In some rural, coastal regions, child poverty continued to rise alarmingly. Of the six local authorities in Wales seeing an increase in child poverty rates, five were in rural or coastal areas,...
Cefin Campbell: I urge you, Minister, to redouble your efforts using all of the powers available to you and this Government to tackle child poverty. Thank you.
Cefin Campbell: 7. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to facilitate local renewable energy projects in Mid and West Wales? OQ58915
Cefin Campbell: Thank you very much. The energy crisis—which has been made worse, of course, by the war in Ukraine—has emphasised the need in Wales to be far more resilient in terms of producing our own energy. The Welsh Government is committed to producing 70 per cent of electricity in Wales through renewable means by 2030, and I welcome that very much, and the emphasis on local ownership is part of...
Cefin Campbell: I'd like to begin by putting on record my thanks and the thanks of all of us here, I'm sure, to those volunteers who are part of groups such as SAVE Wales Air Ambulance—Welshpool Base for their tireless work to raise awareness of the proposals that we are discussing here this afternoon. The fact that there have been over 20,000 signatures, as we have already heard, opposing the closure of...
Cefin Campbell: As has been highlighted during this debate already, many communities in mid Wales are feeling increasingly abandoned in their access to wider health provision. There's no general hospital in Powys, and previously available services—at Llanidloes and Newtown, for example—have been downgraded, and ambulance response times continue to fall shamefully short of critical targets. Under the...
Cefin Campbell: I acknowledge that the air ambulance has pledged that this rapid response that it offers will continue in any process of centralisation, and I certainly welcome that commitment. However, like others, I am particularly concerned about the impact that any such centralisation could have on the effectiveness, as Mabon mentioned earlier, of the rapid response vehicle service provided by the...
Cefin Campbell: I am concerned, therefore, that the centralisation of these vehicles in north Wales will drastically hamper the effectiveness of rapid response vehicles. And at a time of such severe strain on the ambulance service, this concern is particularly grave. This debate has highlighted many things, from the magnitude of local feeling, to questions regarding the data used by the air ambulance service...
Cefin Campbell: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on efforts to tackle rural poverty in Mid and West Wales? OQ58975
Cefin Campbell: Thank you very much. According to the Wales Centre for Public Policy, rural poverty is often hidden under the surface by the comparative wealth of our rural areas, and a culture of self-reliance. As I said in the Plaid Cymru debate on child poverty before the Christmas recess, households across mid and west Wales are more vulnerable to poverty because of a number of factors such as lower than...
Cefin Campbell: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on efforts to combat the spread of disease in livestock in Mid and West Wales? OQ58965
