Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Congratulations to you, by the way, on your election to that role, and congratulations to you, Trefnydd, on your appointment to an important role in the Cabinet. May I say at the beginning that it's a privilege to join you as a Member of the Senedd for Dwyfor Meirionnydd? Thank you to the constituents of Dwyfor Meirionnydd for placing their faith in me. May I...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Good afternoon. If you came through Dwyfor Meirionnydd, you would have seen, unfortunately, a number of public buildings that have closed and are sitting empty, be they chapels or pubs and so on. Can we have a statement about what additional support you can provide to ensure that communities can take ownership of those public resources to develop community plans and schemes that will...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: I'm pleased to hear that you've said that you recommend that those travelling to Wales should be tested, but I don't know many people in Manchester who look at news provided by BBC Wales, so I'm not sure how they're supposed to learn about those recommendations. But the fact is, unlike what the First Minister said on Friday, namely that the delta variant had come into Wales via the air, and...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: If we are to have a transport network that is fit for the twenty-first century, then it must service the vehicles using those roads. To date, the network isn't fit for purpose in that regard. There aren't enough charging points, never mind hydrogen stations. Now, I note that your programme for government, which you will refer to later on this afternoon, will state that you will create a...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Congratulations on your appointment, Minister, and congratulations to the Deputy Minister, too, on his appointment. One of the things that local authorities had to include as a core consideration in developing their local development plans was population growth forecasts provided by Government. Each of the LDPs was based on that data, reflecting those forecasts. It's since become apparent...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. We live in an age of crises, and these crises are interlinked. There is an environmental and climate change crisis, which we've already heard about today; there is a public health crisis and there is an economic crisis. Now, why am I talking about these other crises in a debate on the housing crisis? Well, because housing is a common factor that applies to all of...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: In addition, many of our communities suffer from depopulation, yet we continue to see luxury homes being built. Certainly, the market is not meeting any local demand. If the free market is meeting demand, then why are there 67,000 people on waiting lists for social housing in Wales? The free market is working against the people of Wales—that's the truth. Now, while the Conservatives are...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Will the Minister make a statement on the regulation of short-term let properties?
Mabon ap Gwynfor: The visitor season is fast approaching, and there will be many people visiting our communities over the next few weeks. Already, the coastguard, the mountain rescue teams, paramedics and other emergency services have been very busy indeed. The demand for these services, particularly health services, increases substantially during the summer months, and this year is likely to be busier than...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you, Minister, for this statement. I'm very pleased to see the steps that are being taken in this regard. I just wanted to take this opportunity to note specifically the fact that it is Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, and I was very pleased to hear you referring to that in your statement. Unfortunately, it appears that racism...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Yesterday afternoon, we learnt of the death of a man who played such a crucial role in the lives of so many of us. David R. Edwards died at 56 years old. Dave formed the band Datblygu when at school in Cardigan in 1982, and the band developed to be one of the most influential in the history of modern Welsh music. He was a composer and a poet, and his poetry was witty, tender, funny and...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: I welcome this debate and this discussion very much and thank you to everyone who has submitted the motion. I'm eager to see the Deputy Minister and this Government looking specifically at bus services in our rural communities and I want to endorse what Alun Davies said earlier, because it appears that there is a disconnect between what the Government and Governments have said and what they...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Will the Minister make a statement on the future of the Glastir scheme?
Mabon ap Gwynfor: May I nominate Llyr Gruffydd?
Mabon ap Gwynfor: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's eviction policy? TQ557
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you for that response, Minister. As we've already heard this afternoon, regulations safeguarding people from evictions are to come to a close partially today. The news on the grant for people who are having difficulty in paying their rent is to be welcomed, but there is a risk that this will be entirely insufficient to meet the real demand. But also the Government doesn't have a...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you for the opportunity to make a brief contribution to this debate. I'm fortunate to represent a constituency that is alive with wildlife; think of the Celtic rainforest at Maentwrog, the peace of Bardsey island or Cors Barfog, Cwm Maethlon. The area has an incredible collection of wildlife from the glutinous snail at Llyn Tegid to the Snowdon lily, but they are under threat. I want to...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much to James for giving of his time to allow me to contribute, and thank you for bringing this debate forward. Of course, water pollution is an issue that needs to be tackled, and that needs to be done with the collaboration of stakeholders. What we've seen here, however, is NRW identifying a problem but failing to collaborate with stakeholders in order to find a rational...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you, Trefnydd. As you've already mentioned, pharmacists were the only primary care services to keep their doors open during this pandemic, and this meant a face-to-face consultation during the pandemic. Now, face-to-face consultation by community pharmacists has been normalised in the work of the health service. Shouldn't the new pharmacy contract currently being negotiated by the Welsh...
Mabon ap Gwynfor: Thank you very much, Minister, for this statement. I also want to put on record how disappointed I was to see that this statement had been made public to the media yesterday evening, and that you were in St David's filming yesterday, and that we'd heard nothing about it until today. But I trust that that will not happen again. If I could first of all look at the statement in general terms, as...
