Peredur Owen Griffiths: Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this debate today. Thank you to Mark Isherwood for his chairing of the cross-party group and the excellent report produced.
Peredur Owen Griffiths: I know we’ve heard a little about children’s hospices from Rhun, and mentioned by John Griffiths, but I’d like to focus my contribution on the fantastic palliative care that is provided by Tŷ Hafan in the south and Tŷ Gobaith in the north of the country. Both places are beacons of light for children and their families in the darkest imaginable times. I have had the privilege of...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Thank you, Minister. The issue of trade regulation is one on which we need urgent clarity. Another issue for Wales, raised by the Windsor framework, is that of the democratic deficit. Last week, the framework's Stormont brake was approved by the House of Commons. It provides for what could become, essentially, a unanimous veto on certain kinds of regulatory change in Northern Ireland. While...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. Well, we in Plaid Cymru have welcomed the Windsor framework as a basis on which to re-establish power sharing in Northern Ireland. We're also clear that it raises a number of questions for Wales, to which we have not yet had satisfactory answers. As we have discussed in this Chamber, it raises particular questions about the regulation of the flow of trade through Wales's...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Isn't it frustrating that we have to wait for the Tories in Westminster, who are not exactly known as the champions of social justice, to act on this? But that's maybe more of question for the Counsel General on the devolution of justice. As I said in Jack’s debate recently, the forced installation of prepayment meters is one of the greatest modern-day scandals in our society now. It has...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: In a crowded field, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill may be one of the worst pieces of legislation to come out of Westminster in living memory. By setting arbitrary and unrealistic time frames for the removal of retained EU law from the domestic statute book, regardless of its actual practical effectiveness, this UK Government has once again prioritised its reckless...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Can I begin by stating clearly Plaid Cymru's strong opposition to the use of LCMs as a matter of principle? Decisions affecting devolved matters in Wales should always be made in this place. The increasing and worrying use of LCMs by the UK Government symbolises their disrespect for devolved administrations and signals their intent to plough on with the increasing centralisation of UK...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: There have been many great points made in this debate already. The perversity of prepayment is in many ways the perfect distillation of callous Westminster politics and the rigged energy market that we’re burdened with in the UK. How did we ever get to this situation, where people’s homes were being entered without permission on an industrial scale to fit prepayment meters against their...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: How does the Government ensure it has the statistics it needs to inform policy?
Peredur Owen Griffiths: What is the Government doing to promote animal welfare in South Wales East?
Peredur Owen Griffiths: I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has worked on this Bill—everyone from the fantastic team at Plaid Cymru to committee staff, to Senedd lawyers, and not forgetting the Deputy Minister and her officials. Everyone has pulled out the stops to get this to this point in a relatively short space of time. I would have preferred the Bill to have included a stronger provision...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Finally, the committee was pleased to hear about the positive meetings held between the Minister and the latest UK Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Fiscal devolution works most effectively when harmonious inter-governmental relations exist, and we hope that the nature and spirit of these initial meetings will continue. As Members will know, this committee has time and again supported the...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: I'd like to begin by recognising the budgetary uncertainties caused by the ongoing disputes relating to public sector pay. We all hope for a swift resolution to those discussions and, above all else, regret the impact it's having on the staff themselves. However, this situation is placing significant pressure on delivery partners across public services. Worryingly, it has the potential to...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm very pleased to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Finance Committee. The committee scrutinised the second supplementary budget on 1 March, and I thank the Minister for her attendance at that meeting. The committee's report was laid before the Senedd yesterday, and the report makes seven recommendations and comes to three conclusions. On the...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Jane, would you take an intervention?
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Based on animal welfare there, and you're talking about animal welfare, I've spoken to quite a few councillors with regard to planning applications and their frustration at not being able to turn a planning application down on animal welfare reasons. I'd like to ask the Government if they would consider changing planning laws so that animal welfare reasons might be a reason to turn down a...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Thank you for that response, Minister.
Peredur Owen Griffiths: There's been a great deal of public distress following the crash, which claimed the lives of three young people following a night out in Newport, and two other people remain in hospital fighting for their lives. The police response is now the subject of an Independent Office for Police Conduct inquiry. It would be wrong to pre-empt any findings of such an investigation, but you cannot ignore...
Peredur Owen Griffiths: Diolch. I'd like to echo the Llywydd's comments and send my condolences to the friends, family and, indeed, the community affected by this tragic event.
Peredur Owen Griffiths: 1. Has the Welsh Government had any discussions with Gwent Police and South Wales Police following the fatal crash in St Mellons? TQ740
