Hannah Blythyn: This Welsh Government is committed to continuing to provide and build up on support and services for veterans in north Wales. This includes peer mentoring support, mental health first-aid training and funding to alleviate loneliness and social isolation. Further details can be found in our annual report, which I launched on 22 June.
Hannah Blythyn: Can I thank the Member for her question and highlighting some of the excellent work that is happening in schools in her own constituency of the Rhondda, but also right across Wales? I think it's really important to talk about this and also share it so we can support teachers and organisations elsewhere, and my colleague the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles recently...
Hannah Blythyn: I thank Joyce Watson for her question and her work on this area as well, with other Members of the Senedd and the Senedd Commission too. I think, like you say, it's only right that the beacon of democracy in Wales, our Senedd, our Welsh Parliament, leads the way when it comes to creating inclusive and safe workplaces. And I think it goes back to what we said previously, that you can't...
Hannah Blythyn: I thank the Member for her contribution, and I know you've got a proven record in the past as a committed ally to the LGBTQ+ community and thank you for everything that you've done. In terms of the question you make around Pride, Pride has changed significantly in the 50 years since we saw the first Pride march, and it's really important that, particularly, younger people don't feel priced...
Hannah Blythyn: Diolch—thanks. Thank you for that contribution—a really comprehensive and passionate contribution. I welcome you to your role, which you're so clearly passionate about, and I look forward to actually being able to work with you on these areas where there's a shared ambition to see true equality and inclusion across Wales. I'll do my best to try and cover all the points and questions that...
Hannah Blythyn: Can I thank the Member for his contributions and for his support? I think, you know, this is an area, as it should be, that we can rise above party political lines on and all strive together in the pursuit of equality, and to make Wales a safe place for everybody. I'm pleased I was able to meet you previously, with the Minister for Social Justice, and to talk about the work, and we very much...
Hannah Blythyn: Diolch, Llywydd. June is recognised in places around the world as Pride Month: a chance to reflect on how far we have come and what we have achieved together, to celebrate our LGBTQ+ communities, and to pay tribute to the trailblazers who came before us—the activists and allies that have made what once seemed impossible possible. It's also a time to take stock and redouble our efforts to...
Hannah Blythyn: Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I want to start by thanking my colleague and constituency neighbour Jack Sargeant for bringing this debate in the Senedd today. As someone who has spent the vast majority of her working life working for a better deal at work, it's absolutely something that I welcome, and I share your commitment to a better deal for workers. I want all workers in Wales to...
Hannah Blythyn: Diolch. There's no question whatsoever that the tourism, hospitality and events sector is continuing to be significantly impacted by the pandemic and the necessary restrictions that are still in place to keep us all safe. We all recognise, I think, how difficult it is for these sectors and how difficult it will continue to be. Various financial support packages will have helped, but I know it...
Hannah Blythyn: I regularly discuss the role and work of local authorities in supporting local economies and their communities with the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales and colleagues across Government.
Hannah Blythyn: Just on that line, I think it's absolutely imperative, not just for individual workers but for workplaces across Wales, to ensure that those rights are enshrined and are top of the agenda, and to support both workers to be more aware of their rights and how to implement them and also to support businesses to know their responsibilities as well, which is why it's been central to our workplace...
Hannah Blythyn: I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for his question and his commitment in this area as well. Absolutely, the ambition is for the sixth Senedd to be the Senedd when we legislate to strengthen the social partnership agenda in Wales to bring benefits not just for workers, but for businesses and for communities as a whole. As regards the economic contract, like I said previously, a current review is...
Hannah Blythyn: I welcome Mick Antoniw's comments and support. I know this is an area that Mick has a strong track record in advocating and working on and campaigning for, and I know it's something that he is keenly interested in. And I think the point you made in your opening, Mick, really brought it home in terms of what you said—our approach in Wales is that the door's open to talk, and to sit round the...
Hannah Blythyn: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and yes, I and the Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney do share a background of campaigning on workers' rights within the trade union movement, and I think it's timely for support for the social partnership approach in Wales, as we are marking HeartUnions Week across the UK and it's something that I am passionately supportive of as well. I think, as the...
Hannah Blythyn: Can I thank Helen Mary Jones for her supportive comments there and her commitment in this area? If I start with the last point the Member made with regard to the economic contract, we're currently looking at actually how the economic contract has been applied previously, and there's a piece of work being led by my colleague the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales in terms of...
Hannah Blythyn: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome this opportunity to update the Senedd on the valuable work we are doing in social partnership in order to realise our ambition for a Wales of fair work. The past year has changed the way that we look at almost everything in our daily lives, including the world of work. And it has brought into ever sharper focus the challenges that already...
Hannah Blythyn: I held discussions with officials on the safe disposal of PPE and associated waste when I had responsibility for waste. This has now moved to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs. Guidance on management of PPE waste is provided by Public Health Wales. Regular meetings are held between Ministers and local authority leaders on a range of COVID-related issues.
Hannah Blythyn: Diolch. Thank you, Caroline Jones. You again highlight the excellent work of the many hubs and organisations that are supporting our veterans and working in partnership in communities right across the country. We're very much committed to building on that support. As I said, our scoping exercise that took place last year was aimed at perhaps identifying where some things could be better...
Hannah Blythyn: I thank Laura Anne Jones for her question as well, and add to the appreciation that we all recognise for organisations like the Newport Veterans Hub. Like you say, like many organisations it's faced difficult and very different times as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. I've been in close contact with the Royal British Legion, particularly ahead of the poppy appeal, to make sure that...
Hannah Blythyn: Can I thank Jayne Bryant for sharing her recent visit and the excellent and very valued work that the Newport Veterans Hub does? You mentioned the importance of working in partnership as well, and that peer-led support that we know makes a big difference, and is a way that we can actually do all that we can and need to do to support those who've served and our veterans in Wales. One of the...
