Paul Davies: Minister, last week I challenged the First Minister on ambulance services in Pembrokeshire, and he accused me of peddling unsubstantiated rumours, which is simply not true. Because the representations that I've received on this matter are from front-line emergency service workers in Pembrokeshire who are very concerned at proposals to reduce local ambulance cover and the impact that the...
Rhianon Passmore: ...Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and accompanied, as we said, with the sacking of the lead Minister Robert Jenrick, to be replaced with Michael Gove—an interesting choice. Minister, what representations will the Welsh Government make to the newly empowered UK Minister to get the communities of Islwyn included and not excluded in the UK Government's priority funding list? And will...
Sioned Williams: ...many times have we talked in this place about gender balance in civic and political life? Giving women more time to pursue a life in and beyond work will help to increase female participation and representation in those organisations that most need to understand their experiences. Of course, any and all reforms to the working week must benefit all workers, and tackle socioeconomic...
Mick Antoniw: ...the issue of accessibility, the extent to which people are now participating in court proceedings, either directly or even by mobile phone, on serious issues as litigants in person, with no legal representation, is an absolute scandal for the fifth richest country in the world.
Mick Antoniw: ...think, by many other Senedd Members and, I believe, across parties. What I can say is that this is nothing new to Welsh Government. Welsh Government Ministers in this devolved area have been making representations since 2016 on the issue of the injustice and the need for that to be resolved—Lesley Griffiths wrote on 23 February 2016; Julie James wrote in February 2018. There were further...
Jane Dodds: Just to follow on from my colleague Rhys ab Owen's question, I also am very interested in the issue of the criminal justice system and the over-representation of those with protected characteristics, particularly black and minority ethnic prisoners. Twenty-six per cent of the prison population in England and Wales are from a minority ethnic group. That's compared to 16 per cent of the entire...
James Evans: ...dismayed to see that some of the appointees to the national park didn't even reside within the park boundary, and some of them were not even residents of Wales. And there was also a serious lack of representation from different backgrounds, such as young people, LGBT and BAME. And I always I do wonder how people who aren't from a community, who do not represent the diversity in that...
Mick Antoniw: ...have our own Welsh legal aid system. One of the recommendations of the Thomas commission was for that to take place, or for the process to begin in that respect. I feel that if people cannot have representation then they do not have genuine access and they are disempowered within the legal system. When I went to visit the Cardiff civil justice courts the other week and met with the judges...
Hannah Blythyn: ...together, both employers and workers have a collective interest in the shared benefits of fair work. Trade unions should be front and centre of this work; they are the best route for collective representation in the workplace and have a central part to play not simply in driving up terms and conditions but more broadly in unlocking our economy as whole. With this in mind, alongside the...
Jane Hutt: ...terms of school places. You've mentioned higher education as well. That will all be part of the work that they're undertaking at the moment, but I then will be able to, as we assess the needs, make representations as necessary to the UK Government and account for the impact—you know, assess the impact that it's having on local authorities and our public services, and the good response...
Paul Davies: ...from the Minister for Health and Social Services on the Welsh ambulance service. I understand that the Welsh ambulance service is currently undertaking a pan-Wales roster review, and I've received representations from worried NHS staff about plans for the service in my own area, in Pembrokeshire. The current plans are to reduce the emergency ambulance capacity within Pembrokeshire from...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to thank all colleagues for what's been a really wide-ranging debate and thank you for the representations that you've been putting forward today. I do agree that, in future years, it would be excellent for this debate to be held by the Finance Committee. Clearly, for practical reasons, it wasn't possible this year, but I'm really heartened to hear that the committee...
Mick Antoniw: ...ensuring the commission's success will be its composition. It must be capable and independent. It must be as representative as possible of the society with which it will engage. This will include representation from a breadth of political and civic backgrounds. It must also be able to demonstrate expertise, and its members must represent all ages and be drawn from the widest possible range...
Lesley Griffiths: ...recommendations and the findings in the report. I think there's significant work to be done and I know that she is establishing a taskforce, a Minister-led taskforce, that will include significant representation from disabled people and disability groups to enable her to address those sort of stubborn, deep-rooted inequalities that the report highlighted.
Jane Dodds: ...aim is to make a profit. The children's commissioner has also called again to move away and ultimately end profit-making in care services. So, may I ask what consideration will you give to those representations made by the Children's Commissioner for Wales and directors of social services with regard to the role of for-profit providers of care for young adults and those with learning...
Lesley Griffiths: ...for those most in need is absolutely a top priority for this Welsh Government, and the previous reforms of the social security system have raised issues here in Wales, and we do continue to make representations to the UK Government. I know the Minister for Social Justice wrote to the relevant Secretary of State just last week, regarding the top-up of the £20, and to try and retain that,...
Lesley Griffiths: Joyce Watson raises a very important point, and, certainly within my own portfolio, I made lots of representations to the UK Government in the previous Government term—regular meetings with the Secretary of State in DEFRA. Clearly, there are a number of complex reasons, I think, behind the shortage, including pay and working conditions. But I think, certainly, the situation has been very...
Mick Antoniw: Well, the issue of the legislation and its adequacy is clearly a matter that's under review. The Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008 has had a number of representations since and, of course, there have been a lot of demographic changes as well. The Measure set out the legal framework specifically related to travel and transport, and there's correspondence not only from Members of the Senedd,...
Mick Antoniw: ...valid question. It's one we're asked many times. What do you do when you're in an impasse, where you, effectively, have a UK Government that seems to be oblivious to all the protestations, all the representation, all attempts at engagement that are made, and then the consequences of that are a deterioration in relationship? Well, look, I think the first thing is this: Governments do not...
Mick Antoniw: ...raised this particular issue, and basically said that: 'Cutting the cost of legal aid deprives the very people who most need the protection of the courts of the ability to get legal advice and representation.' And another Supreme Court judge in 2018, Lord Wilson, said that: 'Even where it is required to continue to provide free legal aid, for example to defendants to criminal charges and...
