Jane Dodds: The other issue where I differed with the majority of the committee was on the electoral system. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have long argued for elections to be held using the single transferable vote method, giving meaningful power and choice to voters, ending party control through closed list elections, and ensuring that Members are more accountable to their constituents than to their...
Jane Dodds: Of course I will.
Jane Dodds: Thank you for that intervention, and my response to you is that, actually, people in Wales know their local authority very, very well, and that's what the committee had been considering to date. That's what the discussions were focused on. There was no mention at all of the proposal to bring forward Westminster constituency boundaries.
Jane Dodds: In 1997, my mother was one of the north Wales representatives on the National Assembly advisory group. She talked then—and I concede that I wasn't really paying much attention—about the importance of a real democracy for Wales. So, 25 years later, I stand here to say that now is the time for us to refresh that vision of a real democracy for Wales; a democracy that is connected to the...
Jane Dodds: Counsel General, good afternoon. I'd like to ask a question with regard to the UK Government's policy on sending asylum seekers potentially to Rwanda. I really wanted to concentrate on children who are incorrectly age assessed as adults. We've heard worrying concerns on top of that, which is that police, doctors and police stations are actually undertaking something called sexual maturity...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Trefnydd. To continue the transport theme, could I please request a statement from the Deputy Minister for Climate Change on discussions in relation to the renewal of the north-south air link? I understand that the value of the contract with Eastern Airways totalled almost £3 million between 2018 and 2021; subsidy ended up being about £142 per passenger in 2019. I'm aware...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, First Minister.
Jane Dodds: Diolch, Brif Weinidog. I want to state firstly my thanks to all of those working in social services and social care who have worked, and continue to work, tirelessly to protect the most vulnerable in our society, especially throughout the pandemic. But I do want to raise again the need, in my view, for an independent inquiry following the terrible, tragic death of Logan Mwangi, looking at our...
Jane Dodds: 4. What steps is the Government taking to support local authorities with the growing number of children who are subject to a child protection plan? OQ58156
Jane Dodds: Well, thank you very much for your intervention. Perhaps you could respond to the NFU. As Mabon has said to us, the NFU themselves have told us about the lack of funding for our farmers and how let down they feel, so it really is important that we think about those farmers and our agricultural community. And R&D is absolutely essential to Scotland, England and Wales. My challenge to you, and...
Jane Dodds: Thank you, Llywydd, and I'm very grateful to Plaid Cymru for this debate today.
Jane Dodds: People have been repeatedly told since the 2016 referendum—it seems like a very long time ago, doesn't it—that we would not be a penny worse off than when we left the EU. I'm not going to retrace the arguments about how inadequate the UK Government has been around the new arrangements, but I do want to say it feels a bit like groundhog day, because we keep coming back to this really...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. May I just start by asking you to pass on thanks to the First Minister for joining me in a farm visit to Merthyr Cynog, where we heard about many of the pressures facing farmers and the farm sector? But I want to touch on one of the key topics that we've heard about in this session, which is about the pressure on farmers right now in terms of the real crisis that...
Jane Dodds: What consideration did the Minister give to supporting community energy schemes when formulating the Welsh Government's budget for 2022-2023?
Jane Dodds: Can I thank James for bringing this debate forward? Diolch yn fawr iawn, James. I'm very grateful to you. I speak as a former child protection social worker who worked for around 25 years with children and young people. Part of the battle for me was actually getting those children and their families into CAMHS services. I just want to recognise a few things in Wales that I think have gone...
Jane Dodds: This week is Dementia Action Week. I wanted to put on record my thanks to those communities and services for the work they do to support individuals and families living with dementia, particularly those in my own region of Mid and West Wales. We have Brecon dementia-friendly family community, who won an award for their work in 2016; Llanelli market was the first dementia-friendly market in...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. I'm sure you know what I'm going to be asking you, but it's in relation to those greyhounds. Could I request a statement from yourself in your capacity as Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales on progress towards a ban on greyhound racing? I do want to thank you for your promise to attend our Hope Rescue walk tomorrow, and I do welcome any other Members of the...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, First Minister. Thank you to Sam for raising this issue. I'm very pleased to see the issues of social care for children being discussed here. I am very concerned, First Minister, about the situation in children's services in our local authorities. What support is the Government providing to local authorities, such as Pembrokeshire, to ensure that services are on a robust...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. I do echo and endorse the comments made by Sam Rowlands and thank him for raising this issue, and also those comments by Joyce Watson as well. The same also applies to our town and community councils across Wales. There are 735 community and town councils in Wales, covering approximately 94 per cent of the land area and 70 per cent of the population of Wales. There's...
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. Can I thank you and your officials once again for your hard work on this programme, and also for keeping me updated? I'm very grateful. As you know, there is a resident, Sarah, in my region, who, with a team in Poland, has worked in applying for over 400 visas for Ukrainian people who have fled to Poland. This was in response to the slow, complicated and...
