Siân Gwenllian: Yes, it's me.
Siân Gwenllian: That's fine.
Siân Gwenllian: Plaid Cymru firmly believes in the principle of free school meals for all school pupils in Wales, and that would be our view in Government. It would be a policy that would use local produce, would support Welsh businesses and would safeguard the environment. It's a duty on any Government to ensure that not a single child goes to school with an empty stomach, and yet, there are 70,000 living...
Siân Gwenllian: As is the case in many other areas, the pandemic has intensified problems that existed long before the pandemic hit, and the Welsh language is no exception, as this report demonstrates, unfortunately. It's an uncertain future in terms of the Welsh language that we see here. The recommendations by the sub-group on increasing use of the Welsh language announced by the Minister today actually...
Siân Gwenllian: Gwynedd Council has published a new housing scheme for the county with a budget of almost £80 million. The purpose of the scheme is to respond to the increasing crisis that there is in terms of housing in Gwynedd, placing the pressure on homes for local people, people who are in need, and investment in the local housing stock for the future. But as another step to respond to the crisis,...
Siân Gwenllian: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the regulation of short-term holiday lets? OQ56042
Siân Gwenllian: If implemented and operated correctly, the new curriculum could provide the skills and confidence required for future generations. The committee's work has been crucial in trying to identify any barriers and any unintended consequences that could arise from the Bill, and the fact that we have drawn up 66 recommendations does demonstrate that our scrutiny did uncover a number of issues that...
Siân Gwenllian: Plaid Cymru will vote in favour of these regulations. I believe that the decision to close secondary schools could have been taken earlier because of the details that had been outlined by the technical advisory cell on 3 December, but the Minister chose to wait until the chief medical officer virtually ordered that this needed to happen, and that has created problems. I believe that...
Siân Gwenllian: Will the First Minister make a statement on managing short-term holiday lets?
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you to the committee for another brief but very important report, containing some sensible recommendations for the short term and the longer term in terms of sustaining and supporting local media and the press. Every time we discuss this area, I do declare an interest, because I am journalist by trade, and a member of the National Union of Journalists, and have been for almost 40 years...
Siân Gwenllian: I don't think I heard you confirm that you were in favour of introducing a code of practice in relation to the curriculum Bill, but we will return to this issue at some future date, I'm confident of that. Introducing a code of practice on the teaching of Welsh in the curriculum would be an important step forward. And I do believe that there is a consensus developing across parties on the need...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Will the Minister provide an update on the legal steps that the Welsh Government is taking, or not taking, in response to the decision of the administrative court in the case of Driver v. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council?
Siân Gwenllian: I'm very grateful to the Minister for putting on the record today that you will not be challenging basis 2(g) of the decision. It will be a relief for pupils, parents and teachers in Rhondda Cynon Taf who have fought for the right to continue with the Welsh-medium education journey within a reasonable distance of their homes. I do very much hope that the council too will reconsider its...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you, Llywydd. By next Tuesday, of course, the new regulations will have been implemented. So, what further pressure can you as Llywydd put on the Government to ensure that we do have a vote on the principle of introducing these regulations before they come into force on Friday? A precedent was set with the firebreak lockdown, when there was an opportunity to vote prior to the...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. And, finally, may I turn to the COVID catch-up scheme? There are doubts with regard to this particular scheme. It's not very clear how the assistance is targeted, how the needs are measured, what monitoring is taking place. Now, clearly, we need to ensure that the funding is used in a purposeful way to deal with the loss of education that is certain to be happening at the...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much, and I'm sure that you'll agree the sooner the better that this programme is rolled out, especially remembering that there is some slackening going to be over the Christmas period, and that this testing will be vital in January, as we move forward. As well as the large-scale tests, and the wearing of masks that we discussed earlier, what further measures are you...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. I want to start where you finished there, namely with the tests on a wide scale. I'm aware that you are doing work and considering introducing a programme on a wider scale in schools and colleges, for pupils and teachers, and I agree entirely that we do need a planned programme of tests going forward. There are tests going on in schools in the Liverpool area, and you've...
Siân Gwenllian: I thought that there might not be time, but there is one new tax, or relatively new tax, being operated in Wales for around three years ago, namely the land transaction tax. This morning, the First Minister and I heard powerful presentations by residents from the Llŷn peninsula who are being priced out of their communities because of the huge increase in the purchase of second homes....
Siân Gwenllian: 3. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's plans to create new taxes before the end of this Senedd? OQ55933
Siân Gwenllian: It is right to say that COVID has changed society overnight, but it was only having an impact during the final fortnight of this reporting period, so COVID cannot excuse or hide the lack of progress that is so apparent in the Government's record. And one example that jumped out at me was the sweeping statement in the report that the head of the 2050 project had now been appointed and was in...
