Rhianon Passmore: 2. What contingency planning is the Welsh Government undertaking in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal being agreed? OQ55841
Rhianon Passmore: Will the Welsh Government provide an update on improvements being made to the rail network in Islwyn?
Rhianon Passmore: Diolch. Minister, we know that there is no current vaccination for COVID-19, but constant suggestions that 2021 could see one or more first generational COVID-19 vaccines. Albert Bourla, the chief executive of Pfizer, has said that the German vaccine was in the last mile, and that the pharmaceutical company expected results within a matter of weeks, and we know that pharmaceutical and drug...
Rhianon Passmore: 6. What planning is the Welsh Government undertaking for the roll-out of a COVID-19 vaccination programme across Islwyn? OQ55806
Rhianon Passmore: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. Can you hear me?
Rhianon Passmore: Thank you; it's not showing. I'd like to thank the Minister for his statement today updating the Welsh Parliament on the vital matter of the future of the railways in Wales. I welcome the joint delivery unit and what has been said about mutual principles. Everybody in this Chamber and throughout Wales knows that the last few months have been extremely challenging for public transport in Wales...
Rhianon Passmore: First Minister, the Welsh Labour Government has launched the £53 million cultural recovery fund and the £18 million prior funding stream. Cultural and heritage organisations since September have been able to apply for funding as we begin the long, slow recovery from the greatest public health crisis of the last century, and this pandemic has spared no sector of our society. Indeed, the...
Rhianon Passmore: Minister, the operational guidance for schools and settings for the autumn term—version 3, published by the Welsh Government—was updated two days ago. This guidance states that local authorities should communicate the control measures to schools and settings, and that schools and settings should work with staff, parents, carers and learners so that the revised arrangements will work in...
Rhianon Passmore: Minister, on 17 August this year, the Welsh Labour Government announced a funding boost of more than £216 million for local councils in Wales to provide them with that certainty they do need to plan for the remainder of the year, and it is disappointing in regard to the comprehensive spending review. That additional investment from the Welsh Government in August takes the total amount of...
Rhianon Passmore: In Wales, the situation is stark. In just six very short weeks, we have moved from having very low levels of coronavirus to high levels of infection spreading rapidly within our nation, and this is despite the knowledge and understanding that without localised health protection areas, the situation and virus prevalence would have been even worse, with more deaths, and not just of the very...
Rhianon Passmore: I wish to request two statements to the Senedd—firstly, a comprehensive statement outlining the support measures put in place across Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic to support musicians, freelance and otherwise, and their livelihoods, and the measures to support community music—the very heart and soul of Welsh communities—such as choirs, choral societies, brass bands and community...
Rhianon Passmore: I thank very much the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip for her statement on Hate Crime Awareness Week, and I do agree that there are different statistics that will offer different measures, but the prescience of this statement can be seen by the 2019-20 national hate crime statistics for England and Wales that were published by the Home Office today. They show that overall 2 per cent increase...
Rhianon Passmore: Diolch, First Minister. Thank you for that. Wales's first specialist COVID-19 lab in Gwent is due to open this month, and I would like him to join with me in thanking all of our dedicated staff working across Wales flat out within them. The hope is that the new lighthouse facility will process 20,000 tests a day, and as the First Minister has already alluded to, these lighthouse labs are...
Rhianon Passmore: 3. Will the First Minister provide an update on Wales’s COVID-19 testing capabilities? OQ55715
Rhianon Passmore: The UK Tory Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, yesterday was asked what was his message to musicians, actors and freelancers in the arts, and the Chancellor eventually told ITN that everyone is having to adapt. Quite frankly, that is not good enough. Llywydd, musicians, actors and freelancers in the arts are integral to the cultural and economic soul of our great nation. It is imperative that this...
Rhianon Passmore: How does the Welsh Government intend to ensure that Islwyn builds back better from the COVID-19 pandemic?
Rhianon Passmore: Thank you, Minister, and to the Welsh Government, for bringing this very important debate to the Senedd Chamber. Llywydd, black lives matter. 2020 will be a year that will be burnt into the collective consciousness with the COVID-19 pandemic; however, we here in this place can ensure that 2020 is also remembered for the year that we collectively said, all of us, that enough is enough when it...
Rhianon Passmore: Thank you, First Minister. As the Member of the Senedd for Islwyn, I warmly welcome this publication by the Welsh Government of its policy and strategy paper. Within the 'Covid 19 Reconstruction: Challenges and Priorities' paper, the Minister states that 'The Welsh Government wants to be open to new ideas and to constructive challenge, so part of this work must be a national conversation. We...
Rhianon Passmore: 8. How does the Welsh Government intend to ensure that Islwyn builds back better from the COVID-19 pandemic? OQ55665
Rhianon Passmore: I speak in this debate to support amendment 1, tabled by Rebecca Evans, and in particular point 1, which notes the poor value for money represented by austerity economics, as highlighted by the UN criticism of UK poverty. Angela Burns and her Conservative colleagues would need the skills not of Job but Jackanory to explain how the Cameron and Osborne devastating austerity project, alongside...
