Laura Anne Jones: Diolch, Llywydd, for this opportunity to contribute to the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill. I will speak to my amendments 119 to 160. This group of amendments serves to ensure proper communication between the Welsh Ministers and the commission surrounding the terms of remit. With such a substantial budget to be at the disposal of the commission, it is only right that annual...
Laura Anne Jones: Diolch, Presiding Officer. Do you agree with me that we need to see significant investment from this Welsh Government at some point to replace or renew the antiquated sewage system in Wales, working with those that you outlined in your previous answer, so that it's fit for purpose for future generations?
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you, First Minister. It's good to see that a local MS, Peter Fox, also put a question in regarding rivers today, just reinforcing how important this issue is to our local community. First Minister, last weekend, I attended the march outlined by Peter Fox to save our river, alongside local campaigner Angela, local councillors, residents, anglers, dogs, my own family and many local...
Laura Anne Jones: 5. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to upgrade the sewer system in the Wye and Usk river catchment areas? OQ58216
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, I share John Griffiths's concerns—primary services aren't keeping up with the housing developments in Newport and across my region of South Wales East. Constituents in my region are rightly concerned about the level of access, particularly to dental services. We lost 150 dental practices in two years from 2019 to 2021. In my own region of South Wales East, we're seeing a...
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, it's an incredible opportunity for Wales to have qualified for the World Cup. I know we're all delighted and offer them congratulations on their incredible achievement. As we've outlined already, there are a multitude of opportunities that stem from this for our economy and for the whole of Wales in a multitude of ways. It's an incredible amount of money that has already benefited...
Laura Anne Jones: What steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure rapid response vehicles remain available in rural areas?
Laura Anne Jones: I want to thank the Minister for his statement today. We all want to see a fairer, more inclusive and open Wales. We welcome the new categories that have been added to the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan'. This new holistic approach is the right one, and we welcome the progress that you've outlined today, Minister. We share your aims in today's statement, and laid out in the document, but I...
Laura Anne Jones: First Minister, I feel the need to be clear, and I think it's important that I make it clear, that protecting women's rights does not for one moment mean that you're anti trans rights. Female competitors deserve the same rights as male competitors. We all know the huge benefits that sports can offer, and we all, I'm sure, want to ensure trans athletes can participate in sport. But what we...
Laura Anne Jones: 3. What discussions has the Welsh Government had with UK sports councils regarding the inclusion of transgender people in sport? OQ58150
Laura Anne Jones: It's an honour to be able to contribute to this debate today and pay tribute to our longest serving monarch, Her Majesty the Queen. Her Majesty the Queen's life and reign can be summed up by one word: duty. At the age of 19, Her Majesty enlisted during world war two to serve in the women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, and this was just the beginning of a life of commitment to our country...
Laura Anne Jones: Business Minister, I would like to ask for a statement, please, on the stopping of the use of genderless language during the drafting of legislation to prevent the unjust and dangerous erasure of women in policy and law. We have seen genderless language creep into our law making, and this has been again recognised by UK Government Minister Lord True, who has now released a statement on the...
Laura Anne Jones: Nearly four years ago we were talking about these problems, and still a lot of action has not been taken, Deputy Minister. I find it staggering looking at the latest figures, which show that less than two thirds of young people are receiving their assessments within 28 days and, on average, over the last six months, 48.5 per cent—less than one in two—were seen within this time period. In...
Laura Anne Jones: Yes.
Laura Anne Jones: I'd like to start by thanking James Evans for bringing this debate to our Senedd today. It is a very, very important subject to discuss, but as the Member for Ynys Môn said, it's wonderful to see that we are talking about it now and that these conversations are real, because the situation that we face is very real, and it's nice to see that it's no longer a taboo subject, as you said, Rhun....
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, once again, there is a distinct lack of leadership from you being shown on such an important issue in education for our children and learners in Wales. You are failing to clarify your position on something that you've known about for a long time. This review could have been done a long time ago. People need time to prepare, our colleges need time to prepare these and know the...
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, that's not good enough. We need a world-class, high-quality vocational qualification, fit for the next generations, but our educators need time to prepare it and ensure that our students and our learners aren't being failed by the lack of preparation upon introduction. It is quite clear that your own pride and ideological view will mean that we don't follow England with the...
Laura Anne Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, as you know, in just four years' time, BTECs won't be available for our Welsh learners. Many professionals in colleges I've visited across Wales are getting extremely anxious now that no replacement has been announced. With such a short period of time to go, there has been no clear policy direction from this Welsh Government and, sadly, the response from...
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you, Minister. Can the Minister confirm that, through the building of new nuclear power plants, in both Wylfa and Trawsfynydd, Wales has a crucial role to play in securing long-term supply for the UK?
Laura Anne Jones: 2. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure that new sources of cheap, clean energy for Wales are implemented as quickly as possible? OQ58049
