Lynne Neagle: Most importantly of all, we also know that for some children and young people, this has been a really isolating experience. They've missed their friends, they've missed their families, and they've missed vital milestones like exams, school leavers' celebrations, proms, to name just a few. We noted our disappointment that the Welsh Government's preferred option of taking an earlier school...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. 'Children have suffered collateral damage during the pandemic.' Those were the words of Dr David Tuthill of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health when he gave evidence to the Children, Young People and Education Committee recently. As a committee, we recognise that children and young people currently appear to be less susceptible to the...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to make a brief contribution in this important and very welcome debate. I think it's an excellent innovation, one I hope we can continue, and I very much hope that the Welsh Government will be listening carefully and taking very seriously the points of Members. I recognise that the pandemic has been an extremely challenging...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Minister. I was very pleased to hear the announcement from the First Minister on Monday that face coverings will become compulsory on public transport from the end of July. I hope that we will extend that to shop workers as soon as possible, personally. It was a very welcome announcement, it was something I'd asked for, it was something trade unions like Unite the Union had...
Lynne Neagle: Minister, I would associate myself with the remarks made by Alun Davies earlier. Last week, we saw £470 million of health board debts written off announced in a press conference and, as an Assembly Member representing a health board that has always operated in the black in one of the poorest parts of Wales, I would have liked the opportunity to scrutinise that. However, my main reason for...
Lynne Neagle: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on the safety of staff on public transport? OQ55465
Lynne Neagle: I want to focus my remarks today on bus travel, because for Torfaen, like many deprived communities in Wales, these are the transport links that matter most. Without the right solution for operators, drivers and passengers, we risk falling foul of the worst possible long-term outcome of this pandemic: that existing disadvantage is further entrenched for our communities. I know there is a live...
Lynne Neagle: Can you hear me now?
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, and thank you, Minister, for your statement. As you're aware, the committee has done a great deal of work in this Senedd scrutinising the progress on the development of the curriculum to date, and I'm certainly looking forward to the committee undertaking the Stage 1 scrutiny of this Bill. I do want to give a very, very warm welcome to the publication of the guidance on a...
Lynne Neagle: Minister, NHS staff can only engage in much-needed catch-up work if they are able to work over the summer, and support bubbles will only be of help to those NHS staff who have family members. Now, there was a very welcome announcement of extra funding for summer childcare earlier in the week, but no guidance has been issued to local authorities on providing childcare for NHS and social care...
Lynne Neagle: What steps is the First Minister taking to ensure the safety of workplaces during the pandemic?
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Minister. I welcome any funding for the mental health implications of the pandemic, but I do believe it is vital that those are additional allocations, and I was very concerned to see that £7 million had been removed from the mental health service improvement fund in the supplementary budget. Now, I'm sure all Members recognise that we have a very long way to go in Wales in...
Lynne Neagle: Jenny Rathbone makes a very important point about children's right to an education, which is enshrined not just in the UNCRC, but in our own children's rights Measure. I know, Minister, that you've met with the UNCRC monitoring group during the pandemic, and one of the concerns I've had is that, whenever I've tabled questions asking how children's rights are being considered in the decisions...
Lynne Neagle: 3. How will the Minister ensure that the mental health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are recognised in the Welsh Government's budget allocations? OQ55385
Lynne Neagle: Minister, I'd like to place on record my personal thanks to you for the absolutely phenomenal effort you have made to maximise children's time in school this summer and, crucially, for putting children first through all of this. Garnteg school in my constituency have been truly outstanding in lockdown, but we know that the variation in what children have been receiving across Wales has been...
Lynne Neagle: Minister, I've said to you before that I think local authorities have been outstanding in their response to the COVID emergency, and I am really grateful to Torfaen council for everything that they've done. But I am very clear that they are under immense financial pressures now, and nowhere more so than in social care. I very much welcome the additional £40 million that was announced for...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Minister. It's good to know that that work is ongoing. As the economy starts to open up, I'm being contacted by increasing numbers of women who are under pressure to return to work although they have responsibilities for caring for children. Of course, that is very challenging, as we are not likely to see children back in schools on a normal basis for quite some time. What can the...
Lynne Neagle: 3. What assessment has the Deputy Minister made of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on equality for women in the workplace? OQ55316
Lynne Neagle: 7. What assessment has the Minister made of the additional financial pressures facing local government because of the Covid-19 pandemic? OQ55328
Lynne Neagle: Minister, I have been running an essay competition for children in the constituency during lockdown, entitled, 'My COVID superhero is...'. It has been inspirational and uplifting, but it has also been a really powerful way for me to hear the voices of children in my constituency. It has been very well supported by Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw, and I do support them for that, but I would like to...
