Jane Hutt: I would say to Huw Irranca-Davies that I think we all join that expression of almost despair about the way that the commercial banks have left our communities. We will be making those representations. I think that we could all repeat examples of the same kind that you describe, and the fact that there is no commitment to the community. What about corporate social responsibility, which there's...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Further to Russell's and Rhun's points, community banking is about high-street presence, which we are increasingly seeing banks walk away from over the last few years, if not decades. It's also about that free access to banking for community groups and charities. We are seeing HSBC as the latest one to take the money and run, and it is not good enough. So, I ask the Minister to make the...
Jane Hutt: ..., of course, it's all aiming to improve health outcomes for victims and survivors of sexual assault. The programme is actually based on a regional approach, so I will take this back in terms of the representations you're making today. We do have an integrated service already available in north Wales, but I think it's your points about distance and access to accredited facilities, for...
Jane Hutt: .... But we'll be able to respond to that in terms of updating by the end of November. This is where the Minister for Climate Change and I are working very closely together, and we are making our representations to the UK Government, which I hope you are as well. You're making representations to me, but representations need to be made to the UK Government in terms of tackling these issues....
Jane Hutt: ...of sanctuary when she spoke last Thursday, and we were proud of that, weren't we, in that all-important ceremony, the opening of our sixth Senedd. The nation of sanctuary is about making Wales not just welcoming to migrants, but also harnessing the opportunities that migration brings to help our economy and our communities to thrive, and that we provide that warm welcome to those arriving...
Jane Dodds: ..., it is incumbent on all of us to use the right language in our respective parties to show leadership on this issue. Lastly, I'd like to highlight, as has already been highlighted, the issue of representation in the Senedd. Without making the issue a political football, I think it's so important to draw attention to the role that we have, once again, as politicians and as members of our...
Sioned Williams: ...? Well, as we reform the Senedd in order to serve the people of Wales more effectively, we should truly consider, for example, the demands for quotas and other steps in order to increase the representation of black and minority ethnic people—
Lesley Griffiths: ...think it was the end of the last term of Government where we saw the wool prices really drop and I had meetings with the British wool authority to try and see what we could do to help Wales. I made representations to the UK Government along with ministerial colleagues from Scotland. Certainly, the Minister for Climate Change, who obviously has responsibility for housing and for...
Joel James: ...a racing stable in the Vale of Glamorgan, has trained horses that have won many prestigious races, including the Scottish Grand National, and I believe that Wales deserves the same level of representation as other nations in the UK. I am confident that such an organisation promoting Welsh horse racing would undoubtedly benefit our economy and industry here in Wales. I am further confident...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...an eleven-fold increase in the number of people waiting over eight weeks for one of seven key tests used to diagnose cancer, and startlingly, one third of patients in the Betsi Cadwaladr region do not start their first definitive treatment in the month within 62 days of first being suspected of cancer. I've been really shocked recently to hear of some of my constituents and patients of...
Hefin David: ...benches, and at the time I had grave concerns about what was said, and there was a lot of concerns raised in this Chamber about that. But we need to remember the trade unions are the most effective representation of the workforce that has been seen in this country. I’ve had conversations with my own trade union, Unison, about this issue, and I’m very glad to have had that conversation,...
Mark Drakeford: ...sure that Members are aware of the history of all of this. The Welsh Government, often at the urging of the trade union movement, committed ourselves to the independent pay review process. We made representations to it. It reported, and it recommended a 3 per cent pay increase, which the Welsh Government decided to honour. In order to fund that 3 per cent pay increase, we have a 1 per cent...
Paul Davies: Minister, last week I challenged the First Minister on ambulance services in Pembrokeshire, and he accused me of peddling unsubstantiated rumours, which is simply not true. Because the representations that I've received on this matter are from front-line emergency service workers in Pembrokeshire who are very concerned at proposals to reduce local ambulance cover and the impact that the...
Rhianon Passmore: Well, 'Not a penny worse off' is echoing rather emptily around this devolved Chamber. Two months after the UK Government stated that projects that had been approved would be announced, there has been silence. And, as you rightly point out, Minister, the local authority area of Caerphilly is excluded from the priority funding list, in favour—in favour—of richer English areas, even though...
Luke Fletcher: ...made clear in the debate on this topic before recess, Westminster’s levelling-up agenda has so far meant more powers for Westminster, more money for Tory seats, and less democracy, funding and representation for Wales. We deserve better than this, and our amendments, of course, reflected that. During that debate we sought to make explicit points regarding the process behind the selection...
Sioned Williams: .... Our understanding of work as a whole needs to change, and this is achievable, I think. Our acceptance of radically new working practices in such a short period of time shows this. Waged work is not the only sphere that needs to be reimagined, but the opportunity offered by a four-day working week to women would be more effective than the myriad of gender equality reviews and policies...
Mick Antoniw: ...the issue of accessibility, the extent to which people are now participating in court proceedings, either directly or even by mobile phone, on serious issues as litigants in person, with no legal representation, is an absolute scandal for the fifth richest country in the world.
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, again, on a very important area. We are continuing to make strong representations to the UK Government about a range of issues relating to the adverse impacts of legal aid reforms by engaging with the means testing and criminal legal aid reviews.
Mick Antoniw: ...praise the work of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign and those women who have so assiduously campaigned against what is a very, very gross injustice? And I'm sure there's probably not a single Member of this Senedd who does not know a large number of people who've been affected by this injustice. The findings from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report...
Jane Dodds: Just to follow on from my colleague Rhys ab Owen's question, I also am very interested in the issue of the criminal justice system and the over-representation of those with protected characteristics, particularly black and minority ethnic prisoners. Twenty-six per cent of the prison population in England and Wales are from a minority ethnic group. That's compared to 16 per cent of the entire...
