David Lloyd: Thank you, Llywydd. Trefnydd, as Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson on local government, I am very aware of the financial pressures on the budgets of local authorities. Indeed, that’s why I put pressure on the Welsh Government to provide more money to our county councils some months ago. However, recently in Neath Port Talbot, proposals have been introduced to increase payment for post-16...
David Lloyd: Will the First Minister make a statement on the economic impact of the proposed closure of the Ford engine plant in Bridgend?
David Lloyd: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and it's a pleasure to participate in this important debate on plastics, following that excellent opening by Andrew R.T. Davies. Of course, as a party, we are seeking to enhance the motion with two amendments. The first calls on the Welsh Government to use its powers to update festival planning and licensing guidance to eliminate single-use plastics. And...
David Lloyd: I'm grateful for Jenny Rathbone's emphasis on those fundamental and co-ordination skills that you learn at a very early age when you can do things—kicking, catching, co-ordination skills at a very early age. You get confident in doing that from a very early age, certainly before seven. If you can't seem to manage it, you then think, 'Oh, this physical activity lark is not for me.' It is...
David Lloyd: The clock has turned red. So, just to conclude, thank you to everyone for their contributions to this report. Thank you to all the witnesses, the clerks, the researchers and so on, to the Members for your contributions today, but there is a significant challenge remaining for the Government to step up to the plate here—
David Lloyd: —because business as usual just won't do. Diolch yn fawr.
David Lloyd: —that very powerful evidence that we received. That was one of the main focuses of our evidence, was to hear Ray Williams telling us what he thought should happen, from his gym in Holyhead. Yes, and also agree, as we as a committee agreed, that the committee drew up a wonderful report, but that the Government's response was so, so disappointing. And that is the response out there, because...
David Lloyd: Thank you very much, Llywydd, and I'm pleased to respond. Thank you to everyone for their contributions.
David Lloyd: Obviously, we've heard, and I won't rehearse the arguments that I outlined in the original speech, pulling together all the evidence that we took, but it remains that obesity is a huge and rising agenda. The evidence we took that early fundamental motor skills, those co-ordination skills, taught at an early age—and taught, actually, at an early age—are vitally important. That's the...
David Lloyd: The reasons put forward by witnesses for this difference include lack of female sporting role models, peer pressure and low self-esteem. Evidence from Women in Sport states that girls are much more likely to be self-conscious, and by the time they are 14 to 16 years old, around one in three girls, or 36 per cent, are unhappy with their body image. Many witnesses highlighted the need to move...
David Lloyd: We heard compelling evidence that fundamental motor skills need to be taught at an early age. There is a misconception that all the skills will develop naturally in childhood, and that is just not the case. We heard evidence that, like many other academic skills, fundamental motor skills need developmentally appropriate instruction and opportunities to practice skills in enriched learning...
David Lloyd: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I am pleased to take part in this very important debate today on the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee’s report on physical activity of children and young people. In Wales we are facing a national crisis in terms of our children and young people’s health. A higher proportion of children in Wales are overweight or obese, and report unhealthy lifestyle...
David Lloyd: Trefnydd—and I speak now as a Member of the cross-party group on haemophilia and contaminated blood—the issues faced by those people infected and affected by the contaminated blood scandal of the 1970s and 1980s is something, obviously, that we've given previous attention to in this Chamber, practically every year since 2001, I think. But, recent events, I believe, mean that we need to...
David Lloyd: The funding of social care, and the predicament faced by the recipients of social care, is a significant historic injustice caused by the failure to create a national care service funded by general taxation. Would you therefore not agree that the Welsh Government proposal to introduce a social care levy, without any guarantees that this would lead to the eradication of social care charges, is...
David Lloyd: Thank you for that response, even though it is actually contrary to your Government's decision to increase the NHS budget at the expense of local authority budgets. But I'm sure the Minister would agree with me that one of the non-negotiable hallmarks of the NHS is that it is free at the point of delivery, and, of course, that means free prescriptions, free surgery, free x-rays and so on....
David Lloyd: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Does the health Minister accept that the finance of the NHS and the finance of social care are interchangeable, and getting the best value for money and best outcome for patients requires investment and sensible planning of how to use that investment in both services?
David Lloyd: Will the Minister make a statement on tackling delayed transfers of care within the Swansea Bay Health Board area?
David Lloyd: Trefnydd, you may be aware of the controversy that has arisen within my South Wales West region with regards to Bridgend County Borough Council's decision to order the removal of a 'Cofiwch Dryweryn' mural in Bridgend. A huge amount of public interest has followed the decision of the council to take action against the property owner. I must say that I find the actions of the council to be...
David Lloyd: I thank the Commissioner for that response. The background to this question is that the Minister for health and his department had laid regulations placing duties in terms of the Welsh language on primary care service providers as well as an explanatory memorandum, and they were tabled in the Table Office on 9 May this year. The explanatory memorandum laid was monolingually available in...
David Lloyd: It’s a cause of disappointment in my region that Neath Port Talbot council hasn’t opened a single new Welsh-medium primary school in the county since local government reorganisation in 1996. Do you agree that the record of Neath Port Talbot council has been weak in this area, and what are you doing in partnership with the council to change the situation?
