Vikki Howells: Will the Minister provide an update on Welsh Government measures to increase the number of GPs in Wales?
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister, for your answer. I've been contacted by parents, and I'm continuing to be contacted by parents in increasing numbers, who are concerned that there are no discrete ALN classes in Welsh medium schools in my constituency, and they feel that their children are put at a disadvantage and are unable to access education in the language of their choice as a result. What...
Vikki Howells: 2. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Education about promoting the use of the Welsh language through the education system? OAQ54854
Vikki Howells: I think there's a lot to welcome in the Welsh Government's draft budget and I applaud Ministers for their commitment to invest in the public services that we rely on and indeed in the very future of our nation, and that's despite, of course, as other Members have referred to, Welsh budget is still feeling the consequences, very much so, of the impact of a decade of Westminster's ideologically...
Vikki Howells: First Minister, I recently met with the Federation of Small Businesses to discuss their report 'Are We There Yet?', which looks at how infrastructure spending in Wales can be best used to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises. How is the Welsh Government prioritising this within its capital spend?
Vikki Howells: I welcome the direction in policy that has taken place in recent years in terms of professionalisation of the social care workforce and recognition of the vital work they can do, but this absolutely must be backed up by appropriate resources, giving care workers salaries that reflect the importance of their vocation. Otherwise, staff could end up moving fairly seamlessly into nursing, because...
Vikki Howells: Other responses from RCT council include the use of technology. The RCT assistive technology lifeline will be enhanced to provide a 24-hour, mobile, rapid-response service for 365 days a year to people using an RCT lifeline pendant. And of course, the council is also committed to invest in extra care facilities across Rhondda Cynon Taf, and I've been very impressed by those when I've gone to...
Vikki Howells: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. For my short debate, I'll be examining some of the challenges related to the delivery of social care in the twenty-first century. With this being such a wide topic, I cannot cover every aspect of the debate. For example, I will focus my remarks largely around the provision of adult social care. However, I hope to provide sufficient illumination for some key challenges...
Vikki Howells: As a member of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee I'd like to thank all those who contributed to our inquiry as well as the Chair and the clerking team for their excellent work on this vitally important topic. The list of stakeholders who contributed is lengthy and extremely diverse and I think that's not surprising, really, because we all know how important access to banking...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister, for that answer. Obviously, there's a myriad of things that you can look at when looking at fuel poverty, and I appreciate that many of the levers are not devolved. I recently met with Smart Energy, which told me all about the work that it is doing to encourage the take-up of smart meters. Forty per cent of households in the Cynon Valley have already switched to smart...
Vikki Howells: 6. Will the Minister provide an update on preparations for the new Welsh Government fuel poverty strategy? OAQ54829
Vikki Howells: I'd like to thank you, Minister, for your statement here today. As you will know, Penrhiwceiber in my constituency was earlier this year identified as having the highest rate of child poverty in Wales, and I think that's a shameful indictment of a decade of Tory austerity. In the fifth-richest country in the world, there is no need for such suffering, but it's a suffering that's been...
Vikki Howells: Although I'm not a member of this committee, I would like to commend them for what I think is a really important piece of work. We'll have all seen the shocking findings from Shelter that, across Britain, the highest number of children for 12 years will be in temporary housing this Christmas. Now, Welsh rates are lower than elsewhere in the UK but are still up over a quarter over the last...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Counsel General. A successor scheme to European structural funding is absolutely crucial to the Welsh economy, and this was underlined again just two weeks ago in a joint statement by Universities Wales, CollegesWales, the National Union of Students Wales, the Learning and Work Institute, the Federation of Small Businesses, the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, the University and...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister, for that overarching answer. Now, this wasn't the supplementary I planned to ask, but recent disruption to rail services within my community has changed my focus today. I must say, I've had a good relationship with Transport for Wales since they've taken over the services, but the events last week were nothing short of chaotic—trains cancelled, passengers turfed off at...
Vikki Howells: 5. Will the Minister outline the Welsh Government's priorities for improving public transport within the northern valleys? OAQ54802
Vikki Howells: 9. Will the Counsel General provide an update on discussions regarding the future working of the shared prosperity fund? OAQ54783
Vikki Howells: I thank the First Minister for that answer. And I've arrived here at Plenary today straight from a meeting with Persimmon, where it looks as though we are very, very close to getting three estates adopted, some of which were built almost 18 years ago. But I'm very well aware that, for every family who I've been able to help with regard to that, there are many, many other home owners out there...
Vikki Howells: 9. What consideration has the Welsh Government given to the findings of the unadopted roads taskforce? OAQ54799
Vikki Howells: Deputy Minister, as you know, I've always been a leading proponent of the foundational economy, and it's really great to see you now, as a member of the Welsh Government, working to embed some of the ideas that we worked on so closely as backbenchers. So, I'm holding here the draft national development framework, which the First Minister, in the foreword, describes as setting out 'where we...
