Did you mean representations -taxation speaker:Mick Antoniw?
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: ...think, by many other Senedd Members and, I believe, across parties. What I can say is that this is nothing new to Welsh Government. Welsh Government Ministers in this devolved area have been making representations since 2016 on the issue of the injustice and the need for that to be resolved—Lesley Griffiths wrote on 23 February 2016; Julie James wrote in February 2018. There were further...
Mick Antoniw: ...have our own Welsh legal aid system. One of the recommendations of the Thomas commission was for that to take place, or for the process to begin in that respect. I feel that if people cannot have representation then they do not have genuine access and they are disempowered within the legal system. When I went to visit the Cardiff civil justice courts the other week and met with the judges...
Mick Antoniw: ...ensuring the commission's success will be its composition. It must be capable and independent. It must be as representative as possible of the society with which it will engage. This will include representation from a breadth of political and civic backgrounds. It must also be able to demonstrate expertise, and its members must represent all ages and be drawn from the widest possible range...
Mick Antoniw: Well, the issue of the legislation and its adequacy is clearly a matter that's under review. The Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008 has had a number of representations since and, of course, there have been a lot of demographic changes as well. The Measure set out the legal framework specifically related to travel and transport, and there's correspondence not only from Members of the Senedd,...
Mick Antoniw: ...valid question. It's one we're asked many times. What do you do when you're in an impasse, where you, effectively, have a UK Government that seems to be oblivious to all the protestations, all the representation, all attempts at engagement that are made, and then the consequences of that are a deterioration in relationship? Well, look, I think the first thing is this: Governments do not...
Mick Antoniw: ...raised this particular issue, and basically said that: 'Cutting the cost of legal aid deprives the very people who most need the protection of the courts of the ability to get legal advice and representation.' And another Supreme Court judge in 2018, Lord Wilson, said that: 'Even where it is required to continue to provide free legal aid, for example to defendants to criminal charges and...
Mick Antoniw: ..., but I'm speaking today solely to speak up on behalf of my constituents in the Pontypridd and Taff Ely area, but I do know these are reflected heavily across Rhondda Cynon Taf. I've had many representations from constituents who are patients, family members, staff and clinicians at Velindre. Every one of them has called upon me to urge support—and some of it quite emotional, as we've...
Mick Antoniw: ...and fisheries. Clause 2(6)(a) of the Bill allows UK Ministers to make regulations that amend the Government of Wales Act 2006. We expressed alarm that the Welsh Government had not made any representation to the UK Government about this power. We therefore recommended in our first report that the Minister should seek an amendment to the Bill to the effect that it cannot be used by UK...
Mick Antoniw: ...probably 250,000 to 300,000 or more within Wales, which means that, literally, 50,000, 60,000, 70,000 of them will be getting no support whatsoever. Many of them are my constituents, and I've had representations from them to this effect. What more can be done to actually support the self-employed and freelancers? What representations are being made to the UK Government in respect of the...
Mick Antoniw: ..., go around every single potential stop there could be, to get you to work on time as efficiently as possible. And the other issue is, of course, as I'm sure many of the Senedd Members have had, representations from people going to work who have difficulties accessing buses at the right time, going early enough, able to get them back, to fit in with the nature of a lot of work—a lot of...
Mick Antoniw: ...those workers can expect to receive those payments, but, secondly, in respect of the issue of the tax and national insurance that would be chargeable to it. I know that you reported previously that representations had been made to the UK Government to waive the tax and national insurance because of the exceptional circumstances. I think across all parties we would see it as offensive if...
Mick Antoniw: ...vital importance of local government, but we also need to recognise that the current financial pressures on local government can only be sustained for so long. I would ask you, First Minister: what representations are being made to the UK Government to ensure that councils in Wales and, indeed, across the United Kingdom, will get the financial support that they need to survive during the...
Mick Antoniw: ...which included the circumstances that gave rise to the provisions contained in section 18. Recommendation 3 relates to section 26 of the Bill. Section 26 seeks to change existing provisions in the Representation of the People Act 2000. One of the key themes of the Bill is empowering local authorities and advocating decisions being taken at the lowest possible level. So, it is, therefore,...
Mick Antoniw: ...any manifesto or policy proposal in the Welsh Assembly; and their presence in this Chamber is, effectively, an unforeseen consequence of an electoral system that was intended to broaden democratic representation, but has, in my view, been abused to subvert its real democratic objective. And you have to ask what is the real purpose of this motion. Well, I think it is an opportunist attempt...
Mick Antoniw: ...coverage. Yet, for a number of years now, we've been talking about and having discussions between—quite advanced discussions now—Rhondda Cynon Taf and Cardiff council, and of course various representations have been made, which Welsh Government's involved in, and that is for the re-opening of a railway line from Cardiff through to the Beddau spur, through to Llantrisant, Pontyclun,...
Mick Antoniw: ...in that debate all those years ago, establishing access to justice is an essential reform in a true democracy. So, we must now examine how we might create our own new Welsh legal aid and advice and representation system. We must also re-establish the link between social policy and the administration of justice. This Parliament has responsibility for children, social care, housing, social...
Mick Antoniw: .... Can I also say—? In my past role, working as a trade union lawyer, the work that the trade union reps have done and the gay reps have done within our trade unions to actually give voice and representation. I'll never forget one representative who I was talking to and giving advice to on something was telling me that in his capacity as rep, his parents had never spoken to him since he...
Mick Antoniw: ...for this to happen. So, I wonder what steps the Welsh Government will take to promote action and kick-start this necessary debate. Will you take seriously and consider the opportunity of, perhaps, representations being made so that the initiation of a Speaker's conference, as recommended by the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, might be one means of actually starting this...
Mick Antoniw: ...public services. I wonder whether any progress has been made in that respect, and also on my suggestion that there should, perhaps, be a levy on major planning applications that would actually fund representation for community groups where it's clear large applications are going to have a massive impact on local communities.