Vikki Howells: 6. Will the Deputy Minister outline the Welsh Government’s priorities for improving human rights during the remainder of this Assembly term? OAQ54258
Vikki Howells: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. This Saturday, I'll be attending celebrations to mark the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Aberdare park. The park—the 'people's park', as it was initially called—was the very first public park in Wales. Developed by the local board of health, it occupies nearly 50 acres that had been part of the ancient Hirwaun common. Undrained, unkempt land, ankle deep in...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Deputy Minister. I'm sure you'll be aware that the final costs for the dualling of the A465 Heads of the Valleys road look to stand at more than £2 billion—more than the rejected plans for the M4 relief road. The final section of that road, the last 16 miles, will come in at more than the total that the Welsh Government will be spending on the south Wales metro. Now, I'm a...
Vikki Howells: 9. How is the Welsh Government supporting economic development in the Heads of the Valleys area? OAQ54195
Vikki Howells: Thank you, First Minister. I was very pleased to welcome your statement today and especially the mention of policies like the economic contract, Better Jobs Closer to Home and the foundational economy. All of these offer a very different model for economic development and can improve conditions for Welsh workers. I'd like to build on the comments made by my colleague Alun Davies about the...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I'd like to warmly welcome your statement, and I know that very many of my constituents will too. My first question is regarding the extra requirements on local authority inspectors. I accept your very valid point that breaches will be easy to detect, but what discussions have you had around the capacity of local authority inspectorates, and is there...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, First Minister. It's really useful that the pupil development grant—access can be used for funding things like equipment, sports kit, and also kit for activities outside of schools too, especially when we remember that household incomes are now £1,500 lower than they were three years ago due to the ongoing impact of the Westminster austerity agenda. How is the Welsh Government...
Vikki Howells: 1. Will the First Minister provide an update on how the Welsh Government is supporting families to meet the cost of school uniforms? OAQ54194
Vikki Howells: I'd like to thank all the staff on the committee for their support in what has been a really useful inquiry. In rising to speak today, I'd like to begin by noting the important centenaries being celebrated this year around the development of transport policy in the UK. When I was a teacher, I always used to tell my students that history had relevance in the modern world, and I think these...
Vikki Howells: Minister, it is good that we can benefit here in Wales from initiatives like Safe Routes in Communities and the active travel fund. I note with interest David Melding's contribution, and I'm thinking there could be many young people watching that who think, 'How can we get initiatives like that working in our own schools?' So, my question to you is: how are children and young people being...
Vikki Howells: On 23 June 1894, ten to four in the afternoon, two loud bangs were heard in Cilfynydd, the result of a devastating explosion at the Albion colliery. The colliery had given birth to the village. After the sinking of the first mine shaft, the population had increased from 500 within a decade and was around 3,500 by 1901. Yet, on this day, the colliery extracted a terrible toll from the local...
Vikki Howells: I'd like to join my colleague, David Melding, in expressing my excitement at the National Eisteddfod coming to Rhondda Cynon Taf in 2022, and bringing important cultural and economic benefits as well, of course, as raising the profile of the Welsh language. I think one of the most important ways that we can actually make sure that we meet our target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050 is to...
Vikki Howells: [Inaudible.]—when every single history GCSE that's put out by the WJEC does have a Welsh history dimension to it.
Vikki Howells: And yet today I'm unsure whether or not I will actually be able to support this motion, because I do believe that it may ill-thought-through. I will listen intently to the comments of the Minister on this matter before making my decision, but I want to pick up on the most obvious point. It's a very delicate point, but a point that really does need to be made. The motion states that the...
Vikki Howells: I don't think you'll find a Member in this Chamber today who is more passionate about Welsh history and the teaching of Welsh history than me, as someone with a degree in history and Welsh history from Cardiff University and a Master's in modern Welsh history from the same institution, and more importantly, someone who taught history in a secondary school at key stage 3, GCSE and A-level for...
Vikki Howells: June is LGBT Pride Month, and an occasion for LGBT+ people to celebrate advances in their rights around the world. It's also a chance to raise awareness of current issues facing the community. 2019’s event is particularly poignant, coming as it does in the month marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Closer to home, there is also a significance to Pride this year, as Pride...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister, for your statement today. This is such an important issue, especially when we all know the harm that air pollution causes. Like so many of the Valleys communities, my area is one where air was contaminated by heavy industry with the iconic Phurnacite smokeless fuel plant closing 30 years ago, but the legacy that that's left, particularly with respiratory conditions in the...
Vikki Howells: First Minister, you will be aware that last month the New Zealand Labour Government published its well-being budget, which is described as a world first. It placed social well-being indicators as priorities within their economic policy, instead of a narrow focus on GDP or GVA. With initiatives like the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the economic contract here in Wales,...
Vikki Howells: I'd like to start by commending the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee for what I think is a really interesting piece of work. I followed this inquiry closely, and I want to focus on a couple of recommendations today. This is an issue that is really close to my heart. It's close to my heart as a parent, it's close to my heart as a former teacher and also as a former play scheme worker,...
Vikki Howells: It's a pleasure to speak in support of the motion tabled in front of us today because this topic is a really important one, both practically and in principle—practically as this concerns the replacement of funding worth £370 million to Wales annually, funding that has been used to create tens of thousands of new jobs in Wales, to assist and establish tens of thousands of businesses, to...
