Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I've agreed to give a minute of my time to Suzy Davies AM. There's a common theme to every debate through history on raising the compulsory age of education. Politicians begin and often end their case by citing the impact on the economy. In a discussion about raising the school age in the 1960s, the Tory education Secretary, Edward Boyle, described it as a...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Minister. I know that you're aware of the huge opposition to the proposal to start recovering aggregate at the much-loved beauty spot called 'The Canyons' in my constituency. I, of course, understand you can't comment on a live planning appeal, but, as you know, residents were deeply concerned about whether their voices had been fully heard at the lengthy public inquiry. I've had...
Lynne Neagle: 1. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure that local communities have a voice in the planning system? OAQ53865
Lynne Neagle: Thank you for your statement, Minister. It's good to have an update today, and I welcome much of the positive report that there is in your statement, particularly about the increase in the number of dementia friends. I've got a few specific questions on the action plan. I was grateful for your replies to myself as Chair of the cross-party group on dementia around the transparency of funding...
Lynne Neagle: Minister, I've been in two minds all day as to whether to speak this afternoon, but I feel it would be wrong for me to sit here as someone who herself had really poor care from Cwm Taf health board when I had my first child and say nothing. I have largely tried to blot out my experiences in Prince Charles Hospital with my first baby, but suffice to say that the stories that I've read in these...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, First Minister. First Minister, the report into the public inquiry on proposals to mine aggregate at a much-loved local beauty spot, known as 'the canyons', is currently with your Minister for Housing and Local Government, awaiting decision. And I'm really grateful for the cross-party support for our campaign to stop the development, and in particular to the many AMs, from all...
Lynne Neagle: 1. What steps is the First Minister taking to protect the natural environment in the south Wales Valleys? OAQ53781
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Minister. I am deeply concerned that restrictions continue to be necessary at both CAMHS in-patient units in Wales, meaning that they are unable to care for young people who are at risk of suicide or self-harm. You will be aware that Healthcare Inspectorate Wales has again called for action on this in their report on services for children and young people, published just last week,...
Lynne Neagle: 1. Will the Minister provide an update on access to CAMHS inpatient care for high risk children and young people in Wales? 298
Lynne Neagle: Can I thank you for your statement, Minister? Unlike some in this Chamber, I think it's vitally important that we have regular opportunities to discuss what is the biggest threat we have faced for decades. I also very much welcome your calls for some in this Chamber to ramp down the rhetoric on Brexit because, as you know, some of the rhetoric that we hear here—the talk of betrayal, et...
Lynne Neagle: My position's been very clear, Darren—I want a people's vote, and I notice you haven't bothered defending Theresa May today. Even after stinging criticism from all sides there was no attempt to reach out and compromise. Like something out of a Bertie Wooster novel, the Prime Minister then invited a bewildering bunch of posh white men to her country retreat in a bid to sort the whole thing...
Lynne Neagle: In this Chamber yesterday, the Welsh Government spent a considerable amount of time bringing forward legislative amendments readying the statute book for Brexit: regulations on everything from potatoes to tax, plant health to accounting, social care to rural affairs—you name it. And whilst these votes did not take long, I know that the preparatory work will have done. It will have taken...
Lynne Neagle: —and are, anyway, already factored into the formula as it exists today. I give way.
Lynne Neagle: Nick, I'm very familiar with the local government formula, actually, and sparsity is already taken into account, so that is a non-starter. I don't think any Labour AMs or Welsh Labour Government would have anything to fear from a review of how funding is allocated, but it is simply not where the problem currently resides. The problem resides in 11 Downing Street; that is where Wales's £1...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would like to be able to welcome today's debate from the Welsh Conservatives because I do think that local government is facing its toughest period since devolution in 1999, but it would be to ignore the elephant in the room to thank the Tories for the opportunity to talk about this because it is their austerity agenda, that political choice to starve...
Lynne Neagle: Minister, due to Tory austerity, Torfaen council has had no option but to increase council tax this year in order to protect vital services, namely social care and education. I'm very proud that, in Torfaen, we have a Labour council that is prepared to take those decisions to protect our local services. The leader of UKIP knows nothing about the financial pressures facing the local authority...
Lynne Neagle: 5. Will the Minister provide a statement on funding pressures in local government? OAQ53674
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Deputy Minister. One of the clear themes that has emerged for me in recent committee inquiries has been that local authorities and health boards are increasingly relying on third sector organisations to deliver services but are often not providing sustainable funding for those services. This has been the case in the children's committee's inquiries on perinatal mental health, on...
Lynne Neagle: Minister, I was very proud on Saturday to March with a million plus citizens of the UK, including many thousands of people from Wales. I'm sure you will also have seen the 5.5 million people who have signed the petition calling for article 50 to be revoked. Given the unprecedented democratic backlash on this issue, would you agree with me that it is now time for the Welsh Government to give...
Lynne Neagle: 2. What assessment has the Deputy Minister made of the funding pressures facing the third sector in Wales? OAQ53688
