Janet Finch-Saunders: I thank the Member, Jenny Rathbone MS, for asking this question, because it's something that I'm quite often speaking to people working within our Commission about. The Senedd has a long history of reducing energy consumption, with our energy emissions footprint reducing by more than 50 per cent across our previous two carbon strategies. Work has already begun on the actions detailed in the...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. Of course, we know that Wales is still within its democratic infancy, and that's a unique position to be in as we seek to improve the welfare of Wales here in Cardiff Bay—or there in Cardiff Bay—and across the country. Media speculation and conversations amongst colleagues, however, have brought about concern about how the future of this Chamber will look and the electoral...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. Now, tomorrow, as we all know, people in every community in Wales should be going to elect representatives to champion their community on issues that affect them directly—council tax, highways, social care, to name just a few. However, 72 council seats now have been uncontested. The most extreme example is Gwynedd, where 28 of the council's 69 seats, just over 40 per cent, saw...
Janet Finch-Saunders: What discussion?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. On 9 February this year, I did highlight to our Senedd that, despite all children having the right to play as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and section 11 of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 requiring local authorities to have regard to the needs of children who are disabled persons in relation to the sufficiency of play...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 3. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure equal rights for children with disabilities? OQ57955
Janet Finch-Saunders: 5. What discussions has the Counsel General had with the Minister for Finance and Local Government about developing an elections policy that will tackle the democratic deficit in some wards in Wales? OQ57971
Janet Finch-Saunders: 7. Will the Counsel General make a statement on the role of the constitutional commission in considering the size of the Senedd and the voting system used to elect Members of the Senedd? OQ57972
Janet Finch-Saunders: —and ambitious milestones. The people of Wales deserve decent homes, and I applaud the many builders and landlords for delivering exactly that. Diolch.
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I'm very pleased to be moving those amendments. I also refer Members to my own declaration of interest in terms of property ownership. I'm indeed actually very grateful for the opportunity to discuss within our Senedd the cost-of-living crisis, which is affecting residents in each one of our constituencies. Already, the UK Government is, for example,...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Okay. Deputy Llywydd, if we are to truly propel the Welsh economy and tourism industry, Wales now needs an administration that supports the tourism sector, not one that constantly seeks to drive it into the ground. Diolch.
Janet Finch-Saunders: I would like to refer Members to my own stated declarations of interest. For years, Welsh Labour has undercut and undersold tourism here in Wales. A major sporting nation, with grand national parks, spectacular coastlines, bustling bars and restaurants in our towns and cities, Wales represents a corner of the United Kingdom like no other. But poor policy direction from Welsh Labour will...
Janet Finch-Saunders: The RSPCA was just one of many animal welfare organisations that celebrated when the Conservative UK Government's Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill passed through the House of Lords on 7 April. This legislation will now require all UK Government policy to be scrutinised by a newly formed animal sentience committee. While it is clear that the UK Government is once again leading the way in...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the Minister make a statement on the progress being made towards recognising animal sentience in Welsh law?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. I'd like to request a statement from the Minister for Climate Change on the planning appeal process in Wales. Only last week, our local authority granted conditional approval for 49 homes to be built behind Ysgol y Gogarth. This was a very controversial planning application, with democratically elected members at all levels opposing this, and the planning office themselves opposing...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will you take an intervention?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Would you acknowledge, though, that we had Labour Governments at the times that mines were operable?
Janet Finch-Saunders: I know that Plaid Cymru really want Welsh sovereignty to rest with unelected commissioners in Brussels, but the truth of the matter is that it is the Welsh Government who are responsible for coal tip safety. And let's be honest, there is now a co-operation agreement in place, so I'm sure that you can work together to try and make some sense out of this issue. The Welsh Government has...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you to Plaid. Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you, Plaid Cymru, for tabling this debate today. At heart, there is only one point that we disagree on, and that's your insistence that it is the UK Government that provides all the funding to repurpose, reclaim and remediate these coal tips. I'm sure my colleagues on those benches there have actually read the recently published report on regulating...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Yes, they're quite concerning, really, when the latest data on the level of reserves held by schools shows an apparent sharp rise from £32 million, which is £70 per pupil, in March 2020, to £181 million, which is £393 per pupil in March 2021. These are reserves. That money is sitting there. Now, as we anticipate the arrival of Ukrainian children to Wales, and with these funds in these...
