Julie Morgan: 2. What plans does the Commission have to improve the environment around the Assembly? OAQ52903
Julie Morgan: I'd like to thank her for her commitment—her long-standing commitment—to getting rid of the defence of reasonable punishment. I note in her annual report that this is her top recommendation to the Government, and she says that this legislation should take place as soon as possible. I know that she has actually campaigned on this for many years. In fact, this has been a recommendation of...
Julie Morgan: I'd like to start by paying tribute to Sally Holland and her staff for all the different issues they've taken up during this year, and also for the way she's worked so closely with us Assembly Members and with the Children, Young People and Education Committee, where she has appeared frequently and has really influenced, I think, the way that we've made decisions. And of course, most...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement and I'm very pleased that she has taken the time to meet Councillor Dilwar Ali and Dave Joyce from the Communications Workers Union with me. As she knows, my constituent, Dilwar Ali, is involved in this campaign about dangerous dogs because his young son was viciously attacked by a dog...
Julie Morgan: I'm sure that the leader of the house is aware of the research findings issued today by the Welsh Governance Centre on self-harm and violence at the young offender institutions in England and Wales. There were some rather alarming statistics about Parc young offenders' institution in that research. Children aged 15 to 17 recorded the highest rate of self-harm out of the five comparable...
Julie Morgan: I thank the First Minister for that response, and I'm aware that there have been pre-consultation meetings taking place in Wales, and the most recent one, I think, was last Friday, with representatives of the third sector. So, I don't know if the First Minister has got any feedback from those meetings, but doesn't he agree that it is absolutely crucial that the future of regional policy lies...
Julie Morgan: 5. Will the First Minister provide an update on discussions with the UK Government regarding the shared prosperity fund? OAQ52934
Julie Morgan: I'm very pleased to speak in this debate about the committee report. I welcome the committee's investigation into this. As the Chair said, it's absolutely right that we scrutinise how this money is spent—and it is a large annual investment of £94 million and a significant proportion of the overall education budget. I support the positive impact that the pupil deprivation grant has had, and...
Julie Morgan: I want to thank the Wales committee, led by June Milligan, and the staff at the commission, for their work on these very important issues. I wanted to start by highlighting the inequality and discrimination faced by the Gypsy/Roma/Traveller young people in particular, some of which is highlighted in this report. Two weeks ago I attended Travelling Ahead's tenth national forum at Baskerville...
Julie Morgan: I'm very pleased to speak in this debate. I'm not on any of the committees that have scrutinised this Bill, but I think it's absolutely essential that the private rented sector is made accessible and affordable for the people who need it, and also that there is greater security of tenure. I agree with the general principles of the Bill, which are so important now that more and more people are...
Julie Morgan: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that response and I welcome the investment that the city deal will bring, both in terms of jobs and transport. But I'm very concerned about how the deal as a whole has the input of women, and that the services and the projects that are developed take into account what women need. Because, of the council leaders, the 10 council leaders who make up the cabinet...
Julie Morgan: 7. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the Cardiff capital region city deal? OAQ52822
Julie Morgan: I'm very pleased to speak in this important debate. I'd like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement, and I certainly support the direction that he is laying out. I particularly welcome his comments about a different way of approaching women in the criminal justice system and I look forward to seeing the blueprint that the Government will be setting out, because I think it's...
Julie Morgan: I thank the Member for giving way. Does he think that the decimation of the probation service that has happened would have occurred if it had been devolved to Wales?
Julie Morgan: I welcome the statement from the Minister this afternoon. I welcome the still very high rate of recycling form the local authorities, and I do accept that getting it that bit further now is going to be that much more difficult, so I'm pleased that the Minister is so determined to drive this forward. I think it's already been raised how important it is to have the public on your side, and I'd...
Julie Morgan: It's emerged over the weekend that more than 1,200 people who were infected with HIV as a result of contaminated blood, including 55 people in Wales, were pressurised into signing a waiver before getting ex gratia payments from the UK Government, and, after that, were then told that they also had hepatitis C. So, these people and their families—and, in Wales, 40 of those 55 have since...
Julie Morgan: I thank the leader of the house for that response. Is the leader of the house aware that a study published in the BMJ last week showed that countries where there is a ban on physically punishing children, including slapping and smacking, have lower rates of youth violence? The findings show that rates of physical fighting amongst young people were 42 to 69 per cent lower than in countries...
Julie Morgan: 5. What plans does the Welsh Government have to improve children's rights in Wales? OAQ52833
Julie Morgan: I welcome this very important statement and I welcome the fact that the Cabinet Secretary is setting out the principles that he sees will be used in future regional investment in Wales. I just think it's very important to set up these principles now because we've been waiting far too long to hear the details of this shared prosperity fund. And, again, I think that would be something quite...
Julie Morgan: Thank you. I wanted to raise the continuing issue of the Windrush scandal. As the leader of the house is probably aware, since the Windrush scandal became public earlier this year, two taskforces have been launched by the Home Office to engage with people affected by the scandal and to help them resolve their status. However, I understand that, despite visiting 52 places in the UK, the...
