Alun Davies: Can I say how much I welcome this proposal from Janet Finch-Saunders? I agreed with every element of the contribution that she made in introducing this debate this afternoon. I won't seek to repeat her comments and observations. I also agreed with the contribution from Llyr as well. He's absolutely right. If there's anything we've learnt over the last few years, it's: why wait for...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Presiding Officer for that answer. I think she will agree with me that we need more democracy and not less democracy in Wales, and the root of the change to our electoral cycle, of course, lies in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, and that dreadful piece of legislation has now been on the statute book for a decade. In that decade, of course, we've had three UK general...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to you, Minister, for that. I'm aware that the Welsh Government has worked hard to ensure that there is a framework of support available for supply teachers throughout the whole country and throughout the year. But the Minister will also be aware that supply teachers have had a very difficult period throughout the last year with the pandemic and the impact it's had on their...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Minister for that answer. One area where I do agree with the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, speaking today in the House of Commons, is when he said that the economic crisis that we're facing as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic is only just beginning. One of the lessons we've learnt in the Heads of the Valleys is that, whenever there is an economic crisis, we bear...
Alun Davies: 7. What consideration will the Minister give to promoting the economic development of towns in the Heads of the Valleys when allocating funding to the economy, transport and north Wales portfolio? OQ55929
Alun Davies: 2. Will the Minister make a statement on Welsh Government support for supply teachers? OQ55916
Alun Davies: 6. Will the Commission make a statement on any plans to change the Senedd's electoral cycle? OQ55942
Alun Davies: I very much welcome the statement from the Minister this afternoon and welcome very much the proposals that he's discussing for reform of the sector. I think many people are looking forward to this, and I know that many taxi drivers want to see that sort of certainty as well—they want the framework within which they can plan their businesses over the coming years. This has been an...
Alun Davies: If I could, I would like to ask the Government for a statement on the availability of crisis services, including financial assistance programmes, throughout Christmas and the new year period. Presiding Officer, we're all, on all sides of the Chamber, aware of how people have suffered over this year, and we also know that there are many families facing a real crisis at this time of year. We...
Alun Davies: I find myself in a rather curious situation of agreeing with elements of what the First Minister said, but also the leader of Plaid Cymru and the leader of the Conservatives; I think there were some strong points made in all of those opening remarks. I hope that we will be able to find an agreed way forward on this. I don't believe this should be a matter for partisan debate. I think this...
Alun Davies: I welcome the statement and I'm grateful to the Minister for that. People in Blaenau Gwent want a transport system that provides effective connectivity for all of us, connecting us with people, places, services and jobs. We need a vision for public transport that sees transport as a public service and not simply a failing business that puts profit ahead of public need. We saw, Presiding...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Minister for his statement this afternoon. Ebbw Vale, of course, is synonymous with steel, and many other communities within my constituency, and other people's constituencies, were built on steel, and people employed both in steelworks and in allied industry. Steel matters to all of us, and all of us in Blaenau Gwent have seen the impact of steel closures—the impact on...
Alun Davies: I think all of us take time to reflect and take time to look again at the service and sacrifice that members of the armed forces have made, both today and in the past. For me, something I found particularly poignant this year was the centenary of the burial of the unknown warrior in Westminster Abbey, and Members may have heard the story of that being told on Radio 4 in the mornings at the...
Alun Davies: I've got just a few things to say in this debate. Firstly, I think it is important that Government recognises the difficulties that sometimes its policies create. I met a number of people who simply did not understand and were not prepared for the reality of the policy that had been announced a week earlier and weren't ready or prepared, in the messages they'd received from Government, to...
Alun Davies: Like you, First Minister, I was delighted to see President-elect Biden win the election last week. I was therefore surprised to learn, before joining the meeting today, that he did in fact lose the election last week and that he is no longer President-elect. This news was brought to me by an American website, which was fact-checked by another website, and supported by a different news...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful, Minister. We're all very aware of the difficulties facing young people, and, in many ways, the last few months has only sought to emphasise this. Over the years, in Blaenau Gwent, I've had to support a number of families who've found it very difficult to access mental health support for people who are adolescents who are moving between the two services. In the last week we've...
Alun Davies: 6. Will the Minister make a statement on continuity of care for young people progressing from child and adolescent to adult mental health services? OQ55780
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to you, Minister, for the statement you've just made as well, and also I'm very grateful to you for the action you've taken to sustain services at this most difficult time, both in terms of providing the funding but the public sector acting as a catalyst for action to guarantee services and jobs as well. And I think, given the statement we had earlier from the First Minister and...
Alun Davies: If I could, First Minister—I'm grateful to you for your statement this afternoon—continue the theme of business support. Many people, of course, welcome what you've said over the last few days, and welcome the sense of personal responsibility and that tone that you've introduced into the public debate on this, but I hear from a lot of small businesses and self-employed people who are...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I'd like to start my contribution today by thanking Dai Lloyd, Rhun ap Iorwerth and Andrew R.T. Davies for their support in bringing forward this legislative proposal. But, Presiding Officer, I would also want to start by thanking Thoma and Mike Powell, who saved my life by performing CPR on me; Tom, who cycled like mad to find a defibrillator; to all...
