Suzy Davies: You said in your statement, if I understand this correctly, that UNESCO is the lead organisation for co-ordinating the year on behalf of the UN.
Suzy Davies: Is that correct?
Suzy Davies: Well, having had a quick look at their website before coming here, I realised that they are organising five events in Wales. I'm not clear if that's in partnership with the Welsh Government, but I wonder if I can just implore you at the beginning here to contact whoever is responsible for their website to explain that these five places that they've put on their map of Wales, four of them...
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Minister, for that statement. Could I just ask first of all—?
Suzy Davies: I have to say, I think it's pretty brave of the former First Minister to raise this question. At the point of his departure, the gender pay gap within Government had gone up yet again and, of course, Chwarae Teg's—what can I call it—assessment of the work that he had done in the eight years of being in charge was this: current legislation and frameworks, such as the Violence against...
Suzy Davies: Thank you ever so much for that, Lynne. I listened with great interest and with my shadow Minister hat on. Certainly, I'd like to see the reports you referred to, but also I thought the idea itself has a lot of merit in it. I appreciate what you said about the English system; what I would say is that bit of it—it's work, education or training, and perhaps where there's always space for a...
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much. You've just said that there's no evidence that we need to impose a duty, which I will take at face value. Have you got evidence—? What is the evidence that every single council will adopt whichever version of the ID card you bring forward?
Suzy Davies: I'm sure that this is going to be a good-tempered debate in which all of us will be exploring different ways to support members of the population in whom we all take a particular interest. We often praise nurses and teachers and care workers and steel workers, even, but our unpaid carers, especially our young carers, I think, deserve special attention from us as Assembly Members.
Suzy Davies: I very much welcome Dai Lloyd's amendment. We're going to support that, and I look forward to reading the report in due course.
Suzy Davies: But I have to say that I really am disappointed with the Government amendment. I know that it doesn't look like much of a change at first glance, but what I see is just another example of something that this Government does time and time again, and that is use its powers to 'expect' rather than to 'achieve'. I did a quick skim through the Record of Proceedings and saw that Ministers had used...
Suzy Davies: Absolutely, but I don't think you can just jump to that conclusion, Mike—if you'll take the intervention—because sometimes those parents aren't at home and what you find are 85 packets of crisps on the floor.
Suzy Davies: Will you just take an intervention?
Suzy Davies: Thank you. I take the point you're making about children in poverty, but there are children from pretty well-off families who are just given a pile of money and told, 'Get down the chip shop at lunchtime.' So, I don't think you can just put it into one category of children.
Suzy Davies: I had a look at the 2013 guidelines in preparation for this debate, and what I read reminded me, actually, quite a lot of old-fashioned school dinners, which were meat and veg, and custard as your pudding. Obviously, nothing in the olden days, if you can put it that way, to do with vegetarianism or veganism—they hadn't been invented then. There was probably a lot more salt in those days as...
Suzy Davies: Well, Deputy Minister, you say that it's up to the courts to interpret this legislation, but it's also incumbent on this legislature to have made its legislative intention clear. And one of the reasons our party were not particularly keen on this Bill, as it was at the time, is that it was never clear to us how it could be enforced and, even now, those duties to which you've been referring in...
Suzy Davies: Can I just say thank you for reassuring us that we're not back in the same position that we were in in 2016? I think the investment in the blast furnace and, actually, the company's interest in producing more of its own energy are a good sign that that's actually the case. I just had a couple of questions, because my colleague Russell has some as well. I suppose I'd like to repeat some of the...
Suzy Davies: At the start of February, Minister, I asked whether Welsh Government would consider putting money into helping councils upgrade their public transport to make them greener and less polluting. At the time, you told me that the idea was something that you'd be very happy to discuss with the transport Minister Ken Skates. That's three months ago now, so I'm wondering if you can update me on how...
Suzy Davies: Making sure that everyone has access to well-paid jobs or training opportunities is a must, and that certainly applies to people who are disabled, and I think that needs to be a priority for when we're looking for a more equal Wales. I'd be interested to know the Deputy Minister's view of the UK Government's Disability Confident campaign, which helps employers understand that they might...
Suzy Davies: First Minister, I recently chaired a policy forum. Tidal Lagoon Power were there and they spoke about the work that they're doing to encourage businesses to buy energy from them in order to provide a future for the lagoon project. Welsh Government's national procurement service states that it collaborates with public organisations to use collective buying power to get a good deal for Wales,...
Suzy Davies: Can I just start by offering my heartfelt thanks to the Public Accounts Committee for accepting the invitation from the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee to pursue further inquiries into Welsh Government's relationship with Pinewood? It's an excellent report. I don't even know where I want to start on it, but I think I'll start with the point that you were talking about,...
