Leanne Wood: The report produced last week by the Wales Governance Centre shows that we have the highest incarceration rate in Europe, and it's, in fact, double that of the north of Ireland. Also contained in the report is the fact that this high incarceration rate is despite the fact that Wales has a lower crime rate than England every year between 2013 and 2017. From my background as a former probation...
Leanne Wood: 2. How has the Welsh Government responded to figures showing that Wales has the highest incarceration rate in western Europe? OAQ53272
Leanne Wood: I'm pleased to be able to contribute to this debate, although much of the credit for this work must go to my colleague Bethan Sayed, who worked tirelessly to ensure that this issue was placed further up the agenda, where it deserves to be. It's now just over 18 months since the tragedy of Grenfell fire demonstrated just how vulnerable some high-rise residential units are, and also the extent...
Leanne Wood: It was reported towards the end of last year that recorded hate crime in Wales and England rose by 17 per cent to 94,000 in the 12 months to March of last year. The Home Office say improvements in the way that crime is recorded could partly account for the large increase that has been evident for the last five years, but they acknowledge that there was a spike in the immediate aftermath of...
Leanne Wood: 4. What discussions has the Counsel General had with the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip regarding how the Welsh Government will protect women and minorities from hate crime following Brexit? OAQ53207
Leanne Wood: Will the Counsel General make a statement on the replacement of EU structural funds in the Rhondda?
Leanne Wood: First Minister, I was interested to hear all the things that you listed happening in and around Ebbw Vale during last week's First Minister's questions. You mentioned the starter units at Lime Avenue in Ebbw Vale, planning consent having been secured for a 50,000 sq ft advanced manufacturing facility at Rhyd-y-Blew in the town, and the refurbished 174,000 sq ft derelict building at Rassau in...
Leanne Wood: This is possibly the most difficult contribution I've ever had to make in this Senedd in the 15 years that I've been an Assembly Member. All of us in the Plaid Cymru family are beyond devastated that we've lost our friend and colleague, and our hearts go out to his family, who I know are in incredible pain at his loss. But Steffan is a loss to our nation too, to our democracy—he's a loss to...
Leanne Wood: What progress has the valleys taskforce made in tackling deprivation?
Leanne Wood: [Inaudible.]
Leanne Wood: I'm really encouraged by this idea of building a consensus around housing policy, and you're talking about council housing. Some of the best council housing—the bigger, family properties—were all sold off under the right to buy. In order to reach this consensus, would you be prepared to ditch your ideological obsession with that policy?
Leanne Wood: That's not what happened, though, is it?
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I move the amendments. This is, of course, a very important debate, and I agree that we need to find a consensus on this question if it is at all possible, but we also need to be clear on what exactly the problems that we are trying to solve are, and this is what our amendments seek to do. And we will be contributing further to this debate with the Plaid Cymru...
Leanne Wood: During recess, we had the unbelievable case of 32 refugees from Libya marooned at sea since they were rescued in the Mediterranean on 22 December. They are marooned because no European port would allow them to dock. Robin Jenkins, who is originally from the Vale of Glamorgan, was a member of crew on the Sea-Watch that carried out the rescue when the small rubber boat began leaking fuel. I...
Leanne Wood: First Minister, it's clear that rates of social housing building have been inadequate now for a number of decades and that's unacceptable. One of the biggest costs, of course, in terms of house building, is land. Will you be prepared to look at how land can be acquired by your Government relatively cheaply so that a land bank can be created, enabling more local authorities to build more...
Leanne Wood: Diolch. I move the amendment. As we celebrate 70 years of the adoption of the universal declaration of human rights, it's important that we examine the threats to human rights that currently exist. So, our amendment is timely because, as has already been said this afternoon, just this weekend we saw yet another example of how there are political movements that seek to reverse the human...
Leanne Wood: Adam Price.
Leanne Wood: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. In the first instance, can I say that, as a former probation officer, I welcome the general direction of travel towards a criminal justice system based on rehabilitation as opposed to punishment? Pre-court diversion means significant investment in probation services, and it's a real shame, given that you've outlined the problems caused by the...
Leanne Wood: I'd like to raise the issue of medicinal cannabis. The relaxation of the laws regarding the prescription of medicinal cannabis as a result of the changes to the misuse of drugs legislation this year has brought about little change. This is more than likely due to the restrictive interim guidance that has been published as a result of this legislation change. The Multiple Sclerosis Society say...
