Leanne Wood: One year on from the #MeToo movement, and the sea change that many of us hoped it would spark has not happened. Encouraging people to report is important, but all too often, when they do, nothing happens. Police and victim support services are underfunded, waiting lists for counselling and other support are unacceptably long. Organisations' procedures are inadequate and unable to deal with...
Leanne Wood: Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the progress of the Rhondda tunnel project?
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: Diolch. Back in 2014-15, we had a new Governemnt of Wales Act, and we missed the opportunity there to devolve the probation service. Do you regret that your Government didn't push for it at that time?
Leanne Wood: Diolch. I'd like to begin my contribution by stating once again that what has happened to the probation service, a service that I worked in for many years, has been heartbreaking to witness. It has been ripped apart by the Tories' ideological privatisation of the service and it's an unmitigated disaster. It's demoralised hard-working, experienced probation staff, resulting in many leaving in...
Leanne Wood: But you're cutting local authorities' funds.
Leanne Wood: The leader of the campaign to save the Welsh living grant is a Labour Party member, who has succeeded in getting a motion to the Labour Party conference in support of that grant's retention. Nevertheless, your Government is determined to push ahead with scrapping this grant, which is a lifeline to its recipients, in favour of transferring the fund directly to local authorities. Meanwhile,...
Leanne Wood: A report by children's charity Plan International UK shows that a third of girls have been sexually harassed in public when wearing school uniform, and the opinion poll, which canvassed 1,000 teenagers and young women aged 14 to 21 across the UK found that two thirds of girls had experienced unwanted sexual attention or sexual physical contact in public. Chwarae Teg has found that sexual...
Leanne Wood: I'd like to return to the matter of free school dinners, First Minister. Last month, you may remember crowing about the generous offer that you were making, but it is a fact that Wales lags behind the north of Ireland when it comes to school meal provision. There, they've put in place a far more generous earnings limit of £14,000 for families, which is almost double the limit proposed by the...
Leanne Wood: 1. What is the Welsh Government doing to tackle child poverty? OAQ52801
Leanne Wood: I'd like to start with the amendment. I'll take the second one first. It's remarkable how anyone could read this report and think that UK-wide solutions are going to address the specific Welsh issues in this report. It's the sort of amendment that looks like it's been tabled by somebody who didn't bother even reading the report, and I'll say no more on that. The first amendment adds nothing...
Leanne Wood: This is not the first time I've raised this subject with you, but after the recent Panaroma programme on mental health provision for young people, I was inundated with messages from parents in the Rhondda who feel that their children and teenagers have been let down by the system. The programme certainly touched a nerve, First Minister. One thing that could help is for school counselling...
Leanne Wood: 8. What is the Welsh Government doing to tackle mental health problems in young people? OAQ52747
Leanne Wood: It's our concern for our struggling economy, for jobs, for wages that drives Plaid Cymru on this question, and that's what drove us to co-author the White Paper with the Government, which said that Wales's interests would be best served by us remaining in the single market. This option has not only been rejected by the Prime Minister, but has also been rejected by the leader of the official...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. As one of the original signatories to the people's vote, there is no doubt in my mind of the dangers that people in Wales face from crashing out of the EU without a deal or with an extreme Tory Brexit.
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: Do you honestly believe that Wales and people in Wales will be better off after Brexit?
Leanne Wood: The Tories' ideological privatisation of the probation service has been an unmitigated, if not predictable, disaster. It's left existing probation staff feeling demoralised, and it's also increased the danger posed to the public. The Tories should be full of regret and shame for wrecking what was an effective public service. In a briefing earlier year, Napo, the trade union representing...
Leanne Wood: Just like your school meals policy, with this, children will lose out. Parents will lose out, and in particular those who are struggling the most—[Interruption.]—those who are struggling the most will lose out as a result of your childcare legislation. Now, studies from Ireland to Australia to here in Wales show that one of the biggest barriers to people seeking work is access to...
Leanne Wood: First Minister, that quote that I used was from the leadership bid of the Cabinet Secretary for Children, Older People and Social Care. As I highlighted last week, your Government is slashing school meals provision. We have Cabinet Secretaries in your Government who say one thing and then do the exact opposite. Now, the children's commissioner has lamented your childcare legislation as a...
