Suzy Davies: The question for me is: how does this Assembly influence how our two Governments work together to ensure that the integrity of the devolved settlement is protected? And while I wasn't a member of this committee when the work was being done on this particular agreement, the work that I've done on the committee since then has coloured how I want to put my presentation to you together, so I hope...
Suzy Davies: One aim of the strategy is to increase the provision of post-16 Welsh learning to help people use more of the Welsh language in the workplace. I think I’m pleased to see ideas such as a telephone helpline to help provide free translation services to small businesses and charities, for example, but that is a very small step towards the target of a million Welsh speakers in 2050. What do you...
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that answer. You'll be aware, of course, and we've heard today about the serious concerns now being expressed about school funding, and one of the things that we hear is that schools can find themselves in receipt of extra money at very short notice at the end of the financial year, which makes it very difficult for them to spend it in-year effectively. It also has the...
Suzy Davies: 9. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's policy on multi-year budgeting? OAQ53522
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Deputy Minister, and apologies to those I was unable to call this afternoon.
Suzy Davies: The next item, item 6, has been postponed.
Suzy Davies: We turn, therefore, to the legislative consent motion on the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill. And I call on the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to move the motion—Lesley Griffiths.
Suzy Davies: Finally and briefly, Jack Sargeant.
Suzy Davies: Thank you. I ask every speaker today to take account of the fact that we have three quarters of an hour for this statement. There are a number of speakers, and I start with Dawn Bowden.
Suzy Davies: Trefnydd, I was alarmed to hear a few days ago that women going through miscarriages at less than 20 weeks term are being accommodated in a ward at Singleton hospital where there are no en-suite facilities. Worse still, this is a mixed ward where women in the throes of miscarrying are expected to walk past men to get to the toilets and showers, which it is claimed—I'm not sure about...
Suzy Davies: Not all youth service funding comes through the local authority route. In 2016, the children's commissioner recommended that the Welsh Government ensures that health-related advocacy for under-18-year-olds is available and accessible to all those who need it. However, in her quarterly update published in January this year, she noted that she is not aware of any changes to provision of...
Suzy Davies: I'm very grateful, and I just wanted to get across this point: that whatever the amount is that Welsh Government gets, it gives an indicative figure to councils. The schools don't get the figure that has been indicated to them, and that's the gap that I'm trying to identify rather than the initial funding.
Suzy Davies: I think I answered that question right at the beginning, because—and I'll come to this—it's too easy to blame the UK Government for this, because the problems I'm talking about—[Interruption.] I tell you what, if you let me come to the end of my speech, you will get answers. I'll take another intervention, if you like, to save a little bit of time on this. In short, all this list that...
Suzy Davies: At the heart of the complaints we get from parents and school leaders, however, is what they are beginning to see—[Interruption.]—is what we are beginning to see as unfairness in funding between schools within the same local authority, let alone compared to other counties, combined with some ruefulness around new ways of funding, which don't always meet their priorities—priorities that...
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. There certainly has been a gear change this year in the complaints from schools and local authorities about underfunding. Councils are no longer content to let this Government get away with blaming everything on so-called austerity, and in fact they can't, because the funding floor, introduced by those Conservatives, means that Wales—. Here we get...
Suzy Davies: I'm sure it hasn't escaped Members' attention that the Ford factory in my own region has imminent job losses of up to 1,000 potentially in the pipeline. You mentioned earlier, Deputy Minister, that the situation at Honda is not going to become acute until 2021, that means there are two years when Welsh Government could be working not just for Honda, but for Ford and their supply chains to...
Suzy Davies: Swansea University, along with the universities of Warwick and Sheffield, are collaborating on this new SUSTAIN project, which will use £35 million of investment to reduce emissions from the steelmaking process and increase productivity and jobs, which I think is a very welcome collaboration, something that can reduce pollution for Tata Steel, which I hope will also, when they're building...
Suzy Davies: As we heard at the recent cross-party group on transport, chaired by Russell George, it's buses and heavy goods vehicles that contribute primarily to the diesel pollution. And while lorries get replaced fairly frequently, buses don't. Previously, Welsh Government gave Swansea Council quite a lot of money towards the Nowcaster system—I haven't mentioned it for a while, so I thought it...
Suzy Davies: Will you take an intervention? Thank you very much. I was listening to what you've just been saying, particularly in relation to Caroline Jones's contribution. I still don't think you've given us an answer why we still have so many persistent failing schools—and I use 'failing' advisedly. There is a certain cohort of schools that is still not moving out of special measures and so on,...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I move our amendment. I just want to say for the record, though, that it wasn’t intended to be a ‘delete all’ amendment, but it is what it is and so'll we move on on that basis. Could I also echo the sentiments expressed in the first Plaid amendment? Any improvement is to be welcomed for its effect on the individual young people who benefit from it, as well...
