Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. It is clear to us in Plaid Cymru that we need more social housing or council houses—whatever we call them, we know what we’re talking about. In my own area, there are 2,000 families on the waiting list in Gwynedd for social housing. My surgeries are full of people living in unacceptable conditions in private rented accommodation that is damp, too small or expensive to...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you. I look forward to that update. According to your predecessor, Alun Davies, one of the purposes of the Welsh language Bill was, and I quote, to create an institution of the best possible quality and of international level that would bring together the necessary critical mass of talent and expertise to lead language planning to a new, broader and more sophisticated level. Although...
Siân Gwenllian: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on the delivery of the 2018-2019 Action Plan Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers? OAQ53484
Siân Gwenllian: The hypocrisy of the Tories on the issue of funding public services is staggering. Years of austerity, imposed by the Conservatives in Westminster, are bleeding our schools dry and undermining the attainment of our children and young people, but there is no doubt that the Welsh Labour Government need to take action and stop putting their heads in the sand. For example, we need to co-ordinate...
Siân Gwenllian: I, today, am discussing the process, not the principle, of removing emergency services from Bangor—but the process itself—and how the decision was reached. In the spring of last year, the health board gave its stamp of approval to retaining emergency services in Bangor, and all the GPs in the area received a letter stating this. The board hasn’t reversed this decision, and in numerous...
Siân Gwenllian: 1. Will the First Minister confirm when, after 1 March 2018, the decision to keep emergency vascular services at Ysbyty Gwynedd was reversed? OAQ53524
Siân Gwenllian: First of all, I would like to praise our teachers and the staff in our schools for their ongoing commitment to the increasingly difficult task of teaching our pupils. They work under very specific limitations in terms of a lack of resource and funding and far too much intervention in their day-to-day activities. The profession is under huge pressure at the moment, and we need to thank them...
Siân Gwenllian: Will the Minister provide an update on the young farmers grant scheme?
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much, and I move those amendments. Thank you very much for the opportunity to discuss the findings of the Estyn report for 2017-18. The situation in our secondary schools is a cause of great concern, with pupils in half of our secondary schools, so, around 100 schools, being let down. That is, the children aren't reaching their full potential by the time they leave school. Now,...
Siân Gwenllian: You will know that I've asked several times in the Chamber about the expectations of the Government in terms of our health boards, and how transparent and open they are in their operations. You'll also know that I feel that Betsi Cadwaladr health board, which is under your control, of course, because they are in special measures, are trying to make important decisions about services by the...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much, and congratulations on using Welsh in the Siambr. Now, one vital challenge will be supporting more women into work, but of course childcare continues to be a barrier. Women are four times more likely than men to mention caring for their family or the home as a reason for not working. So, what assessment has the Welsh Government done of the impact of the new childcare...
Siân Gwenllian: 2. What discussions had the Deputy Minister had with the Minister for Economy and Transport on the economic impact of inequalities in light of the Chwarae Teg report, State of the Nation 2019? OAQ53473
Siân Gwenllian: How does the Welsh Government prevent loss of revenue from the transfer of second homes from the council tax regime to the non-domestic tax regime?
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much, and therefore I hope that I won't have to ask that question again in this Chamber. Another aspect of the work, of course, is the impact on the local economy. What work have you as a Government done to ensure that the local workforce and local businesses get the maximum benefit from this important proposal?
Siân Gwenllian: 9. Will the Minister confirm when the Caernarfon to Bontnewydd bypass will open? OAQ53411
Siân Gwenllian: What discussions has the Counsel General had with the UK Government regarding protecting the rights of the young people of Wales to travel or work across Europe in leaving the European Union?
Siân Gwenllian: Will the First Minister make a statement on changes to business rate relief schemes?
Siân Gwenllian: By doing that, though, the danger is that we're going to reciprocate exactly what's happening in the rest of the UK—that is, everything going to the south-east—in Wales, with everything being concentrated in one corner of Wales. That's the major problem that's facing us.
Siân Gwenllian: I hope that each and every one of us can support amendment 5, tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. In 2017, Adam Price and I published this discussion paper, 'The Future of the West: Collaboration for the Benefit of the Economy and the Welsh Language'. It outlined the desire to see the councils of the west—Anglesey, Gwynedd, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire—working together on strategic...
Siân Gwenllian: British Sign Language is an important language that isn't adequately recognised. At present, there is no adequate provision or no adequate rights in place to support deaf people at any stage of their journey through life, starting in the earliest years. Ninety per cent of deaf children are born into hearing families. Therefore, new parents often have no experience of deafness, and have to...
