Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much. I am very pleased to have this opportunity to contribute just a few comments in this debate on the Welsh Government’s final budget in my role as Chair of the Finance Committee. I am pleased that the Minister has accepted, or accepted in principle, all of the committee's recommendations, and I'm particularly pleased that the Minister has agreed to consider how we could...
Llyr Gruffydd: We're not going to vote against this, but there are a few questions that have been raised, actually, and I think I'd be interested in hearing your response to those before we come to voting. I know that some within the sector, for example, have queried whether the legislation actually requires funding to be paid to farmers, or whether devolved nations could actually use the money for...
Llyr Gruffydd: Can I make a very short intervention? Thank you. Were you here when we debated Betsi Cadwaladr a few weeks ago? Were you here when we debated the A55 earlier this afternoon? Were you here when we discussed broadband connection a couple of months ago? Because it sounds to me as if you're totally oblivious to what's happening in this place.
Llyr Gruffydd: In the opening remarks to this debate, when we were hearing about the need to futureproof, there were words that stuck in my mind: we need to 'readjust' and we need to 'recalibrate'. As a society, we need to readjust and we need to recalibrate. The economy needs to readjust and recalibrate. Our communities, and all of us as individuals, really have to readjust and recalibrate. And the...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Yes, half an hour is a very short period of time for a debate like this. It's not the only one we’ll be having, and the other half an hour, of course, was used to point to one way of getting to grips with climate change. A core theme is shared by both debates, namely that the climate crisis is a reality. That's the message that comes through clearly to all of...
Llyr Gruffydd: As I’m sure everyone appreciates, the aim of this debate is to place a real spotlight on the potential that hydrogen has, not only in terms of the environmental impact in Wales, but also the social and economic impacts that we could take advantage of if this sector were to be given the support and opportunity to grow that it deserves. We often think that we're in the vanguard in trying...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I endorse the thanks and the tributes that have been paid to the emergency workers, council workers, NRW workers, volunteers and the communities that have come together in light of the exceptional pictures that we have seen over the past few weeks? May I ask first of all, Minister, how do you respond to two north Wales council leaders, in Denbighshire and Conwy, who have criticised the...
Llyr Gruffydd: Anyone who watched Ffermio on S4C last night will know that the lambing season is upon us now, and it's an issue I've raised regularly in this Chamber, of course, namely this concern about dog attacks on sheep and lambs at this time of the year. Now, I've previously raised the need to tackle this, and the response I've heard is that the Government is doing more in order to promote awareness...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for your response. I know that you're very aware of the situation that arose at Ruthin School in my region. And before saying any more, I think we should thank Kelly Williams, the Daily Post journalist who did so much to expose the situation there and to bring it to the attention of the wider public, and also to help bring matters to a head. And now that some of those heads that...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Llywydd. It's worth waiting for, if I may say so—[Laughter.]
Llyr Gruffydd: 5. Will the Minister make a statement on the safeguarding of children who attend private schools in Wales? OAQ55064
Llyr Gruffydd: Nobody's questioned whether there's a need for regulation. The question here, of course, is the proportionality of those regulations. Not even Natural Resources Wales agree with your Minister's approach for a whole-Wales designation, and it's certainly been a matter of concern and correspondence for a huge number of my electors. I raised with the Minister last week in questions serious...
Llyr Gruffydd: I'm sure, First Minister, that you'll be aware of the recent fire at Kronospan in Chirk, an area that I represent in this Assembly. I'm told it's the seventeenth fire in around 18 years, although anecdotally local people are telling me that they happen even more often than that. Be that as it may, they're absolutely fed up with these kinds of incidents. There are big questions to be answered...
Llyr Gruffydd: Would you agree with me, Minister, that the erosion that there’s been in local authority budgets and Natural Resources Wales is partly responsible for the situation we find ourselves in? Because, of course, it’s things like cleaning rivers and culverts that are cut when human resources and budgets aren’t in place. And this, of course, reminds us of a point that I’ve raised here dozens...
Llyr Gruffydd: The disappearance of council farms should be a cause for concern for the whole of society. It's an important foothold into the industry for new blood and a new generation of farmers. So, please, Minister, don't sit on your hands; work with the councils, not only to protect what remains, but to work towards creating a public farm estate that will excite the next generation to want to go into...
Llyr Gruffydd: Why is this important? Well, you may say that 16,000 hectares of land is insignificant in the wider scheme of things, but I want to make the case for its significance in ensuring a thriving future for farming in Wales. Council-owned farms were developed more than a century ago to enable people without farming connections or land to work in agriculture. Now, I'd argue they're needed more than...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Ten years ago, Welsh councils owned almost 1,000 smallholdings, which were let out to give opportunities to young farmers to gain entry into the farming industry. The latest statistics we have show that councils—and one does recognise this—that are under huge financial pressures because of austerity have been selling those assets off, and very often, as we...
Llyr Gruffydd: I just want to pick up on the references that we've heard to the 2,000 people dying prematurely because of air pollution. Of course, that doesn't take into account as well the many thousands who are suffering illnesses as a result of pollution in the air. The scale of those experiences is not reflected in the scale of the response from the Welsh Government, which is a sentiment that's already...
Llyr Gruffydd: As a result, the Finance Committee has made every effort to engage with stakeholders on this draft budget. This began in June 2019 when we held a pre-budget stakeholder event in Aberystwyth. This formed the basis for a Finance Committee proposed debate here in the Siambr, which followed in September 2019, giving the Assembly an opportunity to debate the spending priorities of the Welsh...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I'm pleased to contribute to this important debate on the Welsh Government's draft budget for 2020-21 on behalf of the Finance Committee. Our report does make a series of recommendations, and I'll cover some of the most prominent of those in my contribution to this debate this afternoon. Now, as we've heard, given the uncertainty around the UK general election...
