Vikki Howells: What are the Welsh Government's priorities for eliminating child poverty in Cynon Valley?
Vikki Howells: Thanks to the committee, its members, the clerking team and witnesses for this very important report. I've really enjoyed following the inquiry, and I agree with many of the points that it contains. As today's report reminds us, the purpose of asset transfers is, of course, to ensure that assets that are really important to a local community can remain within that community. Sometimes, this...
Vikki Howells: My first question, Minister: the move to a leader and cabinet model has led to more strategic decision making, however, it can also locate that decision making within a smaller group. So, what assessment has the Welsh Government made of this top tier of local government and how can we ensure that cabinets also reflect the diversity of communities? My second and final question is around votes...
Vikki Howells: First Minister, credit unions have a vital role to play in supporting people in our communities, a role that is of course all the more critical during the cost-of-living crisis. At the last meeting of the cross-party group on co-operatives and mutuals, we had a presentation on how credit unions have come together to develop their Moneyworks Wales scheme, aimed at helping employers to help...
Vikki Howells: I just want to start by explaining my reasons for speaking in this debate today. As Members will know, prior to being elected, I was a teacher, and, in my 16 years as a teacher, each summer we would hold an assembly with Welsh Water where we would outline the dangers of swimming in reservoirs. Each year we did this diligently and we felt secure in the knowledge that we'd done all we could to...
Vikki Howells: On 25 November, The Mousetrap celebrated the seventieth anniversary of its opening in the Ambassador Theatre. For many years, Agatha Christie's theatrical masterpiece has held the record of the longest-running stage play in the world. It has been performed just under 29,000 times on the London stage and seen by over 10 million people. It led the West End out of lockdown; the first show to...
Vikki Howells: Thank you.
Vikki Howells: Diolch, Dirpwy Lywydd. Thank you, Minister, for your statement here today and for the support that you have always shown for disabled people. I have a few questions I'd like to raise, firstly with regard to the elected office fund. I was pleased to hear reference to the access to elected office fund. It's a little over six months now since the last set of council elections in Wales. What...
Vikki Howells: Minister, I mentioned, during First Minister's questions yesterday, my recent visit to Capcoch Primary School in Abercwmboi to see the work they do to tackle child poverty, which has been praised by Estyn. Their interventions include things like a clothes exchange, a foodbank and an inclusive approach to school trips, which are all the more vital when we are facing increasing pressures on...
Vikki Howells: What are the Welsh Government's priorities for improving access to public transport in Cynon Valley?
Vikki Howells: Trefnydd, last week I visited Capcoch Primary School in Abercwmboi to see the wonderful and truly heart-warming work that the school does to try and combat the effects of child poverty. The school's proactive interventions, including a clothes exchange, a foodbank and its approach to things like school trips, have been praised by Estyn. The Resolution Foundation estimates that relative child...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister. Garth Bakery has been a prominent employer in Cynon Valley and also an important part of the local economy for over 36 years, so the news that it has gone into administration is a grave blow indeed. This is particularly so for the around 100 people who have lost their jobs just six weeks before Christmas. I appreciate the intense distress and worry that this will cause...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Minister. The announcement that you would be de-escalating Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board's maternity and neonatal services from special measures was very welcome indeed. I think this was testament to the hard work that has gone in from health board staff to deliver the service improvements that the local community, mothers, babies and families, who need to access these services,...
Vikki Howells: 10. Will the Minister provide an update on work being undertaken to improve the provision of maternity services in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board area? OQ58687
Vikki Howells: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the recent news that Garth Bakery has gone into administration? TQ678
Vikki Howells: First Minister, I recently met with Trivallis, the largest provider of social housing in RCT, and it was really good to receive an update from them on how they've been able to make use of the Welsh Government's transitional accommodation capital programme to bring empty homes back into use with the specific purpose of moving people and families out of temporary bed-and-breakfast...
Vikki Howells: I'd like to start my contribution today by echoing the remarks of colleagues thanking the clerking team and everyone who gave evidence that helped inform this inquiry. I think it's a really important piece of work. Around a third of the Welsh workforce is employed in the hospitality, tourism and retail sectors. The latter alone, Wales's largest private sector employer, accounts for just over...
Vikki Howells: Will the Minister set out the Welsh Government’s response to the recommendations contained in the Children’s Commissioner for Wales 2021/22 Annual Report?
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Trefnydd. The Valleys Regional Park delivers a range of positive interventions, promoting health and well-being, offering adult education opportunities, protecting the environment, and enhancing the tourist offer in the Valleys, thereby boosting our local economies. Discovery gateways like the Dare Valley County Park mean that our Valleys communities can access these literally on...
Vikki Howells: 8. How is the Welsh Government supporting the work of the Valleys Regional Park? OQ58660
