Laura Anne Jones: Thank you, First Minister. There are obvious, justified concerns following the Scottish legislation being rushed through and, due to the nature of the United Kingdom, how it will impact women here in Wales, particularly with regard to 16 and 17-year-olds and sex offenders now being allowed to self-ID without medical diagnosis, and the clear and obvious risks that come with that. What...
Laura Anne Jones: 4. Does the Welsh Government intend to follow in the footsteps of the Scottish Government with a gender recognition reform Bill? OQ58937
Laura Anne Jones: I’d just firstly like to start by paying tribute to Peter Fox for all the hard work the Member for Monmouth has done to date to get the Bill to this point. The purpose of this Bill is admirable and timely, and I strongly disagree with the Minister: it is the right Bill at the right time. It aims to establish a more sustainable food system here in Wales, which certainly the country has been...
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you for your draft budget statement, Minister. My focus, given my shadow portfolio, of course, will be on education, and I can only go on what’s in front of me. Last month, we saw the UK Government’s autumn statement put young people at the forefront of their agenda, with an increase in funding for education. I called for this to be matched in Wales the week after the autumn...
Laura Anne Jones: I'd just like to thank my colleague Mark Isherwood for tabling today's proposal. It would make for an excellent Bill, and a necessary one. I hope that it would force us to be a lot better in Wales at taking into account British Sign Language needs. One area where I believe this would bring about positive change is on British Sign Language in education, as my colleague has touched on already....
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you, and a massive thank you to the Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer for allowing this topical question today, and thank you for an initial response, Minister, and thank you for the written statement last night, although I know many across this Chamber were disappointed that there was no oral statement yesterday, so that Members across the Chamber would have the...
Laura Anne Jones: 2. Will the Minister make a statement on the increase of cases of group A streptococcus in schools? TQ695
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, thank you for your statement today. It's been very clear for a long time now that there is an urgent need to change and reform the supply teaching model. More than £250 million has been paid to agencies for supply teachers by Welsh councils since 2016. Supply teaching demand, of course, was exacerbated by the pandemic, but even in 2015, local authority supply teacher costs in Wales...
Laura Anne Jones: I'd just like to start by thanking the whole Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee—it's quite a mouthful—for their hard work and for undertaking this review, for the report, and its recommendations. I was personally delighted that you undertook this review, as this is a body of work that needed to be done, and, as chairman of the cross-party...
Laura Anne Jones: —sports club myself, the major barrier, obviously, is finance. Minister, will your Government commit today, on the International Day of People with Disabilities, to properly and financially support this crucial insport initiative that has the potential to make so much different to many? And if I may, Deputy Presiding Officer, how are you working with the Youth Parliament to ensure that...
Laura Anne Jones: Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you for your statement, Minister, and thank you for all that's been done to date, but it is palpably clear, as we all recognise in this Chamber today, that there's still more that needs to be done. Today's topic is an important one. The 2021 'Locked out' Senedd report that you mentioned, Minister, brought to light some deeply concerning findings. The...
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you, First Minister. I asked the health Minister the same question recently as to how this Government will cut ambulance waiting times. First Minister, it's been over a year now since your Government published its six goals for emergency care, and the situation has got worse, as I experienced myself recently and many of my constituents. None of this, of course, is the fault of...
Laura Anne Jones: 4. What urgent action is the Welsh Government taking to cut ambulance waiting times? OQ58801
Laura Anne Jones: Llywydd, the new curriculum does provide wonderful opportunities to bring in local businesses. However, it deeply concerns me that the Minister is still putting in jeopardy school impartiality. This Government's first focus needs to be on getting the basics right here in Wales first. Wales has the lowest Programme for International Student Assessment results in the UK; teachers don't feel...
Laura Anne Jones: Absolutely, Minister. I completely agree with what you're trying to do, however, let's take Unite, which are listed as contributors to be able to contribute in person to our learners. Unite have donated millions of pounds to the UK Labour Party—£33,000 to the Welsh Labour Party directly since 2020. The Minister himself is a member of Unite and received nearly £2,000 for his own personal...
Laura Anne Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Just a few weeks ago, the Minister announced the Unions and the World of Work pilot scheme—a policy that would see trade unions going into our schools, having direct contact with our learners. Llywydd, the Welsh Conservatives have no issue with children being taught about the workplace and, in fact, would actively encourage careers and work-related experience, however, it...
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, last week, the UK Government's autumn statement announced an increase in funding for education, which would equate to roughly £200 million extra for education in Wales if we were to do the same, with Welsh Government, of course, receiving an extra £1.2 billion in additional funding, overall, over the two years. Minister, it's now imperative, with all the extra pressures on our...
Laura Anne Jones: 2. Will the additional funding provided to schools in England by the UK Government be matched by the Welsh Government for schools in Wales? OQ58767
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, you've constantly said that you're looking at a whole-system approach, from GPs to delayed transfers of care, and we'd agree with this. But it's been over a year now since you published your six goals for emergency care, and the situation has got worse. None of this, of course, is the fault of hard-working paramedics, but the poor planning from this Labour Government. Minister, we...
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, the night-time economy can sometimes be fragile employment, but it's crucial to our culture, communities and the economy. These workers faced the brunt of the pandemic lockdown, so it's crucial that they're supported to get back on their feet. What assessment, if any, has the Welsh Government made of the impact of the cost-of-living pressures on the night-time economy in Wales?
