Vikki Howells: Minister, as you will be aware, proposals to develop a circuit of Wales have been circulating for some time. Up to now, the project team have been unable to raise the necessary finance for the project. Would you be able to outline what recent developments there have been?
Vikki Howells: I’d like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement here today. As a former teacher myself, just like my colleague Rhianon Passmore, the Member for Islwyn, I know first-hand that this is a key issue for my colleagues in classrooms across Wales. I also know that class size is a really important issue on the doorstep in my constituency, and I’m sure in constituencies across the...
Vikki Howells: Leader of the house, could I please request a statement from the Welsh Government on the policy for providing free swimming for children? It is now 10 years since the policy of free swimming for children was rolled out in Wales, which is perhaps a good time for us to reflect upon the policy. Free swimming has been important in providing access to leisure opportunities, to tackle obesity or...
Vikki Howells: Welsh Government support for the Tomorrow’s Valley project, based in Llwydcoed in my constituency, could see food waste providing enough power for 1,500 homes, by generating over 1 MW of green electricity. What interim evaluation has the Welsh Government made of this project?
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Many groups including the Trussell Trust have identified the issue of holiday hunger, whereby those children eligible for free school meals and their parents often go without food during the long summer holidays. Indeed, the charity says demand for its 35 food banks in Wales peaks during July and August. This rolling out of funding for lunch and fun clubs across...
Vikki Howells: 2. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Welsh Government plans to support lunch and fun clubs in primary schools during the school summer holidays? OAQ(5)0063(EDU)
Vikki Howells: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Born in 1700, Griffith Morgan, known as Guto, lived in Nyth Brân farm in Llanwonno. Guto was a remarkable runner, able to personally round up the family’s sheep and even catch birds in flight. One tale describes him running the 7 miles to Pontypridd and back home again before a kettle had boiled. In his greatest race, Guto ran 12 miles in 53 minutes, but died...
Vikki Howells: Does the First Minister agree that the completion of the cross-Valley link road in Mountain Ash will reduce congestion in this particular part of South Wales Central and, moreover, that it will play an important part in assisting the two-way flow of capital and labour in future economic schemes such as the Cardiff capital region?
Vikki Howells: As Public Health Wales reminds us in ‘Making a Difference’, their priority policy areas for creating a healthy Wales, over half of Welsh adults and around a quarter of Welsh children are overweight or obese, with particular issues in disadvantaged communities, such as my own in RCT, where the figure stands at 63 per cent of adults. If the numbers of people who are overweight or obese...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The wide-ranging educational reforms introduced by the Welsh Government in areas including the curriculum, qualifications and teachers’ professional development have been welcomed by teachers and fully supported by the OECD. I welcome your categorical assurances that we will hold firm to this agenda, not deviate from the path we’ve set ourselves and give...
Vikki Howells: I recently met with representatives of the Central South Consortium at Mountain Ash Comprehensive School in my constituency and was impressed to hear about the year-on-year improvement the consortium has seen across every performance indicator, from key stage 2 to key stage 5. Success in areas like Cardiff is often based on work with pupils drawn from a range of diverse backgrounds where...
Vikki Howells: 5. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the work of regional consortia in improving educational attainment in the Cynon Valley? OAQ(5)0052(EDU)
Vikki Howells: Illegal off-road biking is a type of landscape crime that harms our natural landscape and can also pose a danger to the public. Natural Resources Wales recently revealed that 22 people had been arrested for illegal off-road biking in south Wales in November alone, and many residents I’ve spoken to in my constituency have highlighted the problems caused by this activity. What actions are the...
Vikki Howells: Thank you, First Minister. I recently met with the British Lung Foundation to discuss access to pulmonary rehabilitation services for the 2,000 people in my constituency living with COPD. While those in the north Cynon GP cluster are transported to Merthyr with relative ease, those in the south can face difficulties, having to travel to Tonypandy, often over two mountains, for their pulmonary...
Vikki Howells: 1. How is the Welsh Government supporting people who have been affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? OAQ(5)0263(FM)
Vikki Howells: This debate is a stark reminder of the challenges facing the natural environment, not only in Wales, but in the seas and oceans that border our country. The threats facing these fragile marine ecosystems, and the steps we can take to mitigate their effect, will be the focus of my contribution today. After all, we should never forget that Welsh territorial waters occupy an area equivalent to...
Vikki Howells: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Two questions and I’ll try to be concise, Chair. I’d like to thank you for the statement you’ve made today, as one of the members of the committee myself, and I welcome the comments regarding looking at the broader context of farming and the role of the rural economy, particularly with regard to the Welsh language as well. So, firstly, my question is: how can we...
Vikki Howells: Publication of the UK Government’s action plan for tackling childhood obesity met with criticism from campaigners due to the watering down of many of the expected proposals, especially those around sugar and on the advertising of unhealthy foods. In the Cwm Taf Local Health Board area, which includes my constituency, 28.1 per cent of four- to five-year-olds, the second highest in Wales, are...
Vikki Howells: 6. Will the Minister provide an update on Welsh Government progress to reduce childhood obesity rates? OAQ(5)0063(HWS)
Vikki Howells: Diolch, Lywydd and thank you, Cabinet Secretary. I’d like to place on record my full support for the proposal that you outline today. We all know how important tourism is as a sector to the Welsh economy, and it’s absolutely vital that we market that strongly moving forward, if it is to retain and enhance the presence that it currently has. My first question relates to the importance of...
