Siân Gwenllian: I’m sure that we would all agree with the principle that you’ve just put forward. It’s a matter, perhaps, of offering the choice at present, and educating more young women about the advantages of the more environmentally friendly methods that you’re talking about. But I think, at present, it is important that the choice is there, and that’s why I do welcome the £1 million that has...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure for me to close this debate. I’m very grateful to Jane Hutt for asking me to do so. Jane started by talking about the stigma related to period poverty, as well as the affordability of hygiene and sanitary products, and of course the motion talks about improving awareness and education with regard to periods, and breaking that taboo. I think the fact...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you for the statement. The national development framework will set the national strategy for planning for the next 20 years, as you note. So, it is very important that the Welsh Government consults as much as possible to ensure that the right objectives are set and that the right strategy is in place to deliver the framework. Of course, the strategic development plans and the local...
Siân Gwenllian: Can you give me an assurance that I will receive an honest and clear response from your Government on a simple issue, which I have been pursuing now since January? I've asked the Minister for the Welsh language how many staff are located in the Government's Welsh language unit—those staff responsible for preparing Welsh language standards regulations. Having received the response 'loads' in...
Siân Gwenllian: I welcome the review, of course, as long as the outputs are clear and that it will lead to an improvement in equality. In announcing the review in a speech in Oxford, the First Minister said, as you have also done, that he wants Wales to be the safest place for women in Europe. Again, I agree entirely, but turning those words into a reality will require commitment and firm political will. At...
Siân Gwenllian: 5. Will you make a statement on the gender review that is currently being conducted by the Welsh Government? OAQ52107
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much, and thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Green Paper on local government reform, which is the result, of course, of an unexpected u-turn by this Government. ‘Strengthening Local Government: Delivering for People’ is the title of the latest document, and I agree entirely with the need to strengthen our councils. Local government that is resilient and...
Siân Gwenllian: I do understand, of course, that a great deal of hard work has gone into it, but that's our job—to work hard on behalf of the people of Wales. As a Welsh person and a democrat, I've been shocked at how easily you've given in to the Tories and have transferred these powers to them in London—the powers that the people of Wales have stated in two referenda that the Welsh Parliament should...
Siân Gwenllian: That is my concern, of course. The feeling is that the new legislation, whenever that is going to see the light of day, is holding things back substantially at the moment, and is, therefore, holding back the rights of Welsh speakers. I mentioned that perhaps it’s political goodwill that’s behind this. Perhaps it’s a lack of staffing that's the problem in introducing the standards. I’m...
Siân Gwenllian: Complex or not, it’s clear that there’s a need to look in detail at the situation following losing some of the safeguards that we have at the moment through being a member of the European Union. Ensuring rights to users to receive services through the medium of Welsh is the basis of the 2011 Act and the standards that have followed that. The standards in health are deficient—they...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. These are questions to the Minister for the Welsh language. Yesterday, my colleague the Member of Parliament for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Liz Saville Roberts, appeared on the Daily Politics programme defending our language following the latest attack on our language by Rod Liddle. Unfortunately, we live in an age where such attacks are seen increasingly acceptable. Attacking...
Siân Gwenllian: May we have a statement on the Caernarfon-Bontnewydd bypass? This road was due to open this summer, but, instead, the construction work hasn’t even started. That is two years late and, of course, constituents in my area are becoming more and more frustrated and some are even starting to doubt whether this road will see the light of day at all. So, to allay their fears, can we have a...
Siân Gwenllian: Following the budget agreement, Plaid Cymru secured £400,000 to upgrade the TrawsCymru network from bus to coach, and following that, the new service from Aberystwyth to Cardiff was established last week, securing a more comfortable and swifter service. This is an important step forward in the process of creating public transport services fit for the twenty-first century in our rural...
Siân Gwenllian: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's intention to further expand the TrawsCymru coach service? OAQ52055
Siân Gwenllian: I’d like to start by congratulating WASPI for their very powerful campaign drawing attention to this unfairness that we’re discussing today. In my area, there are a number of women who have come to Hywel Williams, the MP for Arfon, Liz Saville-Roberts, the MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, and me, and we’ve worked together with those women to establish local WASPI groups. By now, we have a...
Siân Gwenllian: Well, I’m very pleased to hear that and it is about time if I may say so because education is crucial in tackling this particular problem. Yesterday, some Members mentioned in the Chamber the review of sexual health services, which drew attention to the postcode lottery that exists in terms of abortion services in Wales. The review states that abortion services in Wales are inequitable and...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. I look forward to participating in that debate. In the context of the point made in the First Minister's speech in Oxford on making Wales the safest possible place to be a woman throughout the whole of Europe through legislation, you will be aware, of course, that that was one of the intentions underpinning the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. And an invitation has been issued to your office to come to Arfon too, if I may say so. During the past month, in a speech given in Oxford, the First Minister said that he will hold a review of the equality and gender policies of the Welsh Government, which will include, among other things, consideration of how to move gender to the forefront in making decisions, ensuring...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you. It appears from that paper that the Government’s main argument is that we need to increase the baseline for the funding that Wales received from Westminster to put right the losses from structural funds and European Union investments. Now, with all due respect, I don’t see you shouting particularly loudly on this issue at the moment. Wales is facing the loss of significant...
Siân Gwenllian: One thing that’s likely to cause more people to get into debt is the period that they will have to wait for their first payment under universal credit. Receiving payments on a monthly basis after that first payment will also create major debt problems for many people. I can’t understand why your Government is so reluctant to take control of certain elements of administering the benefits...
