Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...our amendment specifically at this point? Again, it's targeted at helping the poorest in society. The pandemic has highlighted the inequalities within our society very clearly indeed. So, fund free school meals for all children in homes eligible for universal credit. There are substantial reserves remaining provided for dealing with this pandemic—that is unallocated funding. The...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...do provide some protection against the transfer of the virus, isn't it now really time to look again at the list of priorities provided by the JCVI, and bring people such as those working in our schools, in the emergency services and public transport into the system sooner rather than later, as a means of cutting that transmission link from one person to another? We are in a very good...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...but, at the end of the day, it's a matter of promoting the principles of safeguarding public health that drives all of this. The regulations also tighten-up the rules to ensure that schools and further education institutions don't allow students to attend. Again, under the circumstances, this is the right step to take, and that it is justified, but may I remind, as others have done—as...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...poverty problems in Wales. Plaid Cymru is calling clearly for this. Labour councillors in Carmarthenshire, I understand, have backed a Plaid Cymru motion asking the Welsh Government to extend free school meals to all children in families receiving universal credit. It's time the Labour Government acted on this.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...the family, but we are talking about 70,000 children here. Given those figures that we received from the First Minister, should we assume that the cost would be £33 million were we to extend free school meals to those 70,000 children?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. There's been quite some coverage across the UK this week on free school meals following the scandal of the inadequate meals provided by private contractors to children in England during the pandemic. But support, generally speaking, is still inadequate for children living in poverty in Wales; we've already referred during this session to extending free school...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...£40 million for the housing support grant; £20 million to support active travel, which I support and welcome; over £20 million to respond to demographic pressures on sixth form and further education, which is essential; funding to support changes to the curriculum, to mental health services in the community and in schools. There is significant funding—some £274 million—allocated...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...to the priority list will be built in when the roll-out reaches that point. For example, one of those that I'm hearing most often is the call for vaccination or prioritising those working in schools. We're clearly in a worrying place still, but the more assurances that Government can give us, be that on testing or on measures being taken or on the data on the new strain on the virus, that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ..., youth staff, providing primary care, sexual and reproductive health support, mental health support, drug and alcohol services, counselling, smoking cessation, family planning, health promotion, education services—a whole raft of services. In other words, they treat and help the individual that they work with. They don't pathologise or medicalise the individual. They're based on a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...Catcher; Siop Elis and Beaumaris Spar; as well as Anglesey Outdoors for providing accommodation to key workers. To Môn FM; the Côr-ona Facebook group; Môn gymnastics club; and Helen Barton school of dance, your work is appreciated. And, finally, to postman Ben Williams, who gladdened hearts with his fancy dress. Thank you. Thank you to everyone in Môn. But, on behalf of everyone at the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...to it, and hiding behind things like commercial sensitivity isn't a way of stopping scrutiny of contracts and so on. So, in the name of transparency, I would ask what the profit cap is on the schools contract with Meridiam. And given that MIM evolved from PFI—it's still an expensive way of spending, with the Scottish Futures Trust saying it costs around 23 per cent more than funding...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...but for the sake of transparency, can we just have a figure from the Minister today as to how much we will actually pay from Welsh Government coffers over the decades for that project? Moving on to schools, I'm deeply uncomfortable about Wales being a nation that is unable to finance new schools through conventional means. I'm sure Meridiam is a fine company with a global record, as it...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...leadership from Government as well as from backbench Members. There are challenges, of course, that we are seeking to overcome. And given the point that Suzy Davies made in terms of reaching out to schools and colleges, well, the linguistic challenges exist across Wales, and I do agree that we could be seeking ways to share good practice with those sectors, too. We will seek ways to do...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...of that opinion and would like to hear the Minister's latest thinking on that. Finally, we have news of a task and finish group to make recommendations on a proposal for the north Wales medical school. If the good people of Ynys Môn decide that they don't want me to represent them in the Senedd after next May, that is probably the one campaign that I'll be very pleased that we were...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...have. I've allowed my constituency office to be used for CPR training purposes, and we need to extend this to as many people as possible. The Welsh Government recommends that CPR be taught in school, but it's not mandatory, as it is in Scotland and in England. We need to change that. But of course, it's not just in schools where we need to provide this training. There are plans by the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Like so many energy developments, it's supported by expertise from School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University, a school with a reputation for international excellence, and a school located in Menai Bridge on Anglesey. And may I thank the Government here for a positive response to my calls for a renewed agreement with the university to secure the future for their research vessel, the Prince...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...First Minister talked about 15,000 capacity, whereas actually very often it was only 2,000 or 3,000 tests that were being done. I know that the problems of having tests have come to the surface as schools have opened, and capacity has been short when it was needed. I would have expected there to have been more preparation for that and more robustness in planning or building for the start...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that statement, Minister. Before I ask a few questions on the statement itself, I have a few comments on the responses that we've just heard. People will have been shocked to hear that schools could close again—as a final step, as you said. I, for one, am looking forward to a very clear statement from the Government—the education Minister, not yourself—that education will...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...across my constituency who have been calling for a reduction in the speed limit to 20 mph. The community of Llanfachraeth is one of those I've worked with recently. I've also worked with schools, including a school in Holyhead very soon after my election that wanted to see more being done in order to safeguard people by reducing the speed of vehicles within their communities. It's that...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: ...the care sector. Now, I've seen some figures that seem to suggest how many antibody tests have been carried out in various sectors in Wales: 13,000 health workers have been tested; 9,000 workers in educational hubs have been tested; but only 75 people working in the care sector. Now, does the Minister understand that that reinforces this perception that this sector wasn't prioritised...
