Siân Gwenllian: Plaid Cymru’s stance on this issue is clear: in order to protect our citizens from the actions of the Conservatives at their worst, we must start to devolve the administration of welfare to Wales. We can then put an end to the culture of delay and sanction, and also ensure that individuals rather than homes receive payments, in order to ensure that this new system won’t have a...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you, Llywydd, and it’s a pleasure to open the Plaid Cymru debate today on universal credit. This is the second debate in six weeks that we have tabled on this particular issue, because we are extremely concerned about the impact that this destructive policy will have on our citizens here in Wales. Like many of you in the Chamber today, we are concerned, but in addition to that, and in...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you. Less than a third of all candidates in the 2017 local government elections were women, and only 27 per cent of those who were elected were women. The Government has consulted recently on electoral reform in the area of local government in Wales, but they were very disappointed to see that there was no mention at all in the consultation paper about the Government’s attempts to...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you. And I truly hope that we will see this progress as a matter of urgency now. And I thank you for your commitment, and I hope we will be in a far better position in a few months’ time. And any legislation needs to be backed up by funding, of course, in order to truly achieve its potential. But, once again, I do have some concerns here, and Women’s Aid Wales have warned that...
Siân Gwenllian: We’ve seen a report by committee that has expressed great concern about the implementation of the Act—that it is sluggish, or some parts haven’t been implemented at all. This week, I received an update on the situation and these are the facts for you: there is no action plan over a year since the strategy was published; it appears that no guidance related to local strategies has been...
Siân Gwenllian: Members of your Government have described the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 as legislation that breaks new ground. Now, do you think that that is a fair description of how that Act is being implemented?
Siân Gwenllian: 9. Will the Leader of the House make a statement on the Welsh Government's efforts to ensure the fair representation of women in elected roles? OAQ51434
Siân Gwenllian: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Welsh Government plans for business rates?
Siân Gwenllian: Just a very brief word as the Bill reaches the end of its journey through this Assembly. Plaid Cymru has supported the Bill fully throughout the process, and has assisted in improving it through the scrutiny process. Abolishing the right to buy has been a policy of our party over a period of decades. We were convinced that the right to buy would militate against those who can’t afford to...
Siân Gwenllian: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact of housing developments on the Welsh language?
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you to Nick Ramsay for at least trying to justify the budget, but in our opinion, Wales is losing out as a result of the announcement of a budget that was designed to grow the economy of the south-east of England at the expense of every other part of the United Kingdom. It’s a budget of austerity in every way. Not only were we promised more financial austerity from the Chancellor; we...
Siân Gwenllian: It’s a great pleasure to take part in this debate. It is a debate about fairness and it’s an issue that affects the lives of thousands of people in Wales. Cavity wall insulation has been installed in almost four million homes across the United Kingdom, but in three million of those it has caused a great deal of problems. This kind of insulation, retrospective insulation, was promoted by...
Siân Gwenllian: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on progress in relation to technical advice note 20?
Siân Gwenllian: Formally.
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you, Llywydd. These amendments are tabled in the name of Bethan Jenkins and reflect the need for information about the Bill to be provided in an accessible manner that reflects recommendation 4 made by the equality committee, which looked at this. We've worked with the Government on these amendments, and these are necessary in order to ensure that communication with tenants happens in...
Siân Gwenllian: I think it’s quite apparent what the intention of these amendments is. The amendments, were they to be passed, would restrict the implementation of the Act to 10 years, and following that, Welsh Ministers could bring forward regulations that would make the abolition permanent. Now, I would argue that these amendments are entirely unnecessary. In 10 years’ time, or at any point in the...
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you, Llywydd. I want to speak to the amendments, but I also want to outline Plaid Cymru's stance on the Bill. Plaid Cymru has opposed the right to buy for some time, with our members supporting the abolition of the right to buy in motions to Plaid conferences over a period of decades, from the time when the policy was implemented first of all by the Conservative Government. And when we...
Siân Gwenllian: Women’s Aid in Bangor, in my constituency, are extremely concerned about the talk of integrating the violence against women, domestic violence and sexual violence grant into a single composite grant. They are concerned that the same thing that’s happened in England could happen here: 17 per cent of specialist shelters were lost and a third of all referrals to shelters had to be rejected...
Siân Gwenllian: Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the Caernarfon and Bontnewydd bypass scheme?
Siân Gwenllian: Thank you for the statement. The news doesn’t come as a shock—to some of us at least—because you did allude to this at the Welsh language committee last week. It is all-important that our national cultural organisations are protected, supported and developed. These institutions play a very important role in the life of our nation. Today’s statement states that Cadw will continue as...
