John Griffiths: Minister, thank you very much for your statement today, but also thank you very much for your commitment and Welsh Government's commitment to taking forward protection and sustainability for the Gwent levels. As you know, a great deal of good work has already happened through the Living Levels partnership, and we really need to build on that through a body that can take forward that work, and...
John Griffiths: There is further progress to be made, Andrew, but, come on, if you look at the diversity on the Labour benches now and throughout the history of devolution and compare it to your benches now and before, there's absolutely no comparison. [Interruption.] Darren, there's no point labouring the point, just look to your own performance and your own party, organisations and structures. Dirprwy...
John Griffiths: I would like to start by paying tribute, as others have, to the committee, to Huw and his colleagues, to Mark Drakeford for his leadership and the way he's driven this forward, working in partnership with Adam Price and Plaid Cymru, but also to pay tribute to all of those who campaigned for a parliament for Wales for so many years—generations who had that as an objective, as an ideal,...
John Griffiths: Minister, I was very grateful for your meeting with Urban Circle, a grass-roots arts and cultural organisation in Newport who do a great deal of good work in the community around music, dance and culture to bring communities together and to support diversity and equality. Just this summer now, as you would know from our meeting, they're taking forward a very ambitious programme to have a...
John Griffiths: First Minister, last week was the 130-year anniversary of the South Wales Argus, a paper that's long been rooted in our local communities. As with many local people, the South Wales Argus was always in my house when I was growing up, and in fact, in my early teens I delivered the South Wales Argus on my bike as a paperboy. And now, of course, as a Member of the Senedd, it's still a vital...
John Griffiths: 5. How is the Welsh Government working with media outlets to promote Welsh-based journalism? OQ58153
John Griffiths: Diolch, Prif Weinidog. I think, Prif Weinidog, that if we are to effectively tackle the climate emergency, we must properly protect areas such as the Gwent levels, and I thank you very much for your commitment, and indeed your colleague Julie James's commitment, to those levels, and indeed I've been very pleased to chair the Gwent levels working group. Would you agree with me, First Minister,...
John Griffiths: 9. What action is the Welsh Government taking to tackle the climate emergency? OQ58111
John Griffiths: Thank you for that, Minister. During the pandemic, I think it became ever more clear that there are very considerable health inequalities within our ethnic minority communities. There were issues with getting messaging across with vaccination rates and a host of economic and social conditions. And thankfully, Minister, Muslim Doctors Cymru stepped forward—and a constituent of mine, Dr Kasim...
John Griffiths: 4. How is the Welsh Government promoting strong public health messages with Wales's black, Asian and ethnic minority communities? OQ58026
John Griffiths: Diolch, First Minister. I would firstly like to say 'Eid Mubarak' to our Muslim community in Wales. The celebration marks the end of Ramadan and the month-long fasting from dawn to dusk. I was very pleased to take part and join my constituents for iftar suppers and a midnight game of football. The football was organised by Newport County's County in the Community and Exiles Together. Speaking...
John Griffiths: 7. What is the First Minister's assessment of progress in building an inclusive and tolerant Wales? OQ57988
John Griffiths: First Minister, this morning, as chair of the Senedd's cross-party group on poverty, I chaired a joint meeting with our counterparts in the UK and Scottish Parliaments, and we heard from organisations and charities right across the UK on the scale of the current cost-of-living crisis and growing poverty. Clearly, these organisations are very worried indeed, as I think we all are. First...
John Griffiths: 3. How is the Welsh Government supporting families in Newport East with rising household bills? OQ57943
John Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. We laid our report on the legislative consent memorandum for the Elections Bill in December last year, and in that report we noted the Welsh Government's position that it would be inappropriate to grant consent to the UK Government to legislate on the devolved matters included in this Bill. Most of our committee agreed that consent should not be granted on the basis that any...
John Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm speaking, yes, in my capacity as Chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee, and we laid our report on the supplementary legislative consent memorandum for the Building Safety Bill today. We previously reported on the initial LCM and supplementary LCM No. 2 at the end of last year in December. As mentioned in the report, regrettably, we did not have sufficient...
John Griffiths: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'd like to thank Heledd Fychan for bringing this debate to the Senedd today, and I very much agree that we do need to find ways to empower our local communities more in terms of flood prevention, because they know their local communities best. In December 2020, the Gwent levels experienced flooding in Magor and other parts, and there was great concern that the reens...
John Griffiths: I think this is undoubtedly a very important and timely debate given the food crisis that we're all aware of, and the fact that that's just going to increase in its severity over the months to come. We all know that it's also a medium and long-term challenge because of the impact of climate change, and we really need in Wales to play our part in getting these localised food chains developed...
John Griffiths: First Minister, would you agree with me that, when children are in residential care, the policy direction of Newport City Council is appropriate? Through its Project Perthyn, it's bringing provision of care for looked-after children back in-house, with out-of-authority placements returning to new Newport City Council homes. It's bringing those children back to their home areas, families and...
John Griffiths: It's good to follow that contribution from Luke. Dirprwy Lywydd, we do face a crisis, as we all know, a crisis in the cost of living. And sadly, as we also all know, it's likely to get worse and considerably worse; the cost of food, of fuel, of energy and many other things, it's a tremendous strain on the household budgets of those least able to withstand the impact. And particularly, it...
