Suzy Davies: I think all of us in our time as elected Members will have been bowled over by community campaigns instigated by individuals coming together to fight either for or against something that matters profoundly to them. Loads in South Wales West, but just one—'Save Our Fields in Brackla is campaigning currently to retain the only extensive green space in this settlement, which is home to around...
Suzy Davies: Could I just begin by thanking fellow committee members and our hard-pressed clerks and researchers, the Minister and her officials and, of course, our witnesses? Can I please urge everyone to read this report in full to see quite how thoroughly we have examined this, not just the overhaul of the system but the new time pressures brought around by COVID, and the controversial mandatory...
Suzy Davies: Last week the First Minister said this: 'I want very strongly to endorse today the joint statement made between the Welsh Government and the Welsh Local Government Association, which urges schools to remain open until the last day of term, while recognising that there will be individual sets of circumstances where that will not be possible....The real problem is that we do not have...
Suzy Davies: How many pupils in South Wales West have been sent home to self-isolate more than once since September?
Suzy Davies: Can I just add my voice to those who've said that of course we understand the gravity of the position in Wales? We speak to our health boards and we read the evidence—when we get to see it. We also understand that decisions to control this virus are not easy to make, but it is our duty to hold Government to account when we think that they've made the wrong call, and that is what we are...
Suzy Davies: We've discussed the intrinsic relationship between Trostre and Port Talbot many times in this Chamber, and it wasn't just Llanelli representatives who feared the loss of Trostre when the Thyssenkrupp merger was on the cards. We've also rehearsed those actions that could be taken by both Governments to make Welsh steel production more competitive. Whatever happens in these next few days,...
Suzy Davies: Trefnydd, can I just add my voice to that of Laura Anne Jones for a statement from the education Minister on the subject she was speaking of? We can't have 300 children going off just because there's one positive case and children just going to school for five days since the beginning of September. Could I also ask for a statement from the education Minister regarding students and what...
Suzy Davies: Well, First Minister, of course, the pandemic's been a challenging time for very many, including pupils and students. All will have seen an impact on their learning, but some will have seen some on their mental health as well, as we've all heard over the last few months. For some, of course, it will be temporary, hopefully, but for others it could trigger something far deeper and more long...
Suzy Davies: I’m pleased to hear about the round-table meetings. The crucial question is why hasn’t the Welsh Government’s economic policy led to better jobs and better paid employment in rural areas to help to keep those young people in their localities and to ensure that they can afford to purchase homes. But in order to maintain the growth of the Welsh language in the community, what assessment...
Suzy Davies: Minister, you'll have heard before of the early diagnostic potential that we've seen in Baglan hospital, for example, when we're talking about cancers. I'm hoping that the report that David is referring to will make sure that the work there continues at pace. But I particularly wanted to ask you today about the role of dentists, because their role in spotting possible mouth cancers in the...
Suzy Davies: First Minister, you've been talking about making the right decision. We simply disagree with you. I was very disappointed to hear you, in an earlier answer, refer to the frustration that people are feeling, which, in my view, completely trivialises some of the very serious mental health effects that are being experienced as a result of these lockdowns. And I'm also very disappointed that,...
Suzy Davies: Minister, I wonder if you could help me on three matters, please. The first is whether Welsh Government would be prepared to make a clear statement of advice or guidance to employers of employees who are single parents whose children are sent home to self-isolate from school. It's currently an offence for children to be left alone if they're at risk—there's no particular age limit set on...
Suzy Davies: I'd just like to register my support for these proposals as well. I echo what Llyr said about similar commitments appearing in manifestos and policy documents since 2016, and before that. So, I don't think it's unfair to draw attention to the fact that no decision has been made by Welsh Government in these intervening years. And while other contributors may want to blame this all on the UK...
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Andrew. Yes, and we can give that commitment. In laying a supplementary budget, obviously, we'd have to explain the reason for doing so, and that would explain the level of accrued leave and the value that's been attached to that. But can I just thank you for taking this opportunity for sharing your congratulations, if you like, with members of the Commission and their staff, who...
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much, Andrew. Annual leave is actively managed to ensure that staff take as much leave as possible for their own well-being and for the resilience of continuity of business at the Senedd. However, as you might imagine, since March this year, the impact of the pandemic has significantly increased demand on staff, including through recess, and the opportunity for many of those...
Suzy Davies: Well, thank you for the response, but it didn't really answer my questions about why, when you're out in the fresh air, you should wear a mask. If you'd turned around to me and said that there is a lot of evidence of pupils huddling up in the schoolyard and not behaving, then maybe I would have been prepared to hear your evidence for that. But yesterday, for example, I had communication from...
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that answer. My understanding is that some of the legacy GCSEs would be sat, but never mind. I want to move on now to school closures, and I can see that all but one year group in my old alma mater in Aberdare were sent home to self-isolate the other day. Schools in Ceredigion, of course, are closing for two weeks, including primary schools, which surprised me, I have to say,...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Llywydd. Afternoon, Minister. We heard yesterday evening that Qualifications Wales have scrapped January's unit exams in ICT, English literature and Welsh literature, although other exams—not just resits—will still go ahead. I wonder if you can say why the learning of those students sitting level 2 and 3 units in health and social care is deemed less affected by school and college...
Suzy Davies: Minister, Members, of course, have raised support for tourism more than any other sector since March, and, in fairness, Welsh Government has recognised those challenges and has tried to respond to a fair few of them. But any argument that a tourism tax would raise money to put back into the sector now clearly just falls apart. If we have businesses closing and potential visitors not...
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Minister. May I begin by expressing my disappointment that we are discussing both of these reports together? Five minutes to scrutinise both. There isn't sufficient time to scrutinise your success in relation to your activities. We can't go through the world of work, the field of education and the community, et cetera, and there's not enough time to look at the functions and the...
