Kirsty Williams: ...are undergoing huge technological change—it was referred to earlier in First Minister’s questions. The knowledge and skills needed in a transformed workplace mean that average is over. Doing nothing or maintaining the status quo is not, in my view, a viable option. We also need to encourage and support increased research and innovation activity in companies and other organisations. We...
Suzy Davies: I’m going to disappoint you there, Bethan—I’m not going to start off talking about Ofcom. I won’t have time in my short submission, I’m afraid. I did want to stress, actually, to start with—while thanking the committee and the staff for their work on this—that it is a very innovative committee, the one that we are sitting on now. I just wanted to, as I said, talk about that for...
David Rees: I think, this afternoon, we’ve seen that, like most Members across the Chamber—Leanne Wood, Lynne Neagle, Mark Isherwood—have highlighted, we all receive many representations from families who have children or siblings living with ASD. They often come into our offices angry, stressed, anxious, exhausted, and sometimes holding back tears, as they explain the hardships they’ve...
Jane Hutt: ...in February 2015. That was a response to the UK strategy for rare diseases, and there’s progress against the plans being monitored by the rare diseases implementation group. That does include representation not only from Welsh Government and health boards, but also the patient group Genetic Alliance. That will be updated to ensure it remains fit for purpose. Also, on your second point,...
Carl Sargeant: ...s why we’re working with our partners to put a number of collaborative arrangements in place. This includes a housing pact with the WLGA and CHC, the housebuilders engagement programme, including representation from SME businesses, land for housing initiatives, the co-operative housing stakeholder group, and the rural housing strategy group, to name just a few. I share, Mike, your...
Carl Sargeant: ...with the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, I’m keen to use the planning system to increase house building. I listened to Hefin’s contribution and I know he’s made strong representation about processes in the LDP. I think we do have opportunities with the regional development plans that Andrew Davies made reference to in the Planning (Wales) Act 2015. Unfortunately,...
Mark Drakeford: ...to RCT and to the women who stood successfully there, and as I said in my original answer to Dawn Bowden, we are still some way from where we would wish to be in terms of diversity of representation across Wales. But there is some good news in that the number of women elected for the first time to local authorities in Wales in May of this year rose right across Wales, and there are some...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question and for pointing to the important issue of disability and representation at local authority level. I congratulate all those people who stood for election and those who were successful, and particularly people who, in taking that quite brave step, sometimes, to put yourself in front of the public, will know that there will be some additional challenges that...
Suzy Davies: .... I agree that it is time for us to be reviewing the purpose of our designated landscapes and reviewing the strength of the protections that are embodied in those at the moment. I mean, it’s not so long ago that we were standing here talking about the national parks and the opacity of their governance arrangements, for example, so it is quite right that these matters are reviewed. The...
David Melding: Can I just say that we are content to note the report, and we do hope it starts a process of policy development that protects our designated landscapes while seeing their wider economic, cultural and social potential being extended? I think that’s an appropriate way to go forward. The report sets out a new proposition for designated landscapes to go beyond their current purposes of...
Darren Millar: ...this debate as a school governor at St Brigid’s School in Denbighshire? I want to thank the Minister for his opening speech. I think it is reassuring to know that he is listening to the concerns not just of the committees, but to the many other stakeholders who have been in touch with him in recent months. And I want to extend my thanks to him for the engagement that he’s had with me...
Mick Antoniw: ...there are specialist areas, there will be analysis by agents and lawyers who are specialists in those areas, and then the decision ultimately is for me as to whether the prosecution takes place or not. You raise an important point in terms of how many cases are there where decisions have not been taken. That isn’t an area I have sufficient information on, but it is an important area. I...
Angela Burns: It is good to see you back and I know that, like me, you and most of the other Assembly Members here will have received many constituent representations over concerns with littering, dog mess and fly-tipping, and of course it’s vital for public health, and particularly in areas that rely on tourism, that we have clean, safe and pleasant streets to walk in. Pembrokeshire has recently been...
Jane Hutt: ..., open to good ideas, and engaged with the rest of the world. I believe that’s what the Welsh people want too: care and compassion for their neighbours here and across the world. We’ve had many representations of concern and evidence of how important international aid is here in Wales and to the world. From the British Red Cross, Save the Children and Oxfam, you’ve all had their...
Vaughan Gething: I don’t think there was much to agree upon in terms of Michelle Brown’s contribution, but we’re really serious about protecting and standing up for the national health service—it’s not about electoral calculus, it’s about our commitment and our values, not just in creating the service, but in sustaining it for the future. And I recognise the challenges that Lee Waters outlined...
Russell George: ..., either in Shrewsbury or Telford. The overwhelming view of my own constituents is that those services should be located in Shrewsbury. That’s where emergency services should be located—I’ve not met any constituent that says otherwise. The Welsh Government had previously been silent on its preference, but I was very pleased when the First Minister confirmed a few weeks back to me in...
Vaughan Gething: ...acting as a Government for England, to resolve in how this process is actually resolved and the evidence base that is provided. But Powys health board have been engaged and they are directly making representations on behalf of Welsh residents who use those services. What the English services need to consider in this is not just from an altruistic point of view—the impact upon Welsh...
Mark Isherwood: ...joined-up approach now. We haven’t got the through-ticketing, which bodies such as Llangollen railway are proposing. And a concern raised with me has been that the bodies have had insufficient representation from tourism and heritage bodies in the region themselves. It’s good that Glandŵr Cymru are on board, but where are all the others? Do you agree with me that we therefore need to...
Kirsty Williams: .... When reflecting on the many excellent schools that I have had the privilege to visit over the last year, it is clear to me that each benefits from high-quality leadership. Our challenge, as noted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, is to ensure a whole-system approach to leadership, and to make it a prime driver of our education reforms. To succeed, every school...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Llyr. As I’ve said, all universities, including Aberystwyth and the other institutions that you have mentioned, are autonomous bodies and, therefore, we do not have, as I have said previous, locus in this area. I am aware that the higher education sector in Wales is facing a number of challenges, not least in some institutions a failure to meet their recruitment targets for...
