Vikki Howells: LGBT history month gives us the opportunity to look back and reflect on the progress made in advancing equality for LGBT+ people.As other speakers have noted, 2017 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of the Wolfenden report, and the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, decriminalising sexual acts in private between two men. And in remembering both...
John Griffiths: Counsel General, it seems to me that the absence of representation from Wales on the Supreme Court panel is an important gap in the democratic framework within the UK. Do you agree that the body adjudicating on constitutional matters affecting the whole of the UK population should include representatives from the whole of the UK?
Mick Antoniw: The answer is that I certainly do agree. There has been argument in terms of what we mean by a Welsh judge or a Welsh representative on the Supreme Court and, of course, the issue is not just with regard to the Supreme Court, but also the lower level courts as well. There is an opportunity that arises in that, over the next two years, six Supreme Court justices will retire. Representations...
Mick Antoniw: The Welsh Government has made representations on a number of occasions regarding appointing a Welsh member to the Supreme Court.
Mick Antoniw: ...with the Law Commission in that respect. I think we will also need to look at our own procedures in respect of codification, and possibly legislation, because starting the codification route is not something you can dip in and out of. It has to be a consistent approach, because what we are doing is simplifying and codifying Welsh law, and Welsh law that will be growing and will...
Mick Antoniw: The advice I would give to them is to make all the representations they can through their representatives—whether it be the Assembly, whether it be Members of Parliament—and also to recognise the steps that the First Minister and the Welsh Government are taking to argue this case. I’d also refer specifically—. I think it is worth, perhaps, us reiterating the point in ‘Securing...
Mick Antoniw: ...Kingdom, for 30 or 40 plus years, and that they may have voted in European elections, and yet they were excluded from participating in the referendum, and they do feel an injustice. There have been representations made with regard to the impact and the potential break-up of families that may occur, where one member may have to leave his wife and son. Now, it is all very well for a...
Siân Gwenllian: ...elections and the principle in place for national elections too is a practical and valuable way of reviving democracy and ensuring that people do feel that their vote counts, safeguarding fair representation for all political views in Wales?
Dawn Bowden: 3. What representations has the Counsel General made to the UK Government regarding the legal status of EU citizens in Wales? OAQ(5)0024(CG)
Mike Hedges: 4. What representations has the Counsel General made on behalf of the Welsh Government regarding the enforcement of maritime laws? OAQ(5)0022(CG)
John Griffiths: 7. What representations has the Counsel General made in respect of appointing a Welsh judge to the Supreme Court? OAQ(5)0026(CG)
David Rees: I thank the Member for giving way. I, too, have had representations from the anglers, the Afan anglers in particular, and I think it's important that we now quickly get a resolution between NRW and Tidal Lagoon Power so that we can ensure the disparity between the two, which is quite huge at the moment, actually becomes more realistic, because I understand that both are, admittedly, at the...
Jeremy Miles: I want to put the tidal lagoon in the broader context of Wales’s blue economy, but, before I do that, I think it’s worth noting that Charles Hendry’s backing for the lagoon in Swansea bay has not only been widely welcomed in this Chamber but also, speaking personally, by my constituents and also by businesses across the supply chain and potential supply chain of the region. I believe...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I regret that Plaid Cymru do not feel in a position to support this LCM today, because, actually, what we’re trying to do is secure important safeguards for Welsh higher education institutions in being able to accrue these powers for Welsh Ministers with regard to the future of TEF as well as our ability to be able to continue to provide student...
Mr Simon Thomas: ...for Wales to be fully represented on the UKRI. I take it that that has taken place. Of course, the LCM before us today does state clearly—or the context states, as Llyr has said—that Wales is not fully represented on that board. So, the Government has asked this—this is the Government’s policy—and having failed to achieve that, it comes to the Assembly to ask it to approve a...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...at one of the amendments that was passed to the Bill in Westminster, it mentions that Westminster Ministers should consider whether it would be desirable for one of the devolved nations to have representation. That is, ‘have regard to the desirability of’—that was the wording used. Well, surely we should insist that each of the devolved nations should have a voice on UKRI? Indeed,...
Lynne Neagle: ...and improving mental and health well-being. So, we have quite a track record there to try and protect. I also think that it is very important to guard against the narrative that this programme has not tackled poverty, coming, as it has, for the last nearly seven years, against the backdrop of swingeing benefit cuts, which can be dismissed by the Welsh Conservatives, but which have...
Dawn Bowden: ...system, which hits the poorest the hardest. It’s again something over which Welsh Government has no control. However, you know from my previous contributions in this Chamber and in personal representations that I’ve made to you that I have nothing but praise for the benefits that Communities First schemes have brought to my constituency. My concern in ending the scheme was that we...
Carl Sargeant: ...out into those communities to talk with individuals—both workforce and organisations—that can help us design opportunities with the legacy fund as it moves forward. Cytûn and others have made representation on the softening of the structural changes, and I believe we’ve done that. We’ve offered a 70 per cent funding model until the end of this financial year, and then, from...
Carwyn Jones: An interesting idea again, and something, certainly, that I will look into. I will write to the Member in terms of what representations were made about the National Cyber Security Academy. It is an initiative, in principle, that we have supported, but I will write to him with further details in terms of how the centre was established and why it was established in London.
