Suzy Davies: Diolch, Lywydd, and I move the Commission’s budget motion for 2017-18 and ask that it be incorporated into the annual budget motion. This budget is for 2017-18, the second year of this fifth Assembly, and in the budget, the Commission is seeking £53.7 million, which is an increase of 1 per cent above inflation compared to this year. The budget is made up of three parts: £34.4 million for...
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that, Cabinet Secretary. The activities of Communities First weren’t popular with town and community councils on all occasions, or indeed with some local groups, and I’m not the only one who heard about community activists, about tanks on lawns and takeovers, and so on. Now, I don’t care who’s right or wrong in this, but I am concerned that a silo mindset and an...
Suzy Davies: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on his evaluation of partnership working within Communities First? OAQ(5)0065(CC)
Suzy Davies: Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's current position regarding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child?
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Lywydd. Thank you for your statement, Minister, and for some of the reassurance you’ve just given in terms of gender balance in terms of this way forward. I just wanted to know where Welsh language skills might come into your considerations here. Obviously, the new advisory service will be an appropriate place to identify somebody’s latent Welsh language skills, but then so would...
Suzy Davies: The national exercise referral scheme can help with the rehabilitation of people with COPD, as well as, of course, people with other health issues. The scheme is funded by Welsh Government but, nevertheless, local authorities in South Wales West charge for the service. Access to the scheme is through GP referral and, bearing in mind that, obviously, your Government supports free...
Suzy Davies: Thank you, Llywydd. May I thank Plaid Cymru also for tabling this debate today? We will be supporting the motion, and we would have been happy to support the Government’s amendment too, but it deletes point 2. I can’t see why the Government couldn’t accept the point, identify the reasons why and contrast that with the new ambitions for their forthcoming strategy. I move the amendment...
Suzy Davies: No, I’ve finished.
Suzy Davies: Sorry.
Suzy Davies: Point 2 of the motion draws attention to the families of veterans, and supporting veterans doesn’t stop with direct intervention. Keeping a family together around serving members of the armed forces, as well as, sometimes, particularly vulnerable veterans, can be the most effective support of all. The service of an individual affects their relationships with partners, children, parents and...
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that answer. I don’t think I heard that the money was going to be ring-fenced for its original purpose and, from my point of view of as a scrutineer, I think it’s going to be difficult for me to follow the money. Perhaps I can move us on now. You may have heard, Minister, that, after court action for breaching statutory time limits, Swansea council faces further potential...
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that answer. Obviously, we would support the final point that you made regarding the pension. But, effectively, what I’ve heard there is that I’m then to look for this money in wages. Perhaps you can tell me then—. You issued a statement last week, indicating that the recurrent transfer of £27 million a year from the UK Government to meet the cost of providing support to...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Lywydd. Good afternoon, Minister. The draft budget shows a £3.6 million cut to direct social services funding. Where is that money going and, if it is still for social services purposes, how will I be able to find it in order to scrutinise how it’s spent?
Suzy Davies: Thank you very much for that update, Cabinet Secretary—I should’ve said that earlier. But, in 2012 the Government did give the Ruthin Castle Hotel £0.5 million, more than three times higher than any other TISS grant in that year, and just £5,000 of this has been recovered for the Welsh taxpayer after the company failed to meet the TISS criteria. I appreciate in this specific example...
Suzy Davies: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on the tourism investment support scheme? OAQ(5)0057(EI)
Suzy Davies: Can I thank you as well, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement today? We prefer statements in this Chamber, rather than written statements, particularly when we have matters that are, as you alluded to, rather controversial. I think we’re all proud of the institutions—you’re not unique in that—and I think we’re pretty proud, too, of the people who populate those institutions and...
Suzy Davies: Some families freely choose home schooling while others feel they have no alternative because the alternatives to school education for a troubled child are limited. While the number of the latter has dropped, the number of the former has increased from over 1,000 five years ago to over 1,500 last year. What does that say about the confidence in our school education system that they choose to...
Suzy Davies: Will the First Minister make a statement on the investments that Finance Wales makes?
Suzy Davies: The issue of language impact assessment would also have an effect on planning applications more generally. This question of training and guidance as to how to carry out these assessments is relevant to both sectors, I think. Can you explain who is responsible for planning the training and the guidance in this area, and if it is the Government, from which budget line is this cost met?
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that response, too, but it’s not quite clear how much money will be provided to those two organisations. But I look forward to hearing more on that. Mae gwneud yr achos dros sicrhau bod sgiliau iaith Gymraeg yn fantais yn yr economi hefyd yn nod rydym yn ei rannu. Cynhelir Sadwrn y Busnesau Bach ymhen mis, ac wrth ei hyrwyddo i fusnesau yn Abertawe yr wythnos diwethaf, roedd...
