Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch. I've been, since 2017, in touch with a constituent, a former therapist, who was among staff who decided to blow the whistle on concerns they had relating to Betsi Cadwaladr's speech and language therapy department. The concern is two fold: firstly, a clinical governance issue, with real concerns about workload pressures, negative workplace culture, dilution of services and a risk to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Certainly, there are areas here that overlap with different responsibilities and different Ministers. Tourism is important to the Welsh economy but can I draw the Minister’s attention to a report by Cylch yr Iaith on the issue of tourism and the Welsh language? Certainly, there are impacts to tourism that need to be tackled, and one thing that we can do is try and move from the back foot to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on teaching Welsh to adults? OAQ53969
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 8. Will the Minister make a statement on the north Wales speech and language therapy service? OAQ53968
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. I would like to make a request for a debate in Government time, as we await the statement from the First Minister on the decision on the M4 corridor around Newport. I have no doubt that strong views will be expressed during the next three quarters of an hour or a little longer that will be allocated for that statement today, and there will be strong arguments on both...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for giving way. Will you agree with me that it is quite appalling that in the midst of the serious questions about the future of the Welsh economy and our need for that additional fund currently, that there has been such a delay by UK Government in pushing through with the consultation?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. This is one of those very important debates as we mark 20 years since the establishment of devolution. I recall making comments as a young journalist 20 years ago that one of the measures of success of devolution, and the success of the Welsh Government in due course, would be its impact on the Welsh economy. And I think, generally speaking, in looking at where Wales is in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you. I'm pleased to highlight an astonishing charity bike ride, which is now drawing to its close, and to congratulate the three constituents who have been cycling tenaciously since the end of March.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Andy Fowell, Steve MacVicar and Roger Thomas got in the saddle in Istanbul on 28 March, and since then they’ve cycled an average of 65 miles a day, 5,500 miles in total, through four mountain ranges on what’s known as the iron curtain cycle trail. Now, the ride finishes in Holyhead tomorrow. I’d hoped to ride the last leg with them. Assembly business means I won’t be able...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Trepidation and caution, yes, but we're seeing evidence that is quite clear now that there could be a surplus of £200 million for the Welsh purse from doing this, and that is £200 million that can be used to mitigate the worst effects of austerity, which has been imposed by the Conservatives and, before them, the Liberal Democrats at Westminster. This is an opportunity that, thus far, Welsh...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: And I was pleased, certainly after years of my party campaigning for the devolution of the administration of welfare, to hear positive sounds from Government, and I'm pleased that we are at a point where this is under consideration. But really the truth is that this is a no-brainer, especially when the report from the Wales Governance Centre made it clear that there are elements of welfare...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. The Scotland Act 2016 prepared the ground for the devolution of responsibility for 11 benefits to the Scottish Government. The new welfare agency has been established in Scotland now. A recent report from the Wales Governance Centre reported that the devolution of elements of the welfare state to Wales on a similar model could provide a boost of some £200 million to the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you to all the Members that have taken part, and thank you to the Minister for his response. I have just a few seconds to respond. I think that I've made all the points that I wanted to make in my opening speech, but I think that there is widespread support for principles. I think that Michelle Brown is right to raise questions. I think that I could,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I think one of the developments that we'll see in years to come is that you'll be recharging as you go, with recharging miles of highway, so you don't have to stop at all.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for those comments. It was good to see the Member for Blaenau Gwent in the event outside the Assembly earlier, and I do appreciate that support. Yes, certainly, we do need a clear strategy, and that’s one of the concerns I have: that we are falling behind. But, for this Senedd as a legislature, in responding to the fact that we have made that statement on the climate...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. Well, a little over a week ago, this Senedd voted to declare a climate emergency—an important symbolic step. It was Plaid Cymru that had tabled the motion, and, shortly before that, the Government stated that they were willing to make that statement. It was a very important symbolic statement, and I look forward to discussing that with environmental campaigners in my old...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'We are confident that we have a robust approach'
Rhun ap Iorwerth: —and so on. But this kind of thing is perhaps going to undermine people’s confidence, although it’s fair to ask who is to blame: is it the employers for failing to use the correct code, or is it the system, including HMRC, for failing to realise that at the time that the incorrect codes were being used? So, I wanted to ask for further assurances on particular actions that the Welsh...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: No problem at all. What’s a shame here is that we are seeing the introduction of these historic taxes for the first time, and we need to ensure that that process works as smoothly as possible, because we will need to generate confidence among people that this process is going to work. We saw from the experience in Scotland, which introduced its taxes before us, that problems had arisen with...
