Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I move amendments 1 and 2 in the name of Plaid Cymru. I want to start by congratulating the children’s commissioner, not only on the annual report, but for her work over the past year. I know, of course, that that work is based on firm foundations following the ‘What Next?’ consultation—the biggest consultation ever with children and young people, carried...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I thank you for your statement this afternoon, Minister? I welcome the announcement that there is to be an employability programme and the general principle of creating a more accessible, more flexible programme, with the support of the employment advice service in this case, of course, but the statement raises a number of questions because, essentially, it announces that there is to be...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement this afternoon? I think it’s about time that we tackled some of the problems that have cast a dark shadow over some small and rural schools over a number of years. As someone who lives in a rural community, as someone who’s a parent of children who attend a small rural school, and someone who’s a governor of that very same school, I...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I first of all thank everyone for their contributions? We as a party will also be supporting the second amendment. We won’t be supporting the first amendment—that’s the end of the consensus there immediately—for the very same reason that Suzy Davies outlined. We don’t disagree with what’s contained within the amendment, but it would delete the second point of the motion, and I...
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, it’s a shame that the Member doesn’t recall that we raised this in the Chamber just a few weeks ago, the quality of teaching Welsh as a second language, and that the Minister himself made a clear statement about the direction of travel for Government in that particular area. I’m not going to use my time now, because that is an issue that has been previously discussed here in this...
Llyr Gruffydd: Yes.
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Llywydd, and I speak to this motion in the name of Plaid Cymru. Now, the intention, of course, in bringing this debate forward this afternoon is not to question the Welsh Government’s commitment to this target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050, nor is it to doubt the consensus that I’m sure exists in this Assembly to work towards that particular target. But, one of the aims...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for that response. I too would want to acknowledge the way that the health board has responded to what has been said in the report. Unfortunately, it feels as if these reports are appearing almost on a weekly basis these days, and it’s important to note that many of these are historical cases that are emerging and that the board is trying to resolve problems—and they are, of...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for that response. I would agree that we do need to attract more major sporting events, but they do put pressure on our transport infrastructure, and we have seen—a constituent has been in touch with me referring to three occasions in the last fortnight when a member of her family have had to stand on the train all the way from Wrexham to Cardiff, and, on one occasion, all the way...
Llyr Gruffydd: 8. Will the Minister make a statement on major sporting events in Wales? OAQ(5)0072(EI)[W]
Llyr Gruffydd: Will the Minister make a statement concerning the Ombudsman’s report, which found ‘systemic failure’ in a cancer patient’s care at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan? EAQ(5)0076(HWS)
Llyr Gruffydd: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement and welcome it? You will know that Plaid Cymru was committed to offer full-time childcare for all, but I do accept that this is a positive step in that direction, and one that we clearly support. And it’s good to see the Government beginning this work on the ground, as it were. One thing I would like to raise about the tone of the...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for that response. I’m sure you’ll be aware that the children’s commissioner has called on the Government to introduce statutory guidance to make it a requirement for parents to register the fact that they are home schooling their children. She has made it clear recently in the Children, Young People and Education Committee that she would be willing to use her statutory powers...
Llyr Gruffydd: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on home schooled children in Wales? OAQ(5)0250(FM)[W]
Llyr Gruffydd: May I thank you for the opportunity to contribute and thank Hannah Blythyn for her contribution this afternoon? Clearly, it is important that we develop the north Wales economy as an economic powerhouse in its own right—that’s crucially important. Yes, it’s important that we ensure all possible economic benefits from the Northern Powerhouse in England, but my concern, of course, is that...
Llyr Gruffydd: I think we should all question the reasons we are doing this. And if we’re not to listen to interested bodies, are we to listen to disinterested bodies, then, or how are we supposed to proceed? I have to say that a bit of critical examination, which you are right to highlight as being needed in any discussion of this kind—it works both ways, really, as well as being objective and unbiased...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for that response. Clearly, it is a requirement that this should happen. But my question is: who checks the quality and accuracy of these assessments? Because they are the basis for far-reaching decisions and there’s nothing to say that one of us here couldn’t establish a company that could begin to draw up such assessments. So, I want to know who polices this system, in the...
Llyr Gruffydd: I’m grateful again to you, and clearly your view is quite unambiguous, but I have to say that the Welsh Government’s position on free movement of people has been anything but consistent, of course. We know it was dropped from the Government’s principles for EU withdrawal over the summer recess. In September, the First Minister told us that the issue of free movement of people is...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for that comprehensive response. I’m pleased to hear that a meeting is due to take place because statements such as the ones we’ve heard from the UK Government will undermine the status of the UK, and, of course, Wales, as a result, as regards being an attractive place for international students. We have seen, with the UCAS statistics last week in terms of early applications for...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Llywydd. The UK Home Secretary has mentioned the intention of her Government to reduce the number of international students studying in the UK by introducing a number of new restrictions. While recognising the importance of international students to universities and, indeed, the wider Welsh economy, can I ask what assessment the Government has made of the impact of such changes on...
