John Griffiths: 3. What steps will the Welsh Government take to encourage participation in elections in Wales? OQ57249
John Griffiths: 7. What legal advice has the Counsel General provided to the Welsh Government regarding the implications of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill for civil liberties in Wales? OQ57247
John Griffiths: 1. Beth yw polisi'r Comisiwn ar ddefnyddio ystâd y Senedd ar gyfer digwyddiadau allanol? OQ57241
John Griffiths: Thank you, Llywydd. I'm speaking as Chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee. Thank you very much to the Minister for his statement.
John Griffiths: As I outlined earlier, our committee is currently looking at second homes and will be looking at the Welsh Government's response to Dr Brooks's report on whether the steps taken are appropriate ones. Of course, Dr Brooks looked at the future of Welsh as a community language, and he found that the issue of second homes was affecting what he described, I think, as 'the territorial "core" of...
John Griffiths: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd, and yes, I will be speaking in my capacity as Chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee today. I thank the Minister for her statement. Our committee will be looking at housing in the round over the course of this Senedd term—the availability of affordable, good quality housing that meets the climate change challenges. Our first work stream is, however, on...
John Griffiths: I very much welcome this debate today as part of Wales and the Senedd recognising that we're part of the worldwide community, and that the worldwide community faces a tremendous challenge in dealing with the pandemic. COVID-19 doesn't recognise any borders between countries. It's a collective experience that the world is, sadly, going through at the moment, and it does require a united,...
John Griffiths: First Minister, I was fortunate to attend COP26 last week, and I was pleased to see there the importance of integrated public transport being highlighted in the global effort to combat climate change. And, of course, locally in south-east Wales we have the Burns commission recommendations, many of which point to that need for more integrated public transport as the way forward for our...
John Griffiths: 1. What impact does the Welsh Government anticipate COP26 will have on Wales reaching net zero? OQ57192
John Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. I can certainly say, having been to Mbale myself, that the programme for Africa money is money well spent, because the health links, the educational links between that region of Uganda and PONT, for example, in Pontypridd in Wales were so strong, and both countries and areas gained very much from the reciprocal relationship and exchange visits. It was so heart-warming to see...
John Griffiths: Minister, I think it's fair to say that the world-over experience shows that it's very difficult and a lengthy process to transition from an economy characterised by heavy industry to one that's highly skilled and well paid in terms of new technologies and new opportunities. But thankfully, I think in south-east Wales we have many examples now of those new industries, whether it's cyber...
John Griffiths: 1. What progress has the Welsh Government made in developing policies to create sustainable highly skilled, well-paid jobs in technology industries in south-east Wales? OQ57091
John Griffiths: What steps is Welsh Government taking to strengthen and develop grassroots sport?
John Griffiths: Diolch yn fawr. Minister, as we've heard, staff and services at the Grange are obviously under tremendous pressure. You mentioned the context of the pandemic, and, of course, we now have the context of ongoing COVID incidents and infections and hospitalisations, worries about a very significant flu season this winter, all of the backlog of treatments that we know about, and, of course, a very...
John Griffiths: Certainly—that we get the right quality and effectiveness. So, I wonder if you could say a little bit about how the Welsh Government, with partners, will ensure that that's achieved.
John Griffiths: On the alignment, Minister, between the metro and the delivery board for the Burns commission, I wonder if you could say a little bit more about how that is going to be ensured and achieved. We do have quite a few players involved, as you said. There's the Welsh Government, Transport for Wales, the local authorities, and then the delivery board, to deliver on the Burns commission strategy on...
John Griffiths: Diolch yn fawr, Gweinidog. I think it's fair to say that there was a general view that, during the pandemic, Welsh Government worked very well with local authorities and local authority leaders, with, sometimes, the new technology aiding that in making weekly meetings and very regular meetings much easier to do, and also that local authorities working with the voluntary sector were able to do...
John Griffiths: 7. How is Welsh Government working with local government in Wales to improve the delivery of services? OQ57015
John Griffiths: I've been trying to work with Network Rail to allow for some brightening up of this area, with perhaps graffiti artists and so on, but they say that their criteria are such that unless there's a structural issue, they have no funding for those sorts of schemes. I wonder if there's anything you might do to work with them to address those issues and limitations.
John Griffiths: Thank you very much for your statement today, Minister. I'm particularly keen on the local places of nature and connecting people in urban communities, which most of our population live in of course, with nature, as best we can. In Newport, there's a community in Maindee, which is just over the river from the city centre, which had and still has little green space, but they have an...
