Rebecca Evans: ...want to spend this on, again that's been in discussion with local government. You'll remember recently I announced an additional £70 million in capital; well, that came about following some strong representations that local government had made to me in respect of road repairs locally, for example. So, whilst it is up to local authorities to decide how to spend that funding—they do have...
Jane Dodds: ...children. This small town took these children to its heart and those links still remain to this day. Today, more than 80 years since Jewish children were forced to flee their homes, there is another refugee crisis in Europe, as we've all spoken about. All over Europe, every state bar one has opened its borders to accept the many thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war without the need for...
Mark Isherwood: ..., the Sustainable Farming Scheme will be an important mechanism and source of funding to address habitat loss and species decline, including some of our iconic farmland birds such as the curlew. Representations from the Gylfinir Cymru Partnership will be considered by the Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd as the Sustainable Farming Scheme is developed.' But, with...
Rebecca Evans: .... Reference has been made to the HS2 project. Even the UK Government's own analysis suggests that that project will harm Wales, and yet they consider it to be an England-and-Wales project and we do not get a single penny as a result of it. There have been requests for further funding to be injected into the NHS for capital spend. Well, it's a fact that, over the three years of the budget...
Jane Hutt: ...slightly in Wales this year. And women also—this point about childcare—remain four times more likely to cite childcare as the reason for being economically inactive. But also, intersectionally, representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic people and disabled people—among public appointments, we're making some changes, but it still remains low, and we need to look at the...
Sioned Williams: ...childcare is part of the Government's co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, but we know that this must really just be a first step. In a round-table discussion with Chwarae Teg last week, it was noted that, when looking at gender inequality data and assessing its root causes, it almost always comes back to the burden of caring responsibilities falling disproportionately on women. Their...
Natasha Asghar: ...3 per cent as a result of more flexible working and better childcare provision. However, it is worrying that the gender pay gap has increased from 11.8 per cent to 12.3 per cent. Sadly, this is not the full story. Regional disparities mean the gap can be as low as 1.9 per cent in Conwy but as high as 25 per cent in Torfaen. Can I ask, Minister, how you intend to address the widening gender...
Luke Fletcher: ...linked to mental health: 43 per cent of unemployed people report poor mental health, compared to 27 per cent who are in employment. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has noted that job loss, of which there have been many in Wales over the pandemic period, is a traumatic experience in someone's life and has an immediate negative impact on their mental health....
Lesley Griffiths: We've worked with our industry stakeholders to identify the impacts on Welsh agriculture. This work underpinned our representations to the UK Government that any trade deal must not disadvantage Welsh farmers or compromise our high animal and environmental standards.
Jeremy Miles: ...bursary, but they can access the social work bursary through Social Care Wales, and that provides them with funding towards the cost of their living and tuition fees. Obviously, I'm aware of the representations, including those to which the Member refers, that the bursary funding doesn't provide the same level of funding as its NHS counterpart, and we are currently reviewing and assessing...
Alun Davies: ...to what you said; you say that we've had an opportunity to design a specific UK-wide subsidy control regime in this instance. Do you, therefore, regret that the UK Government has ignored all the representations made by both the Welsh Government and this Senedd?
Darren Millar: I don't believe that it has ignored the representations that have been made.
Jane Hutt: ...their mark. In terms of local authorities—and I recall when Elyn Stephens was taking this forward—actually, local authorities have embraced this. We have a round-table, we have local authority representation, officers from the council. We must never forget our officers, must we, because councillors can say, 'We want this, we want that', but actually, the officers have to deliver. I...
Jane Dodds: ...Kingdom Nationality and Borders Bill. I hope that, with humility and reflection, there will be a pause on this Bill. We have heard about the moderate shift today from the UK Government, but it is not enough. Prif Weinidog, can I seek your views on the Nationality and Borders Bill and whether you will continue to make representations to the UK Government on the concerns that have been...
Jack Sargeant: ...in her own constituency, and that those decisions that are made should be in line with the well-being of future generations Act. Heledd Fychan claimed we should be looking at new leases of life—not just saving buildings of historical importance, but new leases of life, reimagining buildings, and going further than perhaps we do already. And then, coming to the Minister's response, the...
Dawn Bowden: ...Again, you need to listen to the rest of what I'm going to say, because I am dealing with how I feel that buildings like this do need to be dealt with. I do recognise that what I've said so far is not the answer that the campaigners want to hear, and I know that they have requested a peer review by heritage organisations in England and Scotland, but further review is inappropriate as a...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...on both of our accounts, then, isn't it? I hear what people are saying about the sizes of wards, but, do you know what, look at what happened in Anglesey? Now, I know this isn't proportional representation, but because of the situation that Anglesey found itself in years ago, with single-member wards et cetera, and the kind of fiefdoms that were really dragging the council down, it's this...
Sam Rowlands: ...points you just raised there in terms of that consultation, Mike Hedges made some really important points around how sparse some of these areas could be, and therefore the risk, with proportional representation, of losing that local touch, because, actually, it's such a big area to cover, and the fundamentals of councils and councillors are actually about being connected to their...
Jane Dodds: ...and we have done for years, to get people more interested. And as you've heard in terms of the statistics, it really isn't helping. Simply put, first-past-the-post cheats voters of real, meaningful representation, and also disenfranchises them from voting. A more proportional system for all elections, including council elections, can foster greater collaboration, greater accountability and...
Mike Hedges: ...out to get your newspaper, go shopping, visit a local sports club, or walk down the street, you interact with voters. STV is an electoral system promoted by many in favour of a form of proportional representation. It's used for Scottish council elections and elections to the Irish Parliament, the Dáil. When electing more than one candidate, the STV system becomes complicated, whereas only...
