Rhys ab Owen: 10. What discussions has the Minister had with the UK Government and other public bodies regarding the role of probation officers in ensuring community safety? OQ57965
Rhys ab Owen: 2. What consideration has the Counsel General given to introducing a level 7 solicitor apprenticeship, as exists in England, to help widen socioeconomic access to the legal profession? OQ57964
Rhys ab Owen: 6. Will the Counsel General provide an update on the status of the Welsh Government’s appeal to the UK Supreme Court on its legal challenge to the internal market Act? OQ57956
Rhys ab Owen: What discussions has the First Minister had about the implementation in Cardiff of the sustainable development principle of the Planning (Wales) Act 2016 and Planning Policy Wales?
Rhys ab Owen: 'If the law can be changed retrospectively, then it means that something which was lawful at the time it was done can be made unlawful, and someone can suffer consequences which they would not have expected to suffer. That makes for uncertainty in the law.'
Rhys ab Owen: And this, Llywydd, is entirely contrary to the commitment made by Welsh Government to make Welsh law accessible to everyone. Some of Wales's leading legal and constitutional minds have raised concerns and fundamental doubts about this Bill. Amending the Bill before us isn't enough, we need to stop the Bill as it currently stands. We need to vote against it and, by doing so, ensure that the...
Rhys ab Owen: I'm afraid, Minister, that this Bill comes with a similar stamp to the LCMs. We should come together as a Senedd to stop the carving out of the powers of the legislature as contained within this Bill.
Rhys ab Owen: Because this is a question of principle. As a Senedd and as Members of the Senedd, we need to ask each other to what extent we are content to intervene in the democratic mechanisms of such a young legislature. I understand the Minister's point when she talks about a legislature that is still maturing, but we're a young legislature—so early on in the history of our legislature, that we are...
Rhys ab Owen: Plaid Cymru will also be voting against this Bill this afternoon. We as a group understand the rationale behind this Bill and the importance of responding swiftly, as required, to complex taxation issues, and I'm very pleased to hear the willingness of the Minister to discuss and to listen to the concerns of both committees and to respond positively to that. Despite this, the concerns are...
Rhys ab Owen: What discussions has the Welsh Government had with local authorities in South Wales Central regarding improving transparency in the planning process?
Rhys ab Owen: I very much hope that we will see a Welsh elections Bill soon in the Senedd, which will show once again how Senedd Cymru, the Welsh Parliament, puts people, rights and justice at the heart of all of our actions. I remember Adam Price telling me one once that fair play and justice are part of our DNA as Welsh people. Well, there's no fair play in this Bill. Nor was there fair play in the...
Rhys ab Owen: If you would have listened carefully to what I said, leader of the opposition, what I said was we've heard time and time again about Putin's interference in western democracies and in western elections. Having a strong, independent regulator for elections is crucial to stop that interference. I did not compare what Putin is doing with the Conservatives, so I'll ask you to take that back, the...
Rhys ab Owen: It's a Government that doesn't even listen to experts such as the Electoral Commission. But—and there is a 'but'—I'm very uncomfortable with the idea that we here in the Senedd are being asked to consent to such a Bill—a Bill that, through the expensive system of voter ID, will have the potential to exclude millions of the most disadvantaged people across the UK from casting their vote....
Rhys ab Owen: In recent years we've heard time and time again about Putin's interference within western democracies and western elections. Is now really the time to undermine the independent regulator of elections here in the United Kingdom? By now you've heard me on several occasions complaining not only about this Bill—.
Rhys ab Owen: Cwnsler Cyffredinol, may I begin by congratulating you and the Welsh Government on the concessions you have achieved from the Westminster Government with regard to this Bill? It must be next to impossible to try and work with that Government—a Government that simply does not listen.
Rhys ab Owen: Instead of using an English ombudsman scheme, we should have used the already Welsh tribunals. The Welsh residential property tribunal could easily have been renamed the Welsh housing tribunal. Instead, though, of using an existing tribunal system, we set up another ombudsman scheme, complicating an already complex tapestry. The reasons given by the Minister to ask the UK Government to be...
Rhys ab Owen: Members will have heard me several times before stressing my concerns about the way the LCM process is being used in this place.
Rhys ab Owen: This process is doing nothing to simplify our devolved settlement or our legal system, a system and settlement that even the previous Lord Chief Justice Thomas of Cwmgïedd, one of the most talented legal minds of our age, said that even he found impossible to understand, not to mention members of the public. There is a specific example here of complicating our justice system further, with...
Rhys ab Owen: I welcome the comments made by the Deputy Minister, of course—I welcome any attempt to strengthen the rights of people who live in flats that are unsafe—but I don't accept the argument, Deputy Minister, that using the LCM process is swifter than having our own Act here in Wales. We've seen over the past two years that this place can pass legislation quickly when there is a need to do so.
Rhys ab Owen: Yes, certainly, I agree, Sam, 100 per cent. Two years ago, all of the places of worship closed their doors due to COVID, and for many of them their doors never reopened. I can think of three examples in the Cynon Valley: Siloa Aberdare, the place where a fiery public meeting was held to protest against the betrayal of the blue books, the venue for the first meeting to discuss establishing Y...
