Bethan Sayed: Diolch. I stand here at my final speech having spent the majority of my career in this Chamber. From being the youngest female Member of the Senedd, life has changed, because I leave you having campaigned passionately against injustices across my region and beyond. I leave you as a more mature person, who has made mistakes but has learned from them, as a woman still true to my principles,...
Bethan Sayed: I thank the Minister Dafydd Elis-Thomas for his contribution. I thank you for outlining the fact that things have changed in terms of the Welsh Government and your thinking in this area, and, as I said at the outset, Lee Waters wrote to us as a committee yesterday, saying that they would support what we're asking for in principle in terms of creating that fund for journalism here in Wales to...
Bethan Sayed: I'm struggling really to know what to say about Gareth Bennett's contribution. We had lots of evidence sessions from people with particular interests in the media. We had people who were academics, people who work in the sector. This is not just a wish list from the Senedd committee. This is based on real evidence—hard graft, day in, day out. Trade unions have also asked us to look at this...
Bethan Sayed: Thank you very much, Siân Gwenllian, for your work on this committee as well. You were a member of the committee and a very hard-working member as well, and I am very pleased that you had an opportunity to work with me on this committee. Powers over devolving broadcasting—would the other parties support this in their manifestos? Well, of course, we'll have to see what happens in the next...
Bethan Sayed: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you to everyone, I think, who has responded to this discussion today.
Bethan Sayed: Thank you to David Melding for your contribution on the committee. It's been a pleasure to work with you. It's been a pleasure to work with everybody actually, because it's given us a chance to discuss this important issue in a consensual way and in a way where we can try and get to a point where we didn't have to produce minority reports or we didn't have to try and make this a divisive...
Bethan Sayed: So, thank you from me for the time being. I'm looking forward to Members' contributions this afternoon, and I'd like to commend this historic report today to the Senedd. Thank you very much.
Bethan Sayed: Just turning to competition from streaming companies, turning to wider trends in terms of the broadcasting landscape, it's clear we are living through an era of huge structural change. The once-dominant position of our public service broadcasters, BBC and ITV, are under threat by competition from subscription video on demand providers such as the Netflixes and the Amazons of the world. Our...
Bethan Sayed: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and as part of my last contribution I'd like to say best of luck to you for whatever you do in the future. It's been a pleasure to work with you as Deputy Presiding Officer and a Member of this Senedd. It's my great pleasure to open the debate today on our report, which looks at the devolution of broadcasting and how Wales can have the media it...
Bethan Sayed: I'd like to thank Jack Sargeant for tabling such an important question today, and also to pay tribute to his father, Carl Sargeant, who helped me when I had a number of anxiety problems as a result of a negative and destructive relationship I had in the past. He was very supportive of me, and without his support, I don't think I would have come out as strongly as I have done. But my...
Bethan Sayed: I've got a request for two statements today. Today, Siyanda Mngaza faces an appeal hearing to challenge the sentence she is currently serving for grievous bodily harm. Siyanda was a 4 ft 2 in, 20-year-old black disabled woman and was attacked by three people whilst camping in Brecon. Two of her attackers were men twice her age, and despite telling officers at the time that she was racially...
Bethan Sayed: I thank Joyce Watson for that very comprehensive response. As I've outlined recently in the context of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill, job sharing is something that we need to consider in order to provide further opportunities for more diverse representation and a political environment that is more family friendly. As this isn't now on the agenda in terms of elections, the Commission...
Bethan Sayed: Thank you, and all the best for the future; we'll have lives outside of politics yet. The Minister has made increases in part-time numbers of students a major theme during her time in office. But can you confirm to us that when Open University student number increases are taken out, overall there has been a decline in part-time student numbers in the Welsh HE sector since the start of the...
Bethan Sayed: Thank you for that reply. Obviously, during the pandemic and before that, we know that mental health services have been squeezed and have often in the past been seen as cinderella services, but I know elements of that have changed, as you've exemplified in your answer to me today. But I've done a lot with eating disorders over the years, and obviously the service review recommendations will...
Bethan Sayed: 12. What consideration does the Minister give to mental health when allocating funding to the mental health, wellbeing and Welsh language portfolio? OQ56461
Bethan Sayed: 9. Will the Minister outline the impact of the Welsh Government's student finance reforms on part-time higher education? OQ56454
Bethan Sayed: 4. What consideration has the Commission given to improving flexible working and job sharing? OQ56455
Bethan Sayed: The second request for a statement I'd like to make is: many of us will have seen distressing developments in the case of Mohamud Hassan, a black man, as you'll be aware, who died following a stay in police custody earlier this year. We know today from the family lawyer, Lee Jasper, that four police officers now face a formal investigation in this case, and developments since suggest police...
Bethan Sayed: Many of the issues that were set out in the lead up to the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill unfortunately didn't become part of the final Bill, specifically the number of Members in this Chamber. Now, one way of improving the workload and scrutiny problems that have been clearly set out in the past few years would be to really consider the issue of job sharing. This is becoming more common...
Bethan Sayed: I was tempted, but I won't today. This week we mark Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2021. I've campaigned on this issue for many years, and since I was first elected in 2007 this is an issue I've prioritised. During this time we have made many strides forward, particularly on awareness and broadening the understanding of all issues relating to mental health. Too often we see conditions that...
