Sam Rowlands: Will you take an intervention, Mike?
Sam Rowlands: As you outlined, the nature of the ratcheting of council tax at the moment—are you suggesting, then, that there should be a directly proportional tax on property in Wales?
Sam Rowlands: This shows very clearly that decisions made by the Welsh Government have a big impact on the finances of Welsh local authorities, with major levers of funding that local authorities have in terms of delivering their services coming from the Welsh Government. It's because of the significance of the impact of this funding on our communities that today we are calling for the Welsh Government to...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you again, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm delighted to open this debate today on local government funding. As our motion outlines here today, we propose that the Senedd first of all notes that local authorities have an estimated £2.75 billion in useable reserves, recognises the vital role that local authorities play in delivering public services across Wales and the funding challenges...
Sam Rowlands: I'm delighted to be able to speak in support of Tom Giffard's excellent proposal to create a Wales tourism Bill, and as already outlined here today, the Bill would create a new tourism board for Wales, certainly empowering the businesses of our tourism sector whilst unshackling their entrepreneurial spirit. We know—it's already been mentioned—the number of jobs that tourism supports here...
Sam Rowlands: Minister, I'm sure you'd agree that the best and possibly the most sustainable way of helping to lift people out of poverty is to ensure that there are good-quality jobs and that there are businesses that thrive on Anglesey to support those jobs. And that's why I was so pleased to see the recent news—and welcomed yesterday by the Minister as well—that the free-port announcement for...
Sam Rowlands: Minister, thank you for this update today on the TB eradication programme. As you will know, Minister, north Wales is such an important region for the agricultural industry and for farming families, who play such an important role, both in our local economy but more broadly in ensuring our language and culture are enhanced and prosper really well in north Wales. That's why it's so important...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you also, Minister, for your statement today, and I join you, certainly, in welcoming the news that the UK Government plans to establish the two free ports in Wales, and also join the Member for Ynys Môn in highlighting the free port in Anglesey, and also in paying credit to both the work of the local authority and to Stena Line, and also to...
Sam Rowlands: Llywydd, I think it may be useful for Members to hear the opening of the debate.
Sam Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd. What we've seen in recent weeks is a disjointed position on the issue of accountability, because the Minister has acknowledged the issues in the health service, but has chosen to not be accountable for them. And for north Wales, it has been the independent board members, those who've been highlighting the failings, who've been holding the executive to account—it is they who...
Sam Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd, and I move today's motion in the name of my colleague, Darren Millar. As our motion outlines today, on these sides of the benches, we are proposing that this Senedd states that it has no confidence in the Welsh Government's Minister for Health and Social Services. Usually, at this point in a debate contribution, I would say something like, 'It gives me great pleasure to move...
Sam Rowlands: Can I welcome the question from Siân Gwenllian and also pay credit to her for her persistence on this really important issue for people in north Wales? Just to expand on the question already asked, Minister, as the Minister for north Wales and a Member, of course, in the region as well, I wonder what assurances you can give that the particular needs of people in north Wales, whether it's...
Sam Rowlands: Can I support Rhun ap Iorwerth in his request for the appropriate support to be provided to the local authority at Anglesey? I noted in your response there, Minister, that you rightly pointed to the important goal of the support for workers from the 2 Sisters site and also for the re-establishment of the site to be utilised at some point in the future as well. I also noted that, right towards...
Sam Rowlands: I thank you, again, for that response, Minister. I'm sure you would be the first to acknowledge the importance of these self-catering businesses in supporting our communities, both in the jobs that they create and sustain and the difference that they make to their communities, and I'm sure you'd also acknowledge and accept some of their anxiety and worry due to these 182-day regulations that...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you for that answer, Minister. As you've outlined, the main exemption put in place in relation to planning conditions specifies properties may only be used for holiday lets et cetera. But you also noted in your response just then the other exemptions that were sought by these businesses in Wales, and, in particular, this included an exemption for registered charities that provide...
Sam Rowlands: Diolch, Llywydd, and good afternoon, Minister. As I'm sure you'll gladly recall, earlier this month I wrote a letter to you regarding council tax exemptions, in particular relating to the 182-day regulations for self-catering businesses in Wales. In this letter, I asked for an update on what exemptions will be made in relation to those regulations, and I was grateful to receive your response...
Sam Rowlands: Thank you, Minister, for bringing forward today's statement. As I highlighted to you last week, Minister, I recently contacted 69 NHS dentists in north Wales. I spoke to 57 of those practices last week, and it was just four who were taking on, but those four had huge waiting lists. What that highlighted to me is the significant challenge that my residents face in accessing an NHS dentist in...
Sam Rowlands: Could I support the Member for submitting today's important question on the impact of sewage discharge on water quality at Llyn Padarn? But of course, Minister, this is only the tip of a very dirty iceberg. Because we know that, at the end of last year, figures that were uncovered by ourselves found that, of the 184 sewage pipes operated by Welsh Water without permits in Welsh riverways, only...
Sam Rowlands: What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve educational outcomes in North Wales?
Sam Rowlands: Well, I think the roads review for the region that we both represent in north Wales is massively detrimental. Fifteen of those programmes are being scrapped or paused—
