2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:02 pm on 28 January 2020.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 3:02, 28 January 2020

I'd like to ask the Trefnydd for two statements today. First, with regard to the outstanding issues with regard to the census. I know that Welsh Government shares the concerns on these benches that Welsh citizens should be able to identify as black and ethnic minority Welsh without having to go through the inconvenience of having to write handwriting in a separate part of the form.

I'd like to ask for an updated statement from the Government as to their current position with regard to this and any conversations they've had with the Office for National Statistics. Colleagues from Gwynedd Council met the ONS yesterday and actually received quite a favourable response, and the ONS was asking for evidence. Now, I'm sure that Welsh Ministers will be aware that Gwynedd and the other north Wales authorities have found in their own monitoring systems ways in which black and ethnic minority citizens can register themselves as Welsh in the way that we would seek the census to do. So, I'd be very grateful if we can have a further statement from the Government about—a written statement, perhaps—the latest position in this regard, because time is running out and the ONS will shortly be doing further piloting with the forms they propose to use, and I fear that once those forms have been used in the pilots, it will be more difficult to change them.

Welsh Ministers will also be aware that Carmarthenshire County Council has reached a position where they have had to withdraw their application for planning for the current proposed site for the new Ysgol Dewi Sant. This is a matter of great regret to me and more importantly to my constituents and to the children who are being taught in conditions that, were they factory workers, the factory would be closed down because it simply isn't safe. Now, obviously, this was a decision that the local authority took; this is certainly not a matter for the Minister for Education, and I know that she has expressed a willingness in future to look at a further application for funding if it comes forward. But I would like to ask for a statement from the Minister with responsibility for planning, because the reason why this withdrawal has been necessary is that the county has spent over £0.5 million trying to respond to the requirements of the call-in process, and they have reached the point where they simply feel they have to back away from that site, even though, out of the nine sites looked at in the previous public consultation, this was the favoured site. So, I would like to ask the Minister with responsibility for planning to review the call-in process, particularly with regard to public buildings, to ensure that it is better insulated in future from party political interference, which has been at the root of this issue for Ysgol Dewi Sant.