QNR – in the Senedd on 3 November 2020.
The Welsh Government has regular discussions with organisations involved in delivering the Senedd elections in May 2021. In particular, we are working with education and local government partners to enable newly enfranchised younger voters to take their opportunity to vote for the first time in the Senedd elections.
Coronavirus has risen rapidly and spread in every part of Wales. The clear advice from our medical and scientific advisers was that a short, sharp firebreak would ensure the NHS has the capacity to respond to the pandemic, emergency and winter pressures. This includes only allowing essential retailers to open.
I announced last Friday our statutory sick pay enhancement scheme, which opened on 1 November. This provides funding to staff in care homes and domiciliary care to stay off work if they have symptoms of COVID-19 or to self-isolate in order to protect the vulnerable people they care for.
We have provided more than £213 million to the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales this year, including an additional £41.5 million to support the higher education sector to maintain teaching and research capacity, address financial challenges and, crucially, support the wellbeing of students and staff.