7. Plaid Cymru Debate: A four-day working week

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:52 pm on 22 September 2021.

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Photo of Joel James Joel James Conservative 4:52, 22 September 2021

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I've got to admit, I have considerable sympathy for the Deputy Minister; not only do you debate matters that are within your remit, but it now seems that you have to waste valuable time debating issues that you have no influence over whatsoever. Indeed, I believe the Minister has previously gone on record to say that the four-day working week is not devolved and is outside the remit of this Welsh Government.

However, as a responsible opposition, my party believes that it is our duty to engage with all matters within this Chamber, even if the only perceivable outcome to this debate is that Plaid Cymru will have something to put in their leaflets. As such, Dirprwy Lywydd, I'd like to formally move the amendments tabled in the name of my colleague Darren Millar. Our position is that the proposals for a four-day working week are not grounded in reality, because it entirely relies on the assumption that productivity—the rate of work per hour—will be increased if employees work fewer hours on the same pay. How can doctors, nurses, firemen, teachers, ambulance drivers be more productive than they already are? Measuring productivity is a very complicated—