7. Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: Wales: A community of communities

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:14 pm on 28 February 2023.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 5:14, 28 February 2023

I just want to start by commenting on the bank holiday question. Of course, it’s not a devolved matter, but we’ve asked the UK Government on more than one occasion, as colleagues will know, to designate the day as a bank holiday, or give us the power to do so. Unfortunately, so far these requests have been rejected.

But it’s important that we recognise what is going to be happening on St David’s Day. It’s a time when we focus activities throughout Wales. We're focusing on mobilising communities tomorrow, here in Wales, to celebrate St David's Day. We're celebrating everything Welsh using the 'random acts of Welshness' social media campaign, so I hope everyone will engage with that. The campaign is a hwyl-filled social media celebration of our nation, and, of course, that showcases, as you've said, Heledd, the good things we do for each other, for our communities and for our world. In fact, all of your questions comment on those points—the good things that we do for each other, for our communities and for our world, because Wales is, and must be, a community of interconnected communities. I do believe that the statement today can help in terms of the contributions. It can help us and assist us, as a Welsh Government, in making Wales a community of communities.