16 February 2022 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
I think you need to look at it in the context of what we were doing. This was one of a suite of measures. It wasn't a stand-alone measure, that we just introduced COVID passes. It went along with, as you say, the vaccination programme. It was part of—. Having…
16 February 2022 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
I thank Tom Giffard for that question. I think the COVID passes did what they set out to do. At the time that COVID passes were introduced, of course, we were in the middle of a significant rise in COVID cases. We then saw, on the back of that, the omicron…
9 February 2022 , Plenary
Short Debate: The more I practice, the luckier I am: Sports facilities in our rural communities
We must have a clear approach for delivering on that commitment. I'm focused on investing at both elite level and at the community, grass-roots level for all the reasons that you set out in your speech. Our investment at elite level, investing in world-class…
9 February 2022 , Plenary
Short Debate: The more I practice, the luckier I am: Sports facilities in our rural communities
Thank you. Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you, Mabon, for bringing this debate forward. This is a subject very close to my heart, and what I would say, I love the title of the debate: 'The more I practise, the luckier I am', because all I can think…
26 January 2022 , Plenary
Short Debate: The benefits of the restoration of the Montgomery canal: Exploring the progress and advantages of the ongoing restoration being pursued by a group of passionate local individuals, volunteers and organisations
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and can I thank Russell George for raising the Montgomery canal project with us today? I know he's long championed this project, and has again highlighted the achievements of the many enthusiastic local volunteers who give so much of…
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions
The interim findings of a survey conduced by Cardiff University show that 85 per cent of respondents agreed that support from the economic resilience fund was as important as furlough. So, to be clear, we did not take the most recent decisions to move to…
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions
Llywydd, despite the good news today on infection rates, families have still lost loved ones to COVID in recent weeks, and people in every community across Wales have continued to make difficult sacrifices to help keep themselves and their loved ones safe…
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions
No, I'm not taking any further interventions, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm not taking any further interventions, no.
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions
I'm not taking any more interventions, Dirprwy Lywydd. So, the argument that the actions taken by the people of Wales had no impact on the transmission of omicron is not only offensive, but it is not borne out by the facts. Indeed, we now see that the latest…
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions
The answer is what I've already given. The TAC advice and the SAGE advice were available at the time that we made those decisions. As I said, the public health consensus, not just in Wales but across the UK, was that it was unlikely that the booster programme…
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions
Go on.
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to be able to respond today to this debate, and would say at the outset that the Welsh Government rejects the overall motion that's before us today. But I am also delighted to see that the latest evidence supports our plan…
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: COVID restrictions
Formally.
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Topical Questions
Well, can I thank Samuel Kurtz for that further question? He is absolutely right, S4C did have a more favourable settlement than the BBC, and the work that S4C are undertaking in terms of developing Welsh language programming is to be welcomed and I am…
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Topical Questions
Can I thank Heledd Fychan for those further comments? I largely agree with everything that she has said. Public service broadcasters play an incredibly important role in Wales's cultural and economic life, and we're deeply concerned at the reckless UK…
19 January 2022 , Plenary
Topical Questions
Can I thank Heledd Fychan for that question? I met with the BBC yesterday, and we are working with them to understand the impact of the deeply concerning UK Government licence fee announcement and what it means for services and the media sector in Wales.
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
Sure. I would probably need to discuss that with finance officials, Heledd, but in principle, I don't have a problem with doing that if we can. But, again, I think it's probably much like the race equality question that I had earlier on—you can't pin it down…
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
Okay, so, on the cultural strategy, we said that we would start the work in earnest on that this year. It is part of the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, so there was additional funding allocated to delivering the cultural strategy. We're not starting…
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
Will do, Chair. Yes.
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
Okay. So, again, we have regular discussions with our sponsored bodies, Sport Wales being one of them, and we talk to them extensively about what the requirements are, both in terms of revenue and capital. What I can say is that we've had a significant amount…
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
Okay. Well, as I say, I'm happy to—. I take the points you're making. I think Dean and Jason might be able to give some quick technical answers, but, on the more long-term strategic issues that you've raised, Alun, I'm happy to write to the committee and set…
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
Yes, that's fine. We can certainly do that, because I take your point, Alun—you've got a genuine concern that you want responded to and we can do that, but probably not in the detail you want within the time that we've got available this morning. But I'm…
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
Well, I absolutely agree with you, but I think there are two separate things going on here. So, we had the tailored review, and the tailored review—. There was additional funding that was allocated to the libraries for the tailored review. It was outside of…
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
Okay. So, what we've actually got is we've got a budget allocation that, basically, is sufficient for the library to continue to deliver their programme of work. Now, I met with the national library last week, with the chief executive and the chair of the…
19 January 2022 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Culture, Communications and Sport
I don't think we're cutting the budget of the national library, are we, Alun? What we've done—
