23 October 2024 , Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: UK Government Budget
And that then brings us to our third ask, namely a commitment to replace the Barnett formula as soon as possible, along with the relevant timetable. The Conservative amendment retains this demand, but what of the Government amendment? Once again, no reference…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: UK Government Budget
In the run-up up to the general election, Wales was promised change. For years, we have heard Government Ministers in this Chamber say time and time again that once we had a Labour Government in Westminster, it would be different for Wales. To date, the…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: UK Government Budget
The purpose of today’s debate is to give this Senedd a voice in terms of the budget that will be presented next week by the UK Labour Government. Considering the implications for Wales, for the Senedd and for all of the bodies we fund, it’s important that…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Debate on the Petitions Committee Report, 'A cashless society? P-06-1335: Welsh Government should take steps to ensure vulnerable adults without bank cards can pay with cash'
Diolch yn fawr iawn, Sioned, and thank you to Neil for being here today, because for every story behind that petition, there is someone who has been turned away. I've heard it from constituents. It is something that happens so, so frequently. It's not a…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Debate on the Petitions Committee Report, 'A cashless society? P-06-1335: Welsh Government should take steps to ensure vulnerable adults without bank cards can pay with cash'
Of course.
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Debate on the Petitions Committee Report, 'A cashless society? P-06-1335: Welsh Government should take steps to ensure vulnerable adults without bank cards can pay with cash'
May I thank the Petitions Committee, but mainly thank Mencap Cymru, for bringing this case forward? It's a shame that we have to have this debate, because the argument's been made in terms of why this is so very important, and it's very disappointing to see…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Assisted dying
No, and that's why you need to get it absolutely right. But I believe that someone has the right to choose when their suffering comes to an end. I don't feel that I have that right to force that person to carry on suffering. So, I think that those safeguards…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Assisted dying
If I may, you reminded us that people are already making this choice. They are leaving the country, without the support of loved ones, or if their loved ones are with them, risking prosecution. People are making that choice by committing suicide. And we know…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Assisted dying
Thank you to Julie Morgan for bringing forward this important debate. Although death comes to us all, we as a nation aren't particularly good at discussing death, and I think the fact that we don't discuss the issue then means that we don't always listen to…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning
Thank you. As I said yesterday to the Cabinet Secretary for finance, obviously that £5 million was very welcome, but it didn't touch the surface. And, in terms of these sectors, we've lost people in these roles, we've lost expertise, we've lost the ability to…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning
Thanks for that response. If I can build on what Tom Giffard was asking you, obviously, it’s not just been challenging, it’s been devastating for a number of the institutions that fall within your portfolio. We’ve heard warnings of huge organisations having…
23 October 2024 , Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning
Thank you, Llywydd. Minister, I'd like to add my congratulations to you on your appointment, and I appreciate the fact that we've already had a meeting to discuss our overlapping portfolios. As I noted at that time, and I'm glad that you know that this isn't…
22 October 2024 , Plenary
Debate: The First Supplementary Budget 2024-25
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this debate on the supplementary budget. As the Cabinet Secretary said in opening this debate, clearly there aren't many unexpected things in this budget today. The fact that the Westminster election was so…
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Paper(s) to note
I also wanted to draw attention to the letter from Cymdeithas yr Iaith, item 4.5. There are a number of things that they raise that are relevant in terms of the Bill, but are also things that I'm sure that we would like to ask about. So, hopefully we can have…
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Paper(s) to note
Happy to note. Obviously, a number of the letters that we have received are very relevant to this inquiry, and the session that we've just had, so they are very beneficial. I just wanted to note the response we have had from the Minister for Culture, Skills…
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with the Books Council of Wales (7)
Thank you. And clearly, you emphasise there in terms of the role of reading for pleasure with literacy as well, and there's an important role in order to provide content for people of all ages, especially with children and young people, and that the kinds of…
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with the Books Council of Wales (7)
Thank you. You've mentioned literacy, and clearly there's been a strong focus on literacy recently in the press, in the Senedd and so forth. There is a new body that's been established, Adnodd, in order to try to support this. What kind of collaboration is…
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with the Books Council of Wales (7)
Thank you very much. You mentioned the ability of the books council to contribute to the 1 million Welsh speakers. What impact have those funding reductions had on other policy areas, such as education and health?
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with the Books Council of Wales (7)
Thank you for that clarification about that. Obviously, some arm's-length bodies did receive some additional funding, but to be clear, you haven't had any in this financial year.
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with the Books Council of Wales (7)
Thank you. So, to be clear, you're expected to respond to those pay increases within the budget that's given to you. You don't receive any additional funding for that pay settlement.
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with the Books Council of Wales (7)
Thank you very much. You've been mentioning the impact of the cuts so far, but if the books council were to have similar funding cuts in the 2025-26 budget to those in this financial year, what would the impact of that be? Could you give us some clarification…
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with the Books Council of Wales (7)
Thank you, Chair. Apologies for not doing this at the beginning of the meeting, but I'd like to declare a personal interest. Just to note that the Books Council of Wales has commissioned, through a publisher, a book about my father. I'm not receiving any…
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with culture bodies (6)
A specific question about National Theatre Wales. You clearly lost all of your funding from the arts council. What kind of dialogue did you have with the arts council in terms of discussing concerns that they had about National Theatre Wales with you as an…
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with culture bodies (6)
Thank you. That's incredibly helpful, and it will obviously help our work. Perhaps if I can turn to Naomi.
17 October 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with culture bodies (6)
Thank you. I was just checking that nobody wanted to come in on that. No. I'll move on, therefore. If I could ask specifically to Louise from Creu Cymru: you were mentioning some of the venues that have closed. How much work have you done to assess the number…
