, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Trefnydd, could I request a written or oral statement, whichever one is more appropriate, on the progress of Big Bocs Bwyd and how it interacts with local community organisations also providing food for those who need it? A number of organisations have…
, Petitions Committee
Updates to previous petitions
Diolch, Cadeirydd. I know the Health and Social Care Committee have done an inquiry into this, and I know the Welsh Government as well accepted, or at least accepted in principle, a number of those recommendations that came as a result of that inquiry. I…
, Petitions Committee
Updates to previous petitions
Diolch, Gadeirydd. It's good that we've had responses from all the health boards now, but I think it would be worth us, as a committee, discussing this again when we receive a response from the health Minister to the Epilepsy Action Cymru report. I think that…
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Diolch, Gadeirydd. I know the Local Government and Housing Committee is currently doing an inquiry into homelessness in Wales, which I believe includes the provision around helping those who are homeless. I wonder if it's worth us bringing this petition to…
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Diolch, Cadeirydd. I think, ultimately, reading the petition, I'm unsure as to whether as a committee we are able to solve the issue. It raises a lot of the concerns and difficulties around getting GP appointments on the other side of Cardiff Bay from us…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
I know, yes; that was quite a slip there. Some of the evidence that we received from them is that they themselves find it very difficult to monitor how many pest controllers are out there in the first instance. So, I just find it difficult as to how you would…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
If I could just come back in on that quickly, because one of the issues that we did get from the pet—. Not pet, sorry; the pest controllers association—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
In gathering that evidence, then, was any assessment made of where glue traps had been used and how often they were being used in public health settings?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Some of the evidence we collected was directly from pest controllers and their associations, who talked about some of the problems that they're having at the moment with some of those alternative methods. They're seeing an increase in trap shyness, for…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Diolch, Cadeirydd. If I could move to glue traps, we had a number of stakeholders argue the point that there should be a licence for professional pest controllers to be able to use glue traps in high-risk situations, for example where there's a threat to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Thank you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
And I'm just seeking as well your view on something the BVA proposed as well around the establishment of a UK-wide body to co-ordinate animal health and especially to tackle endemic disease and animal health and welfare challenges. Is that something you have…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
It will be covered?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
RSPCA Cymru mentions specifically, in terms of the Agriculture Act 2020, the specific veterinary pathway scheme where farmers in England receive payments to get the vet on site and also capital costs in England to convert systems into higher welfare systems…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Diolch, Gadeirydd. If I can look at animal health and welfare briefly, the British Veterinary Association and RSPCA feel that animal welfare isn't given enough weight in the new agricultural framework, especially given the large proportion of livestock within…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Finally, before I hand back to you, Chair, we did hear from stakeholders that farmers in Wales will have to do more to receive their payments than in other areas of the UK and countries within the EU where payments are less conditional on public good…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
I would take issue, though, in terms of saying that tackling climate change would necessarily lead to also improving biodiversity, because we know that some renewable projects, for example, can have a negative effect on biodiversity. I think it's important…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
I picked up on what you said earlier around education and food. I think there's an opportunity here as well to link that in with other Government policies such as free school meals, for example. There's an opportunity there, I think, to bring in schools into…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Exactly. Perfect. What would your response be to those calls to expand the list?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Agriculture (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 10
Diolch, Cadeirydd. If I could look at the purposes for which support could be provided, a number of stakeholders suggested they'd like to see that list expanded under section 8 of the Bill. Some of the suggestions we had ranged from educating around food and…
, Plenary
Debate on the Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee Report— 'Cost of living pressures'
I'll conclude by saying that we must endeavour to carry out the work that denaturalises this. The reality is that this isn't normal and people shouldn't have to struggle to afford the basics.
, Plenary
Debate on the Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee Report— 'Cost of living pressures'
I'll start, as we always tend to in these debates, and thank the Chair for his expert way in how he chairs our committee, as well as all the work the clerks do as well, and in particular the evidence we received from various stakeholders and community action…
, Plenary
Debate on the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee Report—'Digital connectivity—broadband'
The recommendations in the committee's report and the positive response from Welsh Government are very welcome. We only need to look back as recently as lockdown to see how important it is to have sufficient access to broadband. It was one of the very few…
, Plenary
Debate on the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee Report—'Digital connectivity—broadband'
Thank you to the committee for all of its work on this issue. I'm not sure whether the previous speaker had read the report in its entirety.
, Plenary
Debate on the Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee Report—'Raising the Bar: Securing the future of Hospitality, Tourism and Retail'
I’m going to focus on hospitality in particular. It’s a significant sector in itself, employing at its height 200,000 people in Wales, and it’s a sector that I have a good amount of experience in. However, much of this will be applicable to retail and…
