Siambr · Member of the Senedd · Register of record
Jane Dodds
Tenures
- Sixth Senedd Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd Welsh Liberal Democrats
- Seventh Senedd Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd Welsh Liberal Democrats
Ministerial roles
No ministerial roles on record.
Contributions, by sitting day
133 contributions on record, newest first. Official verbatim record.
4
Open this sitting on the stage
3. Questions to the Senedd Commission en
And I rise again, with the greatest of respect to the Member, who is persistent and consistent at the very least. But I am perplexed, and I wonder if the Member is listening. No. I am perplexed why the Member keeps raising this issue. So, let's just be clear: GB News is repeatedly embroiled in serious controversies. Last June—[Interruption.] Dirprwy Lywydd, may I carry on in some silence, please? Diolch. Just last week, a GB News presenter apologised in court and agreed to pay substantial damages to a UK politician. Meanwhile, Ofcom is investigating the channel. Ofcom is investigating the channel following more than 12,000 complaints about a guest—
3. Questions to the Senedd Commission en
I have, I have. But, Dirprwy Lywydd, I've been interrupted, so I'm coming to that, thank you. Twelve thousand complaints about a guest appearing to associate Pride, the organisation, with child sexual exploitation and bestiality. And once again, we are here about GB News.
3. Questions to the Senedd Commission en
My question to the Llywydd is: will the Llywydd agree that broadcasting GB News would be at odds with the principles of respect, dignity and integrity that should underpin the Senedd? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
10. Short Debate: Full-face coverings are against British values en
Diolch yn fawr. I'll be very brief. Would you not agree with this: that actually Reform UK's recent debates, including this one, are designed to divide and are designed to bring fear—[Interruption.]—to bring fear to our communities? And on this day, where you started, we should be in unity together. Would you not agree that this is shameful by Reform UK?
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the First Minister cy
9. Pa ystyriaeth y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi'i rhoi i ddiwygio strwythur byrddau iechyd? OQ64795
Official English translation
9. What consideration has the Welsh Government given to reforming the structure of health boards? OQ64795
No broadcast timestamp published, so this contribution cannot be placed on the stage. Senedd TV Read this in the Record
1. Questions to the First Minister cy
Diolch yn fawr iawn am yr ymateb, Brif Weinidog.
Official English translation
Thank you for that response, First Minister.
1. Questions to the First Minister en
We've found on at least five occasions that you've described Betsi Cadwaladr as too large, too unwieldy and too distant from the people it serves. That was when you were the spokesperson for health for Plaid Cymru in opposition. And on 2 October this year, as Prif Weinidog, you said you were essentially in the same place as when you were a health spokesperson. You said we were in the last chance saloon with Betsi Cadwaladr, and that Wales must be ready to break up Betsi, which can only mean that, in your view, it's too large. Yet in recent weeks, Plaid Cymru Members have suggested that the answer to bed closures in Powys is to merge Powys Teaching Health Board with Hywel Dda University Health Board or even with Betsi Cadwaladr. That idea was nowhere in your manifesto, so I'm seeking to put on record that this is not something that Plaid Cymru are intending to do. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
2. Questions to the Counsel General cy
3. Pa asesiad y mae'r Cwnsler Cyffredinol wedi'i wneud o ddigonolrwydd pwerau cyfreithiol Gweinidogion Cymru i ymyrryd mewn gwasanaethau cyhoeddus datganoledig? OQ64735
Official English translation
3. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the adequacy of Welsh Ministers’ legal powers to intervene in devolved public services? OQ64735
No broadcast timestamp published, so this contribution cannot be placed on the stage. Senedd TV Read this in the Record
2. Questions to the Counsel General cy
Diolch yn fawr iawn am yr ymateb.
Official English translation
Thank you very much for that repsonse.
2. Questions to the Counsel General en
You very kindly responded to my questions on this issue before, but what I'm really specifically asking about is what powers the Welsh Government should have in order to intervene in health boards when there is a real challenge to the services that are being delivered. In England, the Secretary of State, since January 2024, has been able to call in NHS service changes and decide on them. In Scotland, major service changes require ministerial approval. Even in Wales, Ministers appointed commissioners to take over the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, and can direct or challenge school closures. Yet, in Powys, families are simply being asked to accept community beds closing and care moving further from home, and the Government says it cannot weigh in and look at the merits of this decision. Cwnsler Cyffredinol, what advice would you give the Welsh Government on how Wales can gain those powers—the powers that England and Scotland have? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
3. Business Statement and Announcement en
Prynhawn da, Drefnydd. I'd like two statements, please. Last week I met coracle fishermen from west Wales. They were promoting their very, very unique craft. I don't know if you know—they are very small boats, they carry them on their back, and they only fish at night between Monday and Friday. However, the period of them being able to fish has been massively reduced by Natural Resources Wales. So, could I just ask what the Government is going to be doing in order to protect this important Welsh tradition? The other statement is with regard to job opportunities for physiotherapy graduates. We're in this terrible place where we've trained physiotherapists and we can't give them jobs, and yet we are crying out for people to have the service of a physiotherapist. So, please, could you tell us what the Government's intentions are to ensure that physiotherapists get the jobs that they need to be able to deliver the services to the people of Wales? Diolch yn fawr iawn, Lywydd.
4. Statement by the First Minister: 60th Anniversary of the Aberfan Disaster en
I associate myself with all of the remarks made, and on behalf of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, I pay honour to those who have died, those who have lost members of their family and have been affected and continue to be affected. I was honoured this morning to attend the performance of The Silent Volunteer. It was a very moving performance, and one thing that struck me was the replication of the sound of the thundering slurry rushing down the hillside towards the school. It brought home the terrifying reality of that day, after a week of rain, and the devastation suffered by the community. At the end of the performance, one word stood out for me, which was 'undod'—unity. That was on a banner that the performers held up. And as politicians, we have a responsibility to come together, as we have done this afternoon, to listen to communities and to learn from the past. We must honour those who died, not only through remembrance, but through our actions going forward. Diolch.
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Open this sitting on the stage
2. Business Statement and Announcement en
Prynhawn da, Drefnydd. I want a statement, please, on the services for women, in particular in rural areas, when they face domestic violence. Last week, two cases in Wales were in our media. In Carmarthen, James McKenna was jailed for 24 years for the attempted murder of his ex-partner, whom he stalked and stabbed repeatedly as she walked her dog. And secondly, there's the really tragic case in Prestatyn, of mother of four Samantha Phythian, who was pregnant and found dead in a burning van. All of these cases, along with the cases of women who are living in rural areas that I represent, show how hard it is for those women to get the services and the responses they need. Could you please give us an update and a statement, and perhaps from the Minister as well, on services for women who face domestic violence and what you're doing to develop these and ensure that they reach everybody? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Health and Care: Update on winter preparedness en
Thank you very much for your statement, Minister, and I note this follows a statement you made on 1 July, when temperatures were slightly warmer than they are now. I'm very pleased as well that, in your statement, you refer to those vulnerable groups, particularly people who are homeless. And I just really wanted to just focus on this, because for those people who are homeless in winter, it literally is about getting a home. That will save their lives. Crisis in Wales reported, this month, that 63 people died on the streets in 2025 in Wales. The average age of a woman dying, who is homeless, was 43, and 47 for men. Crisis says it's preparing for a busy winter. They want the UK Government to unfreeze the housing benefit, but it does call on the Welsh Government to enact the new Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Act 2026. So, what will you be doing to work across the Government, but also to support those third sector organisations, such as Crisis, to get homeless people literally off our streets this winter? Diolch yn fawr iawn, Lywydd.
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Open this sitting on the stage
6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Family Drug and Alcohol Courts en
Thank you very much to Tom for raising this issue. This is actually the Senedd at its best, when we hear views on something really important for our citizens, but, in this case, really important for our children. I've worked in childcare proceedings over 25 years, under both FDAC in London and non-FDAC courts as well. As you've heard, in England, there are 13 teams working in 18 courts. In Wales, we have none. Rhys ab Owen and I, in the previous Senedd, raised the need for FDACs. We've done this since 2023. And here we are, three years later, with no FDAC in Wales. So, I'm giving a warning, if I may: we do need to hear a plan for how we're going to get FDAC into Wales. There is no doubt about it that FDACs save money, save lives, and give our children the best chance. I want to paint a picture of some of the work that I did as a child protection social worker. We know that the best place for a child is with their parents. But imagine if you were a parent, possibly with a care background, possibly experiencing mental health difficulties, stressed, living in poverty. I've described it as you are trying desperately to get up the escalator that is coming down—you have very little chance. So, you start using drugs and alcohol as a way of forgetting about it and trying to remove yourself from the world you're in. You don't mean to get addicted, but it happens. You have your own children, and you can't look after them. Social services—people like myself—then become involved. As a parent, you fight—of course you do; every single parent wants to keep their child. There is absolutely no doubt, in terms of my 25 years of experience, that that is the case. But you have no resources. You have no services that work with you. Instead, services make you jump through hoops. More stress, more drugs, more alcohol. That's what happens in normal family court proceedings. You do not have the services there ready for you. They are there to try and make you show that you want to keep your child, and that stresses you out even more. Or you go to FDAC, and you have a chance, and, most importantly, your children have a chance. They have the best chance that they can have in life to stay with you. I'll finish by saying the evidence is there. It's indisputable. Family judges that I've worked with—because I did work in the London principal registry—have said it very clearly. I don't know what else the Welsh Government needs to hear. But you need to hear the evidence and you need to act on it, because children cannot wait any longer. Please, just do it. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Family Drug and Alcohol Courts en
Would you permit an intervention?
6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Family Drug and Alcohol Courts en
Thank you so much, Minister, for doing that. I hear exactly what you say, and I can hear that you've got a big plan, which I think is the reasonable interpretation of that. However, I don't hear a clear timetable—maybe you're coming to that at the end. I also really still want to know the answer to why you are not pushing forward on FDAC, given all of the evidence, and that you're actually harming children whilst you wait for your big plan to materialise. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
8. Reform UK Debate: Access to HMOs and social housing for foreign nationals en
Thank you for taking the intervention and for outlining those two local authorities. There are 21 local authorities in Wales—
8. Reform UK Debate: Access to HMOs and social housing for foreign nationals en
—so could you just tell us what the data is from the others? This Senedd relies on facts and evidence. We had a fantastic debate previously on family drug and alcohol courts, all about the evidence, so please, could you tell us what the evidence is?
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the First Minister en
Prynhawn da, Brif Weinidog. Just to come back to Powys and to health services, you'll know that the Powys Teaching Health Board has launched a proposal and a consultation on the future of health services across Powys. These proposals include cuts to hospital beds, which would leave communities like Ystradgynlais with a 23-mile journey to receive in-patient care. In a large rural county with poor public transport, as you will know, that matters enormously to patients, families and carers. Nine thousand, seven hundred people have signed our petition opposing these plans, yet their voices are being brushed aside, and they are repeatedly told by your Government, and the health board, to simply wait for the consultation to finish. But the options on the table mean that significant reductions in in-patient care are already baked in and that that consultation only presents one option. We've been told that your Government can't do anything, but we know that the Welsh Government has mechanisms to intervene when it needs to, for example, with the fire and rescue services.
1. Questions to the First Minister en
So, what will your Government do in order to listen to the voices of people in a rural area like Powys and make sure that these proposals are stopped? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution cy
Prynhawn da, Weinidog, a diolch hefyd i Safa am y cwestiwn.
Official English translation
Good afternoon, Minister, and thank you to Safa for the question.
2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution en
You said in your response to Safa that trustworthy statistics and evidence is vital to the delivery of services, but that must also include listening to residents: 9,700 people in Powys have objected to the proposals ahead of them. But I also want to talk about a recent Healthcare Inspectorate Wales—and you've talked about that body—inspection of Gwaun Cae Gurwen Surgery. It found that 85 per cent of respondents rated their experience as 'poor', while 73 per cent did not feel listened to or involved in decisions about their healthcare—a very high proportion of patients for that practice, yet the inspection did not identify failings that fully reflected the level of dissatisfaction reported by patients. We know that Healthcare Inspectorate Wales can make recommendations and seek improvements, but there are questions about how much leverage sits behind those recommendations when services fail to improve. So, Minister, I really want to hear this answer—an answer, please: for more effective—
2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution en
Yes, well, I'm pre-empting it. [Laughter.] For more effective public sector decision making, who has the power to ensure that clear evidence of poor service actually results in action?
3. Business Statement and Announcement en
Prynhawn da, Drefnydd. Can I ask for a statement, please, on radical reform of services for our care-experienced young people? Back in July 2023, we debated in the Senedd the Children, Young People and Education Committee's report on this subject. Of the committee's 12 radical recommendations, the then Government accepted just one, rejecting—amongst other things—making care experience a protected characteristic and placing corporate duties on a statutory level. In that debate the now Deputy First Minister shared my disappointment that the Government then said it wasn't sufficiently bold, brave or ambitious. So, given that situation, I'd be pleased to hear from Plaid Cymru exactly how they're going to incorporate these issues around radical reform. It hasn't been so far in your statement for government or in your manifesto, but you've had a busy time, so I'm hoping that there will be a focus now on ensuring that our care-experienced young people across Wales get the services that they deserve. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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I declare an interest. My husband's a child protection social worker. Five-year-old Logan Mwangi, two-year-old Lola James, 16-year-old Kaylea Titford, all three of them were here in Wales and had the attention of the local authorities, and all three sadly died. And the biggest single factor in the deaths of those children that was identified was lack of communication between the services. I had been a child protection social worker for 25 years before I came into politics, and I cannot tell you how difficult and challenging it is to be a child protection social worker. It is so hard to do a job where you are, if you're doing a good job, listening to the child and the young person, and you are looking at all of the risks, and you bear the risks. I'm grateful to Natasha for mentioning—and I can't see it in your statement, but maybe it is something I haven't read—child protection social workers, because they are the critical front line in all of the changes you seek. You are looking at a wholesale, or the potential of a wholesale, reorganisation of this service.
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You are looking at a wholesale child protection rearrangement of the service, but I would like you first to look at how we support those child protection social workers at the front line. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Devolution should never mean a transfer of responsibility without the means to discharge it, and yet, too often in Wales, we've been given the powers we have so far without the funds to use them, trying to meet our responsibilities with one hand tied behind our backs, and that erodes public confidence in devolution. I welcome this debate. It has shown me, actually, that there is a significant amount of cross-party support for the three points in the motion. Just to touch on them very quickly, the Wales reserve: if a Government does not need to spend money in one year, it should be able to save it for what is needed in the next year. That's exactly how we all do our own budgets at home. If we don't spend it, we can carry it over, and, therefore, that should be the same application to our budget here in Wales. Scotland does not face the same constraints. It has unlimited annual drawdowns from its own reserve. The need for flexibility, though, goes beyond the reserve. Last July, Members across this Senedd agreed that it makes little sense for a national Government to have less borrowing flexibility than a local council, as has been raised by Mike Hedges. We remain stuck, with an overall capital borrowing cap whose real value is eroded by inflation over the past decade. Secondly, the Crown Estate. Borrowing and revenue have to go hand in hand. Wales has a revenue stream in sight, and, at the moment, it is being collected elsewhere. The Crown Estate's Welsh assets were valued at £853 million in 2022-23, and 93 per cent of that is tied to offshore wind and marine energy. Of course, devolving that revenue would come with a reduction in the block grant—we do know that. But, just as in Scotland, the way that adjustment is calculated matters. If it is set transparently and reflects the growth of offshore wind in Wales, it could give us the much-needed means to invest in our own coastline and communities. On the Barnett formula, I welcome the motion's language of review, fairness and transparency. But we must, as has been said, be cautious, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies has noted. Reopening the formula could cost Wales as readily as it benefits. So, the credible route is not a leap in the dark; it is, as has been said, a rigorous, evidence-based process. At present, the Treasury acts as judge, jury and executioner in disputes. We've seen that HS2 is the clearest example, and the Oxford to Cambridge line as well. When the same decision goes against Wales twice and no-one outside the Treasury can overturn it, that is not an error, it is a flaw in the design. What we need is an independent fiscal commission, along the lines of Australia's Commonwealth Grants Commission. Finally, on rail, I welcome the commitment to £14 billion-worth of investment, and I support, of course, devolving rail infrastructure to Wales, as Scotland has. I have to refer us to the modicum of confusion that there was in the last Senedd over the £14 billion and the befuddlement and confusion in terms of the motions coming forward to us. But let's move on from that, as we should see, in terms of our railways. We need to see that rail devolution come to Wales, with the money attached to it, and we need to make sure that that affects the whole of Wales. To finish, I ask the Welsh Government to be bolder in what it asks for, and I ask the UK Government, in turn, to give us a fair hearing into a fair settlement. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
2. Questions to the First Minister en
Prynhawn da, Brif Weinidog. Almost across the Siambr we've seen a real support, haven't we, for live music and supporting our venues. I just really wanted to take a different kind of approach to it, which is about our youth clubs. Our youth clubs are real resources for young people to start in music. We've heard as well about the Ezra Collective, an award-winning English group—Femi Koleoso of the group put it simply, 'We met at a youth club'. Yet we've seen such cuts to our youth services. And I stand here with my tin hat on, because I recognise the role that my party played in the coalition in cutting services, so I'm taking full responsibility for that. But here in Wales, isn't it right, First Minister, that we need to find a way of supporting our youth clubs and making sure that, through that, our young people get that amazing opportunity to learn music and to be able to play it. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
3. Business Statement and Announcement cy
Prynhawn da, Drefnydd. Dwi eisiau cario ymlaen tipyn bach efo'r mater yna, os gwelwch chi'n dda.
Official English translation
Good afternoon, Trefnydd. I want to continue on that issue, please.
3. Business Statement and Announcement en
I'd like to request a statement on the well-being outcomes for care leavers in Wales. Last month, the UK Department of Education published 'You really are on your own', a study of the early deaths of young people who were in care, and its findings are deeply concerning. In 2025 alone, 112 care leavers aged 18 to 24 died in England, an estimated death rate around three to four times that of their peers in the general population. One in five of those deaths occurred at age 18, right when support so often fails and falls away. The report must serve as a warning for us here in Wales. Care-experienced young people have consistently raised here many of the issues around isolation, cliff edges in support, and independence being treated as more important than well-being. So, may I ask, please, Trefnydd, what can we do here in Wales to make sure we've got the data on young people and make sure we've got the services in place to support them? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Prynhawn da, Weinidog. We're all going to use current examples, because that's exactly how we can relate the statement to what's going on in our current health boards. The statement does stress leadership, governance and openness as central to organisational success. Powys Teaching Health Board has none of those. It has lost trust from its residents—we've lost confidence in their leadership and governance. Nine thousand and three hundred people have signed a petition to say, 'Stop the closure of community beds in eight of our community hospitals across Powys'. They want to centralise them into the middle, so, if you live in Machynlleth, or live in Ystradgynlais, you have to travel. We've held six public meetings; 1,500 people have been to them. Last night, we held one in Knighton. Once again, people are saying they have absolutely no confidence in the board at Powys Teaching Health Board. We want the process stopped, we want the board to be sacked. Please don't say we need to wait for the consultation to happen—it will be too late. So, how does this statement, how does this review, help the people of Powys right now to stop what is going on? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Mae'n glir, onid ydy, fod yna gefnogaeth i'r siarter dros y Siambr, a dwi'n falch o ddweud, wrth gwrs, fod y Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol yma yng Nghymru yn ei gefnogi o hefyd. Gaf i jest gofyn: sut ydych chi am sicrhau bod yna weithlu arbenigol ar gyfer y siarter yma? Achos rydych chi wedi sôn am ddarparu gwasanaethau yn Gymraeg, yn ddwyieithog, a dwi'n siŵr ei fod o'n anodd trio recriwtio a chadw staff dros y gweithlu. Felly, a oes gennych chi gynllun i sicrhau bod staff yn y maes yma yn cael eu cadw yn y maes ac yn cael eu recriwtio a chael cefnogaeth hefyd? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Official English translation
It's clear, isn't it, that there is support for the charter across the Chamber, and I'm pleased to say, of course, that the Liberal Democrats here in Wales also support it. May I just ask: how will you ensure that there is a specialist workforce available to deliver this charter? Because you've mentioned providing services through the medium of Welsh and bilingually, and I'm sure it must be difficult to try and recruit and retain staff across the workforce. So, do you have a plan in place to ensure that there are staff available in this area and that they can be retained and recruited and receive the support that they need? Thank you.
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy cy
Prynhawn da, Weinidog.
Official English translation
Good afternoon, Minister.
1. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy en
I'm really pleased to hear from Reform UK that there's not a rejection of the net-zero targets, which we have previously heard. So, I'm hoping that there's been a bit of a change on those benches over there. But I would like just to come back on the point that was made by Joe Martin in relation to selective forms of energy, because what we should be doing is everything. The world is on fire. We've seen the wildfires across Wales this summer, and, actually, we have at our fingertips the opportunity to deliver a whole raft of renewable energy, and here in Wales, as you've said, we've got a real opportunity. Very different to my friend on my right—you're not on the right, I know—. We've talked about this before, but I would like to give you another opportunity, just to be clear on this, that, in developing onshore wind, your commitment still is to undergrounding those transmission cables, because that's what our communities want. I'm hoping you'll confirm that, and also that we're looking at how communities can own that onshore wind as well. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
3. Questions to the Senedd Commission cy
8. Pa wiriadau diogelu y mae'r Comisiwn yn gofyn i Aelodau o'r Senedd eu gwneud cyn iddynt ymgymryd â gweithgareddau sy'n ymwneud â phlant a phobl ifanc? OQ64547
Official English translation
8. What safeguarding checks does the Commission require of Members of the Senedd before they undertake activities involving children and young people? OQ64547
No broadcast timestamp published, so this contribution cannot be placed on the stage. Senedd TV Read this in the Record
3. Questions to the Senedd Commission cy
Diolch yn fawr iawn am yr ymateb.
Official English translation
Thank you very much for that response.
3. Questions to the Senedd Commission en
During my first term as a Senedd Member, I was really surprised that I could go into any school, any youth club, any provision where a child, a young person or a vulnerable person lived or worked without any checks, without any need to show any documentation. On all of those visits, I was accompanied by somebody, but it wouldn't take a genius and it wouldn't take much imagination for somebody quite powerful, who is a Member of the Senedd, to say, 'I'd like to do this on my own'. I do believe it is the Senedd's responsibility to ensure that Senedd Members, who have access and are in powerful roles to influence other people—. It should take the responsibility. There is no reference to this in any recent documentation, and I raised it in the last Senedd. I wonder if the Senedd Commission could take this forward, even on a voluntary basis, to look at how Members could get a DBS check, which doesn't give you an absolute safety mark, but it is a tool in the toolbox that ensures that this Parliament is not putting children, young people and vulnerable people at risk by allowing Senedd Members to do their duties. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Next month, Wyeside Arts Centre in Builth Wells celebrates an incredible milestone—50 years of bringing arts and culture to the heart of rural mid Wales. The fiftieth birthday weekend brings that history to life, with Welsh music, poetry, art and community participation. At its centre is Cymuned Gwy, a new bilingual work commissioned for the anniversary, inspired by the River Wye and the people who live alongside it. Wyeside is a small, independent charity, but its contribution is anything but small. Open six days a week, it provides cinema, live performance, music, exhibitions and opportunities for people to come together across a large rural area. Places like Wyeside offer far more than entertainment. They are places where people meet, participate and belong. The anniversary, as well as looking forward and back, has amazing plans to introduce to people as well, which will improve accessibility, and new facilities that will serve mid Wales for decades to come. Alongside this celebration, we know there is a serious challenge. Despite operating all year round, generating much of its income, and being supported by a small team of volunteers, Wyeside continues to face a significant revenue shortfall. I congratulate everyone who has sustained Wyeside over 50 years, and encourage colleagues to join the celebrations from 9 to 11 October, to see its plans for the future, and help ensure it remains at the heart of mid Wales. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
6. Welsh Labour Debate: Further education cy
Diolch i Lafur am godi'r mater pwysig yma.
Official English translation
I thank Labour for raising this very important matter.
6. Welsh Labour Debate: Further education en
Further education is the door to young people having an opportunity to get a great start in their working life. Not only that, but it is the door to a skilled workforce of young people here in Wales. It allows them to remain in Wales, work here, buy properties, raise their families. We know that too many young people are leaving Wales. Funding further education is literally an invest-to-save opportunity and programme. I want to talk about Black Mountains College, which is a further education college based in Talgarth. It provides qualifications in green skills and renewable energy. Black Mountains College provides the skills that Wales desperately needs, here in mid Wales—sorry, there in mid Wales; we're not in mid Wales, are we? I'm used to saying that—
6. Welsh Labour Debate: Further education en
Thank you. —in mid Wales, where we are desperately in need of our young people to stay there. Black Mountains College has a road map to growth and yet, with a shrinking budget, it is having to say 'no' to young people who want to get on these courses, and like we've heard, has a waiting list of young people as well, who are desperate to get onto their range of courses. Companies are crying out for skilled young people in the green agenda and renewable energy. In the case of Black Mountains College, the environment is crying out, as well, for those skilled young people. Mid Wales is crying out for our young people to stay, but most importantly, our young people are crying out for these courses. This literally is an invest-to-save opportunity and programme for this Government. And therefore, I agree with what's been said: further education must have the money it needs to be able to offer our young people that opportunity to remain here in Wales. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
2. Questions to the Counsel General cy
Diolch yn fawr iawn, Lywydd. Prynhawn da, Gwnsler Cyffredinol.
Official English translation
Thank you very much, Llywydd. Good afternoon, Counsel General.
2. Questions to the Counsel General cy
1. Pa gyngor cyfreithiol y mae'r Cwnsler Cyffredinol wedi'i roi i Lywodraeth Cymru ynglŷn â'i phwerau cyfreithiol i ymyrryd mewn penderfyniadau ad-drefnu gwasanaethau a wneir gan fyrddau iechyd lleol? OQ64489
Official English translation
1. What legal advice has the Counsel General provided to the Welsh Government regarding its legal powers to intervene in service reconfiguration decisions taken by local health boards? OQ64489
No broadcast timestamp published, so this contribution cannot be placed on the stage. Senedd TV Read this in the Record
2. Questions to the Counsel General cy
Diolch am yr ymateb.
Official English translation
Thank you for that response.
2. Questions to the Counsel General en
Sections 26 to 28 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 clearly give Welsh Ministers the power to intervene where a health board is failing to perform its functions adequately, and to remove board members, which we saw in the Senedd last term. Section 12 of the same Act allows Ministers to direct health boards on their functions more generally. While there appears to be some confusion over the 2006 Act, and the social care Bill in 2020, Vaughan Gething at the time was relatively clear that the Bill did not affect Ministers' powers under sections 26 to 28. That is a bit of a mouthful, I'm aware, of lots of sections. I ask for a clear answer, and I'm very happy to take a response in writing to this: is there anything in law that prevents Welsh Ministers from intervening under sections 26 to 28 where a board has lost public confidence in this way, or is the truth that Ministers could act and are choosing not to? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
3. Business Statement and Announcement cy
Dwi eisiau cario ymlaen efo trafnidiaeth, os yw hynny'n iawn.
Official English translation
I want to continue on transport, if that's okay.
3. Business Statement and Announcement en
I want to ask about speed limit guidance, and it's great to have the Deputy Minister here. I've raised this repeatedly in the Senedd, because communities across Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd— Rhayader, Llanspyddid, Libanus, Cwmdu and others—have been waiting for many months and years for revised guidance on the speed limits. And we've had correspondence, and I understand it will be some time in 2027. But I just wonder if we could just be clearer and more specific, given that we represent communities—and it's not just me—who really need this speed guidance in order to ensure they're safe. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
4. Statement by the First Minister: 'New Ambition for Wales: Programme for Government 2026-2030' cy
Diolch am y datganiad.
Official English translation
Thank you for the statement.
4. Statement by the First Minister: 'New Ambition for Wales: Programme for Government 2026-2030' en
I've got two issues, and I genuinely really want to understand this. You keep using the phrase, 'I want the people of Wales to decide their future' in relation to the issue around independence, and I really would like some clarity on that. What does that mean? How will you measure it? How will you make sure you know what the decision is by the people of Wales? And just to put on record, I'm anti-independence, but, absolutely, we need more powers here in the Senedd. Secondly, on child poverty, you have my absolute support for all the measures on child poverty that you're introducing, and the universality of it. That is essential, for Cynnal and, obviously, the roll-out of universal free childcare as well. Just to put on record as well, it was me as a Liberal Democrat who made the deal with Labour for the 12.5 additional hours from Flying Start to be rolled out. That was a deal two years ago, and we want to see more. And I do want to just come back to your Deputy First Minister and myself. When we were previously on the back benches, we were like a stuck record, saying, 'Give us targets on child poverty, give us targets.' So, I'm really interested: what are your targets and when will we hear about them? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the First Minister cy
Diolch yn fawr iawn, a phrynhawn da i chi, Brif Weinidog.
Official English translation
Thank you very much, and good afternoon, First Minister.
1. Questions to the First Minister en
I welcome the emphasis in the consultation on increasing community energy, and I think it's shameful and shameless of Reform UK to abandon—[Interruption.] It's my job—to abandon and just to sideline net zero. The world is on fire. As the First Minister has said, you just needed to look and see and talk to the communities that we represent over the summer just to see how bad it is. To get back to the very good point raised by Gwyn in relation to the community energy issues, I was lucky enough to visit Hwb y Gors in the Amman valley, where community-owned wind turbines have paid for the renovation of the community centre there. But it took 10 years to secure planning permission, and we need to make it much easier for our communities to be able to own community energy. So, Prif Weinidog, what will you and the Government do to make sure that we accelerate this, so that, actually, communities can own that community energy and ensure that they see the benefits and we stop the world being on fire? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
2. Business Statement and Announcement en
Prynhawn da, Drefnydd. I'd like to request a statement, please, on the future of community hospital services in Powys. Earlier this month, Powys Teaching Health Board published proposals confirming the scale of change that's now on the table. Hospitals from Ystradgynlais to Llandrindod Wells could lose their in-patient beds entirely, leaving Powys with as few as 60 physical health beds across just two hospitals. Minor injury units and x-ray services would also disappear from several sites. You cannot plan healthcare for Powys as though we were in an urban area with another hospital only 10 minutes away. Geography matters for our population, which is ageing, as well. Families' ability to reach loved ones also matters, particularly those needing palliative care. There's also a serious question about the consultation itself, with the option of protecting our existing network of community hospitals discounted before residents even had a chance to respond. May I ask you what the Welsh Government would do to intervene and stop these proposals? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
3. Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience cy
Gaf i ddweud diolch yn fawr iawn am y datganiad sydd yn dod oddi wrthoch chi, Brif Weinidog? Mae'n dangos, onid ydy, pa mor bwysig yw hyn a'r digwyddiadau sydd wedi bod dros yr haf. Felly, diolch yn fawr iawn am wneud y datganiad ac am wrando arnom ni hefyd.
Official English translation
May I thank you for that statement from you, First Minister? It shows just how important this issue is and the events that we experienced over the summer. So, thank you very much for making this statement and for listening to our comments today.
3. Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience en
I also want to pay tribute to all of those firefighters, farmers, landowners, moorland managers, the army as well, for the work that they did. In my constituency this August, a wildfire in Glascwm just showed the importance of those people coming together and being resilient as a community. They brought tractors, bulldozers, water bowsers to a rapidly spreading fire over 30 hours. Machinery was pushed to its limits. One landowner has told me that he spent £4,500 on diesel tackling three wildfires in the space of that time. So, I really would like to know from you who will be brought together. It would be really good for some clarification, and Laura Anne has asked for that. Will that include moorland managers and farmers and people with the National Trust, for example, who are land managers as well? And moving forward, we know that climate change is going to be worse again next year. So, we really do need a plan in place and we'd love to know what your timescale is going to be, particularly for 2027, to make sure we've got things in place to make sure that we tackle this as well as we can. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Health and Care en
Prynhawn da, Weinidog. The issue of community beds in our communities and our local areas is really important, as you'll know, and I just wanted to focus in on Powys. I know we've had a discussion about this, but you'll know that there was a leak recently that Powys Teaching Health Board is considering stripping in-patient beds from eight out of our 10 community hospitals. That means that we will lose them from Ystradgynlais, Llandrindod, Builth, Knighton, Bronllys, Welshpool, Llanidloes and Machynlleth. That's up to 146 beds gone in a county with no district general hospital, where the population is older, more rural and further from alternative care than anywhere else in the country. We already know, don't we, that hospital stays in Powys average 40 days against the nationally agreed ambition of getting that down to 21. So, Cabinet Minister, I realise these plans are not confirmed as yet, but could I just ask for your views on these potential plans? And also, would you consider intervening, as did your equivalent in 2013 in Hywel Dda health board, when there was concern about a similar issue? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Young people and employment en
Thank you to Shav for bringing this forward. It's great to see that there is cross-party support. I really just want to say that when you meet a young person who cannot find a job, it is really heart-wrenching, because there is a sincere lack of hope and a cycle of desperation for that young person going forward. We know that the youth unemployment figure in Wales is actually rising. It's nine times faster than Scotland and five times faster than the UK average. So, what should concern us is not simply the level of youth unemployment, but the speed at which the situation is deteriorating. For too long, and let's not blame anybody, we have not seen action to deliver the investment and economic growth that creates those high-skilled jobs that young people need. Combine that with the rising costs of housing and the burden of student debt, as we've heard, and it becomes so much easier to understand why so many talented young people feel their future lies outside of Wales. But this shouldn't be a debate of despair, because that simply is not what young people are telling us. The Open University's business barometer, published this month, found that 71 per cent of young people who are not in education, employment or training, otherwise, as we've heard, known as NEET, would be willing to retrain or upskill to improve their prospects. Eighty two per cent say they would stay longer with an employer who invested in their development. That is heart-warming. This, then, is a crisis of opportunity, not a lack of aspiration—not a lack of aspiration on behalf of our young people. And I will always defend them when I hear all the time those phrases that are about negatively talking down our young people. They do point to the barriers that there are: poor mental health, financial pressures, employers asking for experience that they've never been given the opportunity to gain. These are not inevitable problems, but policy failures, and we want them to be fixed. I have three areas just to highlight. Firstly, as has been pointed out by many of the speakers, we must address the shortage of education and training places. The young person's guarantee is an important commitment, but it is only meaningful if opportunities exist behind the promise. Secondly, I believe we need to change how we support those young people who are furthest from the labour market. We've heard about those young people with disabilities, but I just want to talk briefly about those young people who've had the experience of care. Recent research from Action for Children found that one in four care-experienced young people lack the basic forms of identification needed to secure employment. Nearly a quarter have limited or no access to a mobile phone or computer, compared to just 7 per cent of their peers. And 41 per cent of care-experienced young people enter the labour market with a diagnosed mental health condition, nine in 10 of which say it affects their ability to find and keep their first job. These are problems on top of problems, compounded by a lack of understanding and support. My final point is this: we must not only respond to today's labour market, we must prepare for tomorrow's. As has been said, many of us, perhaps in this Siambr, started with part-time jobs or Saturday jobs, but that opportunity has virtually disappeared. Mine was a Saturday job in the pick-'n'-mix in Woolworths. Probably, most of you here don't even remember Woolworths, and don't even remember pick-'n'-mix. It was a dreadful job, because I not only had to administer the pick-'n'-mix, but I also had to administer Slush Puppies, and the Slush Puppies would regularly go on my feet, and my shoes would end up totally sugar covered. But that gave me the opportunity, believe me, to be able to get into the world of work and then to put on a cv the experience that I had. That matters, because today's entry-level job is tomorrow's skilled worker; it's the first rung of the ladder and if it disappears without being replaced, we risk quietly dismantling the pipeline that supplies the workforce that we need here in Wales. Our young people have not given up on Wales, but it can feel like Wales has given up on our young people. We need action, Minister. We need to hear from you what your plan is. We need to hear from you how you're going to engage with our young people in order to build the economy that we need to make sure that our young people have the opportunity to get into work and stay here in Wales. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
8. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Deposit-return scheme en
There seems to be absolutely no disagreement here in the Siambr that we need to support recycling and a deposit-return scheme. Really, the only thing I am wrestling with is that I seem to agree with the Conservatives in relation to their motion. So, my concern, like has been heard, is the decision to include glass when the rest of the UK is not. And that is why I voted against the DRS scheme when it came around here in the Senedd. There were a few reasons, and one is about listening to businesses. They are the heart and soul, big or small, of our economic system here in Wales. And the other, which is just to respond to the issue of 'Why shouldn't we do it here in Wales when we can see it in other countries?', is that, actually, we have a huge border with another country, a country that I want to continue working with. I don't want us to be independent. So, we need to be looking at how we are going to work with England, who have a huge border with us. Like many, I've spoken to businesses across my constituency, large and small, and the message has been remarkably similar: they support the scheme, they understand why we're doing it, but they're worried about the uncertainty created by a Welsh-only approach to glass. One conversation that really stuck with me was with a small independent cider producer. This is exactly the sort of business that we want to support. They told me that, even with the proposed four-year transition period, they still don't know how a separate Welsh system for glass will work alongside the rest of the UK. We also spoke to Radnor Hills, which is in my constituency, Wales's largest drinks producer, right on the border with England—literally, they're about five steps away from the English border. Around 95 per cent of their sales are outside Wales. They ask a simple question: does it really make sense to redesign production lines, labels and warehousing for the remaining 5 per cent? The answer clearly, for them, is 'no'. That warning matters because these are the businesses that have to make the scheme work. They need time to trial stores in store reverse vending machines, ensure accessibility, train thousands of colleagues and adapt complex supply chains. And, as we've heard, we've seen what happens when implementation gets ahead of preparation, in Scotland. We saw that their attempt to launch their own deposit-return scheme was delayed repeatedly before Circularity Scotland collapsed. Wales should learn from that experience, not repeat it. If we do that, Wales can continue to lead on recycling. We need to be listening to our businesses. We need not to be different for the sake of it. We need, in time, potentially, to develop a glass recycling scheme that the rest of the UK has the confidence to adopt. Let's get this right first. Then, let's lead. Diolch.
8. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Deposit-return scheme en
Thank you so much. I was going to come to that, and I was the one who mentioned the long border. The difference, though, is, isn't it, that Finland is a country on its own and makes its own laws, and there's no opportunity then for you to go—you have to go across a border, literally. I don't even know where Finland's—[Interruption.]
8. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Deposit-return scheme en
Thank you, Russia. I'm sure it's got a—.
8. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Deposit-return scheme en
So, could you—? Would you mind, please, Minister, addressing the issue around the border and how those companies—like Radnor Hills, for example—will be able to look at a scheme that works for them? We're looking at—
8. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Deposit-return scheme en
I've just asked you a question. Diolch, thank you.
3
Open this sitting on the stage
3. Business Statement and Announcement cy
Prynhawn da, Drefnydd. Dwi eisiau cario ymlaen efo'r pwnc o byllau nofio, os gwelwch yn dda—y pwll nofio ym Mhontardawe.
Official English translation
Good afternoon, Trefnydd. I want to continue with the issue of swimming pools, if I may—a swimming pool in Pontardawe.
3. Business Statement and Announcement en
For almost two years, my constituents in Pontardawe have been without their local swimming pool. Families, schools, swimming clubs and older people are now having to travel to either Neath or Ystradgynlais. And, as we've heard, it's really important for children as well to learn to swim. That's really, really important. Neath Port Talbot Council has done its part in completing a feasibility survey and identifying a preferred option for replacement, but there's still an £11 million shortfall. So, I was just wondering what could the Welsh Government do in order to help Neath Port Talbot Council to get that money in order to ensure that there is a swimming pool in Pontardawe. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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I do welcome this statement. Thank you very much for all of the work that's gone into it. You've said that you've got a laser focus on delivering this, having had the ambition that many of the parties here in this Siambr had. So, I really take issue with Reform UK and your spokesperson criticising the ambition, because you never had an ambition—nothing in your manifesto talked about childcare whatsoever. So, the criticism of the ambition is actually without any foundation. My question to you, though, if I may, is about our private providers. We do rely on private providers across Wales, and particularly in rural areas we see that they're really up against it. So, how will their interests be represented on your panel, because currently it's only through Cwlwm? Will you be looking to get more views from independent providers? And also how will that be rolled out in rural areas? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice cy
Prynhawn da i chi, Weinidog.
Official English translation
Good afternoon to you, Minister.
1. Questions to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice en
I also feel the same as you, it's really encouraging to hear how much focus there is on childcare. But, with the greatest of respect to Helen, it does, in my view, take some nerve for Reform UK to demand answers on childcare when your entire Senedd manifesto contained nothing on it at all. In a nation with nearly one in three children living in poverty and around one in 10 in deep material deprivation, Reform UK had nothing to say on it. The public are not confused at all about what's at stake here, despite Reform UK never mentioning it. They're very, very clear. A recent survey from Public Health Wales tells us that 70 per cent of people in Wales believe more affordable, accessible childcare would meaningfully reduce child poverty. I'm grateful that we're going to have a statement next week, Minister. Could I ask that that statement is made available to the spokespeople and those of us who are in smaller groups before, so that we're able to have an opportunity to be able to scrutinise it and to be able to ask you about it? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Member’s Legislative Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): A Bill on corporate parenting en
Diolch yn fawr iawn, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I do really want to start, as many have, by really praising Sarah and the work that you've done. I heard you on Radio Wales this morning, and what an advocate you are—an amazing interview, and you really put it across so clearly. Thank you very much. Diolch yn fawr iawn. I totally support this Bill. Let us just be clear, though, in passing this Bill, it does not require the Government to adopt it, which is a travesty and a tragedy. So, the least I expect the Deputy Minister to say is that this will be taken forward formally by the Government. And may I just say about the Deputy Minister—I do totally respect you—you have an amazingly broad brief. We've called for a Minister specifically for babies, children and young people, and that is what our babies, children and young people here in Wales deserve. So, I hope the Welsh Government will take this back and create another Cabinet role, at a very senior level, for that brief specifically. I've worked, as many of you will know, with children for over 25 years as a social worker. Most were lost, traumatised, desperate for love, and many of them, sadly, could only react by kicking out and feeling in a corner. 'Why do they do that?', many people ask. Because it's actually easier to reject straight away than think they are going to be loved and then find out later that they are not. So, they are immediately judged, they are rejected, they are damaged even more. They are our children. They belong to us. And we, in this Senedd, are responsible for them. There are currently more than 7,000 children in Wales who are looked after, yet their futures are shaped not just by social services but by our schools, our health service, our housing system and the wider public sector. Imagine what it feels like to be cared for by a series of agencies. That's not how it should be. They are our children and we need to provide them, as we've heard, with the highest level of care. You've heard that much of this is agreed across the Siambr, and it's really encouraging to hear that, but I do appeal specifically to the Deputy Minister here today: we must see this enshrined in legislation. We must see you take forward the seriousness that you take—and I know you do—for our babies, children and young people by adopting a ministerial role, so actually we can then give all of the issues that we want to give to that specific role. So, I look forward to hearing from the Minister, and once again I pay tribute to Sarah. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Member’s Legislative Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): A Bill on corporate parenting en
Will you take an intervention?
5. Member’s Legislative Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): A Bill on corporate parenting en
Thank you very much for doing that. Just on that point about should it be voluntary or should it be statutory, if you're a young person and you want to actually hold an agency to account and it's not statutory, what powers does that young person have? Would you agree that that, surely, is where we should be?
6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Ophthalmology services cy
Diolch yn fawr iawn ichi, Gwyn. Dyma un o'r rhesymau y mae pobl yn gwneud gwaith cyn iddyn nhw ddod i fyd gwleidyddiaeth, achos mae'n bwysig iawn ein bod ni'n clywed y profiad rydych chi wedi dod ag ef atom ni.
Official English translation
Thank you very much, Gwyn. This is one of the reasons why it's important that people work before they come into politics, because it is important that we hear the experience that you've brought to us.
6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Ophthalmology services en
I've got a very personal story. In 2016, I was a candidate for the Welsh Senedd in Maldwyn. Suddenly, the sight in my right eye went. I couldn't see anything. It was the day of the election, so I was slightly busy. I was in Newtown, and I really didn't know what to do. I did listen to that phrase, though, 'You should have gone to Specsavers', and I did. I went to Specsavers in Newtown and saw an optometrist—a very brilliant person who was able to almost immediately diagnose what my situation was, and she told me it was urgent, and I had to then attend Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals in the days after that. And I won't tell you that I might have driven in between, which I was told very clearly I shouldn't have done, but I'm just saying that there are really qualified people who can, at the front line, actually help people with sight problems, and we need to include them as well in this debate. I'm very grateful to them for saving the sight in my right eye. The electronic records didn't work. They didn't work across the borders at the time, so if we're aiming to get electronic records being shared in Wales, we also have to consider how they're going to be working across the border with those English hospitals that those of us who live on the border use, and I know the health Minister is thinking of that. We want to see a change in the approach here in Wales to sight. I wanted to also tell you about a gentleman who came to the Health and Social Care Committee. His name was Edward Kenna, and Edward had macular degeneration. I'm sure some of you have heard of his situation. Edward was sadly in a terrible place and wasn't able to save his sight, but he gave very clear evidence to the committee that changes should be made. I want to set out three things I want this Government to do differently in this arena. I want honesty, geography, and follow-through. Firstly, honesty about harm. Between 2021 and 2023, as the number of patients waiting beyond safe time frames climbed past 70,000, Wales managed to record only 45 incidents of harm. This was not because sight wasn't being lost. The Royal National Institute of Blind People Cymru, the royal college and the health boards themselves all told the committee that harm was almost certainly going uncounted, and that is unacceptable. If we cannot count the harm, we cannot be honest about the scale of the crisis. Secondly, geography. You won't be surprised that, being in a very rural area of Powys, I need to mention the rurality issue here. Being in a rural area means that we have particular challenges. I was very lucky; I found Specsavers in Newtown and a very qualified person was able to help me. But Powys, as we know, has no district general hospital, and we have to make other arrangements. I would like to hear from the Minister how we're going to deal with geography and rurality in this issue. And finally, we need to see follow-through. Too many patients are not once offered support—not emotional, not practical, not a single person to tell them where to turn. We don't need a new idea to fix this; we need an eye care support pathway with ophthalmology and optometry lying at the heart of it. That already exists, but we're not seeing it followed through. As we've heard, what we want to see is a single agency for ophthalmology that operates across Wales and offers our residents here, and those who use across the border, a really high-quality service. People losing their sight in Wales today are not losing it because we lack the medical knowledge to help them. They're losing it because of where they live, because we have not trained enough people to treat them and because too often, when they have tried to tell us something is wrong, nobody has been listening. I know that there is no burden on the Government to take this Bill forward, but I do hope that through this debate the health Minister will listen and look at what options there are to make sure that we deliver better on this. Diolch yn fawr.
5
Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the First Minister en
Good afternoon, First Minister. You're hearing a lot about Powys this afternoon. I will just follow up on the issue of us being really unfairly treated in Powys with the cross-border issues that we face. As we now know, there are rumours and concerns that we will miss out on our community beds in Powys. There are nine community hospitals in Powys and around 146 in-patient beds. These are vital in order to be able to deliver good-quality social care, to be able to get people home from hospital and to be able to move them out into their community. Therefore, what action will you be taking in order to intervene with Powys Teaching Health Board to stop the closure of those hospitals? Diolch yn fawr.
2. Business Statement and Announcement en
Prynhawn da, Drefnydd. Could I ask, please, for a statement on the worsening state of youth unemployment in Wales, particularly in rural areas like Powys? Data uncovered by the Welsh Liberal Democrats earlier this month show that youth unemployment in Wales is now the highest in the United Kingdom at 16.5 per cent. Wales has seen the steepest rise of any UK nation, increasing by 9.5 percentage points in the last year, almost nine times faster than Scotland and five times the UK average. Scotland can do it as a devolved nation, tackle youth unemployment, so I would like to ask you what is the Welsh Government doing in order to address youth unemployment and ensure that our young people, particularly in rural areas, are not leaving Wales for England for jobs, but are remaining in Wales and have the opportunity to work. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
4. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language: Welsh Language Priorities cy
Prynhawn da, Weinidog. Dwi eisiau chwifio'r fflag ar gyfer Powys, os gwelwch yn dda. Rydyn ni wedi gweld ym Mhowys bod cynnydd gwirioneddol a chroesawus yn y maes cyfrwng Cymraeg dros y blynyddoedd. Mae teuluoedd hefyd mewn ardaloedd gwledig ym Mhowys wedi teimlo bod mynediad at addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg yn cael ei gyfyngu gan ddaearyddiaeth yn hytrach na chan y galw. Mae hynny bellach yn dechrau newid, dwi'n falch i ddweud. Mae dwy ysgol pob oed yn symud tuag at fod yn ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg yn llwyr. Mae ysgol pob oed cyfrwng Cymraeg newydd yn cael ei chynllunio yng nghanol y sir, ac mae cynnig i ehangu darpariaeth mewn ysgol gynradd ger Aberhonddu ar fin cael ei gyflwyno i'r cabinet. Rydyn ni'n gwerthfawrogi cefnogaeth y Llywodraeth, wrth gwrs, ond mae angen mwy o arian ar y cyngor yna. Felly, beth allwch chi ei ddweud wrthym am yr arian a'r cymorth sydd ar gael i lefydd fel Powys, er mwyn sicrhau bod yr iaith Gymraeg yn cael ei chynnal yn fwy drwy ein hysgolion? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Official English translation
Good afternoon, Minister. I want to wave the flag for Powys, please. We've seen in Powys a real increase and a welcome increase in Welsh-medium education over the years. Families also in rural areas in Powys have felt that access to Welsh-medium education is being restricted by geography rather than by demand. That is starting to change, I'm pleased to say. Two all-age schools are moving towards being completely Welsh-medium. A new Welsh-medium all-age school is being planned in the middle of the county, and a proposal to expand provision in a primary school near Brecon is about to be put before the cabinet. We appreciate the support of the Government, of course, but more funding is required for that council. So, what can you tell us about the funding and the support available to places such as Powys to ensure that the Welsh language is maintained more through our schools? Thank you.
5. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Transport: Our Vision for the Devolution of Rail en
Good afternoon, Deputy Minister. Thank you for the statement. I do welcome your ambition, unlike Reform UK. I am totally perplexed by your statement that you feel that Wales does not have the skills to have rail devolved to Wales. You're always doing Wales down. But I do want to say that where we are now in terms of having rail devolved to Wales, we've been here for a number of years through the Welsh Government. I can see that, over the years, we've not seen any change whatsoever. In fact, just this year, David Chadwick MP tabled an amendment to the Railways Bill, which would have transferred responsibility for infrastructure, investment and long-term strategy to the Senedd within two years. Unfortunately, not a single Welsh Labour MP supported it. And so I do hope that when this comes back before the Labour Government, which it probably still will be, that there is persuasion given from the Senedd to Labour MPs in Westminster. I'd like to ask you specifically: Scotland have done this, so how are you learning from Scotland? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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I want to start with some really good news. On 18 June, we heard the most awesome news that children vaccinated aged 12 to 13 are now close to zero risk of dying from cervical cancer before the age of 30. Between 2020 and 2024, there were no cervical cancer deaths. That is in England, but that is something we need to celebrate in terms of the medical advancements. And I'd just like to hear from you, maybe in a letter, what is the situation in Wales, because it's something we need to celebrate—it really is. To hear that news is amazing. I just want to talk about social care, going back to a point I raised this morning—this afternoon, sorry—about Powys losing 146 social care beds. We could see hospitals going in Powys, in Builth, Knighton, Ystradgynlais, Machynlleth, Llanidloes, Welshpool and Bronllys. That is not going to help our challenge with social care in a rural area. So, please can I ask you what you are doing in order to stop the closure of those rural beds in Powys. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy cy
Rwy'n ddiolchgar iawn hefyd am y cyfle i ofyn cwestiynau ar y pwynt pwysig yma. A dwi'n cefnogi popeth mae Lis wedi'i awgrymu yn ei chwestiwn hi hefyd. Dwi eisiau, os yw hi'n iawn, jest sôn am beth rydych chi wedi ei wneud yn gorffennol—roeddech chi'n sôn yn eich ateb.
Official English translation
I'm very grateful for the opportunity to ask questions on this very important topic. And I support everything that Lis has suggested in her supplementary question too. If it's okay, I just want to talk about what you've done in the past, and you mentioned that in your response.
1. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy en
We were, in opposition, constantly arguing that undergrounding should become the default position for any new electricity infrastructure. You and I were both frustrated by the previous Welsh Government, and by the independent advisory group, both of whom were meant to provide clarity and direction, and neither did. After more than a year of delay, we found that the group admitted it could not reach that consensus, and communities right across Wales right now are faced with the threat of large-scale pylon developments. So, I want to hear from you: will this Welsh Government finally strengthen 'Planning Policy Wales' so that the presumption is in favour of undergrounding and is genuinely enforced? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
3. Questions to the Senedd Commission en
Let's be clear why GB News was banned from the Senedd estate in 2023—[Interruption.] If you'd like to respectfully listen. Thank you. It was following comments made by presenter Laurence Fox asking what, and I quote, 'self-respecting man' would 'climb into bed' with journalist Ava Evans. And he then went on to say, quote, 'Who’d want to shag that?' That went unchallenged. The situation was further worsened when Conservative Member Andrew R.T. Davies commented live on GB News that former Llywydd, Elin Jones, was too busy doing her hair to appear on the show. The Llywydd made the decision; it was not a political party. I find it perplexing that Members might wish to lift a ban within the Senedd, given that the ban was not about its political stance, but about misogyny and sexism. This is not an isolated issue. As we know, Ofcom have repeatedly found GB News to be in breach of their standards. So, Llywydd, I support the Commission's position, and I would want to come back on it if it was going to be reviewed the other way. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) cy
Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi, Beca, am ddod â'r mater yma o'n blaenau ni.
Official English translation
Thank you very much, Beca, for bringing this issue before us this afternoon.
6. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) en
And a very special thank you to Sarah for sharing, very bravely and courageously, your experience. Thank you so much. That was really important for us to hear. I was a child protection social worker for 25 years before I went to Westminster and then came to the Senedd, and my register of interests will show that my husband is still a child protection social worker. Despite those years of experience, I continue to learn, and for me that's so important. During my time on the Equality and Social Justice Committee, as it was, one thing became abundantly clear to me: that adverse child experiences do not happen in isolation. They are a panoply of issues, and we must seek to address these to prevent adverse child experiences. I want to start with someone affected. As we've heard really powerfully about James, I want to speak about Mimi from sir Gâr. She was adopted from Thailand as a baby, and she has reflected that early trauma linked to being taken into care as an infant shaped many of the difficulties she later faced. She also said that speaking with others with similar experiences, through support networks, has really helped her to make sense of what she's been through. She said, 'My mental health is better than what it was last year, but I still get those days where I cry a lot, overthink things and have no motivation.' So, I hope we can think about what we can do—well, we've talked about prevention—and that we prevent ACEs wherever we can. That means, for me, investing in families early on, before they reach the crisis point, through strong early years services, parenting support and tackling child poverty. It also means embedding children's rights into every decision that we make. Last year, myself and other Members in the Senedd at the time, and cross-sector, developed Bil pob plentyn, a Bill for every child, which was about making sure that children's interests were paramount to every decision that we make. Secondly, we need to respond better. An ACE should never define someone's future. That is why programmes such as Palix are so important. They help adults understand how childhood trauma has shaped their thoughts, behaviours and relationships, and I have worked with this programme and have seen the results and the outcomes. For many participants, simply understanding why they have felt or reacted in certain ways can be the first step towards recovery. But our institutions must also become trauma informed, and I would argue that we in the Senedd also need to be trauma informed. We need to be looking at trauma-informed training ourselves. Public Health Wales have found that people with four or more ACEs are around 20 times more likely to have been incarcerated than those with none. We can change this, though. That is why we should explore trauma-informed training for judges and magistrates and those working in our judicial system. New Zealand already trains judges in trauma, child development and family violence. The result is better informed decision making, a greater focus on rehabilitation and a stronger chance of breaking the cycle of repeat offending. That surely is an approach worth taking here in Wales, and one that we can do within our current legislation. Finally, ACEs are everyone's business. They affect our schools, our NHS, our housing services and our justice system. We cannot change a child's past, but we can change how we respond in the future. If we get prevention right, provide the right support and build trauma-informed institutions, we can ensure that childhood adversity does not determine someone's future. Let's do this on behalf of all the children I have worked with, all the children my husband continues to work with, all the children and adults in Wales who need us right now to understand and to listen to them. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the First Minister en
Good afternoon, Prif Weinidog. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have so many people asking questions on this important issue, and it's good to have cross-party support. I just want to focus on young carers, if I may. Twenty-two thousand young carers in Wales; that's one in six in our secondary schools. Young people like 16-year-old Ollie from Bridgend, who's cared for his younger brother for the past 10 years. They face a number of challenges: firstly, they cannot be children because their responsibilities are to care; secondly, there is very, very little help and support, because there are no assessments available to them, despite the Act. We're looking at assessments being at about the level of 2.67 per cent, of which half will receive support. So, straight away, we've got an issue there with our local authorities. It's not a protected characteristic. Finally, we've got those post-16-year-olds who are looking for support to continue in education, but can't do that because they have to forfeit their carers allowance. So, a number of issues for our young carers across Wales. I'd just like to ask you, Prif Weinidog: what will your Government do to help those young carers? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
3. Business Statement and Announcement en
Could I please request a statement from the relevant Minister with regards to the childcare programme and the timetable on this? I was pleased to hear the Deputy First Minister make a specific and clear commitment that initial costings and phasing details would be brought to the Senedd before the summer recess, and that's really encouraging news. And we also have the expert steering group having been set up, and I understand they've met for the first time, but we have 210,000 families across Wales who are living in poverty and really would benefit from that free childcare. So, whilst the announcement and the statement will be with us by the end of this Senedd term, could you give us an update, please, on the delivery of free childcare and how that will be rolled out, particularly within the challenges of local authorities? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Transport: Integrated Transport: North-South Coach Services en
Thank you very much for your statement, and it's great to see investment here in our bus services. I played a small role in promoting and ensuring that we secured the £1 bus fare for young people, and I know that, across the Siambr, when we jointly work, actually, we can improve the lives of people here in Wales. So, diolch yn fawr iawn. You referred to TrawsCymru services, but one of the TrawsCymru services that actually has gone back in time is actually the T4 service, which goes from Newtown to Cardiff—or at least it used to—via Brecon. It now stops at Merthyr, and at Merthyr, you have to get off the bus and wait for another bus, if you're lucky, or a train from Merthyr to Cardiff. Now, whilst you're promoting and investing in a new TrawsCymru service, we've actually got a problem, because many of the residents across mid Wales are suffering straight away because of the T4 services. So, I'd like to ask you: could you please ensure that you look at that service and ensure that we get a through service all the way from Newtown down to Cardiff, which is what we used to have? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Diolch yn fawr iawn, Lywydd, a diolch hefyd am y datganiad.
Official English translation
Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you for the statement.
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It's really great to hear so much talked about in relation to social care. That really is going to help us if we can get people out of hospital, but also stop them from going in in the first place. Because we know that last Christmas 558 in Wales spent that time in hospital when they were clinically ready to go home. That meant hundreds of people were not with their families at Christmas just because they couldn't get social care. And as we've heard, the figures haven't moved significantly. So I'm really pleased to hear that there is going to be a focus on social care. But I wonder if I could ask you, Gweinidog, if that's all right, about community hospitals and community beds. In rural areas, we know they're so important in order to get people out of those acute wards, help them to have an opportunity to get rehabilitation in those community beds, and to go home. So, can I just seek your assurance that there are no plans to reduce the number of community beds or to reduce the capacity in our community hospitals? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
5. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Stillbirth and neonatal mortality en
I speak for those of us in this Siambr, those of us who represent our constituents, and those of us who want to see improvements across Wales. And for those of us who have suffered baby loss, I do thank Sara for bringing forward this really important debate. Our first Member debate of the new Senedd tells us where our priorities should lie, and I am glad that they lie here, with families, with babies, with the people who care for them. This should not be a comfortable debate, and it is encouraging to see so many people here in this Siambr to listen to this important debate. It's not an opportunity to note reports or to recite statistics because it is an opportunity to focus in on those babies and families affected. It should be a moment to reckon honestly with how this institution—the Senedd—and the Welsh Government allowed a culture to take hold in our maternity services where recommendations were made, accepted and then forgotten. Over the past decade, maternity and neonatal services in Wales have been subject to more than 500 recommendations. Five hundred. That's extraordinary. We know that the Welsh Government previously accepted the recommendations from the 2026 assessment by Professor Sally Holland, but previous Governments accepted previous recommendations too. Acceptance is not implementation, so we do need to see real action. Like others, I want to highlight the amazing work of our midwifery, nursing and neonatal services across Wales, but let's grapple with some of the reality here. Between 2015 and 2023, over 22 per cent of midwives left NHS Wales within their first four years. Sickness rates remain high among neonatal nurses as well. The workforce planning tool Birthrate Plus has been widely criticised for underestimating postnatal workload and failing to account for sickness and skill mix. We cannot plan our way to safe care using numbers that do not reflect reality. I want to pay tribute as well, in the Siambr, to the work that Jenny did for us in raising this issue constantly. And I also want to echo the Royal College of Midwives Cymru, who say that staff shortages must be treated as an immediate safety issue. So, I'd like to hear, if I may, from the Deputy Minister, what additional planning and support is being made available to midwives to support them. Finally, as has been touched on, I want to outline how bereaved families in Wales are being failed twice: once when they lose their baby, and again when they reach out for help. Only five per cent of bereaved parents could access the mental health support that they wanted to access through the NHS. Myself and my family, we were very lucky—after our third baby loss, we were able to access mental health support. But what we see is the third lowest figure in the entire United Kingdom, with the highest stillbirth rate in the United Kingdom. The assurance assessment found that families who experienced loss were further traumatised by defensive responses from health boards. And I know myself that there is an element of shame in being able to both report and talk about the issues. Families cannot be made to feel blamed. People who come looking for answers need to find a system that is open. Every bereaved parent, regardless of where they live or what they have experienced, must be able to access that specialist support. So, finally, I ask the Deputy Minister today to confirm the timetable—and we've heard how important targets are as well—to ensure that every health board makes sure that they provide these services. No longer can we argue from ignorance. The hard work has already been done, and we pay tribute—and I pay tribute—to the families here today, and those families across the years and the decades who fought for these services. The Government must now take the opportunity to be different and move from acceptance to action. There are families still grieving, mourning the loss of babies who should still be alive. Without meaningful change, more families will suffer similar loss. We owe it to them to do better, not to add to their burden. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
Thank you very much for taking the intervention. You talked about not supporting NRW, but I wonder if you would support them with additional powers and additional resourcing.
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
I just really wanted to comment on some of the debate so far. I can understand some of the points that Niamh has shared. But I do want to say that, in this debate, Plaid Cymru are not doing things differently by the 'delete all' approach. I'm afraid we spoke consistently in the opposition about Labour and their 'delete all' amendments, and yet you're doing it, and it's very sad, because, actually, you could propose something really positive and get what we've heard, which is the cross-party working. So, at the moment, I can't see that Plaid Cymru are doing anything differently. I do also want to comment on the hypocrisy of Reform UK and the Conservatives in not talking about the effects of Brexit on our ability to hold water companies to account. Let's just hear from the experts, because you haven't talked about it, and you haven't owned it. And, yes, you may say that we're doing Brexit bingo— absolutely, I am going to go for it, because you do not take responsibility, both parties. So, let's just be clear what leaving the EU has meant for our water. We have diverged from EU rules governing hazardous substances, which you've talked about. The EU have introduced much stronger environmental laws, which is what we want here in Wales and the UK, because many of our rivers go cross-border—they go not just across Wales, but they go into England. So, you have taken us out of the EU and those strengthened laws. And finally, unfortunately, the Wildlife Trust—and I know some people in this Siambr, really support wildlife, but, the Wildlife Trust, let's listen to what they're saying—report that coming out of the EU 10 years later—this was only a report from yesterday—we have weaker environmental governance since Brexit to hold polluters to account. So, please, please, whatever you do in this debate, take responsibility for the decisions you've made.
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
Of course I will, Darren. What a delight.
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
Darren, I wasn't here at the time, and I'm speaking now from a position of being here over the past six years. So, please be respectful of that. I could go back years in terms of what you and your Government have done in Westminster, but I don't play those petty games. We're talking about rivers here. We're talking about the importance of our water. So, let me just say that there are three things that I just want to focus in on. We must close the monitoring gap. Afonydd Cymru has highlighted that 90 per cent of Welsh water bodies have been assessed as being in high status with no actual chemical monitoring data, but Dŵr Cymru's self-reporting data sits at 74 per cent, and Hafren Dyfrdwy's fell to just 60 per cent. So, we are regulating in the dark, and I look forward to hearing from the Minister how we're going to regulate both Dŵr Cymru and Hafren Dyfrdwy, because some of us represent water users from Hafren Dyfrdwy as well. We must demand more from our water companies—from the two—and many of us have spoken here about Dŵr Cymru. It presents itself as fundamentally different from shareholder-owned companies, and yet its outgoing chief executive received £500,000 in 2025-26.
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
Of course I will, Janet. What a delight.
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
I share your bafflement, Janet, yes. So, we share this, that we are concerned that Dŵr Cymru is actually almost operating as if it is a shareholder-owned company. We were promised in the last Senedd that there would be a review of Dŵr Cymru. I do appreciate that there's a new Government now, so I'm interested to hear whether there will be a review of Dŵr Cymru and actually the whole system and situation. Finally, may I just say this: we need to make sure that the polluter pays. There needs to be a system that holds polluters to account. There are a range of polluters, and I'm absolutely clear that we need not to be blaming one place or another. We need to be looking at it and working with people across the piece to make sure that we have a much better water regulation system. I do know that I'm running over here, Dirprwy Lywydd, but I have had a few interventions.
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
Diolch. Can I just finish off with this: the communities of Wales are not waiting for us; they are testing their own rivers now? They are in the courts, they are fighting for the rights of nature and the very least that we can do here in the Senedd, and that you as the Welsh Government can do, is to match their courage. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
Will you take an intervention?
7. Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act en
Thank you so much. Would you also accept the fact, and it is a fact, that 60 per cent of the EU laws have had to be put into UK laws, so, actually, we are not making our own laws?
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the First Minister en
Good afternoon, First Minister. Following on from James's issue, there are many of us here in the Senedd who represent Powys, and Powys is unusual because it has no general hospital. It's the only health board in Wales with no general hospital, so those on the east of Powys have to go to English hospitals. And we have patients in English hospitals who are waiting longer next to beds where there are English patients who have not waited as long as those Welsh patients. That is surely a matter of equality for those patients. So, like many in the Senedd here today, and those who have gone before—and I do pay credit to many who have raised it; since July 2024 we have had this issue—we need a better deal for Powys, for definite. We know that Powys Teaching Health Board is £44 million in deficit, so there is an issue around how much funding they get, and we want to make the appeal once again that Powys is looked at differently to other health boards. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
2. Business Statement and Announcement en
Good afternoon, Trefnydd. I'm going to raise an issue around one of those really awkward constitutional issues. It's about the devolution of rail. I'd like a statement, please, on what the Welsh Government is doing in order to accelerate the real concerns and queries that we have around both the devolution of the rail network and services to Wales, because it makes such a difference to the people here in Wales. I was disappointed, I'll be honest, that the first statement from your transport Minister was about prioritising roads, where we should be actually prioritising the development of our public transport system. But I really hope that this Welsh Government is going to be different to the last Welsh Government and to the Labour Westminster Government as well, who really have treated Wales with such disdain. If we'll just remind ourselves, particularly today, as we see a potential Westminster Labour leader hopeful, Darren Jones—. Let's remind ourselves what Darren Jones actually said to David Chadwick, a Liberal Democrat MP, when he asked about HS2 funding coming to Wales. He said we should be grateful for that money—we should be grateful. That is not the way that we should be treated. So, I'm really hoping you can tell me that you're going to stand up to the Westminster Government and get devolution of the rail system here to Wales. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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I'm sorry, but I'm going to join in with the concern that there is around the commission. We had our last commission two years ago, and they reported really clearly: further powers, further devolution. I totally agree with that. But it's really concerning to see and hear again that Plaid Cymru are going to launch another. I'm really concerned to know from you what that's going to cover. But if I can just move on to the other part of your priorities as well, you talk about a whole-system approach. Here we are on the hottest day of the year so far here in Wales, and there are more to come. Your statement in terms of effectiveness says nothing about the effect of climate change on all of those services that you are looking for a cross-cutting approach to. I know that the Minister for resilience and sustainability will talk about this, but your role surely is to have a helicopter approach to every single issue that affects the services that you're seeking to deliver across Wales. Climate change is the biggest issue affecting us here, not just in Wales, but in the UK, and in the world, and I'd like to see more of that coming across in further statements from yourself. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Thank you very much for the statement. I welcome much in it, but I particularly wanted to comment positively on rural-proofing becoming a statutory duty. I also wanted to talk about the climate emergency. I know in the last contribution I made I talked about the temperatures we have here today, and they're going to be increasing. We're going to be seeing many organisations looking at Wales and your role to ensure that we do really take action on the climate emergency. Many people want to see net zero—not two parties in this Siambr, of course, and we know who they are—and the Reform UK spokesperson on farming is completely wrong. NFU Cymru are an organisation that want to see net zero by 2040, an ambitious goal that they are setting. This is farmers saying that they want to be involved in the work to ensure that there is net zero. I'll tell you what's giving farmers a red tape headache. Here we are, a decade after leaving the EU, and it's Brexit that's giving our farmers an absolute nightmare when it comes to red tape—
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I would like to know from you, if I may, Minister, what are you doing in order to work with the UK Government to help our farmers in order to make sure that the challenges that we have around leaving the EU are addressed? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Finance: The First Supplementary Budget 2026-27 cy
Diolch yn fawr am y cyfle, a phrynhawn da i chi, Weinidog.
Official English translation
Thank you very much for the opportunity, and good afternoon to you, Minister.
5. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Finance: The First Supplementary Budget 2026-27 en
Two things and one question, if I may. Firstly, the £1 bus fare. I'm really pleased to see that included. Just a reminder, it was a Welsh Liberal Democrat initiative in the budget deal with Labour, and I am really pleased to see that it is continuing. It has been really successful. Secondly, it's really great to see all the initiatives looking to tackle child poverty included. I'm really looking forward to hearing detail about Cynnal. We know that in Scotland, 100,000 children have been lifted out of child poverty due to their child payment. We know that 40 per cent of nought to four-year-olds here in Wales are living in poverty, so I am really pleased to see that some action is going to be taken there. But we know that poverty is linked to other things. It's not just about a payment—it's about housing, it's about infrastructure as well. Wales surely needs to look at its borrowing powers. We know that in Scotland, they can borrow up to £3 billion, but Wales can only borrow up to £150 million. Will you be taking that forward for the next budget? Diolch yn fawr.
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Good evening, Minister. Thank you very much for the statement, and I'm really pleased to hear that you're focusing in part on rural healthcare and rural preventative services. I started the Siambr session asking the First Minister about Powys and our waiting times. Many of our patients are waiting for two years because of the cross-border concerns and that we have patients now no longer able to access hospitals across the English border, so the waiting times have increased. So, I'd like your response to that please. And secondly, on social care, again in Powys, in May, 111 people were in hospital, from Powys, who shouldn't have been there because of social care. So, could I ask you, on your pan-Wales director for out-of-hospital services, is that a role that's going to be looking at social care both before, hopefully, we have the need for people to go into hospital, and to get them out of hospital as well? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution cy
Llongyfarchiadau ar eich swydd chi hefyd.
Official English translation
Congratulations on your role too.
2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution en
Unlike Reform UK, I do want to talk about something that affects the people of Wales directly and affects women. The devolution of justice and policing is not an abstract debate—it has real human consequences, and in the last Senedd, the Equality and Social Justice Committee concluded that the current devolution settlement is causing direct harm to women in Wales. There is no women's prison in Wales. Welsh women serving custodial sentences are held in England far from their families and far from their communities, and far from the support services that they need. We do not want more prison places. We do not want more prison places for women here in Wales. What we want are other resources, such as what was promised us under the last Labour Government, the Swansea residential women's centre. It is vital and was promised to us. So, what will you be doing in order to ensure that women in Wales are not being failed? What is your plan for securing these powers and a timetable? Diolch yn fawr.
3. Business Statement and Announcement cy
Prynhawn da i chi, Drefnydd.
Official English translation
Good afternoon, Trefnydd.
3. Business Statement and Announcement en
Can I request a statement please on NHS dentistry? We have a desperate situation, I know, across Wales, and many people have heard from constituents around not being able to access an NHS dentist. In my own constituency, including Powys, we know that there are 4,600 adults and 270 children on the dental waiting list in Powys, with the health board actually saying that the numbers of children are rising. And across Wales, we know that NHS dental coverage has fallen from 53 per cent to just 40 per cent today. And for children in Wales, only 48 per cent receive NHS treatment, as opposed to 90 per cent in Scotland. So, somehow, they're getting it right in Scotland. I'd like to, if possible, ask for a statement to the Senedd on NHS dentistry. We didn't hear that in the Minister's statement, and I know it affects more than just me, but others as well. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Equality en
Good afternoon, Minister. We've heard about the free school meals provided, which was a Plaid Cymru initiative with the Labour Government, but I want to go to even younger children, the early years and the role of nutrition in the first 1,000 days. We know how important nutritious food is in brain development in babies, both in pregnancy and in those first 1,000 days. Key nutrients such as vitamin D are absolutely essential, and if you are poor and you are not able to afford a full range of nutritious food, then that hampers that child's development from the very, very early point. It also affects, as we know, mental health and adverse childhood experiences. I just wonder if we could just hear a little bit more about your role, both in terms of early years, but also in terms of social justice, in terms of making sure we get that food to those babies in the first 1,000 days. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
2. Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability en
Welcome to your role and good afternoon, Minister. Great minds think alike. I refer Members to my register of interests. I am a supporter of Greyhound Rescue Wales and an owner, a proud owner, of a rescue greyhound, and I know some other Members of the Senedd are. You’ve referred to the legislation that was introduced, despite, I know, some reservations that you had, and a very, very few others had, around the introduction of the greyhound racing ban. It was the culmination of years of determined campaigning by animal welfare organisations, rescue charities and thousands of people across Wales who have consistently spoken up for dogs who have no voice of their own. I was proud that, collectively, as a Senedd, we judged that the injuries, fatalities and entirely avoidable suffering associated with greyhound racing were no longer justified in a modern Wales. Therefore, could I ask you, please, Cabinet Minister, to put on record today that you confirm that your Government will honour both the letter and the spirit of the legislation and ensure that it is implemented fully, properly resourced and without avoidable delay? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Diolch, Lywydd. This week is Infant Mental Health Awareness Week and this year's theme is attunement, the ability of parents and carers to notice, understand and respond sensitively to a baby's emotional needs. For a baby, those early relationships shape everything that follows. When a parent or carer is able to respond with warmth and consistency, a child learns safety, trust and security. They begin to understand that their needs will be met and they are not alone in distress. But for too many families in Wales, they are under real pressure. Poverty, poor parental mental health, domestic abuse and trauma can make those early months incredibly hard. Parents who are struggling themselves often need support, not judgment, if they're to give their baby the care that they want to provide. That is why early intervention matters so much. We need strong universal services for all families, alongside specialist parent-infant support for those facing the greatest challenges. Help available early, not only in crisis. Because when we invest in babies' mental health, we invest in the future of Wales. Infant Mental Health Awareness Week is this week, and I urge all colleagues across the Senedd to champion babies' rights and to help ensure that every baby and every family in Wales can access the support that they need for the best possible start in life. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Reform UK Debate: Childcare offer en
Will you take an intervention?
5. Reform UK Debate: Childcare offer en
Thank you so much for accepting the intervention. You were talking there about families and the pressure that they're under, and we're talking about child poverty and those that are poorer families and how important childcare is, but would you also accept that it was the Conservative UK Government that introduced the two-child benefit cap, which has made so many parents so poor and has put people in a very difficult position? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Reform UK Debate: Childcare offer en
This debate is really important, isn't it? This is the moment where we move beyond the question of whether to expand childcare and into the harder, more pressing question of how to get this right. But it is very perplexing that Reform UK, who have brought this motion today, had not a single commitment on childcare in their Welsh manifesto. In a nation with the least generous childcare offer in the UK and parents spending close to 60 per cent of their wages on childcare, Reform had nothing to say. And in a nation that has 30 per cent of our children living in poverty, Reform had nothing to say. Families deserve full transparency, full costings and a comprehensive timetable, but they also deserve to know who has genuinely championed this issue and who is only now using this as a political tool. [Interruption.] Of course, yes.
5. Reform UK Debate: Childcare offer en
Thank you, but I must thank the Member, because it reinforces what I was saying. I must also be equally honest about the Government's 'delete all' amendment, something that they were not slow to criticise, as was I, when they were on the receiving end of them in opposition. Deleting a motion that calls for accountability and replacing it with a recitation of the Government's own commitments is not the answer to the question families in Wales are now asking. I was pleased to hear, though, both yesterday and this morning, the Deputy First Minister's commitment to bringing initial costings and phasing to the Senedd before the summer recess. I will be here, as will many, when the summer recess approaches, to ask whether they have been kept—not to score points, but because hundreds and thousands of children in Wales are depending on it. Public Health Wales have made it clear that the first 1,000 days of a child's life represent the most critical window for intervention. Every month without a clear, accessible, affordable childcare system is a month that cannot be recovered. That may have irreparable consequences. That is why I continue to urge the Welsh Government to get this right. This will be Plaid Cymru's defining test. Welsh families need a date, they need published costings, they need to know in plain terms whether this policy will actually reach them. I want to end by laying out three ways in which I will be pressing you to do this. Firstly, reach—a universal offer that works for all families across Wales. Secondly, quality. Flying Start works because, as we've heard, it is more than just childcare hours. It is speech and language support, for example. And thirdly, honesty. The previous Welsh Government committed to Flying Start for all two-year-olds through a budget agreement with myself. By April of this year, only 66 per cent of all eligible children were receiving it. Good intentions have a poor track record of being sufficient on their own. Deputy First Minister, I'd be grateful if you could give us your reassurances on those points. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
11
Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the First Minister en
Good afternoon, Prif Weinidog. Do you know, I find it absolutely astonishing that there are still calls from Reform UK to cut the tax revenue? Such proposals are just completely reckless when our communities and our public services are really facing cuts. And let us also not forget that many of those calling for tax cuts were also among the strongest advocates of Brexit. Wales continues to pay the price of that decision, and recent analysis suggests that Brexit is costing the Treasury £90 billion every year, and Wales £3 billion every year, losing that revenue. So, would you agree with me, Prif Weinidog, that we need well-funded public services and that tax cuts should not be happening? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
1. Questions to the First Minister cy
Dyma fi eto. Diolch yn fawr iawn, Lywydd.
Official English translation
Here I am again. Thank you very much, Llywydd.
1. Questions to the First Minister en
Good afternoon, again, Prif Weinidog. To get to question 12, that is a real achievement. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
1. Questions to the First Minister cy
12. Beth yw blaenoriaethau presennol Llywodraeth Cymru ar gyfer gofal plant? OQ64131
Official English translation
12. What are the Welsh Government's current priorities for childcare? OQ64131
No broadcast timestamp published, so this contribution cannot be placed on the stage. Senedd TV Read this in the Record
1. Questions to the First Minister en
Diolch yn fawr iawn. First Minister, I warmly welcome your ambition on childcare. The contrast with Reform, who offered nothing on this issue, could not be clearer. Wales has the least generous childcare offer in the UK, despite having the lowest wages and highest child poverty in any UK nation. That's why a truly universal system, one that fills the gaps our current confused and fragmented offer leaves behind, is absolutely essential. We know that 75 per cent of children in poverty living in Wales now live in working households. A mother on a low wage with a child under two can spend nearly 60 per cent of her earnings on childcare. A universal offer not deliberately designed to reach the most disadvantaged risks bypassing the very families that it should serve. Therefore, Prif Weinidog, could you outline your plans and your party's plans going forward for this very welcome universal free childcare offer? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
2. Business Statement and Announcement en
Good afternoon, Trefnydd. I'd like to request a statement from the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability on the urgent need for a nationally televised emergency briefing on climate and nature. In November 2025, 10 of the UK's foremost independent experts gathered together to set out the full and alarming scale of the climate and nature crisis facing us. The evidence is unambiguous. Wales, the UK and the world are facing accelerating threats to our food security, health, infrastructure, economy and national security. Over 100 MPs have already signed a cross-party parliamentary call for a prime-time televised briefing delivered by those independent experts, and I've tabled a statement of opinion to this effect this week as well. So, I'd like to just ask the Welsh Government: would you consider calling for a prime-time televised viewing of this emergency national briefing? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Diolch yn fawr iawn, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Gaf i ddweud tri pheth, os gwelwch yn dda? Yn gyntaf, gaf i eich croesawu chi i'r gadair? Gaf i'ch croesawu chi, Siân Gwenllian, i'r swydd? A hefyd, allaf i groesawu eto fod holl aelodau'r Llywodraeth yn aros yma dros y datganiadau dŷn ni'n eu clywed? Mae hynny mor bwysig achos maen nhw'n draws weinidogol, ac mae'n bwysig eich bod chi, dwi'n gobeithio, yn gallu clywed beth ydy'r ymatebion i'r datganiadau. Felly, diolch yn fawr iawn am hynny.
Official English translation
Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I make three points, please? First of all, can I welcome you to the chair? Can I welcome you, Siân Gwenllian, to your role? And also, can I once again welcome all members of Government staying here for the statements? It is so important because they are cross-cutting issues and it is important that you, I hope, can listen to the responses to these statements. So, thank you very much for that.
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But to go to the subject, you mentioned previously, Cabinet Minister, how homelessness affects children, and I just really wanted to raise that issue and just hear a little bit more from you, if I may. We know that the Children's Commissioner for Wales surveyed 9,000 children, and housing and homelessness was among their top-four priorities. We heard from children about insecure and unsuitable accommodation, lack of adapted or accessible housing for disabled children, poor housing conditions, including damp, mould and overcrowding. I just also wanted to touch base on those children in our care. We know that a quarter of children leaving our care find themselves homeless. So, Cabinet Minister, I wonder if I could ask you what work you're doing specifically to focus on children and the children who are in our care, our responsibility, and how are you going to be listening to their views and experiences? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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Croeso i'r swydd. Rwy'n falch o'ch gweld chi yn y swydd yma.
Official English translation
Welcome to your post. I'm pleased to see you in this role.
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It's really great to see your focus here on child poverty. As you know, having been a child protection social worker for 25 years, I will continue to keep an eye on what you’re doing, because this surely must be Plaid Cymru's defining test: to change child poverty. You and I were members of the committee in the Senedd that heard about the importance of childcare to tackle child poverty. I welcome the Government's ambition—a stark contrast to Reform UK, who had no childcare commitments whatsoever in their manifesto. The previous Government made the right commitments, and still we have only 66 per cent of two-year-olds receiving Flying Start by April of this year. Wales's children cannot afford another approach that does not deliver, and I hope that isn’t the case. I’m pleased to hear about your focus on the UNCRC as well. We know that one of the articles is about listening to children, and that is within Bil pob plentyn as well, which, as you know, we laid as a cross-party group in the last Senedd. How will you be listening to children, particularly those who are living in poverty and have had experiences of poverty? Surely that’s the most important thing that we can do in order to make sure we deliver the right sort of services for them. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Transport: Key Infrastructure Resilience en
Welcome to your role, and thank you for your time in meeting with me as well. I very rarely agree with James Evans, but in this regard, I have to say, this is not a statement that covers the whole of Wales. And that is a real shame because that's what I think many of us were expecting. A modern transport strategy cannot just be built around roads, and not in just two parts of the country. It must also include sustained investment in our rail and bus network across the whole of Wales. Looking at rail, we know that Transport for Wales carried around 31 million passenger journeys, an increase of 20 per cent, which shows that actually people are wanting to go on trains if they can be improved and invested in. And on buses, I was particularly proud to work with the Welsh Labour Government on the £1 bus fare for children and young people. So, I'd like to hear from you how you are going to invest in our buses and how we're going to look at how we can have a modern transport strategy for the whole of Wales. Please can you outline exactly how that's going to happen? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
3
Open this sitting on the stage
1. Questions to the First Minister en
Good afternoon, First Minister. I just want to go back to the issues around Dŵr Cymru, if I may, please. In just two years, people have seen their average water bill rise by over 30 per cent, yet this has not translated into clear improvements in water quality. England and Wales remain the only countries in Europe to have fully privatised water and sewerage services. At the same time, senior pay, as we've heard, remains extremely high. The previous chief executive of Dŵr Cymru received an annual salary close to £900,000. The current, new chief executive, Roch Cheroux, who joined from Sydney Water in Australia—another large water company, which has faced ongoing challenges with sewage overflows and water quality—his salary is going to be between £420,000 and £460,000. I think that is pretty shameless. So, I would like to ask you what action you will be taking in order to address both the disparity in our water bills increasing and the pay that we're seeing for the senior executives, and ensuring that we get improved water. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
4. Business Statement and Announcement en
Good afternoon, Trefnydd—welcome to the role. Could I ask, please, for a statement from the Deputy Minister for Public and Preventative Health on the urgent gaps in gambling harms here in Wales? Following the introduction of the gambling harms levy, £1.3 million in funding was awarded entirely to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. But since April, the newly funded service has been unable to meet the needs of all referred clients, leaving dedicated third sector organisations to pick up the pieces and self-fund treatments. Equally concerning is the continued delay by Public Health Wales in establishing prevention commissioning arrangements. With around two people every day in the United Kingdom dying by suicide linked to gambling harms, timely access to support truly can mean the difference between life and death. So, I wonder if you could take that back to the relevant Deputy Minister. And it is great, actually, to see all of the Cabinet and Deputy Ministers here listening to these questions. So, I do hope that we're able to get answers and responses to our statements. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
5. Statement by the Cabinet Minister for Health and Care: Health and Care Priorities en
Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd, and good afternoon, Cabinet Minister. Welcome to your new role. I just wanted to ask about social care. I know you and I have both raised this issue in the previous Senedd. We know that, right now, 1,275 people are stuck in hospital beds unnecessarily. They are waiting for social care, either for delivery of the services or for assessments. These people, the ones deteriorating in wards when they should be at home, are the ones that need urgent results. We know that the Welsh Local Government Association has projected a social care funding gap of over £200 million this year alone, yet the previous budget provided only £180 million across both health and social care. In November, your good self described social care as the most underfunded and overlooked pillar of Welsh healthcare, and you were absolutely right. So, could you please outline exactly what your response is to those people stuck in hospitals right now? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
2
Open this sitting on the stage
3. Statement by the First Minister: The First Minister's Priorities cy
Prynhawn da i chi, Brif Weinidog, a chroeso mawr i'r swydd hefyd. Diolch yn fawr iawn am osod allan y blaenoriaethau, a dwi'n eu croesawu nhw i gyd—
Official English translation
Good afternoon, First Minister, and a warm welcome to your new role. Thank you very much for setting out your priorities, and I do welcome them all—
3. Statement by the First Minister: The First Minister's Priorities en
—particularly the one on child poverty, which we've touched on today, and the cost of living, the NHS, childcare. Where you move with real pace and urgency on these issues, you'll find in me a constructive partner. I want to speak for those not in the Siambr today: the young people who can't see a future for themselves in Wales, the families who dread opening their bills, and the carers holding together a social care system running on empty. One point two million people in Wales didn't vote 12 days ago, not out of apathy, but because they have lost faith in a system here in Cardiff bay that can't find its way into their lives. If we want the people of Wales to believe things can be different, that we can tell them that NHS waiting lists will be different in two years' time, that we can tell them that child poverty will be reduced, that we can tell them what progress we can make at the end of this Senedd term, then we need targets, something that many of us in the last Senedd asked for. So, may I ask you, Prif Weinidog, when will you be setting out the clear targets that your Government will be making in these key areas? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
1
Open this sitting on the stage
1. Election of the Presiding Officer under Standing Order 6 en
I second Huw Irranca-Davies.
Roll-call divisions, by sitting day
70 recorded votes. Official division result.
- For
- 32
- Against
- 15
- Abstain
- 2
- Did not vote
- 21
Counted by Siambr: a sum of the official division rows.
For Against Abstain Unlit desk: did not vote
3 divisions
Members' Legislative Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): An NHS first Bill
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- Motion For Agreed
Reform UK Debate: Prostate cancer strategy
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- Motion For Agreed
Welsh Labour Debate: The M4 around Newport
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- Motion Against Agreed
3 divisions
Reform UK Debate: Local referendums on council tax rises
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- Motion Did not vote Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Did not vote Agreed
- Motion as amended Did not vote Agreed
6 divisions
Reform UK Debate: Regional rugby
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- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan For Not agreed
- Motion For Not agreed
Reform UK Debate: Access to HMOs and social housing for foreign nationals
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- Motion Against Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan a Lynne Neagle For Agreed
- Motion as amended For Agreed
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Family Drug and Alcohol Courts
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- Motion For Agreed
1 division
Debate: Fiscal Reform
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- Motion For Agreed
4 divisions
Reform UK Debate: Default 20 mph speed limit
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- Motion Did not vote Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Did not vote Agreed
- Motion as amended Did not vote Agreed
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The defence sector
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- Motion Did not vote Agreed
5 divisions
Reform UK Debate: Wales and the United Kingdom
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- Amendment 2tabled in the name of Lynne Neagle For Not agreed
- Motion as amended Abstain Agreed
- Motion For Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan For Agreed
Welsh Labour Debate: Further education
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- Motion For Agreed
10 divisions
Reform UK Debate: Grooming gangs
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- Motion Did not vote Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Did not vote Agreed
- Amendment 2tabled in the name of Paul Davies Did not vote Not agreed
- Motion as amended Did not vote Agreed
Reform UK Debate: Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board health visitor pay dispute
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- Motion Did not vote Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Did not vote Agreed
- Amendment 2tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Did not vote Not agreed
- Amendment 4tabled in the name of Lynne Neagle Did not vote Agreed
- Motion as amended Did not vote Not agreed
- Amendment 3tabled in the name of Paul Davies Did not vote Not agreed
5 divisions
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Deposit-return scheme
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- Motion For Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Against Agreed
- Motion as amended Against Agreed
Reform UK Debate: Bovine TB
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- Motion For Agreed
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Young people and employment
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- Motion For Agreed
2 divisions
Legislative Consent Motion: Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill
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- Motion For Agreed
Debate: The First Supplementary Budget 2026-27
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- Motion Against Not agreed
4 divisions
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Ophthalmology services
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- Motion For Agreed
Reform UK Debate: The tourism sector
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- Motion Against Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan For Agreed
- Motion as amended For Agreed
4 divisions
Debate: Fair Funding
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- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Lynne Neagle Against Not agreed
- Amendment 2tabled in the name of Llŷr Powell Against Not agreed
- Amendment 3tabled in the name of Paul Davies Against Not agreed
- Motion For Not agreed
4 divisions
Reform UK Debate: Nation of Sanctuary
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- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan For Agreed
- Motion as amended For Agreed
- Motion Against Not agreed
Welsh Labour Debate: Funding for additional learning needs in the first Supplementary Budget 2026-27
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- Motion Abstain Agreed
10 divisions
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Hospital services and hospital closures
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- Motion For Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Against Not agreed
- Amendment 2tabled in the name of Lynne Neagle For Agreed
- Amendment 3tabled in the name of Llŷr Powell Against Agreed
- Amendment 4tabled in the name of Lynne Neagle For Not agreed
- Motion as amended For Agreed
Reform UK Debate: A Welsh Rivers Act
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- Motion For Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Against Not agreed
- Amendment 3tabled in the name of Paul Davies Against Not agreed
- Amendment 2tabled in the name of Lynne Neagle For Not agreed
4 divisions
Reform UK Debate: Government international spending
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- Motion Did not vote Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan Did not vote Agreed
- Motion as amended Did not vote Agreed
Reform UK Debate: Statutory register for lobbyists
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- Motion Did not vote Agreed
5 divisions
Reform UK Debate: Childcare offer
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- Motion Against Not agreed
- Amendment 1tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan For Agreed
- Amendment 2tabled in the name of Lynne Neagle For Agreed
- Motion as amended For Agreed
Welsh Labour Debate: School support staff negotiating body
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- Motion For Agreed