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.
Contributions
147 contributions on record. Newest first, by sitting day. Page 3 of 4. Counted by Siambr
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Croeso i'r swydd hefyd, Gwnsler Cyffredinol.
Official English translation
Welcome to your new position, Counsel General.
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Thank you very much for raising this issue. I just want to refer back to an issue that I raised on this concern with the First Minister, where he acknowledged the unfairness in the waiting system facing Powys patients, and that he recognised it as a matter of equity. He said: 'we will have the interests of the people of Powys at heart.' That actually sits quite uneasily with the Powys patients, because that is not what is happening. We hear that the buck is being passed, and I'll be absolutely honest and respectful to you, but we're hearing that from you as well. You're talking about frameworks, you're talking about seamless services. These words mean nothing to Powys patients who are waiting to have their operations, which will relieve them of pain. You mentioned that there is a statutory framework in place in order to look at the services, so my challenge to you in your role is: will you change and challenge those statutory frameworks in order to allow Powys patients who live on the border access to English hospitals in the same waiting time that English patients have? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
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[Inaudible.]—Llywydd. I'm so sorry, I'm sure you didn't mean to say this, but you referred to me as 'a lady', and I really don't find that acceptable.
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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.
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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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Of course I will, Darren. What a delight.
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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.
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Of course I will, Janet. What a delight.
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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.
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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.
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Will you take an intervention?
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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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Llongyfarchiadau ar eich swydd chi hefyd.
Official English translation
Congratulations on your role too.
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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.
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Prynhawn da i chi, Drefnydd.
Official English translation
Good afternoon, Trefnydd.
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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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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.
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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.
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Will you take an intervention?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Dyma fi eto. Diolch yn fawr iawn, Lywydd.
Official English translation
Here I am again. Thank you very much, Llywydd.
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Good afternoon, again, Prif Weinidog. To get to question 12, that is a real achievement. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
- Not timed: the Record publishes no broadcast time for this contribution, so Siambr cannot place it on the stage.
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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.
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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.
- on the clip
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.
- on the clip
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.
- on the clip
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.
- on the clip
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.
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Each page holds 50 contributions at most and keeps a sitting day whole, unless the day alone is over 50.
Sources
The Record of Proceedings for each sitting day, quoted verbatim.