57 contributions on record. Newest first, by sitting day. Page 2 of 2. Counted by Siambr
7. Pa gamau y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu cymryd i hyrwyddo dull trawslywodraethol o wella canlyniadau i bobl niwroamrywiol? OQ64164
7. What action is the Welsh Government taking to promote a cross-government approach to improving outcomes for neurodivergent people? OQ64164
Diolch am eich ymateb, Brif Weinidog. Un o'r pethau sy'n fy nharo wrth siarad â phobl niwroamrywiol, eu teuluoedd a darparwyr arbenigol yw mai'n anaml y mae profiad o wasanaethau cyhoeddus wedi'i gyfyngu i un adran neu wasanaeth, ac maent yn dweud wrthyf yn barhaus fod symiau sylweddol wedi'u buddsoddi dros nifer o flynyddoedd ar draws gwahanol rannau o'r system, ond maen nhw i gyd yn gytûn nid yw'r canlyniadau wedi gwella cymaint ag y disgwyliwyd, ac nid yw'r gwasanaethau wedi'u hintegreiddio ar draws meysydd. Gyda hynny mewn golwg, sut mae Gweinidogion yn gweithio ar y cyd i sicrhau bod penderfyniadau ariannu a dylunio gwasanaethau niwrowahaniaeth i gyd yn tynnu i'r un cyfeiriad? Diolch.
Thank you for that response, First Minister. One of the things that strikes me in speaking to neurodivergent people, their families and specialist providers is that very rarely is their experience of public service limited to one department or to one service, and they tell me time and again that significant sums have been invested over a number of years across different parts of the system, but they are all agreed that the outcomes haven't improved as much as expected, and the services aren't integrated across different areas. With that in mind, how are Ministers working together to ensure that funding and service-design decisions for neurodiversity are all pulling in the same direction? Thank you.
Gweinidog, you mentioned local issues. You may be aware of the significant fly-tipping incident on the Bwlch mountain recently, where what has been described as a river of rubbish was illegally dumped down the mountainside. The clearance operation, which took place recently, required a 12-hour specialist rope-access response involving Rhondda Cynon Taf council and the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team. I'd like to put on record my sincere thanks to the volunteers and council officers involved for their exceptional work. This incident highlights the considerable operational and financial pressures placed on local authorities when responding to large-scale environmental crime in challenging terrain, alongside wider systemic pressures on enforcement capacity. Welsh Government data shows fly-tipping incidents have increased, which suggests that deterrence measures are not yet reversing the overall trend. I'm mindful that it's very early days for this new Welsh Government still, but I'd be grateful to hear the Cabinet Minister's views on the balance between reactive expenditure on clean-up operations and preventative enforcement activity, and whether the Welsh Government is considering further measures to strengthen the polluter-pays principle, so that enforcement results in a greater proportion of prosecutions relative to the number of incidents, and that this becomes more cost neutral for public bodies. Diolch.
I will need to declare an interest for this debate, as my son has been accepted onto a teaching assistant training course from September. I welcome the opportunity to talk about this highly important topic today. School support staff are crucial to how our schools function and are overlooked far too often, especially ALN support staff, as the Member mentioned. I have seen first-hand the invaluable work that ALN support staff do on a daily basis to help children like mine, and it is vital that they, in turn, get the support they deserve. Plaid Cymru has long been on the side of those in the education sector, with the recent pay uplift for the lowest paid teaching assistants only being possible as a result of our deal with the previous Welsh Labour Government on the 2026-27 budget.
Pay is, of course, important to supporting staff and is necessary to address, but we need to set this is the current confines of the budget. To achieve our aims, it is vital that we have a Government that will stand up for Wales and fight for a fairer funding formula. With local authorities having the responsibility for setting pay for support staff, ensuring that Wales receives its fair share is crucial to give support staff the funding they deserve.
However, this is not simply a matter of increasing pay. Teaching support staff are facing increasing workload and are dealing with a range of complex issues, including safeguarding issues, on a daily basis, and therefore more stress. I welcome Plaid Cymru's commitment to supporting and working in partnership with our education workforce, ensuring that teaching as a whole is a respective, attractive and rewarding career. This topic needs to receive the care and consideration it deserves, and the Government must consider a range of avenues to supporting this crucial workforce. Diolch.
Trefnydd, I'd like to request a written statement from the Cabinet Minister for Health and Care regarding the ongoing industrial action being taken by health visitors within Cwm Taf Morganwg University Health Board. I won't rehearse the full background of the dispute today as I know that the Welsh Government is acutely aware of both the circumstances that have led to this dispute and the current position. I'm receiving frequent messages from health visitors in my constituency who are desperate to return to work. They urgently want this dispute resolved, and the prospect of having to re-ballot would be deeply regrettable. I appreciate that the Cabinet Minister is dealing with an array of pressing priorities, especially so during the establishment of a new Government. However, this is a matter that, it seems to me, could be easily resolved. We have been informed that the health board has indicated during ACAS meetings that this is not a financial issue; the funding is there to resolve this. It is difficult to understand, therefore, what is preventing a resolution. Can the Cabinet Minister provide an update on the matter, as we seek to ensure a resolution as soon as possible to this dispute? Diolch yn fawr.
We know that primary care is often the first point of contact with our NHS, yet, across Wales, GP services have faced significant pressures for many years, particularly around recruitment, retention and long-term sustainability. In my constituency, communities have faced real uncertainty following threats to local practices, driven largely by difficulties recruiting and retaining GPs. Recent statistics show that Wales has once again seen a reduction in both the number of fully qualified GPs and the number of practices over the past year, while organisations, including the Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association, have warned that GP retention is now one of the most urgent challenges facing NHS Wales. I therefore welcome this Government's commitment to strengthen GP services. Cabinet Minister, will you outline what measures will help stabilise GP services, support recruitment and retention, and ensure that communities across Wales can continue to access local primary care services? Diolch.
Rhun ap Iorwerth.
Counted by Siambr from the Record's rows. Chaired contributions, spoken under the Record's title for the chair, are counted apart and never added in.
Each page holds 50 contributions at most and keeps a sitting day whole, unless the day alone is over 50.
The Record of Proceedings for each sitting day, quoted verbatim.