Joyce Watson
Welsh Labour · Wales
“The Welsh Labour Government's Brilliant Basics small-scale tourism fund has benefited a number of projects across Wales, including Grass Roots Caravan and Glamping in Waterston near Milford Haven.”
“Diolch, Cabinet Secretary. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of its staff, Hywel Dda University Health Board recently became the first health board in Wales to achieve 'autism understanding' status. I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on that fantastic accomplishment.”
“The accreditation is given by the national neurodivergence team, and that's a Welsh Government-funded body, committed to improving the lives of neurodivergent children, young people, adults and their families.”
“As someone who represents nearly all the coastline of Wales, I understand the pressures that visitors can bring on local budgets. One example is street cleaning, waste collection, public toilets, and parking. Of course those visitors are welcome, and of course those businesses are supported by the tourism.”
“And yet, people will spend quite happily, and quite rightly, and I'm sure everybody's pleased about it, more than £1.25 to buy a cup of coffee, without even thinking that that's going to put them off if they buy one every single day.”
“Yes, and I will. When we're looking at the way to spend this, the area that I just talked about has environmental challenges. People come to those areas to see those environments in good order.”
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“The accreditation is given by the national neurodivergence team, and that's a Welsh Government-funded body, committed to improving the lives of neurodivergent children, young people, adults and their families. Minister, are you able to give any update on how other health boards across Wales are progressing with achieving 'autism understanding'?”
“Diolch, Cabinet Secretary. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of its staff, Hywel Dda University Health Board recently became the first health board in Wales to achieve 'autism understanding' status. I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on that fantastic accomplishment. In order to achieve that status, 85 per cent of the health board staff have completed e-learning modules on neurodivergence and work to further raise awareness of neurodivergence is ongoing across the health board. The aim of the training is to help ensure that both neurodivergent staff and patients are better supported, either whilst working for the health board as an employee or accessing services as a patient.”
“7. Pa gamau y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu cymryd i wella ymwybyddiaeth a dealltwriaeth o niwrowahaniaeth o fewn byrddau iechyd? OQ61924”
“The Welsh Labour Government's Brilliant Basics small-scale tourism fund has benefited a number of projects across Wales, including Grass Roots Caravan and Glamping in Waterston near Milford Haven. The business successfully received Development Bank of Wales funding of £205,000 via the Wales tourism investment fund to upgrade its facilities. The Welsh Government has allocated £5 million to 27 projects over 2023 to 2025, helping local authorities and national parks get basic but essential visitor infrastructure, like public toilets, car parking and signage, to improve the visitor experience at tourism destinations. That will benefit both the visitor and also the local community. Do you agree with me, Cabinet Secretary, that this type of investment is helping, both with small businesses and also with tourism in Mid and West Wales?”
“Yes, and I will. When we're looking at the way to spend this, the area that I just talked about has environmental challenges. People come to those areas to see those environments in good order. And of course, here's an opportunity to answer some of the questions the Tories ask us about investing in those communities and in those environments.”
“And yet, people will spend quite happily, and quite rightly, and I'm sure everybody's pleased about it, more than £1.25 to buy a cup of coffee, without even thinking that that's going to put them off if they buy one every single day. So, we've heard a lot here, but Barcelona and Venice are already charging €5 a night and it hasn’t prevented anything. And I think—”
“As someone who represents nearly all the coastline of Wales, I understand the pressures that visitors can bring on local budgets. One example is street cleaning, waste collection, public toilets, and parking. Of course those visitors are welcome, and of course those businesses are supported by the tourism. But what I've heard here today from the Tories beggars belief, quite frankly. We're talking about a levy on the people who come, not the businesses, which they seem a bit confused about, and also the fact that the money will be ring-fenced into those communities who choose to charge this levy, which is another important factor here. We're talking about £1.25 a night. You won't buy a coffee for £1.25, unless they know something I don't.”
“As part of the requirements for the new service, we will be seeking accessibility improvements, including an advanced video player that can display subtitles and captions. Thank you.”
“As part of that project we are proposing to buy and install equipment with built-in features allowing data to be ingested, converted and displayed as subtitles, and the Commission's intention, funding permitting, is to start using the new broadcasting infrastructure for the relocated Plenary sessions in 2025, and then, subsequently, introducing it across committee rooms and in the new Siambr. We will thoroughly test subtitling and captioning capabilities on the new broadcast system once they've been installed and commissioned, and hope to report on progress at the start of the summer recess in 2025. And as part of that testing, we'll investigate the use of automated AI-generated voice-to-text tools and how they can be integrated into the system. We are also proposing to run a project during 2025 to replace the current Senedd.tv service.”
“Again, I know that you care, and others care, passionately about this, and I know that we are committed to delivering an equal experience to all people. I also know that myself and the Llywydd are happy to meet with you to discuss further some of the issues that have been highlighted today. But there is a multi-year project to install brand-new broadcasting systems and infrastructure under way, and we hope that it will be complete within two years, but in incremental stages. It will deliver significant accessibility improvements, and that is the main driver for that work.”
“The Commission's intention is to start using technology that will allow subtitling for the relocated Plenary sessions in Siambr Hywel from May 2025.”
“I thank you for the question, Julie. First Minister's questions are interpreted into British Sign Language each week on Tuesday afternoons, shortly after the item, and uploaded on Tuesday evening. Live interpretation is provided for the proceedings in both Plenary and committees in response to the content of those proceedings or when they are requested. Recent examples in Plenary include a Member debate by Mark Isherwood and a Health and Social Care Committee debate on mental health inequalities. Subtitling of proceedings is not possible at the moment with our existing broadcasting infrastructure. However, Commission officials have already started the process of changing this, using the latest AI software.”
“They had families, they had friends, but, most of all, they had a future—a future that was taken away from them; a future that will never, ever be realised. Sadly, three of those women who were killed were from Wales. Cabinet Secretary, will you join me in remembering Sophie Evans, aged 30, who was found dead in Llanelli on 5 July—Richard Jones is charged with her murder; Vicki Thomas, aged 45, who was found dead at her home in Cardiff on 20 August—Alcwyn Thomas has been charged with her murder; and Catherine Flynn, aged 69, who was attacked at a house in Rhyl on 24 October, and died shortly afterwards in hospital? Dean Mears has been charged with her murder. Those women will not live to see their lives as they should have, and their families will be forever in grief.”
“Yesterday, alongside the National Federation of Women's Institutes, I held the seventeenth White Ribbon event at the Senedd. This year, as in previous years, we heard some incredibly moving accounts from survivors of abuse, men and women who have been brave enough to share their stories with us in order to raise awareness and help change the culture that exists around violence against women and girls. Sadly, every year, far too many women do not survive the violence that's been committed against them by male perpetrators. So far this year, at least 71 women and girls have lost their lives at the hands of men, or where a man or men are the principal suspects, across the United Kingdom, and the age range is from 13 to 96 years of age. These women were all living their lives.”
“And we're going to hear from on Monday, and stand with, in solidarity, people who are experiencing, or who are survivors from having experienced, domestic abuse, and it takes huge strength of character. But we will also, unfortunately, yet again be mourning the women who have lost their lives, and we must promise—all of us—to never use, excuse or remain silent about men’s violence against women. I look forward to hearing from the Minister for social justice on the progress that Welsh Government has made and their commitment to this subject, and we’ve heard that the UK Government has a mission to halve the rates of violence against women. So, I hope to learn what discussions are under way with UK Ministers to ensure that funding for essential life-saving support services and prevention work in Wales is secured to that end, but thank you.”
“Thank you, Mabon, for tabling what's a really important debate, and tabling it ahead of the international day to end violence against women and children, or White Ribbon Day, on 25 November. And I want to extend an open invitation to everybody from the Senedd, everybody who is in this room, to join us in the vigil that we're holding next Monday evening, outside the Senedd. And that happens with the support of the National Federation of Women's Institutes, where we come together every year—and it's well supported—to reflect on what you rightly called the scourge of violence perpetrated by men against women. And it is a national threat, and it is an epidemic. There's no getting away from that. It's deep-rooted, it's wide-reaching, and you've raised that issue eloquently here today.”
“What we have done in 100 days, you've failed to do in 14 years. And as for your pie-in-the-sky thinking of how you're going to fund it with independence, I'm yet to hear the answer.”
“You won't have the £28 million to help cut long hospital waiting lists, and you won't have the £7.7 million that's been invested in the burns unit at Morriston Hospital. So what I say to people is this: if you want investment in healthcare, not at your own personal cost, which you won't have the money for anyway, you need to really take on board—”
“You won't have the extra £250 million that's been put into homecare to help older people to be cared for at home and avoid thousands of unnecessary hospital stays. You won't have—[ Interruption .] No.”
“The other thing is that anybody that reaches around the age of 60, in anticipation that they might have some healthcare additional needs—and you'll know this if you've got pets—as they get older, the premium will go up three times greater than the one you're already paying in anticipation of that happening. Also, you'll find that you won't be able to go to the GP because you'll have to pay for that as well. So if the people of Wales are listening at all, that is something they need to be really afraid of, when people start talking about paying for your very basic needs. You won't have the investment that we've already put in. You won't have free bowel screening for everybody over the age of 50, for example.”
“Some of you know I was on Sharp End , and some of you know that the Reform Party—who are talking about coming for the Tories, not least the people of Wales—are advocating that, if you want healthcare, they’re going to move into a system where you’re going to have to pay for it. But they’re going to say, ‘You’re going to take out health insurance’, I have no doubt. They talked about those who can afford it—no threshold. If anybody’s ever tried to take out healthcare insurance and they have a pre-existing condition, you will know it won’t be covered. So, if you’ve got a major pre-existing healthcare condition, that means you’re not covered at all, because everything can be attributed to that one single condition.”
“There’s one single item that you’re talking about. We’re talking about 14 years. And that discussion, by the way, is still ongoing, just to let you know. This is one budget within less than 100 days, which is of course the whole point of this conversation. So, let’s have a look at what really has happened. We talk about infrastructure, and I’ve heard many of you say in this Chamber that we need to rebuild the fabric of our buildings. We’ve had a 155 times greater settlement on our capital budget than we had last year—£1 million—[ Interruption .] I’m hearing you, it was additional. Let’s liken that to the other £1 million you’ve mentioned 100 times, but never once mentioned when we only had £1 million in that budget. Let’s look at what’s happening in the health service.”
“And when we talk about being disingenuous, I’ve never, ever heard them say how they’re going to fund it. What I do hear them say is Westminster should given them more money. Well, if they haven’t got enough money now, how on earth do they imagine they’re going to have enough money when that stream is not coming to them? [ Interruption .] It seems like I’m touching some raw nerves here, because I’ve got two people wanting interventions—three, now. I’ll take your intervention, James.”
“It’s been an interesting debate. I’ve been truly educated, just to pick up on the private education that I never had as one of eight children. But the point here is this: I think some people have got a bit of a brass neck, quite frankly. We’ve had 14 years of Tory rule, and how many debates have the Tories brought, and how many times did they ask us to fund whatever took their fancy that particular week to highlight? But not once did they make representation to their paymasters in Westminster to ask for a fairer settlement for the people of Wales. Not once did you do it. [ Interruption .] In a minute. And then, on the other side, I have to point to Plaid Cymru, who equally want lots of things, but what they want most of all is independence.”
“I would just like to ask you, just on behalf of all your constituents, and also my constituents, are you telling me that you don't think that the hard-working people who are on low wages deserve that uplift, since you've just mentioned it as a negative, in the minimum wage and the living wage? I'm just interested, because you mentioned it as a negative.”
“So, what I'm really asking is, they're going through a trial and testing stage at the moment—because you're right, the viability of the project is key—but will you support them to go through that testing procedure so that, if that viability is what we hope it will be, it sustains our environment for the future, but also sustains farming for the future and growing for the future as well?”
“I recently took an opportunity to visit Câr-y-Môr regenerative seaweed and shellfish farm in St Davids—well, not actually in St Davids; in the water off St Davids—and they're going to build a new seaweed processing facility, and it'll be the first of its kind in Wales. Seaweed, as you will know, has biostimulants and contains substances that are mostly organic. Those stimulate plants' natural processes for growth, flowering, fruiting and resistance to drought, heat and cold. Can you look at the possibility, and you mentioned some of them, of supporting this as a way of sustainable farming? Because those biostimulants are an alternative to synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, so they feed nicely into that sustainable farming agenda that you have.”
“Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Of course, it was good news for us, receiving the best-ever settlement that we have had. The UK Minister said the budget will enable investment in schools and other public services, as an example. Cabinet Secretary, without disclosing too much—because I know you won't—are you able to give us any details on what difference the consequentials could have on education here in Wales, particularly on the additional learning needs sector?”
“And the archive includes national service conscripts who served in Malaya, Korea, Borneo and nuclear tests on Christmas Island between 1947 to 1963, and those who joined as regulars, serving in Aden, Northern Ireland, the Falklands and many others. The collection includes interviews given in the 1970s by Carmarthenshire veterans of the first world war. We must never forget the human cost of conflict. As the first world war poem states: 'For your tomorrow, we gave our today'.”
“And the last surviving Royal Navy beach commando in the world, Archie Thomas of Aberafan, recently joined a veterans shooting competition at a shooting range in Carmarthen. There, Archie joined D-day veterans like Tony Bird of Freshwater East, who served in the Royal Navy, Neville Bowen of Ammanford, who was a battle of the Atlantic Royal Navy gunner, and Royal Welch Fusilier veteran, Duncan Hilling of Saundersfoot. Duncan was in the British party that entered Hiroshima shortly after the atomic bomb had been dropped. The veterans' archive also includes interviews with Welsh land army women and Kindertransport children put on trains by their parents to escape Nazi occupation, who found safe haven in Welsh homes.”
“My own father, Bill Roberts, as you know, went from being a farm worker in Llanbrynmair to serving in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, where he became a prisoner of war. The Age Cymru Dyfed veterans team don't just provide practical support to hundreds of veterans; they also collect first-hand stories of those who have served their nation in the armed forces. They developed the West Wales Veterans' Archive, which is held in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, and that archive contains almost 1,000 entries so far, including an interview with Dennis Tidswell from Pembroke Dock who took part in the battle of Britain and then fought overseas. RAF veteran John Martin of Tan-y-groes was shot down on a raid over Berlin in January 1944, and he became a prisoner of war.”
“I also want to thank RAF veteran Neil Davies of Aberystwyth, and Hugh Morgan OBE, veterans co-ordinator at Age Cymru Dyfed, and the West Wales Veterans' Archive, who were hoping to join us but were unable to do so today. Very recently, I attended a veterans breakfast morning that Owen organised with the Military Veterans Club Cymru in Cwmaman community centre. It was extremely well attended, including the Veterans’ Commissioner for Wales, Colonel James Phillips, and we were serenaded by the school choir from Ysgol y Bedol. I spoke to many veterans, including 98-year-old Idwal Davies from Llanelli, who in 1945 was with the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Own Hussars in northern Italy.”
“In Armistice week, we remember and pay tribute to all members of the British armed forces who have given their lives through the first and second world wars to all the wars that have been subsequent. Men and women of Wales did make the ultimate sacrifice. And many of those who served and returned home to Wales live with the physical and emotional scars of war and conflict for the remainder of their lives. So, I'm honoured that we are joined today by veteran representatives from Age Cymru Dyfed. Owen Dobson from Ammanford is an army veteran of Bosnia and Kosovo, while Jim Glass of Llandovery is a veteran of 37 years serving both in the army and the RAF, and they both work on the Building Stronger Futures for Older Veterans project.”
“I'm just interested to hear, because you were previously leader of a council that had to cut budgets because of your Government cutting our budget, so I'm just interested to know whether you supported cutting the budgets when you were leader, and denying services to your constituents, because you supported a Government that clearly didn't believe in public service.”
“Sixty million pounds of PPE profit going directly to Michelle Mone: will you condemn that, because that was taxpayers' money being thrown into the pocket of one individual to no benefit whatsoever?”
“Thank you. I just want to ask you for an honest answer about taxpayers' money being used for the benefit of the taxpayers. Would you condemn the mismanagement of your Government, your previous Government, by allowing Michelle Mone to benefit personally from personal protective equipment profits by £60 million?”
“Cabinet Secretary, do you agree with me that initiatives like these are crucial if we are going to ever address the imbalance of girls and women studying STEM subjects?”
“Diolch, Minister. Women and girls are still hugely under-represented in STEM subjects, and they are still often stereotyped as subjects for boys. I was delighted to see that Pembrokeshire College and Pembrokeshire County Council are trying to address this bias by joining forces with local industries like RWE Renewables, Blue Gem Wind, Floventis Energy, Port of Milford Haven and Ledwood Engineering. At the end of last year, they created a careers initiative called SPARC to help inspire a more diverse workforce in STEM industries, and these industries are also massively under-represented by females and, of course, this often starts with the subjects that they study at school or in college.”
“I now move on to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care: NHS Wales organisations—escalation update. I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles.”
“So, my question to you, Cabinet Secretary, is this: will you welcome that investment that I've just mentioned and remind the Tories and Plaid that they asked for money for the public sector, they've got money for the public sector, and it's time they welcomed it?”
“—is the investment and support for the electrolytic hydrogen projects that will support low-carbon production and create new jobs in Pembrokeshire, along with—”
“Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. You can't undo in 14 weeks the damage that was done in 14 years. Public services, we all agree, are the bedrock of our communities, and that's echoed in this Chamber by the request by both the Tories and Plaid to increase the spending in those services on behalf of their constituents. So, you would expect for once that they might welcome that investment, but I haven't heard any of that here today. We also would agree that carers hold both their families and their communities together. Unpaid carers will be able to earn £45 more per week without losing entitlement to their carers allowances, and paid carers will also get a pay rise in terms of the minimum wage and the living wage upgrade. That has to be good news, but I haven't heard any of that. What is also good news, Cabinet Secretary—”
“Thank you for that answer, but last week scientists announced that over a third of the world's trees are facing extinction in the wild. That's truly alarming news, which could have far-reaching consequences in terms of biodiversity loss, not just for the tree species but for all the life that they sustain. According to official extinction red lists, the number of trees at risk of extinction now outweighs all threatened mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles combined. So, could I ask, First Minister—? I'm keen to know what assessment the Welsh Government have made of that data from scientists, and what role the Welsh Government can play in helping to address this particular crisis.”