Speaking in the Debate on The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Wales Annual Review, I noted the Commission’s findings that ‘poverty and deprivation are both higher in Wales than in other nations in Britain’ and ‘Wales is the least productive nation in the UK’, and emphasised the need for significant progress on equality and human rights in Wales.
Speaking on prison, mental health and suicide at the Wales Bereavement and Mental Well-Being Conference, I emphasised “the need to find the underlying causes and to do something to address them”.
Questioning the Local Government Secretary, I again called for a review of the Local Government funding formula following the Welsh Government’s announcement that all six North Wales authorities will receive a funding reduction, whilst seven in South Wales receive a standstill or increase, quoting the Welsh Local Government Association Chief Executive’s statement “that the formula as it currently stands is held together by duct tape and sticking plasters”.
I also questioned him after complaints about Flintshire County Council officers “not responding to calls and e-mails”, adding “that in my experience on behalf of constituents, such delays are commonplace” despite regular chasing by my office.
Questioning the Rural Affairs Secretary, I called on the Welsh Government to provide a stability mechanism within its future agricultural policy.
Responding to the Armed Forces Statement, I highlighted the continuing need for a residential therapy centre in Wales for service-related mental health problems.
Leading the Welsh Conservative Armed Forces Debate, I stated that “Remembrance could, should and does belong to all of us - whatever our politics, ethnicity or faith”, and again called on the Welsh Government to appoint an Armed Forces Commissioner for Wales to improve accountability for delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant.
I also visited the Assembly event welcoming home Welsh Invictus Games Competitors, laid a wreath at Mold’s War Memorial, and attended Wrexham’s Beacon Lighting to mark 100 years since the end of World War One.
Assembly engagements included a meeting with Credit Unions and Housing Associations in Wales to discuss joint working, RSPCA Cymru, the UN Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Royal College of Occupational Therapists, FSB Wales' ‘Future of towns in Wales’, and Hepatitis C.
Other North Wales engagements included Chairing the inaugural Rare Disease Meeting organised by Mold-based ‘Same but Different’ at Glyndwr University, speaking at the first Diwali Hindu ‘Festival of Lights’ Celebration in Conwy, and attending the official opening of Mold’s ‘Novemberfest’.
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