Heledd Fychan Canol De Cymru - South Wales Central

Here is a summary of my work in the Senedd and across the region over the last week:

 On Monday, I held my first community meeting of the year in Tonyrefail with the local Plaid Cymru Councillor Danny Grehan. There were a lot of interesting discussions about the council’s local development plan, access to health care and local transport. I always enjoy hearing directly from residents about the things that matter to them, and then taking action on those issues on their behalf.

This week, I chaired the Wales International cross-party group where we discussed the future of modern languages in our schools. It was great to hear from teachers and experts in the field. There are many excellent projects underway, but there is more we should be doing to promote multilingualism in our schools.

In the Senedd this week:

I had the opportunity to participate in the First Minister Questions ballot where I hoped to ask How is the Welsh Government ensuring that any renewable energy schemes in areas with coal tips do not pose a risk of destabilisation? Unfortunately, due to time constraints, my question was not addressed in the chamber. However, I have received a written response, which you can read here.

On Tuesday, I joined the Save Our Heritage protest outside the Senedd where I joined staff from the National Library of Wales, the National Museum of Wales, and trade unions representing staff to oppose Welsh Government cuts to the sector. On the back of this I requested a statement from the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism about the risks to the national collections in both Amgueddfa Cymru and the National Library of Wales in light of these cuts to the sector. Read the full response here.

On Wednesday, I attended the protest outside of the Senedd to show my solidarity with our rural communities and was also selected to ask a question to the Minister for Finance and Local Government where I asked about How is the Welsh Government ensuring sufficient funding is given to local authorities to develop local no recourse to public funds pathways? This questions comes on the back of the report published by the Bevan Foundation and casework received by my office. You can read the full response to my question here.

I attended two Senedd scrutiny committees. The first was the Children, Young People and Education Committee on Wednesday, where I had the opportunity to question the Education Minister, Jeremy Miles, about standards in schools. On Thursday, I attended the Senedd Reform Committee.

Friday was St David's Day, and I had the pleasure of visiting Rhondda Cynon Taf's newest mosque in Treforest. The welcome was warm, and I look forward to seeing the mosque continue to develop in the coming months and years.