Welsh Conservatives

Speeches and questions

Speeches and questions in Plenary and in committees, newest first. The Llywydd's and deputies' chairing of Plenary is left out.

973 speeches and questions

15 November 2023Plenary
Questions to the Senedd Commission
4. What steps is the Commission taking to improve communication with external stakeholders in languages other than English and Welsh? OQ60225
14 November 2023Plenary
Debate: Stage 4 on the Health Service Procurement (Wales) Bill
I'd firstly like to start by putting on the record my gratitude to the Minister for her clear willingness to co-operate to ensure that this Bill received appropriate scrutiny, and benefited from valuable input from all sides of this Chamber. This has been my…
14 November 2023Plenary
Statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Services: Children’s Rights
Could I firstly thank the Deputy Minister for bringing forward today's timely and important statement on children's rights? As you outlined at the start of your statement, Deputy Minister, it is the responsibility of the whole of this Senedd to ensure that…
14 November 2023Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Can I ask for a statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services this afternoon, as I've been contacted by constituents in the Vale of Clwyd who are concerned about the recommendation from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on 3…
8 November 2023Plenary
Short Debate: Can carers afford to care?
Thank you very much to Sioned Williams for raising this important topic today and for kindly giving me a minute tonight to speak on this matter. I also want to thank Carers Wales for their communications and support over this debate over the last week or so…
8 November 2023Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Diolch, Llywydd. I'm pleased this subject has been raised this afternoon, as I quite often speak about it, and against the Welsh Government's ambition to eliminate private childcare provision for looked-after children in Wales, in this Senedd term, in an…
8 November 2023Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Of course, what we’ve seen over the last 24 hours in the inaugural King’s Speech from the UK Conservative Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is bold leadership in tackling some of the biggest issues facing the UK as a whole in 2023. And all Keir Starmer, the Labour…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Thanks.
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Obviously, just finally, if I may. Obviously, during that Christmas and new year period, people tend to go out more, there are more alcohol-related incidents happening, which results in more pressures on emergency care. Are there plans in place for that…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
And, just finally, during Christmas and the new year period, local authority services tend to close for a couple of weeks over that time, leading to disruption in patient flow, discharges, that sort of thing. So, what steps are you taking to address that…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
But what strategies are you putting in place to mitigate seasonal pressures on paediatric care, given that it's such an important sector? Obviously, winter pressures, we know, have an effect on other areas in care, so what are you doing to mitigate those…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
So, I'll note that one. [Laughter.]
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
I might need one of those robotic surgeries for knees one day, being a runner. [Laughter.]
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Thank you, Chair. We've mentioned surgical hubs to a degree, and I've certainly seen the impact of Abergele—it's not in my constituency, but my constituents do use Abergele Hospital quite a lot. But segregating emergency and planned care, do you see that as a…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
No, that's it. Thank you very much.
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Would you support in the future, then, a parallel between health and social care pay, because I think it was estimated in the last Welsh Government budget that it would cost an additional £9 million to bring social care pay up to NHS pay scales? So, would…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Obviously, your comments are very welcome, and we supported the increase in the real living wage, but why, then, are Unison Wales still saying that there's urgent need for negotiation on pay and terms and conditions, in their words, to 'stave off an exodus of…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Okay. That would be helpful. Thank you very much. Staff are expected to leave the sector within the next 12 months and 44 per cent in the next five years. Obviously, we talk a lot about recruitment and retention, so what sort of priorities do you have in…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
And do you have any data? You mentioned having a data stream—are you able to share some of the figures and what we're looking at in terms of vacancies?
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
But they are all governed by Care Inspectorate Wales, so there is a universal approach to solving some of those problems with the independent sector, isn't there?
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Thank you very much, Chair. In our last general scrutiny session, we asked for figures on the current number of care staff vacancies and the forecast for the winter, and we were concerned about the lack of up-to-date data available to accurately assess the…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Does that make any difference for north Wales, given the current situation with it being in special measures?
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
And is your level of intervention higher for Betsi Cadwaladr in north Wales, given that it is in special measures, or do you allow the same autonomy for Betsi Cadwaladr as other health boards who are not in special measures? So, what I'm essentially asking…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Thank you, Chair. It's just one final question. What assistance are you giving to individual health boards with financial pressures, and are certain health boards in Wales more directly affected by financial pressures, given that health boards such as Betsi…
8 November 2023Health and Social Care Committee
General scrutiny session with the Minister for Health and Social Services, the Deputy Minister for Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being
Yes, sure.