29 November 2023 , Plenary
Debate on the Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee Report, 'Wales-Ireland relations: Exploring an old relationship in a new age'
Llywydd, thank you very much. And thank you to the committee for this report and also to the committee members who have contributed to such an interesting debate here this afternoon, and for all the work that has gone into the committee's activities, which…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, the advice that the Welsh Government has endorsed, the advice that comes through the National Cyber Security Centre, is that open source ought to be the first place that public bodies go to. So, there is no advice to public bodies not to use…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, public bodies are responsible for managing and running their own information technology systems. The Welsh Government endorses the best practice advice published by the UK Government and National Cyber Security Centre, alongside the specific digital…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Llywydd, I share the Member's concerns. I attended an annual event—a minority ethnic health fair held here in city hall last month—and I had a chance there to speak to the Macular Society, and they had representatives from the Hywel Dda health board…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank the Member for that question, Llywydd. The health board continues to invest in the community to move activity closer to home. At the same time, it has strengthened regional arrangements for services better delivered on that wider west Wales footprint.
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, there are some aspects of the autumn statement that I think I do welcome. I do welcome the fact that the triple lock was, in the end, observed, despite all the trailing by the UK Government that they were not going to do that, and I'm…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, there's no doubt at all, Dirprwy Lywydd, is there, that the autumn statement offers nothing for those people who use the high street every day. Twenty billion pounds, which could have been used for many, many other purposes, are to be rushed forward in…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Dirprwy Lywydd, the people of Wales are negatively affected by the Chancellor’s statement. We face the largest fall in living standards since records began, with inflation expected to stay higher for longer and no additional investment in public services upon…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, first of all, let's just report on the current state of general medical services practices in the Swansea Bay and the Bridgend area. Every month, every practice has to report to the Welsh Government its own self-assessment against an…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank Luke Fletcher for that, Llywydd. Diversification of the workforce, contract reform and investment in new facilities are amongst the actions taken by the Welsh Government to support primary care practices in South Wales West.
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We should have had our share of HS2 money, the £270 million, and we certainly should have had the £20 million, the very modest request we made for help with remediation of dangerous coal tips. Where was the Secretary of State for Wales, Dirprwy Lywydd? Where…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
It goes down this year, it goes down next year. There is less money in purchasing terms available to the Welsh Government for everything we do, and the idea—the idea—that £6 million makes up for inflation in the construction industry, that makes up for all…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, it won’t come as a surprise to Huw Irranca-Davies to know that neither of those things were delivered in the autumn statement last week. In fact, one of the most shocking parts of the whole statement is that next year, for everything we…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Dirprwy Lywydd, anybody who read Mr Giffard’s contribution would never think of coming to Wales. He asked me to stand up for the tourism industry while he spends five minutes telling me everything that would stop people from coming here. Now, last time he…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
The Chancellor’s autumn statement cut the outlook for growth in the UK economy to only 0.6 per cent in this year and 0.7 per cent next year. That failure will be felt in the economy of South Wales West, even as this Government takes countervailing action.
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Dirprwy Lywydd, dementia is a cruel disease. It can be very cruel for the person who suffers from it, particularly those people for whom dementia is itself a bewildering and frightening experience, and it is certainly a cruel disease for families, who feel…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I thank James Evans for drawing attention to the issue of Dementia Matters, which I know does fantastic work in his constituency and more broadly. I've made some enquiries into the issues that the Member has raised this afternoon, I can't promise that the…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Dirprwy Lywydd, recurrent funding of £12 million is allocated to regional partnership boards for the implementation of the Welsh dementia action plan. Third sector organisations are eligible for this funding, with RPBs encouraged to support third sector…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, that's more a five-point press release than a five-point plan. This is the impact of inflation, of course. He could get five points only a few weeks ago; now he can only manage three. Look, Dirprwy Lywydd, let me put on record this: I…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I don't agree with that, Dirprwy Lywydd. I agree with the general proposition that the money we invest in agriculture is an investment, but so is the money we invest in education, in housing, in transport, in health—in everything else that we do. There is no…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We are £1.3 billion short of what we need next year; that is the impact of inflation and the failure of the UK Government to sustain the real worth of the budget they said we needed when the comprehensive spending review set our budgets for three years. If…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
No, Dirprwy Lywydd, I can't say that; I can't say that for any aspect of the work that the Government is doing.
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
On the first question, I don't have figures in front of me and I don't want to make a guess, because that is a precise calculation using the formula that we have to make sure that staffing levels are where they need to be, but we can make sure that that…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I believe that services in maternity in Swansea Bay are very regularly overseen by those who have that responsibility. There is no doubt—I'm not suggesting otherwise—that there have been some difficult incidents in the services provided by the board. But the…
28 November 2023 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
My understanding—and I'm not as close to the detail, so I’ll make sure that if there's further detail that can be provided to the Member, we will do so—is that there has been some confusion over terminology here, that there has been work done that has…
