Browse content similar to 27/09/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good afternoon, welcome once again to the weekly coverage of questions | :00:25. | :00:31. | |
to the First Minister and according to the order paper, Carwyn Jones | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
will be asked about promoting the Welsh language, boosting tourism and | :00:36. | :00:39. | |
supporting small businesses. You can get the latest from the Senedd by | :00:40. | :00:45. | |
following us on Twitter. Business in the chamber is under way. We can | :00:46. | :00:49. | |
take a look at today's questions to the First Minister. | :00:50. | :01:00. | |
TRANSLATION: Order, I call the National Assembly to order and the | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
first item is questions to the First Minister and the first question, | :01:05. | :01:12. | |
Leanne Wood. With would he make a statement on the Welsh language? We | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
will promote and normalise the components of the draft strategy. | :01:17. | :01:23. | |
You declared support for the goal of doubling the number of Welsh | :01:24. | :01:32. | |
speakers but can you inform us exactly how you intend to meet that | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
commitment, what are your targets and timescales for ensuring we are | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
making progress towards that goal? For example, when can we expect to | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
hit the milestone of seeing three quarters of a million Welsh | :01:48. | :01:50. | |
speakers? I would be grateful if you could give us a date for that. | :01:51. | :01:57. | |
Bearing in mind the strategy is out to consultation, it contains | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
proposals. One area hugely important is to ensure the education | :02:04. | :02:07. | |
authorities have proper Welsh education strategic plans. We have | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
made it clear to them we will reject any plan that is not sufficiently | :02:13. | :02:20. | |
ambitious. TRANSLATION: You said in the past it is important we ensure | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
the Welsh language is a living language in our community and | :02:26. | :02:28. | |
therefore it is important to encourage people to use the language | :02:29. | :02:32. | |
in all parts of their lives, including using the Welsh language | :02:33. | :02:36. | |
online. The Welsh language commissioners made it clear back in | :02:37. | :02:42. | |
the summer that there is potential for technology to facilitate | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
relocation through the medium of Welsh because English tends to be | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
the medium used online. Under these circumstances, can you tell us how | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
your government will promote the use of the Welsh language online? There | :02:57. | :03:05. | |
are a number of things. It is part of a strategy in terms of looking at | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
ways and means of supporting and promoting the language in the | :03:11. | :03:13. | |
digital sphere and it is important to change the behaviours of young | :03:14. | :03:19. | |
people and we have been funding certain projects over the past years | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
so they can develop apps and so want to ensure young people see the | :03:25. | :03:30. | |
language is a digital language. Rather than thinking English is the | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
only language they can use on social media. Given this commitment to 1 | :03:36. | :03:52. | |
million Welsh speakers by 2050, that it is best achieved by immersing the | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
children in a second language early, what arrangements have been | :03:57. | :04:04. | |
implemented to bring Welsh language into early classrooms? It is hugely | :04:05. | :04:13. | |
important that a proper pathway is identified by local authorities to | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
enable access to Welsh as a language to be learned or indeed talked | :04:18. | :04:29. | |
through Wales. Was the government's priority is to increase the number | :04:30. | :04:36. | |
of tourists in Wales -- what is? It sets out priorities for developing | :04:37. | :04:44. | |
Wales tourism at home and overseas. Today is world tourism day and it is | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
important we highlight what is on offer in our country to visitors. My | :04:50. | :04:56. | |
constituency possesses world-famous attractions like the whiskey | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
distillery and unique events like the road races that commemorate the | :05:01. | :05:09. | |
memory. How does the government ensure that similar events are | :05:10. | :05:18. | |
highlighted in this strategy. And how is the Welsh Government engaging | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
with partners to ensure attractions are accessible to all possible | :05:24. | :05:27. | |
visitors? The visit Wales website lists a wide range of events | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
throughout Wales including in the valleys and the annual road race is | :05:33. | :05:41. | |
in the main annual tourism brochure. She asks about accessibility. The | :05:42. | :05:46. | |
website includes a filter for the provision of disabled visitors to | :05:47. | :05:50. | |
allow visitors to search attractions that cater for those with | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
disabilities and that is based on details provided by the attractions | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
themselves. Exact facilities can be confirmed by visitors at the booking | :06:01. | :06:12. | |
stage. Every day you pass the dilapidated train station and the | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
magnificent facade of the building opposite the Wales millennium | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
centre. Do you not realise how embarrassing it is for Wales those | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
buildings of the first things many tourists see when visiting Cardiff | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
Bay? A Westminster government would not allow such eyesores literally | :06:31. | :06:34. | |
within a stone 's throw of the UK Parliament. What will you do about | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
the eyesores in Cardiff Bay? I do not know what he did as deputy | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
leader of Cardiff because the council does have a responsibility, | :06:45. | :06:51. | |
not for the railway station but for Central Square, now being developed | :06:52. | :06:54. | |
by a Labour lead counsel. The city has a proper gateway. He raises an | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
important point about the station and Network Rail have plans for the | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
station and we have urged them to develop them, keeping the character | :07:05. | :07:06. | |
of the station while modernising facilities. Visit Scotland spends | :07:07. | :07:14. | |
over 50 million on promoting Scotland. Visit Wales, 8.3 million | :07:15. | :07:22. | |
Wales as a whole but none of that is spent specifically on promoting mid | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
Wales as a specific destination to visit. We have the coastal path, | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
beautiful market towns, fantastic scenery in mid Wales. Is it good | :07:33. | :07:39. | |
enough that we do not promote mid Wales as a specific destination? He | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
makes a strong case with the area he represents. We look to promote all | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
areas, including areas traditionally not seen as those that attract | :07:51. | :07:58. | |
tourists. The expenditure by staying visitors in 2015 was overheard ?2.3 | :07:59. | :08:04. | |
billion, well above the target we have set in place. Tourism is a | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
major employer, as well, and we will continue to look to increase the | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
number of visitors day and overnight to all parts of Wales so that those | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
who do not have the good fortune of living here can enjoy what we have | :08:19. | :08:26. | |
to of -- to offer. I welcome a successful summer -- of tourism for | :08:27. | :08:40. | |
Wales. Can you give assurances this investment will continue to be built | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
on so we can continue to grow our crucial visitor economy in Wales? In | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
response to the point made earlier, we want to encourage tourism to all | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
parts, not just areas traditionally that have most attracted tourists | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
and we can look to provide investment to improve those | :09:00. | :09:06. | |
facilities in the years to come. First Minister, many businesses in | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
North Wales depend on tourism and have long been disadvantaged in | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
North Wales partly due to the failure to adequately advertise | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
local attractions on the A55 and it is a problem. Visitors get on the | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
55, stop at the destination and have no idea of attractions not | :09:26. | :09:36. | |
signposted off the 55. An opportunity is being missed. Can you | :09:37. | :09:40. | |
explain what you will do to address the problem? Working with local | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
authorities we can investigate the provision of more brown signs. It is | :09:46. | :09:50. | |
right that we are working on ensuring we have more capture of the | :09:51. | :09:55. | |
visitors travelling along the 55 52 islands, many of whom have said to | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
me, we travelled to Ireland that way but did not stop on the way. When it | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
comes to international tourists, figures continue to go up and many | :10:06. | :10:12. | |
of them will visit and travel to North Wales in order to get there. | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
We believe working with the local authorities we can provide | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
information digitally and in terms of signposting. TRANSLATION: | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
Questions now from the party leaders. The leader of the | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
Conservatives. Very often at First Minister's Questions you talk about | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
what the UK Government is doing and I would like to focus on what you've | :10:38. | :10:42. | |
think would be the best outcome from Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. Do you | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
think the interests of the UK would be served by having Jeremy Corbyn as | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
the next Prime Minister? Yes. It is nice to see you will play your part | :10:52. | :10:58. | |
in the demise of the Labour Party as having him as Prime Minister. By | :10:59. | :11:03. | |
having a Prime Minister who delivers for Wales, it is vital to have the | :11:04. | :11:08. | |
person in number 10. You also went to conference. Please, in silence, | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
without any attempt by ministers to help the First Minister. He needs | :11:16. | :11:23. | |
all the help he can get! You went to the Labour Party conference and | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
launched a strategy, the healthy child Wells programme, which we | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
support because when you look at the indices around child health, they | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
are reporting in Wales. Most major indices have not moved since 2007 in | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
Wales. Can you tell us how the government will take the strategy | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
forward and what budget lines you have agreed? There was a statement | :11:47. | :11:53. | |
but not a lot in it. What budget lines are agreed to take this policy | :11:54. | :11:58. | |
forward and how many extra community nurses will be there by 2021. We | :11:59. | :12:03. | |
know the number of community nurses are declining in Wells. It will be | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
examined when the budget is produced. As part of the promises | :12:08. | :12:15. | |
made to the people of Wales, we ensure to continue the situation | :12:16. | :12:24. | |
where this inequality is close. We have seen that it has risen in Wales | :12:25. | :12:29. | |
and we will do what we can to combat that. If he wants to play a greater | :12:30. | :12:37. | |
role, mentioning the party conference, he can apply, but I | :12:38. | :12:45. | |
cannot guarantee his application will be accepted. We are into the | :12:46. | :12:51. | |
trilogy stage. We have the sequel in 2015. The other point raised by | :12:52. | :12:57. | |
David Melding, on government policy, because we did not have an answer to | :12:58. | :13:02. | |
my second question, so clearly there is no budget line identified or a | :13:03. | :13:06. | |
development of the strategy, is on housing. In the programme for | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
government you identified you wanted to bring 20,000 social housing units | :13:12. | :13:18. | |
forward by 2021, but it had no answers to the current housing | :13:19. | :13:21. | |
crisis of new starts in the market where we saw a 7% decline in new | :13:22. | :13:28. | |
starts in Wales last year. How is your government going to deliver on | :13:29. | :13:36. | |
social housing targets and how will it generate more activity in the | :13:37. | :13:39. | |
overall housing market so by 2021 we can hit the target of 12,000 units, | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
rather than the 8000 of the moment. He mentions the budget and that will | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
be part of the budget when published. We have the target of | :13:49. | :13:55. | |
20,000. The minister, it will be explained how it will be achieved. | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
We have achieved targets in the past. He talks of a trilogy, the | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
second part was the defeat and backward peddling of the | :14:05. | :14:07. | |
Conservative Party in elections in May. In the government's document | :14:08. | :14:19. | |
taking Wales forward, the section on health service, we are committed to | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
helping improve health and well-being, but as the First | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
Minister knows, a lot of parts of Wales, that is just an aspiration | :14:28. | :14:34. | |
and in Gwyneth, in one area, the record is the opposite -- Gwynedd. | :14:35. | :14:42. | |
In one county council there is a community hub Hospital in everyone | :14:43. | :14:47. | |
except one. We have lost hospital beds, close to the X-Ray service and | :14:48. | :14:55. | |
close the minor injuries unit. Other services, branch surgeries. The GP | :14:56. | :15:00. | |
practice that should have four full-time doctors only has one and a | :15:01. | :15:08. | |
variety of locums. They have not got a National Health Service but a | :15:09. | :15:10. | |
notional health service. We have been investing in the health | :15:11. | :15:25. | |
service. Keeping old buildings going is not feasible. Winning modern | :15:26. | :15:32. | |
buildings and that's what we want to offer. The health centre will only | :15:33. | :15:42. | |
be open for ten hours a day which is unacceptable. We need to make sure | :15:43. | :15:52. | |
services are provided as close to patients's homes as possible. For | :15:53. | :16:02. | |
older people and those on low incomes who had to travel, it means | :16:03. | :16:08. | |
that the NHS is not available to them when they need it. It's said | :16:09. | :16:22. | |
that local services were first on the agreement of local people. Will | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
he encourage his colleague to intervene? It seems you are making a | :16:27. | :16:34. | |
case for a District General Hospital. We note that travelling | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
means that some people have to go further than possible, but that | :16:41. | :16:47. | |
means they get a better service. The promise of investment into health | :16:48. | :16:57. | |
services will mean that more people can stay at home, get the support | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
they need at home without having to go into hospital. The litany of | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
closures I have read out has shown it is merely an aspiration, what the | :17:07. | :17:14. | |
First Minister has just said. People in this area are being discriminated | :17:15. | :17:30. | |
against. Will he encourage the Cabinet secretary to meet a | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
delegation in order that we can argue the toss on the claims of this | :17:35. | :17:41. | |
important area to better treatment as part of the government's overall | :17:42. | :17:46. | |
objective stated in its document last week. He needs to talk to | :17:47. | :17:54. | |
people in the area. On the side there is a brand-new health | :17:55. | :18:02. | |
facility. Port Talbot has a brand-new hospital. We are providing | :18:03. | :18:06. | |
the facilities that people need for the future and importantly | :18:07. | :18:12. | |
facilities that shape the health service for the 21st-century. It | :18:13. | :18:18. | |
will ensure that people can stay at home rather than in hospital. First | :18:19. | :18:26. | |
Minister, how many children are waiting for more than four months | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
for a first appointment with child as adolescent mental health | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
services? We have invested heavily in the service. Demand outstripped | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
supply, that much is true. That is why we matched it with the extra | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
investment. It means the numbers waiting and the times have gone | :18:47. | :18:52. | |
down. First Minister, I asked you for a figure and the exact number | :18:53. | :18:58. | |
you were looking for is 1174 children who are waiting for four | :18:59. | :19:03. | |
months and it is not true to say that the figure has gone down | :19:04. | :19:06. | |
because the figure has almost trebled in the three years since | :19:07. | :19:12. | |
2013. We all know that investment in early years is crucial for positive | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
outcomes in education and health and in particular in preventing some of | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
the problems that can arise later in life. Developments in neuroscience | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
shows the early teenage years can be just as crucial for a person's | :19:26. | :19:31. | |
development as the early years. I visited my old school last Friday | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
and I was told that the rates of self harm are going through the roof | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
I don't think for one minute that is an isolated case. Depression, | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
anxiety and self harm had become too common amongst a generation that | :19:48. | :19:51. | |
have many worries about things like zero hour contracts, massive student | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
debt and endless austerity. Those young people are not covered by the | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
interventions that are available for children under seven years old. The | :20:01. | :20:05. | |
things that can go wrong in the teenage years can cause problems for | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
life and I saw that only too well in my formal role as a probation | :20:10. | :20:14. | |
officer. First Minister, will you establish a programme for preteens | :20:15. | :20:17. | |
and teenagers to go alongside your healthy child programme? And would | :20:18. | :20:23. | |
you be prepared to look at what role mindfulness could play in such a | :20:24. | :20:29. | |
programme? Mindfulness was mentioned in the manifesto. When we talk about | :20:30. | :20:35. | |
the health of a child up to seven years old, that must also include | :20:36. | :20:41. | |
mental health as well. That is something that will be taken into | :20:42. | :20:44. | |
consideration when developing a programme. She is right, we do see | :20:45. | :20:52. | |
instances where young people to find themselves under a great deal of | :20:53. | :20:59. | |
stress. Cyber bullying is one area that she or I did not have to cope | :21:00. | :21:09. | |
with, but it is a real issue and there are councillors in secondary | :21:10. | :21:11. | |
schools to help young people and make sure resources are there. I | :21:12. | :21:19. | |
expect the waiting times to go down as the resources work through the | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
system. First Minister, your government's record in helping young | :21:25. | :21:30. | |
people with mental health problems is appalling. The mortality rate for | :21:31. | :21:37. | |
teenagers between 15 and 19 years old is higher in Wales than it is in | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
England and there has been no reduction in deaths from intentional | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
injury from that age group between ten and 18 years old in three | :21:47. | :21:52. | |
decades. A national case audit of children's death has suggested that | :21:53. | :21:55. | |
many young people who died from suicide had not had any contact at | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
all with mental health services and for those who had, there were | :22:01. | :22:03. | |
problems with services failing to follow up on patients who did not | :22:04. | :22:08. | |
turn up for the first appointment. He once admitted that your | :22:09. | :22:11. | |
government took its eye off the ball when it came to education. We now | :22:12. | :22:17. | |
accept that your government has taken its eye off the ball regarding | :22:18. | :22:24. | |
young people's mental health? Would you accept it is a crisis and after | :22:25. | :22:28. | |
17 years of leading the government here in Wales, what do you intend to | :22:29. | :22:35. | |
do about this? I have had experience of this, so have my constituents. We | :22:36. | :22:53. | |
had journalists arriving, trying to question children outside the | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
college. Those youngsters who took the lives did not know each other, | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
despite what was suggested by the press. To come to the point she was | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
making, many of them had no contact with mental health services. What | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
happened was a surprise to their families. They had had no warning, | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
and in some ways that is the greatest tragedy of all. We have | :23:18. | :23:25. | |
young people who are not known to the system and have not identify | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
themselves to the system. Money has been put into CALMS. We have | :23:30. | :23:41. | |
provided more resources so that more people, young people can be | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
identified. We have counselling services in school so that young | :23:47. | :23:50. | |
people can talk to people early on. That takes is well beyond what used | :23:51. | :23:56. | |
to be the case. What assessment has the First Minister made of the role | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
of Allied health and social care professionals in delivering Welsh | :24:02. | :24:07. | |
government priorities are providing health and well-being throughout | :24:08. | :24:15. | |
life? The work in the community and primary care and deliver | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
preventative care. It's difficult to measure. They also help to deal with | :24:20. | :24:29. | |
admission avoided so more people don't have to go into hospital. My | :24:30. | :24:41. | |
wife is a radiographer and she has cold hands, so I warn people in | :24:42. | :24:52. | |
advance! In Wales 50% of people in the country will be over the age of | :24:53. | :25:03. | |
60 by 20 27. The increase in co-morbidity presents problems and | :25:04. | :25:09. | |
is documented for everyone to see. We need determination to deliver the | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
strategy and align the workforce primary care, where we can keep | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
people in a well-being service and not a rescue service. Can he | :25:19. | :25:27. | |
congratulate my wife and those who work in Allied health services? They | :25:28. | :25:37. | |
have a huge role to play and they deserve our thanks. I will | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
congratulate the member for Aberavon. The challenge that faces | :25:43. | :25:52. | |
us in the future is as people get older, many of those people will be | :25:53. | :25:58. | |
fitter when they are older, but inevitably people get a number of | :25:59. | :26:01. | |
small conditions that put together make it difficult for them to live | :26:02. | :26:05. | |
their lives. It's ever someone to have one serious condition, it's a | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
combination of different things. Early recognition is untimely | :26:12. | :26:18. | |
intervention will mean things that with earlier on. Support for chronic | :26:19. | :26:26. | |
conditions as well so that people with chronic conditions don't have | :26:27. | :26:29. | |
to continually go into hospital to deal with a particular flair of a | :26:30. | :26:38. | |
chronic condition. What they do in terms of multi-agency and | :26:39. | :26:41. | |
multidisciplinary teams to help the individual, we know in the future | :26:42. | :26:46. | |
there will be more pressure as people live longer. Something to be | :26:47. | :26:49. | |
welcomed, but there is still a frailty of the human body that we | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
can't legislate for and more people will need help. Thank you. Over the | :26:55. | :27:07. | |
past few weeks I visited to pharmacies in my constituency. | :27:08. | :27:16. | |
Pharmacies of course play a crucial role in the wider provision of | :27:17. | :27:21. | |
primary care and I would certainly want to see that provision expended. | :27:22. | :27:26. | |
Does the First Minister agree with me that we need to do away with some | :27:27. | :27:30. | |
of the barriers that prevent pharmacies from playing the full | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
role, including actually putting aside the ban on advertising some of | :27:36. | :27:44. | |
the services? For example, flu jabs and services in terms of smoking | :27:45. | :27:51. | |
prevention and so on? Well, yes, that's right. That will be part of | :27:52. | :27:56. | |
the public health bill and it is important that any nonsensical | :27:57. | :28:02. | |
obstacles are done away with. But we know of course that pharmacies play | :28:03. | :28:08. | |
a vitally important role in ensuring people receive advice without having | :28:09. | :28:11. | |
to go to see the GPs and we would wish to extend the services | :28:12. | :28:17. | |
available from pharmacies ultimately, bearing in mind that | :28:18. | :28:23. | |
more and more of these pharmacies the lee-macro pharmacists have | :28:24. | :28:25. | |
received clinical training so that they can work in that area. I | :28:26. | :28:37. | |
admired the work that our health care professionals undertake. | :28:38. | :28:45. | |
Doctors working with such professionals has proved positive, | :28:46. | :28:58. | |
especially where they have positions on the boards. What could you do to | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
embed this role, given the ever-changing nature of health care | :29:04. | :29:06. | |
provision and woody review or undertake to discuss with your | :29:07. | :29:14. | |
colleagues the review of the CTP training so that we can better | :29:15. | :29:20. | |
prepare for the next generation? We would expect local health boards to | :29:21. | :29:25. | |
see what works in other health boards and then use that best | :29:26. | :29:28. | |
practice and apply that best practice in their own areas and | :29:29. | :29:32. | |
where there is evidence of the practice working well, we would want | :29:33. | :29:35. | |
them to look at it and see if it is appropriate in their own area and to | :29:36. | :29:42. | |
implement that. When it comes to CTP, many professions are governed | :29:43. | :29:46. | |
by professional bodies that are themselves not devolved and have | :29:47. | :29:52. | |
their own requirements. If that is an issue it is something the | :29:53. | :29:56. | |
minister might be able to look at in order to see how the position of the | :29:57. | :30:02. | |
directors you have referred to can be strengthened in the future. | :30:03. | :30:08. | |
TRANSLATION: Will he set out the next stage of the Welsh double's | :30:09. | :30:15. | |
small business rate scheme. We are extending the scheme and then we | :30:16. | :30:21. | |
will develop a permanent scheme available in April 20 18. The Welsh | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
Government's decision to stick with these listings scheme has not | :30:28. | :30:30. | |
received the reception you might have liked in your constituency. | :30:31. | :30:35. | |
Trays are vocal in criticism of the highest business rates in my region | :30:36. | :30:39. | |
and perverse rates to keep shops empty. They are not happen with one | :30:40. | :30:47. | |
council in ignoring traders on how to increase footfall. Some believe | :30:48. | :30:53. | |
the labour rate relief scheme would be different from business as usual, | :30:54. | :30:59. | |
so what can you say about making the current scheme permanent and | :31:00. | :31:04. | |
tapering rates to 15,000? My own town, there are three groups of | :31:05. | :31:08. | |
traders who do not agree with each other and that is a weakness in the | :31:09. | :31:15. | |
town faces. She mentions empty premises, the biggest problem with | :31:16. | :31:18. | |
those in Bridgend is the intransigence of landlords who will | :31:19. | :31:23. | |
not, only offering rent at ridiculous rates. I have heard | :31:24. | :31:28. | |
examples of businesses who have said they are only offered leases of ten | :31:29. | :31:33. | |
years with rents of up to 25,000 a year, which is ridiculous. Some of | :31:34. | :31:38. | |
the landlords in Bridgend need to understand the way of 40 years ago | :31:39. | :31:43. | |
is no longer right. She asks about not adopting Conservative policy. | :31:44. | :31:48. | |
Over 70,000 businesses at more than 70% receive support and over half of | :31:49. | :31:55. | |
eligible businesses pay no rates. In England, only one third pay no | :31:56. | :32:03. | |
rates. The scheme in Wales is more generous than the penny-pinching | :32:04. | :32:05. | |
scheme implemented by the Conservatives in England. I have | :32:06. | :32:11. | |
been contacted by constituents who expressed concern over the level of | :32:12. | :32:15. | |
business rates that is putting a strain on their finances. As they | :32:16. | :32:20. | |
fall outside the threshold for small business rate relief, they have to | :32:21. | :32:25. | |
pay the full business rates, irrespective of the affordability. | :32:26. | :32:29. | |
Unless these small business owners find cheaper premises, properties, | :32:30. | :32:36. | |
they are stuck with huge rates bills. What plan does the government | :32:37. | :32:41. | |
have to raise the rate relief threshold and ensure rate relief has | :32:42. | :32:46. | |
an affordability consideration? We have put ?98 million into the | :32:47. | :32:52. | |
scheme. There is bound to be a threshold unfortunately for those | :32:53. | :32:55. | |
who are as they would see it at the wrong side of the threshold. What we | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
cannot do is introduce a system where everybody gets business rate | :33:00. | :33:03. | |
relief and nobody pays business rates. Businesses have to make | :33:04. | :33:09. | |
decisions as to the size of premises to understand what is affordable for | :33:10. | :33:17. | |
them. TRANSLATION: What support is the Welsh Government providing to | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
the University health board following a decision on targeted | :33:24. | :33:35. | |
intervention. We are working closely with the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg | :33:36. | :33:39. | |
University health board and on what assistance it requires. Thanks. | :33:40. | :33:44. | |
Further to that, may I ask you confident that you have the capacity | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
within your departments in the Assembly to provide the necessary | :33:51. | :33:54. | |
support to this health board in Swansea, given that other health | :33:55. | :33:58. | |
boards are also under special measures? Only one health board is | :33:59. | :34:09. | |
under special measures. We are most confident about the way in which | :34:10. | :34:13. | |
this one seems to be turning itself around and so the target status of | :34:14. | :34:22. | |
the other boards will avoid any situation to ensure they do not go | :34:23. | :34:32. | |
in the same direction. First Minister, it is under this because | :34:33. | :34:44. | |
of concerns about care. This about diagnostic services. Will you | :34:45. | :34:49. | |
congratulate them and staff in particular who have seen weaknesses | :34:50. | :34:52. | |
come down and we have seen diagnostics getting better there. | :34:53. | :34:57. | |
There was a reduction of 78% in July of people waiting for one of the | :34:58. | :35:05. | |
specified test compared to 2015. The health boards integrated performance | :35:06. | :35:14. | |
report of 2014 states that the health board continues to experience | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
challenges in the delivery of urgent suspected cancer referral target in | :35:20. | :35:23. | |
particular. Reaching 80% of the target rather than 95% the | :35:24. | :35:29. | |
government looked for. Notwithstanding the point made, | :35:30. | :35:33. | |
being those issues were reported two years ago, what support digit give | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
them at that time? What is different about the support given now and if | :35:39. | :35:42. | |
it was needed two years ago, why was it not given then? If you look at | :35:43. | :35:50. | |
the figures. Performance for cancer. More people are starting treatment | :35:51. | :35:56. | |
within the target time. The same thing applies for the 31 day | :35:57. | :36:03. | |
pathway. Which is higher. If we look at weights in accident and | :36:04. | :36:09. | |
emergency, those figures, 63% since March of this year. We are seeing | :36:10. | :36:14. | |
differences not just in diagnostics but in terms of cancer treatment and | :36:15. | :36:24. | |
in terms of A performance. The reason Abertawe Bro Morgannwg are to | :36:25. | :36:28. | |
receive targeted intervention is due to poor performance in unscheduled | :36:29. | :36:32. | |
cancer care with figures showing 83% of patientss diagnosed via the | :36:33. | :36:40. | |
urgent suspected cancer route start treatment within 62 days. We know | :36:41. | :36:45. | |
that time the treatment and intervention, it reduces the risk | :36:46. | :36:48. | |
the council will spread and increases chances of survival. What | :36:49. | :36:54. | |
support is the Welsh Government giving to it to enable them to | :36:55. | :36:59. | |
eliminate delays in treatment and to improve the cancer survival rates my | :37:00. | :37:05. | |
region? I gave the statistics in terms of the 62 day and 31 day | :37:06. | :37:11. | |
performance. Sometimes clinicians tell me it is not easy to start | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
treatment within 62 days because of the nature of the cancer and its | :37:17. | :37:22. | |
position and the need to look carefully at having the most | :37:23. | :37:24. | |
targeted treatment for the individual. You need to have surgery | :37:25. | :37:31. | |
as quickly as possible, I understand the human need, which is why we see | :37:32. | :37:35. | |
performance improvements in that field. | :37:36. | :37:44. | |
Will the First Minister outline how the Welsh Government is helping the | :37:45. | :37:50. | |
NHS prepare for the winter? We will continue to support health and | :37:51. | :37:55. | |
social care organisations through seasonal planning meetings. As part | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
of that, preparing us for the forthcoming winter period is | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
paramount. Last winter we saw unprecedented levels of demand on | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
unscheduled care. People struggled to access a GP over the winter | :38:10. | :38:17. | |
months putting an enormous strain on A departments as patients go to | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
seek medical treatment. According to the RCN, hospitals are so full all | :38:24. | :38:27. | |
year round the system cannot cope with the seasonal spike in demand. | :38:28. | :38:32. | |
We have to address the GP access issue if we are to avoid scenes we | :38:33. | :38:38. | |
saw last winter with ambulances stacked up outside hospitals. What | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
plans does the Welsh Government have to improve out of hours GP services | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
and make greater use of community pharmacies in treating minor | :38:48. | :38:52. | |
ailments? Will you be running a publicity campaign highlighting the | :38:53. | :38:56. | |
role of pharmacies in treating minor ailments? We do. The choose well | :38:57. | :39:01. | |
campaign has done that and there is a nap available. We encourage people | :39:02. | :39:07. | |
to look at the pharmacist and then the community nurse and then to | :39:08. | :39:12. | |
think about the GP and it is right to say to people, don't default to | :39:13. | :39:18. | |
the A department first, nor to a GP first. That is in train. Out of | :39:19. | :39:26. | |
hours is available. The issue in the winter is not numbers of people | :39:27. | :39:30. | |
coming through a indeed, it is the condition they have. More older | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
people with respiratory conditions need more time and ultimately at | :39:36. | :39:39. | |
mission. Last year the plans worked well. It can be difficult to predict | :39:40. | :39:44. | |
the demand on the NHS in the winter because of the weather. But we | :39:45. | :39:51. | |
scrutinise the preparatory nurse of each local health board to ensure we | :39:52. | :40:00. | |
can be satisfied for the winter. TRANSLATION: Under the children's | :40:01. | :40:04. | |
health plan published, every child under seven is supposed to be given | :40:05. | :40:08. | |
the same consistency of service in winter or summer. How do you respond | :40:09. | :40:16. | |
to the Royal College of paediatrics' report today on babies born | :40:17. | :40:22. | |
prematurely that show they are given a second-rate service in Wales, only | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
31% of premature babies are given the crucial second appointment by | :40:28. | :40:36. | |
their second birthday. And that is half the percentage across the rest | :40:37. | :40:39. | |
of the UK and having centralise the service for premature babies, | :40:40. | :40:47. | |
closure of the unit and moving it, they are still given a second-rate | :40:48. | :40:51. | |
service compared to the best services in the UK. Is it empty | :40:52. | :40:56. | |
rhetoric when you are unable to provide what is important and | :40:57. | :41:00. | |
fundamental today? Not at all. Bearing in mind according to the | :41:01. | :41:07. | |
report it took approximately 90% of services working well. Some parts | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
need improvement and we welcome such reports so that we can identify | :41:13. | :41:16. | |
whether there is room for improvement, but we know according | :41:17. | :41:20. | |
to the Nuffield report, there is little difference between the health | :41:21. | :41:24. | |
services across the UK and we will continue to ensure the best services | :41:25. | :41:30. | |
are available, particularly where things could be better. Winter | :41:31. | :41:39. | |
pressures haunt us every year. We have these conversations, always the | :41:40. | :41:43. | |
same groups of people, the elderly, young, chronically ill. In | :41:44. | :41:47. | |
Pembrokeshire, the community resource teams, a collaboration | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
between the health board and local government, have been incredibly | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
effective in working to ensure that people have access to the right | :41:57. | :42:00. | |
services and in preventing hospital admissions. They focus on | :42:01. | :42:04. | |
preventative care, reduce the need for complex care packages. Their job | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
is to avert crises and they work in the community with doctors. There is | :42:10. | :42:15. | |
no coincidence this is a health board that has a director of | :42:16. | :42:24. | |
social... Of therapies and social sizes. They stopping people getting | :42:25. | :42:29. | |
into hospitals, particularly the elderly and those with respiratory | :42:30. | :42:33. | |
problems. Would you welcome the work they are doing? They are one of the | :42:34. | :42:38. | |
leading practitioner 's office in Wales and would you come to | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
Pembrokeshire to see them in action and understand more about the | :42:45. | :42:50. | |
benefits that a director of therapies and social services, | :42:51. | :42:53. | |
health care professionals, can bring to the changing face of NHS health | :42:54. | :42:58. | |
care, particularly over the next 15 years, when we need more of these | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
people, not less. How can I refuse such an offer? I am interested in | :43:05. | :43:10. | |
the work the member has described. I can see the passion she displays in | :43:11. | :43:14. | |
advocating the work she has seen them do and I would like to see it | :43:15. | :43:25. | |
for myself. TRANSLATION: Will the First Minister make a statement on | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
the shortage of doctors. As regards numbers there is not a shortage, | :43:31. | :43:35. | |
there are more doctors now than in 2005. I will give you the figures. | :43:36. | :43:43. | |
In 2005 there were 1849 GPs in Wales and now there is 1997 in one area, | :43:44. | :43:59. | |
437 in 2005 and the same is true of doctors in hospitals. But there will | :44:00. | :44:04. | |
be a campaign launched at the end of next month to attract more doctors | :44:05. | :44:09. | |
to work in Wells. I am not sure if I want to thank you for that response | :44:10. | :44:13. | |
because it is a different picture painted if you count the number of | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
doctors that correspond to full-time equivalents. One of the problems | :44:18. | :44:23. | |
with recruitment of GPs in rural areas is lack of wider facilities to | :44:24. | :44:29. | |
them. GPs do not want to fail in their duties because they cannot | :44:30. | :44:35. | |
access beds for their patients, X-Ray machines, diagnostic services. | :44:36. | :44:41. | |
Can I ask you, would you be willing to commission research with rural | :44:42. | :44:47. | |
GPs, including those perhaps who have given up their post to | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
acknowledge their problems in terms of access and take action as a | :44:52. | :44:53. | |
result? I would argue that we are already | :44:54. | :45:03. | |
doing that through collaborative officers in mid Wales and I would | :45:04. | :45:06. | |
expect the work that is being done there can be transferred and | :45:07. | :45:11. | |
disseminated throughout the whole of Wales. It's a woody started. One | :45:12. | :45:17. | |
thing you didn't refer to is the innovation in GP care, particularly | :45:18. | :45:23. | |
in North Wales in Prestatyn with a multidisciplinary team approach to | :45:24. | :45:26. | |
patient care. What worked for the Welsh government do to evaluate | :45:27. | :45:32. | |
whether that module is successful and can be applied elsewhere across | :45:33. | :45:36. | |
Wales which will alleviate the pressure on GP numbers. The reality | :45:37. | :45:44. | |
is we saw in Prestatyn that GP services closed and the local health | :45:45. | :45:50. | |
board took over primary care services and they are now better. | :45:51. | :46:00. | |
The contractor module is a better module and more GPs are less | :46:01. | :46:14. | |
attracted to it. In Prestatyn the local health board will continue to | :46:15. | :46:20. | |
evaluate what is being done there to see if it is a module that can be | :46:21. | :46:29. | |
adapted. What plans is the Welsh government to -- does the Welsh | :46:30. | :46:35. | |
government have to improve mental health services? We will be | :46:36. | :46:42. | |
publishing a three-year plan in terms of delivering our mental | :46:43. | :46:54. | |
strategy. There was an enquiry into child after less than mental | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
services. There was an increase in the need, but the services were | :47:00. | :47:07. | |
deficient. In a recent meeting the children's Commissioner for Wales | :47:08. | :47:22. | |
said that the committee has only met once, even though ?7 million has | :47:23. | :47:29. | |
been injected into the services. The are no specifics for the government | :47:30. | :47:37. | |
to improve the service. Will the First Minister commit to reforming | :47:38. | :47:40. | |
the services and explain how he would do it? I disagree with the | :47:41. | :47:49. | |
member. We how the lee-macro asking benefits. New services for ADHD and | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
autism are being established across Wales. -- we are seeing benefits. | :47:58. | :48:09. | |
What are the implications for the Welsh economy after the statement | :48:10. | :48:19. | |
about tariff free trade YouTube Brexit. Reasons are outlined by the | :48:20. | :48:29. | |
government and we want businesses in Wales to have unfettered access. I'm | :48:30. | :48:38. | |
sure we do, but members of the UK Government seem to be pushing in the | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
opposite direction which is worrying for some 6000 people who depend on | :48:43. | :48:48. | |
jobs which have resulted out of Japanese investment, including | :48:49. | :48:54. | |
Panasonic in my own constituency. I just wondered how we are going to | :48:55. | :48:58. | |
influence the UK Government that we will continue to have free trade | :48:59. | :49:06. | |
with the European Union because otherwise the future for inward | :49:07. | :49:10. | |
investment looks extremely bleak. To me, in green -- agreeing that | :49:11. | :49:17. | |
fundamental point is essential before we can move on to anything | :49:18. | :49:21. | |
else. That is the building block on which any deal can be built. It will | :49:22. | :49:27. | |
be difficult to progress on anything else. I am concerned that the UK is | :49:28. | :49:36. | |
now seen as not wanting to engage with the EU. I met with the Minister | :49:37. | :49:46. | |
for Gibraltar and there is worry there. There are many factors at | :49:47. | :49:55. | |
play. Some of them have not been identified. That was First | :49:56. | :50:03. | |
Minister's and is there are more questions on our Senedd page on the | :50:04. | :50:11. | |
website. We will be back at our usual time next week. Good | :50:12. | :50:12. | |
afternoon. | :50:13. | :50:15. |