Browse content similar to 18/06/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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our weekly coverage of First Minister's Questions. There's a mix | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
of topics on the agenda today, with assembly members asking about NHS | :00:26. | :00:31. | |
waiting times, animal welfare and Wales' links with Cuba. That's what | :00:31. | :00:34. | |
the politicians are talking about, but what do you want to talk about? | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
If you want to comment on anything on the programme, or any other | :00:38. | :00:48. | |
political news, get in touch with us. Well, the First Minister is | :00:48. | :00:56. | |
already on his feet, so let's go over now to chamber. | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
The National Assembly for Wales is now in session. I would like to take | :01:00. | :01:10. | |
:01:10. | :01:11. | ||
the opportunity to congratulate Iestyn Williams -- Esther Williams | :01:11. | :01:18. | |
on being awarded the CBE in the Queens birthday honours list. Many | :01:18. | :01:24. | |
congratulations, Kirsty. No special favours though! The first item this | :01:24. | :01:29. | |
afternoon, questions to the First Minister. Rebecca Evans. What action | :01:29. | :01:35. | |
is the word government taking to support the millennium goals of the | :01:35. | :01:40. | |
United Nations? We have supported many thousands of people across | :01:40. | :01:45. | |
Wales to work together through community and hospital projects, | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
making a real difference to people in sub-Saharan Africa. | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
particularly proud that we are leading the way in terms of fair | :01:53. | :01:59. | |
trade programmes. Will you explore how we can lead the way in terms of | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
enabling disabled people here and in the developing world to benefit from | :02:02. | :02:08. | |
the international links? We will indeed look at that. It has been of | :02:08. | :02:15. | |
great benefit to schools, two Welsh managers and leaders. Just over 100 | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
have been involved in projects. I have met so many of them over the | :02:19. | :02:24. | |
years, particularly medics of different professions. We want to | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
make sure the links are as strong as possible and involve as many people | :02:27. | :02:37. | |
as possible. First Minister, one of the United Nations millennium goals | :02:37. | :02:47. | |
:02:47. | :02:48. | ||
is the promotion of gender inequality and empowerment of women. | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
Rape crisis has said many women in Wales have to deal with the legacy | :02:54. | :03:02. | |
of sexual violence without any support due to the standard and | :03:02. | :03:04. | |
availability of services. Will the First Minister address this by | :03:04. | :03:11. | |
ensuring that specialist sexual support services across Wales will | :03:11. | :03:16. | |
feature in the forthcoming Bill? have the violence against women and | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
domestic abuse Bill. Of course, one of the greatest barriers that will | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
be erected in terms of women getting justice will be the lack of access | :03:26. | :03:32. | |
they will have two legal aid in years to come. Either because they | :03:32. | :03:36. | |
are not eligible as individuals or are not eligible are able to get | :03:36. | :03:39. | |
advice because of the fairly ludicrous contracting system that | :03:39. | :03:45. | |
has been put in place. Member -- the member is shouting that is not true. | :03:45. | :03:51. | |
I can assure him, I know more about it than he does. Many women will not | :03:51. | :03:54. | |
get justice in the future because they will not have access to legal | :03:54. | :04:04. | |
:04:04. | :04:34. | ||
aid. SPEAKS IN WELSH. | :04:34. | :04:44. | |
:04:44. | :05:02. | ||
update on the Welsh government's response to ash dieback? Yes, the | :05:02. | :05:08. | |
most recent discovery was detected during a routine inspection at ferry | :05:08. | :05:18. | |
:05:18. | :05:19. | ||
side. Thank you for that answer. The Forestry Commission warned that the | :05:19. | :05:25. | |
spread of ash dieback is unstoppable. Do we have a management | :05:25. | :05:31. | |
plan in place? Can I have an update on how much recently planted in fact | :05:31. | :05:37. | |
that has been removed, and have the protected zones being -- of the | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
protective zones been established yet? Can I have an update on the | :05:41. | :05:48. | |
embargo is regarding ash saplings and trees like Chestnut? Can I ask | :05:48. | :05:56. | |
the Minister to working with natural resources Wales to create an ash | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
dieback app to help people to report the disease? We have the management | :06:01. | :06:06. | |
plan. It does highlight the potential benefits of removing | :06:06. | :06:16. | |
:06:16. | :06:16. | ||
potentially infected ash. The information... We know that removals | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
are taking place. In terms of sweet chestnut, particularly sweet | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
chestnut blight, there is no indication it is present in Wales at | :06:23. | :06:30. | |
the moment. An investigation of recent findings in England are being | :06:30. | :06:40. | |
:06:40. | :06:40. | ||
conducted. An app has been developed by the Forestry Commission on the | :06:40. | :06:42. | |
reporting of tree diseases, which originally included information only | :06:42. | :06:48. | |
and ash dieback. It has been expanded to include information on | :06:48. | :06:54. | |
other pests and diseases. There are no plans to produce an app for | :06:54. | :07:01. | |
Wales. First Minister, you will know that there are vast numbers of | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
history to be felled in Wales. Have you made plans for the use of this | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
timber? That is a matter for those who are selling the timber. It is | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
not known if that timber can be used in a normal way. Clearly, if there | :07:15. | :07:25. | |
:07:25. | :07:27. | ||
is a market for that timber, that will be the case. | :07:27. | :07:37. | |
:07:37. | :07:38. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds | :07:38. | :08:33. | |
SPEAKS IN WELSH. leaders. First we have the leader of | :08:33. | :08:40. | |
Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood. Before I ask my questions, I would like to | :08:40. | :08:45. | |
pay tribute to -- on behalf of all members of Plaid Cymru to my | :08:45. | :08:51. | |
predecessor, Ian Wynne Jones, for all of the work he has done for this | :08:51. | :08:54. | |
institution. For his determination to tackle the problems in this | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
economy. And for all he has done to build this country of ours. And now | :09:00. | :09:07. | |
to my questions. First Minister, wages have fallen in value by 8% in | :09:07. | :09:13. | |
real terms since 2007. I would agree with one of your backbenchers, who | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
said this morning that austerity is not inevitable, it is a political | :09:17. | :09:22. | |
choice. That is why Plaid Cymru supports the TUC campaign for a | :09:22. | :09:29. | |
future that works. First Minister, do you back the Wales TUC campaign? | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
And if you agree that austerity is a political choice, can you please | :09:33. | :09:39. | |
explain why your party will stick to Tory spending plans if elected to | :09:39. | :09:49. | |
:09:49. | :09:49. | ||
Westminster in 2015? Can I join with the leader of Plaid Cymru and pay my | :09:49. | :09:56. | |
tributes to Ieuan Wyn Jones? He is somebody I have the utmost respect | :09:56. | :10:03. | |
for and I wish him well in his future develop -- in his future. As | :10:03. | :10:09. | |
far as my party is concerned, Westminster is in a difficult | :10:09. | :10:13. | |
position in terms of the decisions it will have to take. As a Welsh | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
government we do not agree with the programme of austerity that is being | :10:17. | :10:21. | |
propagated by the Tories and the Lib Dems in London. We do not see that | :10:21. | :10:25. | |
the evidence is there that shows what they are doing is working. We | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
have put in place a number of programmes to mitigate the effects | :10:28. | :10:33. | |
of what is being presented to us. But First Minister, you and your | :10:33. | :10:39. | |
party cannot have it both ways. Labour cannot oppose austerity here | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
and supported in London. You warn us about the effect of courts because | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
of next week 's comprehensive spending review, yet Labour will not | :10:49. | :10:58. | |
even commit to scrapping the bedroom tax. Labour wants to see a regional | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
benefit on Social Security in Wales. Why is your party proposing a | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
regional development which will mean disabled and unemployed people in | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
Wales will get less money than people in the same circumstances in | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
other parts of the UK? I have seen no evidence to suggest my party | :11:15. | :11:22. | |
supports a as a matter of policy. suggest you would read your various | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
ministers speeches, First Minister. Wales has been described as the poor | :11:27. | :11:31. | |
man of Europe. The rest of the world is moving ahead so fast that if we | :11:31. | :11:37. | |
do not start catching up, the legacy we will leave our children is a | :11:37. | :11:43. | |
hopeless wasteland. Those are not my words but the words of Welsh | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
broadcaster Vincent Kate -- Vincent Kane. Is he right and how will you | :11:47. | :11:53. | |
stop his prediction? My party does not have any ministers in London. We | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
do have ministers in Wales. No ministers have used such words. I do | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
not believe in the gloom written description which she has given of | :12:02. | :12:08. | |
the Welsh situation. She will know the schemes that have been put in | :12:08. | :12:15. | |
place. The Wales economic front, the digital development fund, the life | :12:15. | :12:19. | |
sciences fund... The appointment this week of the first professor to | :12:19. | :12:28. | |
be appointed. Levels of unemployment have the creased. There is a long | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
way to go but this government is proactive. She also says, why can't | :12:33. | :12:40. | |
I have it both ways? There are several different views within Plaid | :12:40. | :12:45. | |
Cymru. It would be useful for us to know if they support the | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
establishment of the new reactor. now move to the leader of the | :12:50. | :12:56. | |
opposition. Thank you, presiding officer. If I could join the | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
sentiments expressed about the leader -- about the member for | :13:00. | :13:03. | |
Anglesey. I have had the pleasure of sitting in this chamber for five | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
years with him. I have known him to be a very competent minister, who | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
delivers on what he says. Also a colleague who said on committees and | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
has always worked in the best interests of his constituents and | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
indeed Wales. He has had the opportunity to sit in Westminster | :13:19. | :13:25. | |
and the assembly. A measure of his success is the progress he has made | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
in moving many good causes in Wales and advancing because of Wales in | :13:29. | :13:34. | |
the United Kingdom and Europe. I share the tributes. I also join in | :13:34. | :13:39. | |
the congratulations to the leader of the Liberal Democrats on the honour | :13:39. | :13:46. | |
given in the Queens honours list. -- Queen's 's point is that such | :13:46. | :13:54. | |
importance attached on the setting of targets with regard to the | :13:54. | :14:01. | |
delivery of public services? Can I join you in your comments about the | :14:01. | :14:07. | |
leader of the Liberal Democrats. I have to remember that when we pay | :14:07. | :14:13. | |
tribute to people sometimes, they are in fact alive. The political | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
tribute are important. But I know that he has much to contribute yet | :14:16. | :14:21. | |
to the public life of Wales. It is important, of course, that we have | :14:21. | :14:25. | |
milestones and targets to ensure, particularly with regard to health, | :14:25. | :14:32. | |
that progress can be measured. work in the drawing our attention to | :14:32. | :14:38. | |
health. We know that cancer waiting times have not been met since 2008. | :14:38. | :14:46. | |
AMD response times have not been met since 2009. -- A&E. We learned last | :14:46. | :14:52. | |
week there are 7611 people waiting more than 36 weeks for treatment. A | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
massive increase in the target. Only recently your comment put much store | :14:57. | :15:01. | |
by those targets. We do not know the success of enterprise zones in | :15:01. | :15:05. | |
Wales. I was interested in the response to the leader of Plaid | :15:05. | :15:10. | |
Cymru, that when you listed your achievements, you did not list | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
enterprise zones as being one of those achievements. We fully support | :15:14. | :15:16. | |
the introduction of enterprise zones and the benefit they can bring to | :15:16. | :15:21. | |
local economies. But we have tried time and time again to try to find | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
out what jobs have been created, what new businesses have been | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
created, and what investment has gone into enterprise owned in Wales. | :15:29. | :15:34. | |
Will you be setting key targets so we can benchmark the success of | :15:34. | :15:37. | |
enterprise zones? And if those figures already exist, will you make | :15:37. | :15:47. | |
:15:47. | :15:59. | ||
We will not set targets that cannot be met. As far as we're concerned, | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
with accident and emergency, we are encouraged by the fact that waiting | :16:02. | :16:07. | |
times have decreased, encouraged that ambulance response times have | :16:07. | :16:13. | |
decreased, but there is some way to go in meeting targets. Welsh | :16:13. | :16:21. | |
enterprise zones, there have been jobs created in many areas. They | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
are working very well. He will have seen this week the announcement | :16:25. | :16:34. | |
made by Cardiff Bay Aviation Authority. I welcome that, but we | :16:34. | :16:39. | |
cannot find out how many jobs are being created. In England, I can | :16:39. | :16:45. | |
find out 3,000 jobs are being created. Millions of pounds of | :16:45. | :16:51. | |
extra private sector investment has been created. I am saying, from the | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
side of the House, we support the introduction of enterprise zones. | :16:55. | :17:00. | |
But all we have seen so far, if you take the card of enterprise zone, | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
as the Welsh government buying of the space and effectively | :17:04. | :17:08. | |
nationalising the office-based market in Cardiff. I note you went | :17:08. | :17:13. | |
through your file and did not come up with any specific examples. Will | :17:13. | :17:23. | |
you be bringing forward key targets that the people working in the | :17:23. | :17:33. | |
:17:33. | :17:35. | ||
zones know that we can benchmark everything? In Cardiff, there was a | :17:35. | :17:41. | |
recent announcement of 450 jobs. There are 10 job creation inquiries | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
in the pipeline. There is interest in the city centre. We have seen | :17:46. | :17:53. | |
the acquisition of Callaghan's Square, which is to provide support | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
for the enterprise service. I see nothing wrong with that, it ensures | :17:57. | :18:04. | |
that there is enterprise available. There will be excellent office- | :18:04. | :18:10. | |
based brought to the city centre, and we have the creation of more | :18:10. | :18:20. | |
:18:20. | :18:22. | ||
than 200 jobs with Admiral. Do not shout me down, he wanted a list of | :18:22. | :18:32. | |
:18:32. | :18:38. | ||
things! Order.There is a new �45 million campus. His own is | :18:38. | :18:48. | |
maximised. That is enough for now. -- the zone. We now move to the | :18:48. | :18:54. | |
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader. Thank you for you kind comments I | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
have received over the weekend from colleagues in the chamber, and | :18:58. | :19:04. | |
could I take this opportunity to thank a colleague for the personal | :19:04. | :19:09. | |
kindness he has always shown to me while we have served here. He has | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
been a true and faithful servant to his party and the people of | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
Anglesey, and I wish him well in his future endeavours, presiding | :19:18. | :19:24. | |
officer. Governments in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland all | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
have specific schemes to support farmers operating in hills and | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
upland areas. Why is Wills's the only home nation where no such | :19:34. | :19:40. | |
support is available? We have a package of so bought from farmers, | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
and that is very attractive. Farmers would not swap their | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
position in Wales to move to England in that regard. It is also | :19:49. | :19:55. | |
the case that we have previously paid farmers their money as quickly | :19:55. | :20:03. | |
as possible, which is in contrast to anywhere else in the UK. Last | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
week he said DEFRA did not care about a hill farmers, that they | :20:07. | :20:13. | |
only cared about arable farms. Why then do they think that English | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
upland farmers deserve extra support, whilst you have decided to | :20:17. | :20:23. | |
put Welsh farmers at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the EU? | :20:23. | :20:30. | |
I do not believe they are at a competitive disadvantage. Welsh | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
farming has enjoyed a high level of support from government, through | :20:33. | :20:39. | |
subsidy and government in terms of Welsh produce. I remind her that we | :20:39. | :20:47. | |
were the first country to ensure that Welsh lamb arrived to in Dubai. | :20:47. | :20:54. | |
It is simply a question of being proactive went other governments -- | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
when other governments in the UK were not being. Proactive? The food | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
strategy was published in 2010, and it is now 2013, and you have not | :21:03. | :21:10. | |
decided on your strategy. -- on your plan. You blame the weather | :21:10. | :21:12. | |
for your Government's per performance in providing health | :21:12. | :21:18. | |
care, and the ability to provide tourism. Farming is one area where | :21:18. | :21:25. | |
it is rarely affected by the severe weather. There is no reason at all | :21:25. | :21:30. | |
why a scheme to support hill farmers cannot be implemented in | :21:30. | :21:36. | |
Wales. Will you commit today to implementing the scheme to support | :21:36. | :21:45. | |
a stronger rural economy and end a run envious position as the only | :21:45. | :21:54. | |
nation in the UK not to support upland farmers? -- end the | :21:54. | :22:03. | |
unenvious position. The only year they did not receive their | :22:03. | :22:06. | |
financial support, that was when the Liberal Democrats have their | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
hands on the levers of payment. They did not pay farmers in plenty | :22:09. | :22:19. | |
:22:19. | :22:31. | ||
of time. The evidence is there. Success of the Government's have -- | :22:31. | :22:41. | |
:22:41. | :22:42. | ||
other governments have delivered. I have improved -- I am police to see | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
me improvement in accident and emergency departments. People are | :22:46. | :22:53. | |
now waiting less than four hours, but we accept there is a way to go | :22:53. | :22:59. | |
yet. Thank you. At the various meetings with the South Wales | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
programme, concerns have been raised regarding ambulance waiting | :23:02. | :23:10. | |
times. That is related to people waiting in accident and emergency. | :23:10. | :23:15. | |
Given the way that the departments are been changed and the reliance | :23:15. | :23:18. | |
on the ambulance service in relation to that programme, are you | :23:18. | :23:27. | |
confident that if those proposals are brought forward, but accident | :23:27. | :23:29. | |
and emergency departments around South Wales will be able to cope | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
with the extra demands being put on them as a result of the changes | :23:33. | :23:41. | |
being proposed? That is self- evident that that is the case. I do | :23:41. | :23:48. | |
not want to discuss the proposals, and they may be decided by the | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
Health Minister. With regard to changes, there are a number of | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
factors that need to be taken into account, and ambulance response is | :23:55. | :24:04. | |
will be one of them. -- responses. Do you realise that one of the | :24:04. | :24:06. | |
reasons that accident and emergency departments are finding it | :24:06. | :24:12. | |
difficult to hit the targets for the past four years in terms of the | :24:12. | :24:17. | |
waiting time targets you have given, do you accept that you're record- | :24:17. | :24:26. | |
breaking cuts of over �812 million by the end of the next financial | :24:26. | :24:32. | |
year, do you accept that those cuts will make it even more difficult | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
for those departments to hit your targets which have not been met for | :24:36. | :24:43. | |
four years? We went from 500 million before, which was | :24:43. | :24:49. | |
apparently a wrong, then 800 million, which was wrong, now it is | :24:49. | :24:59. | |
:24:59. | :25:00. | ||
812 million. If we believe what the Conservatives are saying, there are | :25:00. | :25:09. | |
just plucking the figures out of the air. The reality is that health | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
spending in Wales stays constant, and the parties opposite never tell | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
you where the money is coming from. They did not say that there are 20% | :25:17. | :25:25. | |
of teachers and schools... They all was plucked out the figures from | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
thin air, and they never tell the people of Wales how they will pay | :25:28. | :25:38. | |
:25:38. | :25:43. | ||
for it. So they will never be in government. I told members are able | :25:43. | :25:53. | |
:25:53. | :25:53. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds | :25:53. | :26:52. | |
to hear his reply. I found it a Will the first minister make a | :26:52. | :26:59. | |
statement on the level of her is building starts in Wales? They were | :26:59. | :27:08. | |
up 6%. You are committed to increasing the number of houses | :27:08. | :27:12. | |
built, but according to recent figures, the number of new houses | :27:12. | :27:19. | |
started in 2012, -- started in 2012 was less than half of that in | :27:19. | :27:28. | |
2007/2008. Does he accept the concern addressed by the industry | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
that he is increasing the burden on the availability of the Welsh | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
housing market, putting Wales at a competitive disadvantage compared | :27:37. | :27:47. | |
to England? That is not so prising that it is less because that was | :27:47. | :27:57. | |
:27:57. | :28:04. | ||
before the crash. The -- it isn't He is using out of date figures. If | :28:04. | :28:10. | |
he is referring to the sprinkler legislation, he voted for them. His | :28:10. | :28:17. | |
party applauded it. Nick Ramsay stood up and welcome them profusely. | :28:17. | :28:27. | |
:28:27. | :28:31. | ||
He cannot have it both ways. At the end of the day, you cannot argue | :28:31. | :28:34. | |
that there is an unproven suggestions that somehow the | :28:34. | :28:38. | |
regulation burden in Wales is more, when in fact the main piece of | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
evidence used to support but is evidence that his party supported. | :28:42. | :28:49. | |
They cannot get away with that. I remind them time and time again, | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
there rightly supported this legislation and cannot back out of | :28:53. | :29:02. | |
that now. You will be aware of the new high demand of one and two- | :29:02. | :29:06. | |
bedroom properties. How many properties does your Government | :29:06. | :29:12. | |
estimate are needed, and how many are they planting -- are they | :29:12. | :29:22. | |
:29:22. | :29:25. | ||
planning to create? It will be something around 25,000. That | :29:25. | :29:30. | |
cannot be done overnight, but this is a situation created by the UK | :29:30. | :29:33. | |
government, and the challenge in the future is to insure there are | :29:33. | :29:42. | |
sufficient properties of that size being built. We have ensured that | :29:42. | :29:50. | |
there are 249 social houses being built, but there have to be ways of | :29:50. | :29:53. | |
coping with the demand and the people of Wales by the UK | :29:53. | :30:00. | |
government. It is important for Communities in Rural Wales that a | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
housing development other organic and that smaller developments are | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
more appropriate, but while they can help young people stay in their | :30:08. | :30:13. | |
local communities, the high cost of using -- introducing infrastructure | :30:13. | :30:18. | |
to those can make them not cost- effective. It is pushing the price | :30:18. | :30:22. | |
beyond the reach of the young people who want them. Can you look | :30:22. | :30:32. | |
:30:32. | :30:42. | ||
at ways we can help tackle those people buy houses. We are looking at | :30:42. | :30:52. | |
her stamp duty can be used in the future. We have said to the | :30:52. | :30:57. | |
construction industry we want to use stamp duty constructively to help | :30:57. | :31:00. | |
them to provide more houses for people and more opportunities for | :31:00. | :31:10. | |
:31:10. | :31:12. | ||
young people to get on the housing ladder. | :31:12. | :31:22. | |
:31:22. | :31:22. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds | :31:22. | :33:06. | |
Would be First Minister I agree that adults with Asperger's syndrome have | :33:06. | :33:10. | |
great difficulty in accessing welfare benefits because of their | :33:10. | :33:15. | |
communication problems? It is particularly difficult in the | :33:15. | :33:18. | |
present climate because of the difficulty of getting advocates to | :33:18. | :33:24. | |
work with them to get those benefits. Yes, I would. Asp urge is | :33:24. | :33:32. | |
sits at one end of the state spectrum. -- Asperger's syndrome. It | :33:32. | :33:38. | |
is particularly difficult for people with the syndrome to explain their | :33:38. | :33:42. | |
position and to interact with others, to do themselves justice. | :33:42. | :33:47. | |
That is why important there are advice and advocacy services are | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
available to them. That is why we have made commitments to making sure | :33:50. | :34:00. | |
:34:00. | :34:00. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 55 seconds | :34:00. | :35:08. | |
update as to whether the First Minister's delivery unit is being | :35:08. | :35:15. | |
progressed? The delivery unit works alongside departments in ensuring | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
that cancer patients are seen within the target times. That is one of our | :35:19. | :35:24. | |
key commitments. White men's -- In January I asked | :35:24. | :35:30. | |
you about the cancer waiting times. You give me a brief answer. Annoying | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
question from no doubt an annoying assembly member. You anticipated the | :35:34. | :35:41. | |
waiting times would be met by March. Of course, they have not been met. | :35:41. | :35:48. | |
You have minister has now gone on to say that he would hope that people | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
waiting a diagnosis of cancer would see a diagnosis within ten days, | :35:52. | :35:57. | |
which would help to speed up the meeting of these important targets. | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
We are talking about people whose lives have been utterly blighted by | :36:02. | :36:07. | |
our inability to deliver cancer services on time. Rather than give | :36:07. | :36:10. | |
me a glib answer, I would very much like it if your delivery unit would | :36:10. | :36:18. | |
actually look at how we can bring the local health boards to seal, and | :36:18. | :36:22. | |
get -- local health boards to heal and get the waiting times delivered | :36:22. | :36:28. | |
on time. People are waiting tragically too long diagnoses that | :36:28. | :36:36. | |
do not help them in the end. member does herself a disservice | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
when she annoys herself as annoying. Her answers -- questions | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
are always important and deserve an answer. The Minister has made his | :36:45. | :36:48. | |
position very clear. We do understand that there is a need to | :36:48. | :36:52. | |
make sure that the targets are met. It hasn't been easy, of course, | :36:52. | :36:57. | |
given the financial situation imposed on us by the UK government. | :36:57. | :37:02. | |
Nor has it been easy generally in the health service. The Health | :37:02. | :37:08. | |
Minister is committed as I am to making sure that waiting times | :37:08. | :37:12. | |
improve with regard to cancer. The delivery plans are in the main now | :37:12. | :37:17. | |
in place. These are things that will assist people in their journey in | :37:17. | :37:27. | |
:37:27. | :37:28. | ||
coping with cancer. White macro -- The Health Minister | :37:28. | :37:36. | |
was not surprised --... The Health Minister said he would attempt to | :37:36. | :37:38. | |
ensure greater consistency and quality in the plans. We are all | :37:38. | :37:45. | |
aware that performance in other aspects of the health service is a | :37:45. | :37:50. | |
variable between health boards. Do you think there is a need for the | :37:50. | :37:53. | |
Welsh government to establish mechanisms to ensure that the | :37:53. | :37:57. | |
performance of health boards is raised, and that the patient | :37:57. | :38:03. | |
experience is consistent across Wales? Yes. That is why health | :38:03. | :38:09. | |
boards have been tasked with producing recovery plans. A 31 day | :38:09. | :38:14. | |
target will be met across Wales from this month. The 62 day target will | :38:14. | :38:19. | |
be achieved from October. We will provide an assessment of the | :38:19. | :38:24. | |
position after the chief executive's reading on June 18, | :38:24. | :38:34. | |
today, in fact. We will ensure they are held to those plans. | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
First Minister, one of the ways in which we could improve cancer | :38:38. | :38:41. | |
services for my constituents is to allow more people to have | :38:41. | :38:46. | |
chemotherapy closer to their home in their community hospitals, therefore | :38:46. | :38:51. | |
taking pressure off some of the regional centres. Harris local | :38:51. | :38:58. | |
health board and I are keen to see chemotherapy sessions. We do need | :38:58. | :39:01. | |
capital investment from the Welsh government. The Minister and the | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
finance minister have both said they would be happy to look at the | :39:06. | :39:12. | |
exciting plans to develop services. Perhaps you would like to join them | :39:12. | :39:15. | |
and therefore get a decision on whether the bid for �5 million worth | :39:15. | :39:22. | |
of capital funding for the local health board will be successful. | :39:22. | :39:25. | |
understand the point of the member is making. If the Minister is | :39:25. | :39:28. | |
looking to attend, that will be a matter for him to observe what is | :39:28. | :39:36. | |
happening. We have moved away from an exceptionally large | :39:36. | :39:39. | |
hospital-based system of chemotherapy. For understandable | :39:39. | :39:45. | |
reasons, it was felled chemotherapy had to take place in a hospital. But | :39:45. | :39:52. | |
of course, issues tend to arrive further down the line, not when | :39:52. | :39:57. | |
chemotherapy is being administered. I am sure the Minister will be | :39:57. | :40:03. | |
looking with great interest at the proposals for a land of nod. With | :40:03. | :40:05. | |
the First Minister please make a statement on the Welsh Minister's | :40:05. | :40:12. | |
met and to improving animal welfare? Yes, and animal health and welfare | :40:12. | :40:22. | |
strategy is moving forward across Wales. The work on programmes is | :40:22. | :40:25. | |
continuing. We will leave First Minister 's | :40:25. | :40:35. | |
:40:35. | :40:35. | ||
questions. You can see more coverage of the assembly online. | :40:35. | :40:41. | |
Let's talk to our Welsh affairs editor, Vaughan Roderick. Warm | :40:41. | :40:49. | |
tributes for a UI and Wyn Jones, who is standing down? -- I and Wynne | :40:49. | :40:56. | |
Jones. That's right. He is to leave the assembly not, as expected, in | :40:56. | :41:01. | |
2015, but in the next few months to take a job as head of a new science | :41:01. | :41:06. | |
Park in Anglesey. It is a party has campaigned established. The tributes | :41:07. | :41:12. | |
we heard came from all sides. They were genuine. He is well liked. He | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
is one of those politicians who has seen his reputation go up as his | :41:16. | :41:20. | |
career has gone ahead, rather than one who has seen his reputation go | :41:20. | :41:25. | |
down. Genuine tributes from his own party and the leaders of the other | :41:25. | :41:30. | |
parties in the assembly. Interestingly, this science Park | :41:30. | :41:35. | |
came about from a budget deal between Labour and Plaid Cymru? | :41:35. | :41:39. | |
That's right. It is one of the things that Plaid Cymru as for and | :41:40. | :41:49. | |
:41:50. | :41:51. | ||
later agreed to. -- and labour agreed to. I did wonder whether the | :41:51. | :41:55. | |
Tories or the Lib Dems would pick up on that and say there was something | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
fishy about lobbying for a grant and then taking a job from the body that | :41:59. | :42:04. | |
gets it. They do not seem to feel that way. Everybody seems to think | :42:04. | :42:10. | |
the science Park is a good idea and that Mr Wyn Jones is the right | :42:10. | :42:14. | |
person to take up the job. It appears people are not try to make | :42:14. | :42:19. | |
an issue out of that. They may because we now face a rare | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
occurrence in assembly terms, a by-election. He is a constituency | :42:23. | :42:29. | |
member and he will need to be replaced. We have just had the | :42:29. | :42:35. | |
council elections. It will be a seat to watch, wanted? That's right. That | :42:35. | :42:41. | |
may have played a part in his decision. The independent candidate | :42:41. | :42:49. | |
did well. Plaid Cymru did well. The other parties did poorly. That may | :42:49. | :42:52. | |
convince him that he could give up his seat in Anglesey with Plaid | :42:52. | :42:56. | |
Cymru having every chance of holding onto it. I wonder would he have | :42:56. | :43:00. | |
reached the same decision if Plaid Cymru had done badly and the Labour | :43:00. | :43:09. | |
Party had done well? Leanne Wood was quite interesting in what she went | :43:09. | :43:16. | |
after with the austerities programme. Yes, I thought Leanne | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
Wood had a very effective first couple of questions. She was | :43:20. | :43:25. | |
pointing out the difference between what people are saying here and what | :43:25. | :43:30. | |
people like Liam Byrne as saying in Westminster, about a regional | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
benefit tax. She did not quite managed to drive that point home in | :43:34. | :43:41. |