:00:30. > :00:32.Good afternoon. Welcome to the programme, and our
:00:33. > :00:36.weekly coverage of questions to the First Minister. There was never any
:00:37. > :00:38.doubt that Carwyn Jones would face questions on the proposals for local
:00:39. > :00:43.government re-organisation and, in fact, that's the very first topic on
:00:44. > :00:47.the order paper. He can also expect to be quizzed on energy pricing, the
:00:48. > :00:54.NHS and the state of the economy on Welsh high streets. So that's what
:00:55. > :00:57.we expect AMs to be talking about, but is there anything you want to
:00:58. > :01:01.talk about? If you want to comment on the programme or any other
:01:02. > :01:04.political news then please get in touch. You can reach us via Twitter,
:01:05. > :01:14.we're @walespolitics, or send us an email to am.pm@bbc.co.uk. Well,
:01:15. > :01:17.business in the chamber is already underway so let's go over to the
:01:18. > :01:39.Senedd for today's questions to the First Minister. National Assembly
:01:40. > :02:40.for Wales is now in session. Question one Llyr Gruffydd.
:02:41. > :02:50.You may be aware that the... Hadera spawned from their evidence to that
:02:51. > :02:52.inquiry on the heart of North Wales councils that working across organ
:02:53. > :02:59.sedation and geographic boundaries can bring complexity and bring
:03:00. > :03:05.confusion and we can accountability? It is said you are
:03:06. > :03:14.hundreds of different cost curves all bathing differently. The member
:03:15. > :03:23.makes the case for reorganisation. By seeing the evidence is not there
:03:24. > :03:30.or it is too complicated. It also identifies the problems due to a
:03:31. > :03:31.lack of collaboration which has not taken place between many local
:03:32. > :05:21.authorities in Wales. ministers? We have raised our
:05:22. > :05:24.concerns. The cost of energy is too high and we remain concerned about
:05:25. > :05:33.the ability of the UK to remain competitive with energy costs as
:05:34. > :05:36.they are. Thank you for that answer. Lastly, the foundation companies
:05:37. > :05:48.wrote to the UK Government asking for a level playing field. If
:05:49. > :05:53.companies can compete on the global market. These companies bring huge
:05:54. > :05:57.investment into Wales. Do you agree that the UK Government has failed
:05:58. > :06:04.those companies and their employees by failing to tackle energy costs
:06:05. > :06:07.and will you raise with the Prime Minister of those issues so he can
:06:08. > :06:16.change his approach to funding and energy prices? Have raised the issue
:06:17. > :06:19.with Vince Cable. It is an issue which is of crucial importance to
:06:20. > :06:27.those industries which are important to the Welsh industry which are high
:06:28. > :06:34.energy users. They have taken steps to reduce heavily the amount of
:06:35. > :06:39.energy they use. I would urge the UK Government to address this position
:06:40. > :06:41.as quickly as possible. In order to secure the future of our
:06:42. > :06:47.manufacturing industries. Russell George. One way to mitigate higher
:06:48. > :06:51.energy prices for the future is to improve the energy performance of
:06:52. > :06:58.new and existing buildings, both domestic and nondomestic. Why is the
:06:59. > :06:59.Government significantly reducing its regulation targets for
:07:00. > :07:06.greenhouse gas emissions, which could go a long way to lowering
:07:07. > :07:10.energy prices? That is to assist the construction industry. I welcome
:07:11. > :07:17.that, actually. To help the construction industry to improve its
:07:18. > :07:20.performance over the next two years. The Minister made it absolutely
:07:21. > :07:23.clear that he wanted to make sure targets were reached within a
:07:24. > :07:28.reasonable time but they were not introduced so quickly as to stymie
:07:29. > :08:01.the recovery of the construction industry. Alun Ffred Jones.
:08:02. > :08:09.It wouldn't be possible to subsidise any company. We would have to find
:08:10. > :08:17.some means of funding the company. Which goes against it. It wouldn't
:08:18. > :08:24.be possible to establish any company that would work in any way that
:08:25. > :08:28.wasn't competitive. If you want a competitive market then it is
:08:29. > :08:34.important that all companies are competing on a fair basis, which, of
:08:35. > :08:40.course, that is another matter. You would have to have a company to
:08:41. > :08:48.build their own and not work in a way which is contrary to European
:08:49. > :08:56.regulations. We have a leader of the opposition. First Minister, you said
:08:57. > :09:00.recently you were confident that the Welsh Ambulance Service or NHS Trust
:09:01. > :09:07.has the resources it needs. You are aware of the tragic incident of the
:09:08. > :09:10.death of Mr Fred Pring who died after waiting 42 minutes for an
:09:11. > :09:14.ambulance. The reason, because there were no Ann Jones is available to
:09:15. > :09:19.attend. We were told that the situation was that there were six
:09:20. > :09:27.vehicles waiting in Wrexham and three more. If an ambulance had been
:09:28. > :09:31.available, the optimised suspects for his survival would have been
:09:32. > :09:37.greatly increased. When you hear of these events, do you believe the
:09:38. > :09:43.Welsh Ambulance Service has the resources it requires to actually
:09:44. > :09:46.stop events like this happening? First of all, could I express my
:09:47. > :09:53.condolences to the family of Mr Fred Pring? It is right to say that the
:09:54. > :09:57.coroner did not say he would have lived had an ambulance arrived. It
:09:58. > :10:06.is right to say he would have had a better chance. That much is true.
:10:07. > :10:12.That said, of course, this was not a typical event in the history of the
:10:13. > :10:15.Welsh Ambulance Service nor is it typical of their performance over
:10:16. > :10:19.the last year. But it is important we continue to improve as they have
:10:20. > :10:26.done in order to minimise events such as this are carrying in future.
:10:27. > :10:29.I asked you did do Ambulance Service have the resources it requires to
:10:30. > :10:37.try to stop events like this quest Dominic. Your own District General
:10:38. > :10:49.Hospital had, I'm told, ill Ann Jones waiting outside -- LF in
:10:50. > :10:54.ambulances. That potentially could have affected the outcome of the
:10:55. > :10:59.patients ability to survive the incident they were presented for at
:11:00. > :11:05.the hospital. I ask you again, given that I have cited two examples in
:11:06. > :11:11.very recent weeks, does the Welsh Ambulance Service have the resources
:11:12. > :11:19.to help mitigate and stop these types of events happening at our
:11:20. > :11:23.district general hospitals? Yes. Could I just pointed to one aspect
:11:24. > :11:31.which affects ambulance response times? That is the time it takes to
:11:32. > :11:35.get through A It can become overloaded from time to time and
:11:36. > :11:42.that delays ambulances. The answer is to get more people through A
:11:43. > :11:47.That is why we are so keen to ensure that we have a structure for the NHS
:11:48. > :11:50.that enables that to happen. This is not just about ambulance resources,
:11:51. > :11:56.it is about ensuring hospitals can admit agents as quickly as possible.
:11:57. > :12:01.That is why there have been proposals to look at the structure
:12:02. > :12:07.of A That is where we will disagree. I do not believe by
:12:08. > :12:13.shutting A departments you will help. One of the key problems of
:12:14. > :12:18.people progressing through A is to be taken through to the hospital
:12:19. > :12:24.environment and the loss of beds is one of the big obstacles for people
:12:25. > :12:29.to build a pass-through and ambulances being able to discharge
:12:30. > :12:34.patients into A We have the worst waiting times in the UK,
:12:35. > :12:40.regrettably. What key actions will you undertake to see that there is
:12:41. > :12:46.improvement? I would suggest immediate in pregnant in our A
:12:47. > :12:53.times so the events I have outlined previously can cease to be an
:12:54. > :12:55.occurrence within the Welsh NHS and patients and families will not go
:12:56. > :13:01.through that, those individual families have gone through
:13:02. > :13:13.recently. I disagree that we have the worst times. In Belfast, they
:13:14. > :13:19.have bad times there. But what can we do to increase throughput? The
:13:20. > :13:25.extra resources we have put into the NHS, ?570 million will assist in
:13:26. > :13:28.that. People also need to go to the right A in terms of the condition
:13:29. > :13:40.may have. That means making sure that people go to the right AMD Mac
:13:41. > :13:43.-- A in the first place. The organisation is being taken forward
:13:44. > :13:48.across Wales. But also there is a responsibility of all of
:13:49. > :13:56.individuals. Many people go when they don't need to. Speaking to
:13:57. > :13:59.consultants on my own hospital, it accounts for between one third and
:14:00. > :14:02.one half of cases they see are people who shouldn't be there in the
:14:03. > :14:07.first post. Because they have been to a GP and they have said there is
:14:08. > :14:14.nothing wrong so they go to A People need to accept a level of
:14:15. > :14:22.discipline. I don't see the point in telling people... In order to
:14:23. > :14:27.minimise the tragic occurrences which have happened in the past
:14:28. > :14:36.year, it is important that resources are there. First Minister, the
:14:37. > :14:39.Williams commission report has helped to showing a very concerning
:14:40. > :14:44.light on public services in this country. The commission confirmed
:14:45. > :14:50.that public service performance in places is poor and patchy and too
:14:51. > :14:59.complex and lacking in ambition. Do you accept this verdict? It talks a
:15:00. > :15:01.little about the Government. It is concerned mainly with local
:15:02. > :15:07.government and other public services. The reality is, if you
:15:08. > :15:13.look at the report, it talks about situations where some public service
:15:14. > :15:18.bodies see regulation and inspection as a burden or something to be
:15:19. > :15:33.resisted. The reality is it is about services and the public. You are in
:15:34. > :15:38.charge of public services in Wales and what can be said about local
:15:39. > :15:43.Government can be applied to our National Health Service. There are
:15:44. > :15:49.many people affected by poor public services. We have just heard about a
:15:50. > :15:53.patient who laid for 40 minutes waiting for an ambulance while his
:15:54. > :15:59.wife watched him die. Surely you would agree that this is something
:16:00. > :16:03.that should never ever happen in our country. I agree with that but in
:16:04. > :16:08.relation to the Williams commission, I will remind her that
:16:09. > :16:20.her party did not come forward for the idea of a commission like this,
:16:21. > :16:33.and I do await now what hope he will be on the Williams commission. I
:16:34. > :16:39.reiterate the point... There needs to be a level of cross party
:16:40. > :16:43.support. I want to talk to the other leaders to establish how much of
:16:44. > :16:49.that is possible. This is a major change to local Government and I
:16:50. > :16:55.would like to see this done on a basis of cross-party agreement. I am
:16:56. > :17:00.interested in reaching a consensus with you but I would content you are
:17:01. > :17:16.not starting the process in the correct manner. This morning, a
:17:17. > :17:22.woman there was clearly a capacity issue. Rather than centralised and
:17:23. > :17:33.cut services further which would put pressures on ambulances and A
:17:34. > :17:39.departments, why don't you back our proposals to increase doctor
:17:40. > :17:44.recruitment? I would be in a better position to support you if the
:17:45. > :17:48.doctors themselves supported you. They do not. If you look at what
:17:49. > :17:54.doctors are saying, the vast majority of them says there needs to
:17:55. > :17:58.be change and yet you keep on opposing change. They will say to
:17:59. > :18:03.you, doctors will say to you that the difficulty is throughput of
:18:04. > :18:09.patience, you cannot create a situation where there are more
:18:10. > :18:14.coming through the hospital unless you have a service that is more
:18:15. > :18:21.centralised. Unless you are prepared to ignore the advice of doctors,
:18:22. > :18:25.then you cannot create a Shangri-La situation that you want. We want a
:18:26. > :18:31.sustainable help service based on the guidance that doctors themselves
:18:32. > :18:35.give. You want to ignore that. Where doctors say a service is unsafe, you
:18:36. > :18:43.want to ignore that. That is not sustainable. I look forward to
:18:44. > :18:47.working with Plaid Cymru and other parties with a view on getting a
:18:48. > :18:57.consensus on the way public services are delivered in Wales. Kirsty
:18:58. > :19:02.Williams. First Minister, in your programme for Government, which you
:19:03. > :19:07.are very fond of referring to, you list a whole series of targets that
:19:08. > :19:13.you will use to measure NHS performance. On Sunday, you said it
:19:14. > :19:17.is difficult to see what the justification is for them and that
:19:18. > :19:22.there was no logic for them. If there is no logic to them, what were
:19:23. > :19:27.you doing including them in your programme for Government less than
:19:28. > :19:31.three years ago? Because they exist. If you look at the clinical
:19:32. > :19:38.reasoning for the targets, that much is true. When I went around
:19:39. > :19:42.hospitals in the summer, doctors said, if you have targets with
:19:43. > :19:49.regard to A, we have people who come here, have spent 13 hours in a
:19:50. > :19:55.end E but the alternative is to keep them in hospital for longer. I am
:19:56. > :20:05.aware that revisiting the targets without reaching some of them...
:20:06. > :20:10.What I said was I would like to see us reach some of those targets and
:20:11. > :20:14.then consider whether they need to be changed. Let's look at one
:20:15. > :20:19.target. You promised that you would improve access and patient
:20:20. > :20:27.experience by ensuring rapid investigations and treatment. Our
:20:28. > :20:32.work waits for scams, endoscopy is no longer important or is it the
:20:33. > :20:36.fact the number of people waiting eight weeks for diagnostic services
:20:37. > :20:43.has trebled in the last two years? Is that one you are planning to meet
:20:44. > :20:49.or ditch? There have been challenges. We are confident the
:20:50. > :20:54.extra resources going into the NHS will help to meet those challenges.
:20:55. > :21:01.It is not just that target. You do not routinely meet your ambulance
:21:02. > :21:05.response time targets, A targets and the number of people waiting
:21:06. > :21:11.more than nine months for treatment, that has hit a new time high. If you
:21:12. > :21:16.are saying those things are not important any more in our NHS, how
:21:17. > :21:21.are you going to measure your Government 's performance in running
:21:22. > :21:25.the health service and which one of those are you planning to meet and
:21:26. > :21:31.which ones are you planning to ditch? We plan to meet them all.
:21:32. > :21:39.This is not a situation you need to Wales. England misses its target as
:21:40. > :21:43.war. The reality is, when it comes to cancer treatment times, the
:21:44. > :21:53.situation is the same in Wales as it is in England. That is not to say
:21:54. > :22:00.there cannot be improvement. These figures are important. That is why
:22:01. > :22:04.the health minister has outlined how he intends to see the health service
:22:05. > :22:09.improves in terms of the resources he puts in but there cannot be
:22:10. > :22:17.improvement without structural change. One cannot run without the
:22:18. > :22:23.other and for those parties who oppose all or any change in the NHS,
:22:24. > :22:28.despite an occasions independent panels of doctors saying there has
:22:29. > :22:31.to be change, I have to say that to them the NHS will not improve as
:22:32. > :22:42.long as those parties hold those positions. Can the Minister make a
:22:43. > :22:49.statement on his priorities for the NHS in 2014? We continue to improve
:22:50. > :22:53.the quality, sustainability of the NHS. Do you agree there is a crisis
:22:54. > :23:00.developing deepening in the Welsh NHS, particularly our round other
:23:01. > :23:09.emergency care. In December, people were told not to attend Morrisons
:23:10. > :23:16.A Department. Unless there was absolutely necessary. In January,
:23:17. > :23:23.another hospital had to cancel operations because of pressures on
:23:24. > :23:28.beds. Wrexham was described as being log jammed. And we have heard about
:23:29. > :23:33.cancellations of operations in North Wales. Would you agree that your
:23:34. > :23:39.record-breaking NHS budget cuts are not helping the situation that you
:23:40. > :23:44.are cutting the NHS budget too far, too fast to coin a phrase, and is it
:23:45. > :23:49.now a matter of regret for you that you do not have a national
:23:50. > :23:52.comprehensive winter NHS plan, unlike the UK Government, and what
:23:53. > :24:00.action are you taking to sort this out? He talks about a winter plan,
:24:01. > :24:11.there is a winter planned that is working. A and E figures are worse
:24:12. > :24:17.than ever in England! The reality is that he stands up in this chamber
:24:18. > :24:24.and he says, that where a advice is given to people, that they should
:24:25. > :24:31.not attend A departments and less in an emergency, his advice is
:24:32. > :24:48.wrong. People should not be going to A unless there are genuine
:24:49. > :24:55.emergencies. The reality is it is quite right people should not attend
:24:56. > :24:59.A unless it is in an emergency. We have put extra resources into the
:25:00. > :25:07.NHS. This compares to his party which has cut the NHS in England by
:25:08. > :25:15.?20 billion. They call those cuts efficiencies. Because if you call
:25:16. > :25:20.them efficiencies, they are not cuts. We see departments struggling
:25:21. > :25:26.in England. In Wales we approach this with honesty. We have put more
:25:27. > :25:31.re-sources in and we have an NHS that properly benefits the people of
:25:32. > :25:42.Wales not one that is hampered by the cuts in London. First Minister,
:25:43. > :25:49.one of the reasons that ambulances queue outside A is often there is
:25:50. > :25:52.a lack of beds on the wards and that is because beds are blocked as there
:25:53. > :25:58.is a lock of provision in the community. With the exception of
:25:59. > :26:05.Powys yesterday because the Williams commission did not recommend the
:26:06. > :26:12.amalgamation of health services there, how are you in 2014 going to
:26:13. > :26:17.direct health boards and local authorities to amalgamate budgets
:26:18. > :26:25.and services much better then they are doing at present? That is a very
:26:26. > :26:29.strong message. It is important they work as closely together as possible
:26:30. > :26:35.and if we are talking about social services, we are talking about care
:26:36. > :26:40.services, not adoption. The message has been conveyed to the local
:26:41. > :26:45.health boards and to the local councils, that it is important they
:26:46. > :26:51.collaborate in order to ensure that the citizen is given the best
:26:52. > :27:00.service possible. Last term I raised with you the fire safety
:27:01. > :27:04.requirements that had to be put in place in one hospital. Since your
:27:05. > :27:10.intervention towards the end of autumn, that work has been put in
:27:11. > :27:14.hand. But my question is particularly in the context of your
:27:15. > :27:19.health Minister's statement with regard to the NHS concentrating more
:27:20. > :27:25.on the areas we can deliver good rather than delivering harm, would
:27:26. > :27:31.it not be prudent to consider investing further in that recognised
:27:32. > :27:36.centre of excellent is, particularly as it could potentially reduce the
:27:37. > :27:42.burden of cost for expensive and ever escalating drug bills for pain
:27:43. > :27:47.relief? These are matters for the local health board. I am sure they
:27:48. > :27:51.would want to invest in such a way that services are delivered better
:27:52. > :27:55.and efficiently. I am glad to hear that following your question in the
:27:56. > :28:04.assembly chamber that work seems to be beginning in your constituency.
:28:05. > :28:06.It was reported last week that many small businesses are paying the
:28:07. > :28:14.doubled the business rates they should be paying. What actions will
:28:15. > :28:25.be Welsh Government be taking to support the watch high Street in
:28:26. > :28:31.2014? Our framework demonstrate an emphasis on the regeneration of the
:28:32. > :28:38.high Street in Wales. This includes a town centre loan fund, members
:28:39. > :28:44.will be aware of a cap on a high street support campaign launched in
:28:45. > :28:49.autumn. I welcome the cup in business rates you mentioned but
:28:50. > :28:53.your own high-street strategy is now some seven months late. How about
:28:54. > :28:57.adopting some of the Welsh Conservative policies that were
:28:58. > :29:03.announced in the vision for our high street in the meantime? There is
:29:04. > :29:07.some common ground here. We want to see high streets thrive and that is
:29:08. > :29:16.why we announce the loan scheme. That has been brought forward.
:29:17. > :29:21.Officials are also working with a small task group to support our high
:29:22. > :29:26.streets which were launched this autumn and the Minister announced
:29:27. > :29:30.business rate relief schemes which will benefit town centres by
:29:31. > :29:40.encouraging construction and speculative developments. The
:29:41. > :29:45.business rates cuts will help that. First Minister, I am pleased that
:29:46. > :29:49.you acknowledge there is a crisis facing many of the high streets in
:29:50. > :29:56.Wales at present and the one thing that impacts up on their image is
:29:57. > :30:01.empty shops, so would you consider working with local authorities to
:30:02. > :30:05.see how these could be filled? Possibly with businesses that can't
:30:06. > :30:10.afford to have large premises or prominent premises at present. The
:30:11. > :30:18.second thing is parking. Do you believe you could be creative with
:30:19. > :30:24.parking? That is something for all local authorities in Wales. In terms
:30:25. > :30:28.of those businesses, I think it is possible for local authorities to
:30:29. > :30:31.work with businesses to consider whether it would be possible, for
:30:32. > :30:39.example, to secure a month for a business without having to pay
:30:40. > :30:45.rates or rent just to see if they can be sustainable and then if they
:30:46. > :30:48.are they would then have to pay those costs and it would give the
:30:49. > :30:53.opportunity to some people who perhaps don't want to start a
:30:54. > :30:56.business and be tied into some sort of contract, just to see if there is
:30:57. > :31:03.a market for them in terms of what they are selling. One problem we
:31:04. > :31:11.should consider is, in my opinion, the high-street must rethink the way
:31:12. > :31:17.it works. Most high-street customers are at work when those shops are
:31:18. > :31:24.open. They close at 5:30pm, for most people here there is very little
:31:25. > :31:29.shopping happening in the week. People tend to go to shops which are
:31:30. > :31:33.open later. We should also consider the opening hours of high-street
:31:34. > :31:41.stores in order to draw people in during the evenings and not only
:31:42. > :31:46.during the day. First Minister, what evidence do you have the Welsh
:31:47. > :31:57.government's to reducing smoking in cars is having any positive impact?
:31:58. > :32:00.We have also commissioned study of primary and secondary school-age
:32:01. > :32:12.children's exposure to second-hand smoke in cars. The results will be
:32:13. > :32:20.available later this year. 80% of the public want smoking percent, --
:32:21. > :32:27.smoking in cars with children banned. Passive smoking can lead to
:32:28. > :32:33.asthma, chest infections and even cot deaths. In the past two years,
:32:34. > :32:42.Jordan have suffered while we are waiting. Isn't it time, First
:32:43. > :32:47.Minister, to put children's rights to good health above so called
:32:48. > :32:56.personal freedoms and ban smoking in cars which Jordan passengers? That
:32:57. > :33:03.option is available to us. If the voluntary approach does not work, we
:33:04. > :33:10.will legislate. The First Minister will be aware that every year in
:33:11. > :33:16.Wales many young people are introduced to smoking from peer
:33:17. > :33:21.pressure. When do you think you could look at this once again? Most
:33:22. > :33:28.people would like this band to be in place. Could you reconsider
:33:29. > :33:38.legislation to outlaw smoking in cars with children? We all know,
:33:39. > :33:44.anecdotally, what the situation is. The point I would make is this. Of
:33:45. > :33:49.course adults have a freedom to do as they wish in their own cars but
:33:50. > :33:55.when there are children in the car, the children can't make their own
:33:56. > :34:03.decisions. That personal freedom of adults to impose smoking on job and
:34:04. > :34:12.is not something I would support. Simon Thomas. What plans does the
:34:13. > :34:21.First Minister have to re-establish surgery services at hospital? I know
:34:22. > :34:26.the board attempted to do this and someone was offered the post in June
:34:27. > :34:35.last year but they declined it. Since then, unfortunately, the Royal
:34:36. > :34:37.College has said that they would not support having a specialist
:34:38. > :34:43.consultant at present because they don't believe that the model of the
:34:44. > :34:51.hospital is adequate with regards to national standards. Those are the
:34:52. > :34:55.reasons such treatment is not available right now but there is no
:34:56. > :35:01.answer to the question of when we will see it. The situation was to be
:35:02. > :35:06.temporary nine months ago and looks to continue over the next year.
:35:07. > :35:12.Temporary measures are introduced and then may become permanent. There
:35:13. > :35:19.were 300 people attending a public meeting ten days ago in Aberystwyth
:35:20. > :35:21.and they voted unanimously to re-establish this treatment. When
:35:22. > :35:29.will we see the treatment re-established? At present, the
:35:30. > :35:34.Royal College says there are not sufficient numbers of patients to
:35:35. > :35:54.secure the service. As I understand it, only to Mac to three -- to -3
:35:55. > :36:00.are available. Once they had left, there was nobody left so there was a
:36:01. > :36:07.problem because of the fact because of the way they undertook surgery
:36:08. > :36:11.there which didn't match with the most modern ways of doing things.
:36:12. > :36:14.There was nothing wrong with the way they did things but it wasn't the
:36:15. > :36:22.practice in other hospitals in Wales. So the young doctors there
:36:23. > :36:33.could not be trained to undertake the surgery. If the college changes
:36:34. > :36:42.its mind or standards that nobody can appoint a Doctor in hospital
:36:43. > :36:53.when the doctor say they can do that. The recent meeting in
:36:54. > :37:01.Aberystwyth focused on this kind of surgery but no one from the meeting
:37:02. > :37:07.was from the health board. All health boards should be as
:37:08. > :37:14.accessible to the possible to people they serve. The health board, I
:37:15. > :37:17.understand, has said to those who organised the meeting that they are
:37:18. > :37:21.more than happy to answer any questions sent to them as a result
:37:22. > :37:28.of it. No such questions have yet been sent. I share the concerns
:37:29. > :37:31.expressed by members about the lack of engagement by the health board
:37:32. > :37:37.and the challenges that this decision presents to patients. One
:37:38. > :37:41.challenge is the transport cost to get to the other alternative centres
:37:42. > :37:47.for their treatment. I wonder what engagement the Welsh government has
:37:48. > :37:50.had with the health boards to ensure it is supporting patients who need
:37:51. > :37:58.support with finances towards those transport costs so they can access
:37:59. > :38:03.treatment. The reality of the situation is that where you have the
:38:04. > :38:08.Royal College saying the establishment of a particular
:38:09. > :38:12.service would not be safe, no politician, surely, with then try to
:38:13. > :38:17.establish that service. It has nothing to do with money. A lot is
:38:18. > :38:22.to do with the throughput of patients. You cannot increase the
:38:23. > :38:29.number of patients in a department unless you centralise the service.
:38:30. > :38:34.The number of patients affected is small. For those affected, it is an
:38:35. > :38:40.issue, I understand that, but we are talking about between two and three
:38:41. > :38:47.patients per month. Will the First Minister make a statement on the new
:38:48. > :38:53.work connections initiative? Supported by ?9 million from the
:38:54. > :38:56.European social fund, the 17 million new work connections project is
:38:57. > :39:04.helping people in North Wales to find employment and training
:39:05. > :39:08.opportunities. It will come to an end at the end of February and it
:39:09. > :39:12.has been extreme a ported assisting disadvantaged people to find work
:39:13. > :39:21.but we still don't know what will replace it. Does the First Minister
:39:22. > :39:27.accept that gap between the programme and whatever replaces it
:39:28. > :39:29.could be detrimental from the view of finding a deployment for the most
:39:30. > :39:39.is advantage people and Willie commits to announce plans for a new
:39:40. > :39:41.scheme as quickly as possible? The authorities themselves are looking
:39:42. > :39:45.at proposals to make sure that individuals can continue with the
:39:46. > :39:49.project. We are looking to see how they can put other resources in
:39:50. > :40:02.place at with this programme. Having said that, we want to ensure that
:40:03. > :40:09.the plans for the European fund for 2014 /2020 have been considered by
:40:10. > :40:12.May of this year. You will be aware of the working links programme that
:40:13. > :40:21.runs concurrently with the new work connections programme. When this
:40:22. > :40:31.ends, it is possible for people that have been on the new work
:40:32. > :40:34.connections initiative to seek help from working links. Have you worked
:40:35. > :40:38.with the UK Government to see how they could assist in that regard
:40:39. > :40:42.Eschenbach of course, the working links programme has the same
:40:43. > :40:47.objectives of getting people back into work and providing training for
:40:48. > :40:53.them and support, particularly where they may have particular needs are
:40:54. > :40:57.problems which must be addressed. Yes, the Minister has been working
:40:58. > :41:03.with the UK Government on this. There has been a recent meeting.
:41:04. > :41:15.Will the First Minister provide an update on the regress of enterprise
:41:16. > :41:23.ons? We will report further progress in May of this year and on an annual
:41:24. > :41:27.basis thereafter. Thank you. The Finance committee's report into
:41:28. > :41:32.enterprise zones published in December last year alluded to what I
:41:33. > :41:38.can only describe as an air of mystery describing where we are with
:41:39. > :41:44.regards to those enterprise zones. The report says it is difficult to
:41:45. > :41:46.be 100% clear about the influence of strategic objectives of enterprise
:41:47. > :41:52.zones because the Welsh government has hitherto failed to make those
:41:53. > :42:01.objectives public despite having them in their files. Would you agree
:42:02. > :42:03.with the finance committee that the first recommendation of that report
:42:04. > :42:09.should be fulfilled and all non-commercially sensitive
:42:10. > :42:14.information should be published so scrutiny can run its course? There
:42:15. > :42:26.is no mystery surrounding the success of our enterprise zones. We
:42:27. > :42:31.have assisted 60 S N Es. This contrasts with his party's
:42:32. > :42:41.stewardship of enterprise zones in England. It seems that 11% of those
:42:42. > :42:53.54,000 jobs promised will be delivered. In order to help keep
:42:54. > :42:59.track of progress, over the next year we will publish performance
:43:00. > :43:03.indicators and targets for 2014-15. This will happen in spring of this
:43:04. > :43:11.year and we are more than happy to be scrutinised on the success of
:43:12. > :43:15.Welsh enterprise zones. There we are. The clock has beaten
:43:16. > :43:18.us again and we'll have leave First Minister's Questions there, but
:43:19. > :43:20.don't forget that you can see more coverage of the National Assembly
:43:21. > :43:22.online from BBC Wales's Democracy Live page at
:43:23. > :43:27.bbc.co.uk/walespolitics. That's it for today. We'll be back at the same
:43:28. > :43:34.time next week with more coverage of First Minister's Questions. For all
:43:35. > :43:36.the latest news, don't forget to watch Wales Today later at 6:30 on
:43:37. > :44:28.BBC Resort. Said back and relax as you
:44:29. > :44:32.get the ball rolling for seven days of live action. -- setback.