Darren Millar: Minister, I welcome the approach that's been taken by the Welsh Government to the prudent healthcare agenda. One of the principles of that agenda is, 'Only do what you can do and let others do things that you cannot do.' Of course, one of the ways that the NHS could be reformed would be to enable pharmacists across Wales to do more of what is currently being done in GP surgeries. Today is...
Darren Millar: Minister, I welcome, too, the value that these online assessments can add to the assessment programme the teachers undertake, but one of the concerns that have been raised with me is that, obviously, there is a bit of a digital divide in our country between those children who perhaps will not have the opportunity to be as skilled as others in the use of computers and don't even have access to...
Darren Millar: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on cancer mortality rates in north Wales? OAQ54387
Darren Millar: Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's funding priorities for education in Wales?
Darren Millar: Trefnydd, can I ask for a statement from the Government on the future of the Veterans' NHS Wales service? It's appreciated by many people, that particular service, and, of course, there are hundreds of veterans who have benefited from it since it was established. One of the issues with that service, though, has always been the capacity of the service to be able to deal with the demands that...
Darren Millar: I think it's a bit rich of the former First Minister, frankly, to criticise the education policies in England when, under his leadership, the Government delivered the worst Programme for International Student Assessment results that this country has ever seen and we're still at the bottom of the UK league tables as far as English, mathematics and science is concerned. Now, one of the reasons...
Darren Millar: Would you take an intervention? Thank you very much. I hear what you say and I have no doubt that you genuinely don't want people to be caught by the heavy hand of the law unnecessarily, but what you've just said is not true, of course, because if you look to some of the other examples, including New Zealand, which I cited earlier on, you have seen the heavy hand of the law separating...
Darren Millar: Will you take an invtervention?
Darren Millar: I'm very grateful for your giving way. I just wanted to touch on this issue of consistency with human rights obligations. Of course, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child talks about physical and mental violence, not just physical violence. Given that we've heard, and everyone seems to accept, the evidence that also confining a child to a room or shouting and screaming in their face or...
Darren Millar: Can I thank the Minister for outlining some of the rationale behind this Bill? As the Minister will know, we've crossed swords on many occasions in this Chamber on this particular issue, and I think everybody is informed by their own experiences as both a mum or dad and in terms of their own upbringing when it comes to this particular issue. But I have to say I will not be voting to allow...
Darren Millar: And what about the Paratoi Wales website, as well? I am winding up, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can you tell us how many people have accessed that in terms of the other organisations that aren't businesses that might need support? So, instead of being like a scratched record, I'd like to hear precisely what progress you're making by working with the UK Government to deliver on the will of the...
Darren Millar: If I could just remind the Minister today, in advance of thanking him for his statement, by the way, that there is an inconvenient truth that, for some reason, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru in this Chamber do not want to recognise, and that is that the people of Wales voted to leave the European Union. I know that you don't like that. The people in your own...
Darren Millar: Can I call for a statement from the Minister responsible for transport on the A55 trunk road in north Wales? The Trefnydd will be aware that there have been many complaints coming in to Assembly Members from across the North Wales region because of significant roadworks that are taking place in the Llanddulas area. Now, I appreciate that these roadworks are necessary in terms of restoring...
Darren Millar: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Like many Members in this National Assembly for Wales, I've been approached by constituents with disputes with their neighbours in relation to the height of hedges, and I was wondering whether this might be something that the Welsh Government might look at as part of its future planning policy, because it is a serious issue; it does cause significant...
Darren Millar: 6. Will the Minister make a statement on the future of the planning system in Wales? OAQ54255
Darren Millar: Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I have to say that I thought it was all going to be on Brexit preparedness, but a good proportion of it, though, seemed to be more about the leadership contest in the Conservative Party. I also think it's a great shame that the Labour Party here in Wales have abandoned its previous position of respecting democracy. Prior to the vote in June 2016, your...
Darren Millar: First Minister, scandals in the care of elderly patients at the Tawel Fan ward in north Wales and in the care of mothers and babies in the Cwm Taf University Health Board area in south Wales have exposed, I believe, some very serious weaknesses in the accountability arrangements in the Welsh NHS. The fact that not a single person has been sacked for the serious failings in care that have been...
Darren Millar: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on accountability in the Welsh NHS? OAQ54256
Darren Millar: You know what I find fascinating? I hear this challenge on a regular basis. When I go to schools and people ask me what my views are on this, and I explain to them—[Interruption.]—and I explain to them that my principal point is this: it's not that I'm necessarily against 16 and 17-year-olds having the vote, it's that I'm for a common age of responsibility in this country, and that's what...
Darren Millar: I would happily be for a consistent age of responsibility. At the moment, that age of responsibility is deemed to be 18 for most things: for drinking, for example. Even for using sunbeds; we've legislated for that here in Wales, and, as a result of that, therefore, I think that it's recognised that young people below the age of 18, including in their mental abilities sometimes, are not fully...
