Mark Drakeford: I agree with what the Member says about the pressures that there are on the system, and they are in all parts of the system. Many GPs have chosen to take early retirement because of the changes in their pension arrangements that his Government at Westminster introduced, which meant that it was simply financially not sensible for them to continue in the jobs that they had done. We have urged...
Mark Drakeford: The assessment that the Welsh Government makes is that the future of primary care cannot depend on GPs alone. The nature of the GP population is changing. The sorts of contracts that people emerging into the world of primary care wish to take up are changing, and we have to change with it. We have to change with it primarily by expanding the range of professional voices who are able to...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Paul Davies for that question, and of course I very much associate myself with what he said in sending our very best wishes on behalf of the Welsh Government and the Labour Party to the leader of the opposition. I hope to see him back in his place in the Chamber as swiftly as he feels able to do that. The general point that Paul Davies raises is an important one: it was World Mental...
Mark Drakeford: I certainly agree that people who work in the sector will feel the impact of the failures of the UK Government to contain the rises in energy prices, in food prices, and to have had a workable plan for the way in which the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the European Union. The Welsh Government led a successful recruitment campaign for social care workers in August and September, and I've...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, the Welsh Government was very pleased to be able to provide a payment of £500 early in the pandemic, and £735 later in the pandemic—£735 because we failed to persuade the UK Government to allow that payment to be made without it being subject to tax and national insurance contributions. Sixty-four thousand workers in the sector have benefited from those payments. I am, of...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I think Carolyn Thomas makes a very important point. We are committed to the real living wage in the social care sector and to funding it. But the challenge of recruiting and retaining the skilled workforce in social care is more than simply a pay issue. It does, quite definitely, depend upon decent working terms and conditions being offered to people who do this vitally important...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Carolyn Thomas, Llywydd, for that question. Last year, we convened the social care fair work forum, to look at how the terms and conditions of the workforce can be improved. We are committed to paying social care workers the real living wage in this Senedd term and are working with partners to take this forward.
Mark Drakeford: Well, I thank Sarah Murphy for that point. As primary care has quite rightly relied on technological ways of providing advice and treatment outcomes to people, so the need to make sure that those technological platforms are effective for people is even more important than it was before. As part of our access arrangement with the General Practitioners Committee Wales, we provided millions of...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I thank Delyth Jewell for that important point. She will knew that some analysts say that loneliness should be added to the five giants that Beveridge set out at the start of the welfare state as one of the great social policy challenges of our time. I thank her for what she said about the importance of the Red Cross. She will know that, over last winter, the Welsh Government funded...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I agree with what Peter Fox said about the importance of voluntary and third sector organisations that have done so much to help families and communities over the recent pandemic period. But let's be clear: the UK Government is taking £300 million out of the pockets of some of the poorest families in Wales and is offering £25 million in return. It's absolutely no bargain at...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, households are under unprecedented financial pressure resulting from the pandemic, our exit from the European Union, the rising cost of living and damaging cuts to welfare supported by the UK Government. We are tackling the inequalities that can lead to poverty while helping people to maximise incomes and build financial resilience.
Mark Drakeford: We continue to support the employment prospects of young people through the young person's guarantee and the apprenticeship programme. Last week, the Minister for Economy confirmed completion of the procurement process for our exciting new programme for 16 to 18-year-olds, Jobs Growth Wales+.
Mark Drakeford: Our child poverty strategy sets out our objectives for improving outcomes for low-income families and mitigating the impact of poverty. The objectives will be delivered through our programme for government commitments to build a fairer, more equal Wales that provides children with the best start in life.
Mark Drakeford: Our strategy for the region is set out in the new Wales transport strategy, 'Llwybr Newydd', which aligns with the recommendations of the Lord Burns commission. Work has already commenced on the 58 recommendations, ranging from improvement of the south Wales main line to local measures.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that. I know she has a long-standing interest in all of this, having led a debate on these matters on the floor of the Senedd towards the end of the last Senedd term. The £5.1 million that my colleague Julie Morgan announced recently is designed to do exactly the things that Vikki Howells has mentioned: to reinforce play provision in different parts of Wales, to make...
Mark Drakeford: We long recognise the importance of childcare and play services across Wales. I'd like to thank them in particular for the part they've played in supporting children and families throughout the pandemic, and, most recently, over the Summer of Fun programme.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Joyce Watson. Those are all really important points. She’s right that vaccine take-up in Wales has been very high and it’s been very high across the age ranges. There is a gap between vaccine-hesitant communities and everybody else, but that gap has narrowed. It's not fast enough, but every three weeks we publish the figures, and every three weeks we see that gap slowly being...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that very important question. Efforts to boost take-up amongst those still unvaccinated against COVID-19 continue, with a range of actions in place to enable easy access and to build trust. Pop-up clinics, walk-in centres, drive-in clinics and the work of health board outreach workers are amongst the methods deployed to do so.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Alun Davies for that question. He draws attention to a very important point. Wales is 5 per cent of the UK population, yet we provide 9 per cent of serving personnel, and we have 2.5 per cent of them based here in Wales. So, we contribute nearly twice our population share, and yet we have half our population share in terms of the basing strategy of the armed forces. I have raised this...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question. I agree with him, of course, on the importance of commemoration of these major events. Next week, Llywydd, as I think you know, I will represent Wales at the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the British legion at the service of commemoration at Westminster abbey. And, indeed, in the following week, I will take part at Brecon barracks in a...
