Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, without knowing the authenticity or even the validity of this so-called leaked document, we have to be extremely careful about whipping up hysteria about job losses at Ford’s engine plant at Bridgend. The only official indications we have had from Ford is that they’re scaling back investment, but they are still making a multimillion pound investment at Bridgend. It’s...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Rhossili has once again been named one of the top-10 beaches in the UK and also enjoys being one of the most dog-friendly beaches in Britain. The Gower beach has just lost out on the top spot, but competes with the top beaches in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. Cabinet Secretary, if we are to capitalise upon this and increase the number of visitors to my region, we...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, South Wales Police dealt with more mental health incidents last year than any other UK police force. Police officers in south Wales dealt with nearly 39,000 mental health issues during 2016. Cabinet Secretary, do you agree with me that people facing mental health issues should be cared for by specialist mental health services, rather than the...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The Mind workplace well-being index shows that mental health problems are the leading cause of workplace absence. Even the NHS is not immune, and we lost a third of a million days to mental health issues amongst health staff last year. One of the biggest barriers to tackling this issue is the lack of access to psychological and talking therapies. What is your...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. While we welcome steps to improve the numbers working in mental health care, such as the introduction of new courses at Glyndŵr university focusing on mental health and well-being, we are still short of both staff and funding for mental health services in Wales. How do you respond to the director of Mind Cymru, who states that the mental health arena is still...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, ABMU has consistently high numbers of people waiting more than 12 hours in its A&E departments. In January we saw a total of 890 people waiting more than 12 hours at the two major accident and emergency departments. Wales’s biggest A&E department only saw 150 people waiting for that length of time. Cabinet Secretary, given that ABMU is trialling the 111 service to reduce...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Lywydd. Speaking as an Assembly Commissioner, I would like to make clear that there are no Commission staff on zero-hours contracts—that is a long-standing policy. The same applies to the staff directly employed by our contractors such as CBRE, Charlton House and TSS. In addition, the Commission specifies that employees must be paid at least the living wage, as recommended by the...
Caroline Jones: Will the First Minister outline the actions the Welsh Government is taking to support Swansea's bid for UK City of Culture in 2021?
Caroline Jones: First Minister, during the previous Assembly, the Welsh Government increased the number of student midwifery places. However, in the latest ‘State of Midwifery Services Report’, the Royal College of Midwives states that it is no longer appropriate to maintain a steady number of training places, as the midwifery population is ageing. What plans does your Government have to increase the...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. Stroke, unfortunately, affects far too many people in Wales—the majority of which are preventable. Here in Wales, around 7,000 people have a stroke each year. One in eight strokes are fatal within the first 30 days, and one in four are fatal within the first year. Stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer, and more men than prostrate...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, Wales has been the trailblazer in so many issues, so it’s doubly disappointing that, on the issue of abolishing letting agent fees, we are so far behind the rest of Britain. Letting agency fees make it near impossible for many families to enter the private rented sector and increases the demand for social housing. Cabinet Secretary, there is absolutely no evidence that...
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for proposing this debate today. Securing better health outcomes for children and young people is one of the most important tasks facing us in this Assembly. Previous Assemblies and the Welsh Government have taken steps to improve child health, but it isn’t enough according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in their annual...
Caroline Jones: UKIP fully support the motion before us today.The Family Fund provides an invaluable service to families with disabled children and it is highly regrettable that the Welsh Government took the decision to cut the fund. The loss of £5.5 million from the Family Fund in Wales means that thousands of families are being denied the kind of support that families in the rest of the UK enjoy. I...
Caroline Jones: Leader of the house, the business rate revaluation is putting our high street at risk. Many small businesses are facing huge hikes in their rates bills, yet their turnover is not increasing. For many, the only alternative is to seek rental properties with smaller rateable values off the high street, and this could be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back for small, independent...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, this is the latest data breach to hit our health service, and this particular breach is devastating for the staff concerned. Although no patient data were involved on this occasion, it does highlight the concerns of many that the NHS cannot be trusted with personal information. Earlier this month, a former nurse was sacked by Hywel Dda university health board for breaching...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the Welsh Government provide the City and County of Swansea with around £300 million per year to deliver public service to the people of Swansea. In the most recent National Survey for Wales, the number of people who felt that the City and County of Swansea delivered high-quality services was just over 50 per cent. Cabinet Secretary, do you believe that this represents...
Caroline Jones: I thank the Member for his question. I would like to say that, following on from my response to your question on this matter in October, I am pleased to confirm that arrangements are in hand for two charging points to be installed on the estate. These will utilise a pay-as-you-go card/keyfob payment system that will allow for charging of electric vehicles on site and an easy payment scheme...
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank the Member again for asking about the electric vehicles. I’d like to say that we will need to go through the proper procurement process, and this is going to take some time. But following the survey that was sent out in February, there was a more positive response to electric vehicles, and we have responded affirmatively. I’d like to say that we are hoping and being...
Caroline Jones: I thank the Member for her question. I’d like to say that, at the moment, we are looking just at two charging points in Tŷ Hywel, but obviously, we’ll see the success of this, and we’re interested in looking at this positively and reducing the carbon emissions footprint. We want to progress with this idea, so with progression I would anticipate that we would be looking at other sites.
Caroline Jones: 8. Will the First Minister outline how the Welsh Government is supporting disabled people to remain active members of their community? OAQ(5)0520(FM)
