Janet Finch-Saunders: Cabinet Secretary, according to the letter sent to local authorities by your colleague the Cabinet Secretary for local government, overall core funding for councils announced in yesterday's local government settlement will be cut by 0.3 per cent in the upcoming year. However, this hides the fact that the cut in spending will not be shared equally and fairly amongst councils in Wales. In...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. On 22 March 2017, 50 people were, of course, injured and five tragically killed in a terrorism attack when they drove a car into crowds on Westminster bridge, stabbing, horrifically, a policeman outside the House of Commons. Whilst none of us can predict when or where a terrorist attack might occur, this particular attack does highlight the possibility that democratic institutions...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on Welsh Government procurement? OAQ52798
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. I have recently acquired a list of transactions on Welsh Government procurement cards for the 2017-18 financial year. I was, however, very shocked to see that nearly £1.6 million was spent on these credit cards over the 12 months, with many of the transactions remaining worryingly vague. One example is the £13,255 spent through PayPal—no information about what was bought and...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Isn't it lovely to be able to follow you when you've expressed your gratitude and acknowledgement of the work that our services do to support both the adoptive parents and adoption and our children? Because I've had quite a lot of experience with some families—a family of three siblings, and, along the way, some of the challenges that presented. It was wonderful, really, when we were able...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on waiting times for knee and hip replacements in north Wales?
Janet Finch-Saunders: I would like to endorse exactly the same sort of comments as Jayne Bryant AM, because I know that my team of staff and I have felt deeply frustrated at the silences at the other end when we're dealing on behalf of someone who is desperate, and the length of time that they've been taking to even respond to correspondence has, frankly, not been acceptable. But when talking about student...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Last week, I was delighted to sponsor an event celebrating the success of Community Alcohol Partnerships. CAP is a community-interest company, and aims to tackle underage drinking by providing education programmes, engaging with local communities, and working with business to ensure that current alcohol legislation is adhered to and strengthened. Launched in 2007, it has since developed 162...
Janet Finch-Saunders: I would certainly like to support our own proposals to establish a national plan that aims to deliver a more sustainable out-of-hours critical care and ambulance service that will meet the needs of the Welsh people. Under this Welsh Labour Government, the NHS in Wales has increasingly continued to underperform. These issues have been particularly acute in Betsi Cadwaladr board, which covers...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the importance of historical sites in Wales? OAQ52838
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. In 2007-8, a decade ago, the Conwy valley flood alleviation scheme was implemented at a cost to taxpayers of over £7 million. Now, despite the special circumstances of Gwydir castle's double grade I listing, castle and gardens—the only grade I listed gardens in Wales—Gwydir found itself entirely left out of that scheme and continues to suffer increasing and very damaging...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Yes. How are you going to protect this very important, historical, double grade I listed castle and gardens, and how do you intend to live up to the reputation that you care and value our historical heritage?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Just a plea, really. Of the ones that have been connected, the more problematic later ones, I've had some concerns raised in regard to how the installations have been completed. In some of my rural areas—I've raised this with BT, and they say, 'Well, it wasn't in the contract', and it's all this sort of ducking out, if you like, of doing jobs properly. But I've had concerns raised with...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Yes, and it's a few properties.
Janet Finch-Saunders: 8. Will the First Minister make a statement on housing provision for vulnerable children? OAQ52888
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, First Minister. The Children's Commissioner for Wales, Professor Sally Holland, has said that the provision of secure homes for vulnerable children is inadequate in Wales. And this issue has been raised frequently with your Welsh Government. In the last year, 20 welfare placements were made for our Welsh children, yet half of these were placed in England. Indeed, BBC Wales...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Yes, and thank you for allowing me to speak. Cabinet Secretary, it's fair to say that over the past 12 months in particular, I've been extremely vocal. It's not wise for anybody to stand up in this Chamber and just pontificate or use anecdotal information here. When I speak, I speak clearly from what I receive coming into my office. And I can tell you, my casework file is—[Interruption.]...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Seven hours ago today, one of my constituents, sadly, has passed away, through waiting for an ambulance for over four hours and bled to death. A 37-year-old constituent. That is just one of many people that I'm dealing with. Another lady, who had a very bad fall in Conwy, waited three hours for an ambulance then waited for 10 hours for treatment. She was taken to Llandudno hospital, and...
Janet Finch-Saunders: The senior management team—. Yes, it's quite noteworthy the number of new staff that have been taken on, but the old staff are still there. So, you've got this ballooning, ballooning, ballooning management team, and yet, Llandudno hospital have had to close wards—they can't get staff. There has been no improvement in the short or medium or long-term planning in terms of attracting...
Janet Finch-Saunders: I'm not speaking.
