Angela Burns: Diolch, Llywydd. Good afternoon, Minister.
Angela Burns: Minister, I am here to make an unashamed pitch, to ask Welsh Government to support the St Clears railway station application to Network Rail to open up a railway station again in St Clears. It was closed in 1964, and there has been a campaign that's been long running for the last decade to try to reopen it. St Clears is a burgeoning town. The absence of that railway station is an absolute gap...
Angela Burns: Some years ago, I met Carolyn, a truly inspirational woman who went on to tell me that she was a SWAN. Slightly taken aback, I asked her to explain that, and that was when I began to really understand the challenges faced by people who have rare diseases and undiagnosed conditions, also known as syndromes without a name, hence SWAN. Building awareness of rare disease is important, because one...
Angela Burns: I'm very grateful you've allowed me to gatecrash the end of this debate. I wasn't going to speak, but, actually, I found the content of it has completely exercised me. I absolutely refute all notion that there should be any rolling back of devolution, whatsoever. What we need to do—and I'm not going to stand here either and say what we need to do is split the difference between the Assembly...
Angela Burns: First Minister, in the first eight weeks of this year, I've already dealt with four different sets of parents who have come to me bereft, in tears, not knowing what to do, because their child has started to self-harm or has been self-harming for some time. And of course, it is sometimes a precursor leading into eating disorders, and so on. What seems to be very difficult for them to find is...
Angela Burns: I have three key areas I'd like to briefly touch on, and then a series of questions. First of all, Minister, I'd like to thank you very much for all the communication with me, the telephone calls, and the meetings that you have afforded all of the opposition parties to keep us in the loop, both from yourself and the First Minister. Secondly, I would like to thank the staff in the NHS in...
Angela Burns: I'd like to start off by asking you: what can we do to get the public health message out loud and clear? In your statement today, you refer to various organisations, various departments, the public health website. Well, to be frank, I don't honestly think many members of the ordinary public will leap to consult the Public Health Wales website as a matter of first resort. So, I just wonder if...
Angela Burns: I think Mike Hedges makes a really good point to bring this question up, because they are so important, and I really respect the 2020 target that the Welsh Government have of 2,000 hectares of trees to be planted per year. However, I am concerned that, in tandem with that, and, as a response to a freedom of information request submitted by the Welsh Conservatives, we established that, across...
Angela Burns: Minister, you have referenced the earlier question to Caroline Jones, when she was talking about single-person homes being built, and, of course, you've just talked about the affordable housing grant, but can you please tell me how this will reflect with people who live with disabilities and who are carers? I have a case in Carmarthenshire where the person is in a wheelchair—she's been in a...
Angela Burns: Will you take an intervention?
Angela Burns: I appreciate your intervention, Caroline Jones, and I take your point, and I just want to add that, actually, the other thing that happens is that a looked-after child is finally adopted, that support disappears, and then it leads to complete adoption breakdown. I know in my own constituency I have dealt with complete adoption breakdowns at least half a dozen times, and they are truly...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much indeed, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. And Bethan Sayed, I'd like to give you fair warning that, if you think that once your little bundle of joy has disappeared—been delivered—you're going to have less to do, you are sadly mistaken. [Laughter.] But it is going to be a great ride, and I wish you all the well. We on the Welsh Conservatives benches would like to thank...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. I am going to talk at speed, because I have a lot to say on this subject and I've only got three minutes. First of all, I'm not going to let you get away with your cheeky little comment there, Rhun ap Iorwerth. You know that these benches care a lot about this, because I have been very vocal on this subject, and I'm very glad that the...
Angela Burns: So you're already a vulnerable person and you're put into a place that makes you even more vulnerable. A lot is made of the fact that we don't have the capacity here in Wales, and we don't, but when you're away, everybody needs family or friends, or an anchor. That anchor is so important. It is the way you find your way back to good health. If your anchor is 200 miles away or 300 miles away...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much. I just wanted to let the Chamber know that I had a meeting with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales on this issue, with the head, and she was quite clear about the difficulties—the legislative and practical difficulties—of monitoring a placement in England from a Welsh organisation.
Angela Burns: Minister, will you take an intervention?
Angela Burns: Sorry, just to illustrate your point because, yes, there is the Caswell Clinic but, actually, they're full already with people. We've got 61 people at my last count, which wasn't very long ago, in England. For example, one of my constituents, because the ward that that person is on is under threat of closure, is now being threatened with a move to Stevenage. To be honest with you, I'm not...
Angela Burns: I'm sorry, would you take an intervention?
Angela Burns: Well, I was just going to say that I can partly answer that for you, because it's deemed, to be frank, second-class citizenship, because there is no other alternative. There's nothing in England that they can go to, and I've met some great people who are very well aware that the settings are not appropriate, like the ones you've just mentioned, but they have no other alternative, because we...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much for your statement, Minister, and for keeping me, on behalf of the Welsh Conservatives, so well briefed during this situation. Just going through your statement, I have a number of questions. Are you able to confirm to us the level of seniority that the members of the NHS Wales and social services planning and response teams will be—in other words, that they've got the...
