Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Deputy Minister, I do appreciate your efforts in this regard, but we have to face facts: more than any other nation in the UK, Wales is very dependent on its carers. The percentage of adults who have been carers during their adult life was found to be 63 per cent in England, 65 per cent in Scotland, 66 per cent in Northern Ireland, yet 70 per cent in Wales. Part 3 of the Social...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. I'd just like to emphasise once again that it's the number of assessments—when carers do present and want those assessments and they're not able to access them. Since the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, I think it's even more important that your Government isn't failing on those. Now, social care demands such as providing support for carers and looked-after...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. Minister, A&E has seen a decade of decline in Wales. The percentage of patients seen within the four-hour target time has fallen from 90.9 per cent in October 2009 to 74.4 per cent in November 2019. The sirens are screeching loudest in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which has fallen from 93.7 per cent in October 2009 to 72.2 per cent last November. The reality is even...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on improving ambulance transfers in Wales? OAQ54941
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Minister. The Wales Air Ambulance charity had its busiest year in 2019, its hard-working team responding to 3,627 emergency calls—up 1,200 from 2018. The aircraft can travel over 2 miles per minute and reach anywhere in Wales within 20 minutes. Now, the effectiveness of reaching, treating and transporting patients is clear, so I now support the air ambulance's aim for it to...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Llywydd. I speak to amendments 1 to 5, which relate to the duty to promote public awareness. Of course, we tabled these amendments at Stage 2 with the view that, because this is such a controversial piece of legislation with far-reaching effects on ordinary, otherwise law-abiding parents, the Welsh Government must continue its public awareness campaigns beyond the Bill's Royal...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Such strength of opinion suggests that much more work needs to be done by the Welsh Government to gain acceptance for this idea outside, of course, of the usual professional circles. Amendment 5 extends the awareness-raising campaign to visitors to Wales. At Stage 2, I did outline that while the chief Crown prosecutor stated, 'ignorance of the law is no defence', more cases in Wales would...
Janet Finch-Saunders: In evidence, the Welsh NHS Confederation and Swansea Bay UHB were concerned that the Bill's explanatory memorandum does not provide sufficient clarity on the definition of acceptable behaviour once the defence is removed, which could lead to more referrals. So, I therefore think that the Deputy Minister needs to re-evaluate her previous comments that it's up to the individual to do what they...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Llywydd. If I can just say at the onset, before I start my next part, I am trying to be helpful. This is going to pass; we know already where the votes are today with Labour and Plaid Cymru. However, part of my role as an Assembly Member in scrutiny is to challenge as well, and I am, in my own way, trying to be helpful. Now, what I'm asking isn't untoward. Examples of an...
Janet Finch-Saunders: I move.
Janet Finch-Saunders: Move.
Janet Finch-Saunders: Move.
Janet Finch-Saunders: I move.
Janet Finch-Saunders: Diolch, Llywydd. I now want to turn to amendments 6 and 11 on the post-implementation review, but first I would like to thank the Deputy Minister and her team for assisting us with those amendments, as outlined in her letter of 11 December to the Children, Young People and Education Committee. Both my colleague Suzy Davies and I welcome the constructive tone of our discussion with the Deputy...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Just to move to the vote.
Janet Finch-Saunders: Turning to amendments 7 and 8 on a duty to ensure sufficient funding for devolved authorities, these have been brought forward from Stage 2, where I outlined that we have ongoing concerns about the potential costs for Welsh devolved authorities as well as the lack of quantifiable costs within the Bill's regulatory impact assessment. Whilst amendment 7 makes reference to costs borne by local...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Well, in respect of that, I think, if you'd been involved in the debates all through the Stages, one of the conflicting arguments is that children can be very badly psychologically damaged by coercive control and other forms of punishment that affect their mental health and well-being. So, I don't really want to agree about the psychological impact of a child having what is considered by many...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Diolch, Llywydd. I would just like to put on record that, as the elected Member for Aberconwy, my own social services department, especially when it comes to work with families, is very overstretched, and that is plainly as a result of a lack of fair settlement to it. I can tell you, it does not really echo well for this Chamber that we are going to be passing legislation without amendments...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Move.
Janet Finch-Saunders: Diolch, Llywydd. I speak to amendment 9, which my colleague Suzy Davies AM also tabled at Stage 2. This amends section 4 on regulation-making powers for Welsh Ministers. As Suzy noted in Stage 2, what is now section 4 is not a separate commencement power to section 1, and it is likely you will need regulatory powers to introduce the reports into the Bill's effectiveness as well as the...
