Darren Millar: Will the First Minister make a statement on support for the armed forces and veteran community in Wales?
Darren Millar: Leader of the house, can I ask for two statements, please, including one from the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport on the availability of nursing care home beds in Wales? There’s a particular issue in my own constituency at the moment, where an elderly mentally infirm nursing care home, Plas Isaf in Rhos on Sea, is in the process of closing, which is of course causing...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, there are just two areas I want to ask you about, if that’s okay. I’m surprised that you haven’t mentioned dementia at all in your statement this afternoon. Dementia’s one of the four biggest killers, an extremely prevalent disease, and it’s growing in prevalence as well in Wales and other parts of the UK, and yet there is not...
Darren Millar: Will the Minister make a statement on staff suspensions by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board following concerns in relation to the Bryn Hesketh Mental Health Unit in Colwyn Bay? EAQ(5)0054(FM)
Darren Millar: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. This was obviously very concerning news when it came to light yesterday in north Wales, particularly given the fact that the dust has yet to settle on the Tawel Fan scandal, which, of course, rocked the people of north Wales just last year. I, like you, welcome the action that has been taken by the health board to date, over the past few days. It...
Darren Millar: First Minister, it was back in December 2011 that the then education Minister, Leighton Andrews, made an announcement about £1.4 billion-worth of expenditure for the twenty-first century schools programme. That, of course, covered South Wales West and, indeed, other parts of Wales. Can you tell us how much has actually been released of that cash, given that we’re now five years into the...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement today. One of the things that I noted in the report and very much welcome is an increased focus on prevention and general health, mental health and well-being. I wonder to what extent you’ve considered the opportunities to introduce mindfulness into our schools across Wales. You’ll be aware that there’s been a fantastic project, which is...
Darren Millar: Minister, I’m afraid that many people across Wales are just fed up of waiting for this. You’re in a Government that has overpromised about superfast broadband and absolutely failed to deliver. This was in your programme for government—[Interruption.] It was in your programme for government back in 2011 that you would deliver to every household and residential business in Wales superfast...
Darren Millar: I want to just speak briefly in this debate today, and I’m pleased that we’re having it, because I think it is important that we take the time to reflect on the intolerance that sometimes exists here in Welsh society. We know that, by and large, the overwhelming majority of people in Wales are very tolerant people, and our communities by and large get on very well. But, as the son of an...
Darren Millar: Thank you. I was just going to say, they are not Wales-specific figures, I assume, that you’re referring to. One thing that we do know is that there was a spike post Brexit in Wales. Things have settled down, as I said in my speech earlier. That’s the reported information that’s coming back to us. But, you must accept that some people, albeit few, used the Brexit situation to fuel...
Darren Millar: 2. Will the Minister make a statement on flood risk in Clwyd West? OAQ(5)0040(ERA)
Darren Millar: And thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for the investment that the Welsh Government has made available to protect homes and businesses from flooding in my constituency. But, of course, individuals can take some responsibility to protect their own properties as well. And you will be aware that, over the border in England, there are grants of up to £5,000 to individual homeowners, to help them make...
Darren Millar: Minister, the Children’s Society report also referred to the fact that there’s very poor financial education and that many young people find it difficult to maintain their tenancies once they leave care. And, again, at the forum yesterday, it was quite clear that there was a call for support workers to be allowed to work alongside care leavers right up until the age of 25. That’s not...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your answer to Llyr Gruffydd. I’m very pleased to hear that you want to widen access to Flying Start. I do believe that it makes a difference and it is a shame that so many people have been excluded from accessing the support that’s available through Flying Start to date. But can you give us a timescale by which you expect to implement this decision that...
Darren Millar: Thank you to those people who have already spoken in this debate, especially Mark Isherwood, of course, who has been crusading on this issue for many, many years, and has undertaken a sterling role as chair of the cross-party group on autism. I have to say, I’m a little taken aback at the Labour Party’s position on this. The tenor of this debate was that it was brought in good faith,...
Darren Millar: Both you and I sat on that committee, looking at that particular Act. I do hope and believe that it will bring improvements more generally within our social care system, particularly encouraging and promoting work with the NHS. But it’s not going to solve the problem, which spans not just the social care system and the national health service, but also our education system and other parts...
Darren Millar: It is not acceptable, in this day and age—I’ll take the intervention in a second—that we have young people with autism in behavioural units because there’s been a failure to diagnose them, rather than in mainstream schools. It is not acceptable that that is the case, and yet it is happening in Wales even today. I’ll happily take the intervention.
Darren Millar: The reality is that not every organisation is asking for specific legislation. This is one that crosses a number of barriers. I have already said: social services and well-being, yes, let’s get the health boards working with social service departments. But what about our education system? It doesn’t encompass the breadth of public services that it needs to. I just want to take the few...
Darren Millar: First Minister, you had an opportunity there, in response to Llyr Gruffydd, to re-commit yourself to the commitment that both you and the Liberal Democrats reached when forming your coalition Government, which was that there would be no negative effect on the higher education budget as a result of the implementation of any changes. Will you take the opportunity to make that commitment today,...
Darren Millar: Leader of the house, can I call for two statements today, please? One is from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on the EU regional social progress index—a study found that Wales ranked at the bottom of the UK home nations in terms of access to basic knowledge, and, of course, that’s given rise to significant concerns amongst parents in particular, and knocked their confidence in our...
