Angela Burns: I'd like to thank Jenny Rathbone for suggesting that we should hold this debate, because this is an incredibly important issue that does affect so many people. One of the points that Jenny made at the very beginning is that this is not simply a woman's issue, but actually it is very much something that affects the men who are in the lives of the women who have this chronic and debilitating...
Angela Burns: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, I just listened to your response to Joyce Watson very, very carefully, and the particular issue I want to raise is the children who will be, or the students who will be, scheduled to take exams next year. Quite a few parents have raised concerns with me that their children are the ones that they feel should be—forgive me for using the word 'prioritised', but,...
Angela Burns: First Minister, I think, actually, I will not ask the question I was going to, but I think I need to follow up on the observations made by the previous Member. We all recognise that we are in a very difficult world. We all understand that there are many people who flee to our shores for all sorts of reasons, whether it's because they are incredibly poor, or their lives are in danger. I feel...
Angela Burns: 3. Will the Minister outline the Welsh Government's priorities for mental health for the remainder of the current Senedd term? OQ55804
Angela Burns: Minister, I listened to your answer to Vikki Howells with interest. You will know that I have expressed my concerns about the accuracy and reliability of data collection surrounding hospitalisations due to COVID many times already this year, because it's vital for our understanding of the disease that we really get to grips with who has COVID and then subsequently dies from COVID, and who,...
Angela Burns: Thank you for that, and, first of all, may I say welcome to the role? I think it's excellent that mental health has a focus specifically on it, especially at this time. I was delighted in your answer just then that you talked about the inter-governmental and cross-departmental working, because I believe that there has been good progress made with mental health support for college and...
Angela Burns: Thank you for your answer to Delyth Jewell, First Minister, but, of course, the media is only part of the solution. Education plays a vital part, and, with the next Welsh general election seeing the franchise being extended to include 16-year-olds, it is essential that young people gain an objective, fair and balanced view on the important role that politics plays in all of our lives. The new...
Angela Burns: Today's newsreels talk of the new wars—Afghanistan and Iraq—and our charities and Governments look to rebuild the current young lives that are wounded, and support the families that have lost in recent conflicts. I want to talk about the veterans of the forgotten wars—people like my father, because he represents the essence of the very ordinary men and women of the armed forces who have...
Angela Burns: 8. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's approach to nitrate vulnerable zones across Wales? OQ55869
Angela Burns: You will be aware that our position is that we recognise that pollution caused by agriculture needs to stop. We do have a difference of opinion as to the methodology of doing that. But what I wanted to address was the farm business grant yard covering scheme, which was launched earlier this month, Minister, to provide grants to farmers to help them to comply with the nitrate vulnerable zone...
Angela Burns: It is regrettable that the motion before us, whilst saying 'not here' does not propose where the asylum seekers should go, given the sheer scale of the humanitarian crisis at present. This lack of recognition within the motion of the reach of the problem and the wholly expected intolerant tone of the amendment by Neil Hamilton has simply turned the difficult situation at Penally into a...
Angela Burns: First Minister, I do agree with you that there have been improvements in vaccine uptake, but I'd also like to point out that, according to the most recent seasonal influenza Wales 2019-20 annual report, the uptake of the flu vaccine amongst NHS staff was only 56 per cent this year, and you'd think that NHS staff, more than almost anybody else, would surely really understand the value of a...
Angela Burns: Minister, I heard your opening comment about the financial support that you're affording to supply teachers. Could you just give us a little bit more detail about it? Because I've had a couple come to me raising concerns about the fact that if they've been to one school—they may have done a short-term project for a couple of weeks—they've yet to go to the new school, and then they've had...
Angela Burns: Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. I do not have very much time, so I'm not going to be able to touch on everybody's individual contributions. I would just like to say that I'm very grateful for the tone in which most of this debate was mostly conducted—sadly not all of it. This isn't about having a knock at the NHS and the people who work so incredibly hard in it, or the doctors and the...
Angela Burns: 7. Will the Minister outline how Welsh health boards are preparing for the roll-out of the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines? OQ55972
Angela Burns: Minister, first of all, thank you very much indeed for your statement this morning. It was really informative, one of the best statements, to be honest, that I've seen for a long time from the Government, and it's answered a huge number of the questions that I had. But I do have a couple of little points I just wanted to raise with you. The first was that, in your statement, you say that the...
Angela Burns: The Oxford vaccine and it being a one and a half dose.
Angela Burns: 1. What support is the Welsh Government making available for business development in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire? OQ56003
Angela Burns: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Everybody is always grateful for any funds that can be made available to businesses. But I specifically wanted to ask you about businesses that are not actually affected by COVID-19, and there are many businesses out there that actually trade in very different ways and who still need to grow, to develop, to buy new premises, to take on board new staff, to...
Angela Burns: The decisions we need to make in Wales about managing the response to the pandemic are not binary. In my view it is not about lives or livelihoods, but rather lives and livelihoods, and my contribution to this debate seeks to air that view. There is no doubt that COVID-19 is a destroyer. The whole process of infection, deteriorating health and hospitalisation has put our already stressed and...
