Darren Millar: It makes very good business sense, of course, for any organisation to be able to interact with their customers in the language of their choice, and that obviously includes Welsh, especially given that we want to see the Welsh language promoted. Now, many businesses, both large and small, will have members of staff within their teams who are Welsh speaking, but who very infrequently use their...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I'm delighted that Lynne Neagle has brought this issue up once again in this Chamber this afternoon, because, as you will know, there is a child and adolescent mental health unit with in-patient capacity in my own constituency, in the town of Abergele. It was built almost 10 years ago now, back in 2009, with a capacity of 18 beds, which was to serve...
Darren Millar: I move.
Darren Millar: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm very pleased to move the motion today in my name on the order paper. I think that some of the debates that we've had on mental health issues here in the National Assembly have seen the Assembly at its very best, coming together in order to highlight some of the challenges that we face collectively and bringing together people from different political...
Darren Millar: I mentioned a few moments ago that there had been this joint report, which the healthcare inspectorate and the care inspectorate had produced. Some of the findings in that report were very, very concerning. The report found that there was a disparity and a variation in the consistency and the availability of services provided by community mental health teams across Wales, and it's some of...
Darren Millar: I'm grateful to receive an update on that, but obviously it's eight years after a clear commitment to introduce this core data set, and many people will feel that that is not sufficient regard or priority, frankly, in terms of doing this. Surely there are pieces of information that can be published in the interim—an interim suite, if you like, of targets—with some clear performance data...
Darren Millar: Can I call for a statement on waiting times for patients in north Wales, please, from the Minister for Health and Social Services? The Trefnydd will be aware that the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board had £1 million clawed back from it this year—this is on top of £3 million being clawed back last year—because of its failure to meet expectations from the Welsh Government in terms...
Darren Millar: Thank you to the Brexit Minister for an advance copy of his statement, although I have to say that, once again, it was merely a refrain from previous statements that he has made—there was absolutely nothing new in that statement in addition to the things that he has previously said. I think it is a bit strange that the Brexit Minister and the Welsh Government take a position that criticises...
Darren Millar: Can I thank the Minister for his statement, and indeed for the briefings that have been made available to Assembly Members and their staff today? These reports make for very grim reading indeed. They expose some very serious shortcomings at the heart of an organisation, the Cwm Taf health board at that time, which failed those in its care. The staffing, the leadership and the governance...
Darren Millar: 1. Will the Minister provide an update on educational standards in Welsh schools? OAQ53770
Darren Millar: 4. Will the Minister make a statement on hospital waiting times for patients in north Wales? OAQ53771
Darren Millar: Will you join me in congratulating Ysgol y Foryd on its five 'excellents'—Ysgol Y Foryd in Kinmel Bay, in my own constituency, which I visited over the Easter recess? It's an excellent school. But, of course, it's achieving that in spite of the significant financial challenges that schools are facing across Conwy and north Wales at the moment. You will know that, as a result of the Welsh...
Darren Millar: Too many people are waiting too long for treatment in north Wales. People on orthopaedic waiting lists are typically waiting, now, for two years in order to get access to their treatment. You clawed back £1 million from the health board this year because of its failure to hit your waiting time targets, and £3 million was clawed back last year because of a similar failure in that period. The...
Darren Millar: First Minister, we hear a lot of crowing on the Labour benches about European money post Brexit, but, of course, the reality is that it's not European money, it's our money that has been sent to the European Union and is being sent back to this country having had a slice of it taken away. Do you accept that, post Brexit, Wales has the opportunity to be able to invest in areas that are...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I do move the amendments that I have tabled. Now, to listen to the Minister for Health and Social Services, you would imagine that everything's hunky-dory in our primary care services across Wales, but, of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The primary care model for Wales is underpinned, really, by the GP services that many people, of...
Darren Millar: Will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, can you give us an update on the steering committee that was established to look at the delivery mechanisms for future structural funds?
Darren Millar: I'm grateful for the update. I note that the membership of this steering committee is not in the public domain. I don't know who the other members are and I think it would be very useful if the Welsh Government could share that information with Members, to ensure that it is a properly representative committee that will seriously look at the failings of the previous use of structural funds in...
Darren Millar: I'm here to ask questions of this Government that serves the people of Wales. And I think that it's very important that people recognise the failures of your Government, and previous administrations, to properly manage the European funds that were at their disposal. We've gone backwards in terms of our wage growth when compared to—as a proportion—other parts of the UK. And I find it...
Darren Millar: I rise with a very, very heavy heart today. We read last week—I can hear the huffs of breath on the benches opposite, and I'm very disappointed by that. I sincerely mean that I rise with a very, very heavy heart. Last week, we saw the publication of another stomach-churning report into failings in our precious national health service. In that report, we read about front-line staff that were...
