Angela Burns: Minister, I do want to be clear on this matter, I think it is vital the Welsh Government bring forward proposals to tackle pollution in Wales, but I do not believe this is it. Recognising the need to protect our environment, at the very beginning of all of this, I supported the calls for there to be a mixed suite of methods for farmers to be able to use to reduce nitrate levels on farms. I...
Angela Burns: I'd like to thank David Melding for bringing this forward, because the Cumberlege report is such a crucial piece of evidence in trying to move medicine for women forward. I have two points I really want to make. One of the things that Cumberlege said very clearly was that the system, the big system, is not good at spotting trends in practice and outcome that give rise to safety concerns. We...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much indeed, Llywydd. Thank you, Minister, for your update. It is incredibly cheerful news. I think a million doses is an enormous achievement and I give my heartfelt thanks and an absolute salute to you, to the health boards, to the volunteers, to everybody who's been involved in this programme. I also pay absolute credit to the UK Government for their vaccination procurement...
Angela Burns: Even before the pandemic, First Minister, I'm sure you would agree that the shape of the global economy was changing, which is why, in recognition of this, the Welsh Conservatives, in addition to ReAct, will introduce a second chance fund to help anyone of any age to pursue level 3 qualifications in college to help them move from the low pay, low skills trap up the career ladder no matter...
Angela Burns: Thank you, Minister, for your statement, and once again, it is good news that we are vaccinating as many people as we are at present in Wales. I do have a couple of questions to ask you, though, in general about the vaccine programme. The first is that 15 per cent of care home staff have yet to be vaccinated, compared to less than 5 per cent of residents, and it's a much lower take-up than...
Angela Burns: Thank you.
Angela Burns: 3. What action is the Welsh Government taking to support the farming industry in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire? OQ56390
Angela Burns: What plans are in place to ensure that local authorities will not be adversely affected financially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?
Angela Burns: Minister, we all know that we do need to tackle the polluting of our countryside by outdated farming practices, and the best way of doing this is to ensure that the farming industry is on board with any regulations and changes that you introduce. And in my view, the NVZ regulations passed last week have managed to achieve the opposite, and they've been roundly condemned by farming unions,...
Angela Burns: Minister, thank you for that response. In my colleague Nick Ramsay's short debate on motor neurone disease last week, you were talking about the 40 weeks for large-scale home adaptations, and of course, it's not just for people with MND. With COVID, having listened to Long Covid Wales's evidence this morning in the health and social care committee, it's pretty obvious that there are going to...
Angela Burns: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. In moving this motion today, I wish to start by expressing how grateful we are to the staff of the NHS. From front-line medics to back-room managers, they've held the line and delivered care and support to many individuals and families during this dreadful time. Without doubt, the NHS has been put under immense pressure by COVID, but the truth is that the...
Angela Burns: Before the pandemic, mental health services were struggling with a backlog of inquiries. Wales had the third highest rate out of English and Welsh regions for female suicide and the fourth highest rate for male suicide. And this is the problem, Minister; we have a health service in Wales that was already underfunded and struggling before COVID hit. During this Welsh Parliament term, five of...
Angela Burns: Nice try to the previous speaker for a general 'doing the evil Tory Government in Westminster down'. First Minister, I did hear your response about private versus public, but of course we all know it was privately employed Kate Bingham who actually very, very successfully protected the United Kingdom, including Wales, on the vaccines, by buying, investing and supporting all of those amazing...
Angela Burns: Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I'm very pleased to hear you say so unequivocally that people must go out and get their vaccine, whether it is a Pfizer vaccine or an AstraZeneca, and I join with you in saying that the risk of blood clots from any potential vaccine is far, far less than anything else. Given that, what public message—? And I've heard your message, and I've said it,...
Angela Burns: Thank you, Minister, for your statement. Anybody would think there was an election brewing, because this statement very, very clearly puts your ideas of having a social care tax into the long grass, and I'm not surprised at all that you've kicked it there. However, looking back at the inter-ministerial group report, it has most certainly laid the foundations for a Labour social care tax...
Angela Burns: 11. What steps will you take to monitor the assessments undertaken by ministerial colleagues when allocating expenditure within their portfolios? OQ56442
Angela Burns: 7. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve school standards in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire? OQ56441
Angela Burns: I'd be interested to know, Minister, what steps you take to monitor the expenditure by individual Ministers when you are looking at specific sectors that you wish to develop within Wales. For example, if Wales was to decide to try to become a science superpower, which is where I think we should be heading, and you wanted to put far more investment into research and development, into...
Angela Burns: Well, thank you for that, but the reality in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire is, over the last decade and a bit, only one out of the five secondary schools in that constituency have not been in some form of special measures or targeted intervention or needing to improve significantly. Now, with education being hit by COVID over the last 12 months, it's inevitable that the schools that...
Angela Burns: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I move amendments 1 and 3, tabled in the name of my colleague Mark Isherwood. The staff of our national health service, and those who provide social care to the people of Wales, have been at the forefront of the fight against the spread of COVID-19. They have kept vital services running, held hands that families could not reach, seen death and suffering on a...
