Gareth Davies: Thank you very much, Minister, for your statement this afternoon. Whilst I welcome actions taken to improve oracy rates across the board, I do have concerns about those in the care system as well as those providing care. Minister, we know that educational attainment amongst young people in care is well below that of their peers. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of oracy rates for...
Gareth Davies: Thank you, Counsel General, for the statement that you've made this evening. But, with the greatest respect, was there any real point to this statement this afternoon? Do you truly believe that this commission is a good use of Welsh Government time and resources, given the state of our NHS and social care system? While I have real concerns about the make-up of this commission politically—I...
Gareth Davies: 9. How will the Welsh Government work with the UK Government and producers to promote food and drink from the Vale of Clwyd? OQ57200
Gareth Davies: Good afternoon, Minister. Minister, I'm sure you will agree that social care is in crisis—a crisis that has spread beyond the care sector and is having a very real impact on our NHS and services. However, we won’t solve the issues in healthcare by diverting more money to the NHS. The health and social care levy will bring in the much-needed funds to ensure that our social care staff earn...
Gareth Davies: I really appreciate that answer, Minister, and thank you. The Vale of Clwyd is home to many great food and drink producers and products, and one of the best examples of our great produce is the Denbigh plum, whether it's eaten on its own or as an amazing jam or drunk as a fantastic plum brandy. The Denbigh plum is the pride of Denbigh and the whole of the Vale of Clwyd. Minister, how will...
Gareth Davies: I'd like to thank Plaid Cymru for tabling this debate for this afternoon and for the contributions that we've heard so far today. I do have some sympathy with the position that they have taken. And, after all, as Jane Dodds mentioned, none of us is safe until all of us are safe. However, the approach they've put forward is a little too simplistic, a little too naive and a little bit rich...
Gareth Davies: Thank you for your statement, Minister, and for providing a briefing to Members of the health committee at lunchtime today. As in previous updates, I want to focus my questions on the care sector, as those living in care homes and their families have been deeply affected by the pandemic. Thankfully, a successful UK vaccination programme has meant that care home visits can once again take...
Gareth Davies: I would like to thank the Welsh Language Commissioner and his staff for their ongoing work. For those dependent on the care sector, speaking Welsh is not a matter of choice, it's a necessity. I'm currently dealing with a constituent whose mother, suffering from dementia, has lost the ability to speak in English. She recently suffered a fall and was forced to wait nearly five hours for help, a...
Gareth Davies: Good afternoon, Minister. Minister, my constituents would like to see the Welsh Government focusing on boosting the Welsh economy and attracting businesses who will pay more than the bare minimum. Lidl will now pay shop floor workers £10.10p per hour—well above the real living wage. Minister, average weekly earnings in Wales are well below other nations and regions of the UK. What is your...
Gareth Davies: Good afternoon, Counsel General. We all know that climate change is driving ever more frequent extreme weather events, extreme weather events that cause great damage and destruction—extreme weather events such as storm Christoph, which wrought devastation across my constituency at the beginning of the year. These events are beyond the ability of local councils to prepare for, beyond them to...
Gareth Davies: It's a pleasure to take part in the debate this afternoon. As a nation of pet lovers, we should have the most stringent animal welfare standards in the world. Sadly, the reality is far from it. As with many things, the Welsh Government has good intentions. Its animal welfare plan, while widely welcomed, even on this side of the Chamber, lacks any sense of urgency. It's a step in the right...
Gareth Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd, and thank you for your statement this afternoon, Minister. I just want to second Russell George's comments in that I do appreciate that you've got a lot on your plate and you're dealing with a very complex and ever-changing situation, so I do acknowledge that. So, Minister, do you agree with me that, although we need to be cautious, we don't need to panic?...
Gareth Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd, and thank you very much for your statement this afternoon, Deputy Minister. I also welcome the age-friendly Wales strategy—I mean, what's not to like with it really—apart from the fact that we have yet another aspirational strategy with very little detail on how we will achieve that strategy or targets to measure our progress against. When will we see...
Gareth Davies: Minister, it goes without saying, really, that the past couple of years have been tough for major events in north Wales, and across Wales as a whole. Events have had to be cancelled at short notice. There is now some reluctance from events organisers to put on events because of the uncertainty over COVID reduction measures. But it hasn't all been that bad, really, because the pandemic meant...
Gareth Davies: It's a pleasure to take part in this debate this afternoon. The Vale of Clwyd is home to many great small businesses, far too many to list for this short debate this afternoon. I could go on all afternoon, but each one is vital to the economy of my constituency and to that of north Wales, and to the prosperity of our nation as a whole, as small business are the lifeblood of our villages, our...
Gareth Davies: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Llywydd, and thank you to everyone who has taken part in this debate this afternoon, and a very important debate. And a huge thank you especially to my colleague Peter Fox for taking forward the motion we have before us this afternoon. As Peter highlighted, motor neurone disease is a terrible illness, without any cure and a shockingly rapid progression that...
Gareth Davies: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Deputy Llywydd. And thank you for your statement this afternoon, First Minister. While your compact with Plaid Cymru—or should I say coalition in all but name, according to many of your own backbenchers, at least—has generated a great deal of furore down here in the Cardiff bubble, it means very little to the care worker in north Wales struggling to make ends meet on...
Gareth Davies: The Welsh Conservatives welcome the Government's draft children's right scheme 2021, and we will be supporting today's motion before us. However, there is always a caveat to these things, isn't there? While we welcome the children's rights scheme, we have real concerns that the Welsh Government's actions do not improve the rights of Welsh children. It has been 10 years since this Parliament...
Gareth Davies: Yes, indeed. Sorry, I was in the zone then.
Gareth Davies: With it being a UNCRC, I'd imagine it's a universal way that all Governments sign up to. So, I'm not sure on the details of the UK Government, but my job primarily is to scrutinise the Welsh Government, which I'm trying to do, and not to talk too much about the UK Government, which seems to be the trend these days. So, where was I? Throughout the pandemic, the rights of children have been at...
