Adam Price: There can be few more difficult jobs at the moment in politics than being a finance Minister, in any Government in the world, so I do think that Rebecca Evans deserves our understanding in that regard. Because she, like every finance Minister, is facing complex, difficult challenges, trade-offs, which are really at the heart of any budget-setting process, made more difficult of course at the...
Adam Price: In terms of the position that we are facing, of course, many of the pressures that the Welsh Government faces are also the same pressures that local government themselves are going to be facing, as has already been referred to. And it would be useful, I think, if we had a sense from the Government as to what you believe now—. We will obviously see the local government settlement detail in...
Adam Price: 8. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve A&E wait times and ambulance response times for people living in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr? OQ58876
Adam Price: I have heard of a number of cases similar to those expressed by Mabon ap Gwynfor in my region: one constituent waiting over 17 hours outside of A&E in an ambulance with stroke symptoms; another disabled constituent waiting for 12 hours outside of the A&E department for a bed after a fall; and even one man travelling back and forth to A&E to provide blankets and food for his elderly mother...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. On NHS pay, First Minister, we've estimated, based on figures that you've shared with us, that you could afford at least an additional 3 per cent extra pay award in this financial year. Now, I understand the health Minister has said that she does not recognise those figures, so can we assume that the pay award that you are intending to offer will be less than that figure? You...
Adam Price: But the progressive use of income tax in order to defend public services from Tory austerity is a long-standing socialist position that we espouse in this party, and it's something you used to believe in as well. You did recognise, in your comments yesterday, the collapse in trust in the pay review body process. How do you intend to rebuild this trust? Do you intend to change the nature of...
Adam Price: But the pay review process has led to a decade-long, real-terms cut in the wages of our NHS staff. So, the system is broken, and I make no apology for holding the Government to account and asking them to state what are your broad democratic principles. And we are here being the voice of NHS staff. We've been on the picket lines talking to them. We're making the points that they've asked us to...
Adam Price: Can we, please, have a statement from the Minister for Climate Change to update us on the proposed and long-awaited bypass for Llandeilo? The page summarising the status of the project on the Welsh Government website did pledge that the Government would recommend a favoured option from the four options remaining as part of the WelTAG stage 2 consultation by the winter of last year. But, on...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. With the news of the teachers' strike on 1 February and the failure of the talks with the health unions last week, public sector strikes in Wales are widening and deepening. What's the strategy of the Government, First Minister, to prevent this winter of discontent continuing on into spring and into summer? Is it your policy that you're going to offer the one-off payment that...
Adam Price: I would urge him to look at that possibility for this financial year as well. One of the other issues that you did bring to the table, which was welcome, was the role of agency staff. Now, we saw the figures from the Royal College of Physicians that show that the total bill in the last financial year was £260 million. Do you accept the logic of the unions that, offering a significantly...
Adam Price: But the point is, First Minister, that that agency doesn't have to be within the private sector, does it, it could be within the public sector. Now, could I turn to another matter that has already been referred to, the UK Government's veto over the gender recognition reform Bill in Scotland? Do you agree with me that this sets a very dangerous precedent, not only in terms of your own...
Adam Price: If the First Minister will allow me to reveal why health isn't included in the co-operation agreement, then I'm quite happy for those minutes of those discussions to be published.
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. 'So for one week will he stop blaming others, take some responsibility, and just admit that on his watch the NHS is in crisis, isn't it?' I'm quoting the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, to Rishi Sunak last week at Prime Minister's questions, but they're words that could equally apply to you, First Minister. Labour in Scotland has described the situation in the NHS...
Adam Price: Well, words matter because actually admitting that it's a crisis is an important acknowledgement of the scale, the seriousness and the urgency of the challenges that we face. I think the reason that you don't want to use that word is because the crisis has developed and deepened under you and under your Government. Health is devolved. Five Ministers in your Government—a majority in the...
Adam Price: That is beneath the First Minister, to be honest with you. These are not my words; they're the words of the NHS workforce that we've been speaking to and listening to on the picket lines. We have nurses, doctors and others, through burn-out, who are crying on wards, and patients and their relatives because of the experience that they're facing. I'm afraid the state of denial that we've just...
Adam Price: 9. Will the Minister provide an update on financial support available for small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to expand in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr? OQ59053
Adam Price: 1. What is the Welsh Government doing to ensure sufficient provision of NHS dental services in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr? OQ59048
Adam Price: Thank you very much, Llywydd. May I, on behalf of the Plaid Cymry group in the Senedd, but also on behalf of the party more broadly, extend our sincerest condolences to the First Minister on his bereavement? It is a blow that's difficult to comprehend, if truth be told, and we want to ensure that he is aware how much support we wish to give him during this most difficult period, and that, as...
Adam Price: The Welsh Government has formally commenced the NHS pay-round process for 2023-24 by sending a remit letter to the NHS pay review body. The Welsh Government's evidence to the pay review body, along with the letter, was sent on the same day, 11 January, that the health unions said that they were no longer prepared to engage with a review body process that they no longer trusted, calling...
Adam Price: You say that you've taken a different approach to the UK Government, but the remit letter that you've sent mirrors that of the UK Government exactly in emphasising affordability. You also define what affordability means—the amount that you, as a Government, can afford to pay—because you say in the letter: 'In the absence of increased UK Government funding, any changes to NHS staff’s...
