Gareth Davies: What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Health and Social Services regarding the role housing plays in addressing health and care needs?
Gareth Davies: I'd like to start by declaring an interest, as I'm a Denbighshire councillor until May 2022. I'm afraid I'm going to keep banging on about this and sound a bit like a broken record, because, you know, I've mentioned this question a couple of times in the past. The communities of Trefnant and Tremeirchion are still dealing with the consequences of the terrible flooding that resulted from storm...
Gareth Davies: Minister, my constituency is home to one of the most deprived communities in Wales and maybe even in the whole of the UK. Sadly, poverty is so often linked to poor educational achievement, and it can be a really vicious cycle, with children of poorly educated parents less likely to achieve a good education. As the Estyn report highlights, this will have been exacerbated by the pandemic, as...
Gareth Davies: It's a pleasure to take part in this debate this afternoon, as I worked in Betsi Cadwaladr for 11 years and I worked for four years in mental health as a support worker, so I'd like to consider this topic of debate fairly close to my heart. Although the Holden report is focused on the failings of the Hergest unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd, it has implications for patients right across north Wales,...
Gareth Davies: A few weeks ago, I had the honour to meet the volunteers at the Kings Storehouse foodbank in Rhyl. The Kings Storehouse in an independent foodbank run by volunteers from the Wellspring Christian Centre. It was founded in 2012 when the church saw people locally who had fallen on hard times, many through no fault of their own, and the church members rose to the challenge to try and assist. It...
Gareth Davies: Yes, certainly.
Gareth Davies: Well, if the Member listens to the duration of my contribution, you'll see how it'll naturally come around to answer your query. [Laughter.] So, one must be patient, as they say. [Laughter.] Today's foodbanks come in many shapes and sizes. In an ideal world, we would have no poverty, but we don't live in an ideal world. Sadly, families find themselves in hardship through no fault of their...
Gareth Davies: Yes, certainly. Certainly.
Gareth Davies: Well—[Laughter.]
Gareth Davies: Well, I—
Gareth Davies: I'm trying to add to the debate. I'm adding to the debate, and—
Gareth Davies: I can obviously see the Member's passion and the cases in his constituency, and I have exactly the same in mine. Rhyl is one of the most deprived areas in the country, in Wales and most of the UK, so I'm not going to take any lectures from Members from south Wales on issues in my constituency. So, the Member's very rich to be saying to me, 'Oh, well'—preaching about issues in Rhyl from...
Gareth Davies: Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon, as well as addressing and allowing your officials to brief members of the health committee earlier this afternoon. Minister, while it's important that we react to the developing picture of omicron, it's vital that we don't overreact—this would create more harm than good. I welcome the fact that no new non-pharmacological...
Gareth Davies: The draft of this RSE code is a vast improvement on the one sent out with the consultation. However, as it stands today we can't support it. We do still have some huge concerns, which I hope the Minister can address, and bring back a revised code that all in this Chamber can support. The guiding principle of the relationships and sexuality education code, at least according to the Act, is...
Gareth Davies: Apologies for that. I didn't see you.
Gareth Davies: Well, I'm nearly finished. I'm near as finished, Deputy Llywydd, so I'm not sure there'd be much point, really.
Gareth Davies: No, I'm nearly concluded, Deputy Llywydd.
Gareth Davies: Yes. We're being asked to approve the code without even seeing the accompanying guidance, which means that there is no way that we can approve this code today, and I urge Members to reject the Government's motion and call upon Ministers to redraft the RSE code with some stronger evidence. Thank you very much.
Gareth Davies: Has the Welsh Government made any assessment of the effectiveness of public services boards in driving improvements to public services in Wales?
Gareth Davies: As the older people's commissioner rightly states: 'Holding a Wales-specific Public Inquiry will ensure that the Chair and the panel running the Inquiry understand devolution and the cultural and political distinctiveness of Wales, as well as being representative of the diversity of our nation and accessible in a way that a UK-wide Inquiry may not be able to achieve.' That is why we must...
