Rhun ap Iorwerth: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Diprwy Lywydd. I'm afraid this budget is a bit of a missed opportunity and it's a bit of a double whammy too. It's a missed opportunity for a new, more dynamic, radical change of direction by a Labour Welsh Government, and it's set against a backdrop of a decade and more of deep cuts from an uncaring Conservative UK Government. On the scale of cuts that we have faced,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: In looking—[Interruption.]
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Yes, certainly.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We certainly have, and we look forward to implementing it when we're in Government here. The Government says it wants to build a new Wales.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Let's turn to local government, first of all. We welcome the fact, of course, that the local government settlement has increased by 4.3 per cent, but the level of funding for our councils is still 13 per cent lower in real terms than the 2010-11 figure, and the increase is lower than what the WLGA stated was needed for local authorities just to stand still and maintain services. So, those...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Let me ask this to close: does the Government really believe that this budget will change the lives of the people of Wales in a significant way by the time of the next budget? Is this the budget that really starts to turn things around for Wales? I'm afraid it is not; that's why we'll be voting against this budget today. We need a budget, we need a Government, that looks to substantially and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the Minister make a statement on possible steps to control the second homes market?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I would like to make a few comments wearing a number of different hats. First of all, I'm an internationalist. That is, I see Wales having a place in the world, and I believe strongly in extending our network and reach as a nation to all corners of the world, for the benefit that brings us as a nation, but also for the benefits that come from nations working closely together. I'm also...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I speak as chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Wales, which is a very useful network for us as a Parliament to reach out to other Parliaments in other parts of the world, not only in order to learn from each other in terms of democratic practice, which is very important, but also in making those connections that come as a result of that, and which can bring cultural and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It is an ambition of mine to visit Bardi in the summer months at one point in the future. I lived for a short time in Parma, just down the road, and I never made it to Bardi to hear this fabled Welsh congregation in Bardi, in northern Italy, in the summer.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: What I want to see is Wales developing in confidence, and developing in confidence internationally means that, yes, we need a Government strategy and a determination to seek opportunities. And although there is room for improvement in this strategy, it is a starting point and we can return to the strategy time and again, including, as I say, in that meeting of the cross-party group in a week...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Chair. I went to the event over lunch today in the Senedd, arranged to mark Eating Disorder Awareness Week, organised by Beat, and sponsored by Bethan Sayed. May I tell you how pleased I am that I went to that event, to be able to listen to young women explaining so eloquently how their lives were impacted by eating disorders: the pressure to conform in the first instance...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Chair. This brief debate links very neatly with the debate that we've just had—I'll explain more about that in a few moments. But, it's a debate on a very specific issue that is of great concern to us on these benches, and I hope of concern to us as a Senedd, and to far too many of our constituents too. We are talking here about the high number of patients from Wales...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 'People with mental health problems being sent out of the area, out of the country, even, are not people with very rare or unusual conditions. They're people we could care for near their families and near their friends.'
Rhun ap Iorwerth: You hear the argument being made sometimes that the critical mass of population doesn't exist here in Wales, but for most conditions, we certainly do have a population that desperately needs that care close to home. It's poor historical patterns in terms of the commissioning of care that has placed us in this position. So that's enough of the excuses; let's send a very clear message that this...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: May I thank the Minister for the statement and thank him for the briefings provided both to me and to other party spokespeople at this time? May I just tell you a story about a doctor who contacted my office to complain about the 111 line, because she dealt with a patient who'd had to pay £10 to call the 0845 number because 111 didn't work and the patient wasn't able to use a landline at...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We on the Plaid Cymru benches will be supporting these amendments, but I would like to take a few moments to explain how we will engage with this Bill more generally at the outset. There are a number of reasons why we believe we're unable to support the Bill as currently drafted and that it's unlikely that we could support the Bill after we've gone through the process that we're going through...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Turning to the specific amendments, the Minister, I know, will no doubt say today that the health and care standards already consider the need for workforce planning. Standard 7.1 says that 'Health services should ensure there are enough staff with the right knowledge and skills available at the right time to meet need.' Is that enough in itself? There are also a range of criteria that are...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. I would assume that these amendments are quite central to what we're discussing here today. This is a Bill that relates to quality within health and social care, and these are amendments defining exactly what we mean by quality and what we mean by the standards that we expect within our services here in Wales. There are amendments here related to prevention of ill health,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: So, we reject the notion that the current standards are sufficient and we would consider all of those three categories that I've mentioned—prevention, reduction of inequalities, and the Welsh language—to be important enough to place on the face of the Bill. The Minister has already conceded that safety, effectiveness and the experience should be on the face of the Bill as part of what...
