Darren Millar: 6. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on investment in critical infrastructure projects in north Wales? OAQ(5)0105(EI)
Darren Millar: The Cabinet Secretary will be aware that I’ve been very concerned for some time about the vulnerability of the transport infrastructure in north Wales to flooding, particularly around the area in Old Colwyn. The Welsh Government, of course, had some additional resources, capital resources, as a result of the UK Government’s announcement last year—an additional £400 million. What work...
Darren Millar: Cabinet Secretary, you’ll be aware of the concerns that have been expressed about the pace of progress at the Betsi Cadwaladr university health board, particularly in terms of progress to deal with some of the mental health challenges in the region. Following the Tawel Fan scandal, quite rightly, the Government put the health board into special measures, and one of the reasons it did so was...
Darren Millar: Thank you to the Chair of the committee for her statement. Can I put on record what an effective Chair she has been during her tenure so far, as Chair of that committee—bringing the committee together, enabling us to work in a way where there is consensus around the table so that we can maximise our impact? I want to pay tribute to you, Lynne, for your work and your commitment and...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Russell, and can I congratulate you on bringing this matter to the attention of the National Assembly? I’m not going to talk about four-weekly bin collections today and the impact that has on people’s behaviour and engagement with recycling, which I can tell you is very negative. But I do want to talk about access to civic amenity sites, because there is a great deal of waste...
Darren Millar: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the performance of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board? OAQ(5)0432(FM)
Darren Millar: Well, the Cabinet Secretary needs to do more than making his expectations clear. This is a health board that is in special measures, and yet, at the Glan Clwyd Hospital, at the moment, the routine waiting time for orthopaedic surgery is 112 weeks. That’s more than four times the Government’s 26-week target. What specific action is your Government taking, given that this health board is in...
Darren Millar: Diolch, Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, Estyn’s annual report, which was published recently, identified the quality and variability of the quality of teaching as being a major issue here in Wales. In fact, the chief inspector said: ‘The most important factor in how well learners develop and learn is the quality of teaching. However, teaching is one of the weakest aspects of the provision in...
Darren Millar: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. I’m pleased with some of those developments, but, of course, it’s not just the quality of teaching and the variability of it that the chief inspector found problems with. He also found problems in our pupil referral units. He said that the provision in pupil referral units remains particularly poor, and, of course, you and I both know that...
Darren Millar: It’s not just those in pupil referral units outside mainstream schools; we’ve got problems in our mainstream schools as well. Again, the chief inspector’s findings correlated very well with the Programme for International Student Assessment findings, which demonstrated that those children who are more able and talented—those high-flying kids—are not achieving their potential in our...
Darren Millar: Minister, I’ve been pleased with the robust tone that you’ve expressed in respect of the Welsh in education strategic plans, which are being developed by local authorities across Wales. You and I both share the ambition to drive up the number of Welsh speakers here in Wales, but we will never achieve that ambition unless there are sufficient Welsh-speaking teachers in our classrooms. We...
Darren Millar: Diolch, Lywydd. This coming Saturday, 11 February, marks the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of that greatest of Welsh hymn writers, William Williams of Pantycelyn. And it’s apt that his anniversary will fall on the very same day that Wales will be playing England in the cauldron of the Millennium Stadium, because, during that six nations game, there is no doubt whatsoever that the...
Darren Millar: I’m pleased to take part in this debate, and I want to commend the Chair and the committee clerks for all the work that they have done in helping to produce what I think has been a very robust report, with a list of very clear recommendations directed at the Government. I was very pleased to see the Minister’s response to the report. I think it is fair to say that we had a few tussles...
Darren Millar: I’m very grateful to the Member for taking the intervention. You weren’t on the inquiry and you didn’t take part in it, but one thing that was absolutely evident was that there was no direct correlation, actually, to the quality of youth services on the ground and the amount that’s being spent on them by local authorities, as I indicated in my remarks earlier. Conwy is a local...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I want to formally move the motion tabled in the name of Paul Davies. I’m very pleased to be leading this debate on the future of the further education sector in Wales, on behalf of the Welsh Conservatives. We know that education plays a vital role in our national economy, underpinning and ensuring personal success, health and satisfaction, and...
Darren Millar: Will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: I’m very grateful to the Member for taking the intervention. Do you agree with me that what we actually also need is some very decent careers advice given to our young people? I think the careers service in Wales is in need of an overhaul to make sure that there’s accurate careers advice being given, not just by individuals who work in schools or individuals who work in FE colleges, but...
Darren Millar: I’m grateful for your taking the intervention. There are two points I’d wish to put to you. One is the fact that the Welsh economy is connected to the economy over the border in England and therefore it’s entirely appropriate that we should consider what is going on over the border. Secondly, you had a Deputy First Minister who was responsible for the economy for a number of years while...
Darren Millar: One of the other things, First Minister, that can be done in order to combat scams is the establishment of no-cold-calling zones. This has been something that has been extremely successful in my own constituency, where Conwy County Borough Council have imposed a town-wide one in Abergele. What work do you think that we can do here in the National Assembly, and the Welsh Government can do, to...
Darren Millar: Leader of the house, can I call for a statement on the future of Colwyn Bay’s Victoria Pier? You will be aware that there was an announcement over the weekend by Conwy County Borough Council that an agreement had been reached with the Colwyn Victoria Pier Trust over the dismantling of the pier in order to protect it from further deterioration, after recent storms gave it a battering and...
