Helen Mary Jones: Thank you. I'm very grateful to you, Minister, and I think we have acknowledged, as Angela Burns said, that there has been some real progress, but do you agree with the Royal College of Nursing that we do need a national retention strategy, because while there are some pockets of good practice, I think what they're asking for is for that practice to become the norm? As I said, we have been...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. I rise to contribute to this debate in place of my colleague Siân Gwenllian, who is of course our spokesperson and isn't present today. I find myself—and we, as a group, find ourselves—somewhat between a rock and a hard place. I have sympathy with much of what Suzy Davies has said today. We share some of the concerns that the Conservatives are raising. In fact, perhaps...
Helen Mary Jones: Darren, I'm sorry. I'm going to have to interrupt you because I'm running out of time. Perhaps you'd like to finish your point in intervening on one of your colleagues. I was referring to points made in the speech, not necessarily to the motion. But, Suzy did, in fact, separately make it clear that there are things to congratulate pupils and staff on what they've achieved. So, we can't...
Helen Mary Jones: I'd like to reiterate the points that Angela Burns has made about the urgent need to have a full—I would argue—debate, but if that's not possible, a statement in Government time about the state of winter pressures. We all know what the position is in Hywel Dda and the point the First Minister made about front-line staff is, of course, absolutely correct, but he and others may very well...
Helen Mary Jones: I certainly won't take the Chamber's time by reiterating points that people have made, but I'd like to expand on them, and I think I need to begin by saying that there is much in Welsh Government policy that is incredibly difficult to actually disagree with. We certainly don't disagree with commitments around climate change, and we certainly don't disagree with the policies around prudent...
Helen Mary Jones: Well, of course, we were told by the health and social services Minister that we would be hearing from him about his long-term social care plans back in the autumn. I may lack a grasp of the Welsh language, but I don't think that January is in the autumn. But, where I would agree with Angela Burns—and I think, probably, we'd have agreement across the Chamber—is that we do need to solve...
Helen Mary Jones: Will you take an intervention?
Helen Mary Jones: Thank you. Very grateful. So, would you therefore agree with me that we should use the budgeting process to ensure that some of those resources come out of some aspects of secondary care when we can and to put that directly into primary care? And would you agree with me that we clearly can't trust the health boards to do that by themselves?
Helen Mary Jones: 2. What action has the Welsh Government taken following the decision of Hywel Dda University Health Board to cancel in-patient operations on Monday 6 January 2020 at Bronglais, Glangwili, Prince Philip and Withybush hospitals? 375
Helen Mary Jones: I thank the Minister for his answer. And, of course, I'm sure we would all agree with his comments about the excellent work that the staff are undertaking under very difficult circumstances. But I wonder how he would respond to the Royal College of Nursing's call to him yesterday to get back in the room, and to start talking about the extent of these pressures. I wonder how he would respond...
Helen Mary Jones: Will you taken an intervention, Janet?
Helen Mary Jones: I'm very grateful. Thank you. I don't disagree with what you said, but would you also acknowledge the impact of the benefit changes, as Adam Price outlined in his speech? And can I ask you, as a person who I know is a principled Conservative, to go back to your fellow Conservative Members in London and ask them to get rid of the two-child rule, what we call the 'rape clause'? It's appallingly...
Helen Mary Jones: May I ask the Trefnydd if she can arrange for the appropriate Minister to make a statement about the implementation of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000? Of course, we would all very much welcome public buses becoming more accessible for disabled people, and it is of course true to say that companies have known for some time that these regulations are coming in....
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his statement and to see the progress that's been made in this important area. I welcome what the Minister has to say about the next stage, looking at more cross-regional working and looking at national scaling up. I won't, Dirprwy Lywydd, trouble the Assembly with some of the questions that have already been answered with regard to points that Angela Burns...
Helen Mary Jones: I'd like to associate myself with what Angela Burns and the Minister have already said in thanking all of those who have enabled this important piece of work to be done in a timely manner, which was essential. I suppose the Minister would expect me to say that we don't want to get into the habit of legislating in a rush, but there was a particular reason why it made sense to escalate this...
Helen Mary Jones: 6. Will the Minister provide an update on the twenty-first century schools programme in Carmarthenshire? OAQ54921
Helen Mary Jones: I am grateful to the Minister for that update. The Minister will not be surprised to hear me asking her again about progress on delivering Ysgol Gymraeg Dewi Sant in Llanelli. I was very grateful when, before Christmas, the First Minister undertook to have some cross-Cabinet discussions about the particular issues around planning for that school, and I wonder if the Minister is able to tell...
Helen Mary Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Does the Minister agree with the statement made by the First Minister yesterday in response to questions from Adam Price, when talking about pressures on the ambulance service? And I quote: 'The problem is not one that is soluble in the hands of the ambulance service alone...It is a whole-systems issue, in which we have to...clear people through the whole system so that, when...
Helen Mary Jones: I'm grateful to the Minister for his response. I wish I could characterise it as adequate; I'm afraid I can't. I have been looking back at the Minister's statements around winter pressures over the past three years, and he always says the same things. He always talks about norovirus and flu, and he says the same things when you have a really challenging year, when you actually have lots of...
Helen Mary Jones: Well, the problem, of course, is, Llywydd, that nobody disbelieves the Minister when he's saying these things, but the problem is that he's been saying a variety of them, and his predecessors have been saying a variation on a theme. It may very well be, and I'm not questioning his figures, that we have, for example, had an exceptional number of vulnerable patients, but that begs the question...
