Delyth Jewell: First Minister, loneliness has been a significant issue for thousands of people during the pandemic, and, as we enter the winter months, more people could feel even more isolated from friends and family. When people are lonely, they can be at greater risk of isolating themselves from services as well, and that can, in turn, be made worse if there are already barriers to accessing those...
Delyth Jewell: Trefnydd, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has introduced significant temporary changes to maternity services because of staff shortages. So, home birthing has been suspended and midwifery-led units in the Royal Gwent, Nevill Hall, Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr will be temporarily closed, centralising all birthing services at the Grange hospital in Cwmbran. The health...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for the statement also, Minister. I wanted to ask you about eco-anxiety or anxiety related to the climate change emergency, which is affecting an increasing number of young people. As you'll be aware, this is an issue that I've been trying to persuade the Government to act upon since the beginning of this Senedd. Academics at the University of Bath have...
Delyth Jewell: Can I start by saying that the commitment to 30x30 is welcome? It's very welcome indeed, Minister. It would be useful to have more detail. How will the Welsh Government fund progress towards this commitment, please, and what steps will you be taking to secure extra funding for habitat protection, restoration and creation, and of course the longer term need for the monitoring and maintenance...
Delyth Jewell: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Any emergency requires urgency in response. That is the message at the heart of our debate today, because an emergency is defined as requiring immediate action; it is what makes it an emergency. We in Wales have declared both nature and climate emergencies in recent years, but to date, enough action has not been taken to reinforce those declarations. I fear that...
Delyth Jewell: I said that we can't afford to wait, but the declarations we've made and the conferences that await us afford us an opportunity to be radical, to be innovative and to be trailblazing, because urgency is required. The climate emergency is already hitting our communities hard. The Rhondda, Llanrwst, Ystrad Mynach—streets in almost every corner of our country have faced horrific floods. Homes...
Delyth Jewell: How is the Welsh Government supporting young people with mental health problems?
Delyth Jewell: Tomorrow will mark 55 years since the coal tip above Aberfan collapsed and killed a school full of children and teachers, and, in the 55 years since, the task of removing other coal tips from our mountainsides is still unfinished. I note that some have asked the Welsh Government to carry the burden of making these tips safe, a burden that should have been carried by Westminster decades ago....
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you, Minister, for your statement. I wanted to ask you in the first instance about public confidence in using public transport as a result of COVID. Research by Transport Focus shows that there's a clear difference between those who have been using public transport during the pandemic or recently and those who have not. The latter group are much more...
Delyth Jewell: I also wanted to ask about accessibility, Minister, because obviously, we need to make it easier for people to actually use public transport. I note that you said that we need to make the right thing to do the easy thing to do. I welcome that, and I'd add to it as well: the safe thing to do. So, as well as making sure that we learn from what Sustrans say in terms of making sure that the first...
Delyth Jewell: As we've heard, since Jack tabled this question it has become even more pertinent considering the events of last Friday. So much support has been given to us as Members since last week in order to discuss safety, but members of staff—Commission staff, as well as Members' staff, too—also have to cope with this stress and fear, and have to deal with, as Jack has said, online threats of...
Delyth Jewell: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you, Minister; I really hope that your throat is okay. We live in a time of crisis, and the challenge that we face is known to us all. I welcome this strategy today as a starting point, as was the declaration of a climate emergency and a nature emergency; that was also a starting point, offering an opportunity to lay some foundations. However, as with the...
Delyth Jewell: Minister, I'd like to also ask about the UK Government. You've said previously that your department had little warning before the UK Government published the net-zero plan. As I understand, it was a matter of only hours. Could you tell us how this has affected how the strategy will interplay with the UK strategy? It might be useful for us to know your assessment of the extent to which the...
Delyth Jewell: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the importance of protecting young people’s mental health and wellbeing?
Delyth Jewell: 1. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of COVID-19 rates in South Wales East? OQ57110
Delyth Jewell: Thank you for that, Minister.
Delyth Jewell: COVID-19 rates, as you've been saying, in the south-east have been worryingly high recently. One of the likely reasons for this is the number of inaccurate results given to residents by a laboratory in Wolverhampton. An estimated 4,000 Welsh residents were affected, and the majority were in Gwent and Cwm Taf. Minister, as you'll know, this was serious, because if people were told that they...
Delyth Jewell: Diolch, Gadeirydd. I move the Plaid Cymru amendment. This is certainly a timely debate. COP26 is a moment when humanity will either redeem itself or carry on condoning waste and destruction, a moment when we are poised on a precipice to allow the future to be or not to be—that really is what's at stake in Glasgow. I'm glad that we're talking about recovery—it is an apt word, because to...
Delyth Jewell: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact the recent UK Government budget will have on the Welsh economy?
Delyth Jewell: I associate myself entirely with what Hefin said about the community in Penyrheol. First Minister, last month, Public Health Wales launched a campaign encouraging pregnant women to have the COVID-19 vaccine because of how many unvaccinated women end up needing hospital treatment. One in six COVID patients requiring the highest form of life support in England are unvaccinated pregnant women,...
