Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, Wales needs a true mix of energy production if we are to combat climate change and ensure energy security. One of the biggest challenges for renewables is the unpredictability of production. Over the last few weeks, we have produced far more solar energy than needed, and as a result it has been wasted. We need to find better ways to store energy. So, Cabinet Secretary, what...
Caroline Jones: I would like to place on record my thanks to the committee clerks, Members' Research Service staff, and the various witnesses who helped us conduct this inquiry. The witness accounts were often harrowing and were difficult to digest. Dementia is a major public health issue in Wales; it is believed to affect around 42,000 people in Wales and is most common among older people. Dementia affects...
Caroline Jones: What action is the Welsh Government taking to encourage closer working between health boards and local authorities through public service boards?
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, the outgoing Auditor General for Wales has been highly critical—[Interruption.]
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, the outgoing Auditor General for Wales has been highly critical of the Welsh public sector's inability to adapt to reduced budgets. In evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, Huw Vaughan Thomas said that public services could be reforming for the better, but their only response to austerity has been cutting costs. He also said that he was frustrated that...
Caroline Jones: I agree with the former auditor general that austerity is the biggest challenge facing public services in Wales, coupled with the rise in demand. These services are facing incredible pressure. While NHS spending has continued to rise, local authority cuts are impacting upon social care, which, in turn, impacts upon healthcare. We spend more per head on health than they do in England, yet we...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, First Minister. Huw Vaughan Thomas said that the Williams commission report clearly sets out the nature of systemic problems that need to be fixed. He added that he finds himself both frustrated and increasingly concerned that many clarion calls for action that Wales has heard over the last decade or so have not yet generated the tangible changes that are now urgently needed, and...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, First Minister. And while I welcome some of the measures outlined in your legislative programme, it’s not as ambitious, I feel, as it should be. We're almost halfway through this Assembly and we have eight Acts on the statute books and, apart from the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017 and the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018,...
Caroline Jones: 5. Will the Leader of the House provide an update on action the Welsh Government is taking to digitise public services? OAQ52537
Caroline Jones: Thank you for that answer, leader of the house. Councils across Wales are looking to artificial intelligence to take over some of the functions of their staff. Cardiff council are introducing a virtual assistant to handle queries from the public, and Monmouthshire council are introducing a chatbot for its online queries. A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests that the move to artificial...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I would like to thank Paul Davies for his continuing efforts to make an autism Act for Wales a reality. This Bill will help deliver what those on the ASD spectrum have been calling for for years—action to improve autism services in Wales. Action that the ASD action plan has, so far, failed to materialise. The Minister has, on a number of occasions, denied that there...
Caroline Jones: 6. Will the First Minister provide an update on what action the Welsh Government is taking to improve cancer survival rates? OAQ52610
Caroline Jones: Thank you. First Minister, the key to improving the cancer survival rates of Wales's cancer patients is early diagnosis. I have been contacted by a GP expressing concern over the number of cancer referrals that get routinely downgraded by a consultant. The GP who raised this issue with me believes, as I do, that the GP should be informed of this decision so that they can challenge the...
Caroline Jones: I would like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this important debate today. As a former teacher, I'm passionate about affording pupils the opportunities to capitalise on their talents and enable them to fulfil their ambitions. Whilst I recognise the progress that has been made, we still have a long path to tread, and we have to have a workable strategy in place to ensure...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, there has been a massive increase in demand for ambulances—up around 128 per cent over the last two decades. But the new clinical response model is supposed to ensure that those in the most need get the fastest response—be that a fully crewed ambulance or a rapid-response paramedic. However, last year, 16 per cent of red calls took longer than 10 minutes and 68 people...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, it's estimated that congestion at junction 43 costs the Welsh economy around £6.5 million a year, and congestion at junction 41 a further £5.1 million. Billions of pounds are spent to tackle congestion around Newport and the introduction of the metro to offer convenient, reliable alternatives to the car. Cabinet Secretary, can my region expect similar treatment to the...
Caroline Jones: I'd like to thank the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee for their report. Climate change is the biggest threat facing our planet, and those who deny its impact or our role in creating it have thankfully been relegated to the fringe, along with the other crackpot conspiracy theorists, such as the flat-earthers or those who believe that lunar landings were fake. Climate...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, Neath Port Talbot, like all Welsh councils, are having to roll back social care provision due to massive shortfalls in their budgets. Social care provision is one of the most important services a local authority provides. What discussions have you had with your local government colleagues about measures they can take to protect and enhance social care provision so they can...
Caroline Jones: I would like to thank Lynne, Adam and David for bringing forward this very important debate. Next week is Baby Loss Awareness Week and what better way to mark it than to debate the support Wales gives to those families affected by baby loss? It is a sad fact that pregnancy loss and the death of a baby are not rare. A quarter of pregnancies end in miscarriage and every day in the UK 15 babies...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, whilst it's true that, currently, the majority of Wales's goods exports go to the EU, the growth prospects, regardless of Brexit, are not promising. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund have all downgraded EU gross domestic product growth forecast to around 1.5 per cent, whereas China will see growth...
