Joyce Watson: I hope, First Minister, that you'll agree with me that it would be a good thing to focus on the £1.3 billion that's on the table for a new hospital—the sort of investment that's badly needed in our area. It is transformational money that can bring about transformation in the services that are currently provided. I hope you will share my opinion that the health board must listen to the...
Joyce Watson: Diolch, Weinidog. I thank you for your statement. You set out this afternoon that there is a clear divergence between Government interventions in Wales and those Government interventions in England. The UK scheme, as we all know, is too little too late. It's going to saddle every householder with debt, giving with one hand and taking back with the other, whereas the Welsh Government has...
Joyce Watson: —they have never fixed the roof when the sun was shining. Just one more sentence, if I can. What I would like, Minister, is some feedback from the 17 February meeting that you have alluded to, particularly for my area, where many people are off-grid, to see what help we can give those people who are accessing gas and oil off-grid and they don't have the luxury of that price cap.
Joyce Watson: As you know, Minister, thousands of women in Wales work shifts and that often entails unsociable hours, where they're expected either to start or finish work late at night. Understandably, many workers, particularly women, have expressed concern about their safety when travelling to and from work during the night. In most instances, it's the responsibility of the employee and not the employer...
Joyce Watson: So, we're going to move on now to item 4, a statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Services: the real living wage for social care workers. And I call on Julie Morgan.
Joyce Watson: Thank you. I want to now call Gareth Davies to speak.
Joyce Watson: I now call Peredur Owen Griffiths.
Joyce Watson: Thank you, and thank you, Deputy Minister for Social Services. We will now suspend proceedings to allow a changeover in the Siambr. If you are leaving the Siambr, please do so promptly, and the bell will be rung two minutes before proceedings restart. Any Members who are arriving after a changeover should wait until then before entering the Siambr.
Joyce Watson: There are many things that we could all say, those of us who oppose this consent today, about this Bill, and many of them have been said. But I'm going to focus here particularly and speak to the issue at hand, and the issue at hand is about medical examinations and age assessments of unaccompanied minors seeking refugee asylum—children. And I think there's one message that has to be...
Joyce Watson: Do you agree with me, Minister, that the future of health services in our region is in need of a genuine discussion, and that politicians should help solve systematic challenges, like how to attract and retain staff and how to deliver as many of the services as possible as close to home and where people live? It would be more useful, rather than simply obstructing change and investment that...
Joyce Watson: We've heard many arguments, but I think we need to take ourselves back. Sixteen and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote in the 2021 Senedd elections for the first time, and this year, of course, it will be the first time that they'll be able to vote in local government elections. If you look at the figures, out of 65,000 16 to 17-year-olds who were eligible to vote in the 2021 Senedd elections,...
Joyce Watson: I now call on the Deputy Minister for arts and sport, Dawn Bowden.
Joyce Watson: I now call on Jack Sargeant as Chair of the Petitions Committee to respond.
Joyce Watson: The motion is therefore to agree to note the petition. Does anybody object? No. Okay.
Joyce Watson: We shall move on now to item 7, the Welsh Conservatives debate on local government funding. I call on Sam Rowlands to move the motion.
Joyce Watson: I have selected the amendment to the motion. I call on the Minister for Finance and Local Government to formally move amendment 1, tabled in the name of Lesley Griffiths.
Joyce Watson: You're out of time now. Can I ask you now to bring it to a close?
Joyce Watson: Just to remember that those people that go over are taking time from the others who want to come in. I want to now call Carolyn Thomas.
Joyce Watson: Will you take an intervention?
Joyce Watson: It's very noisy over there. I now call on the final speaker, Janet Finch-Saunders.
