Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you for taking this intervention. You were on the same committee when the Bill was coming forward, and now we have an Act. Why is that message not getting across, and how can the Welsh Government, and we as Assembly Members, work better to ensure that we can bring those numbers down?
Janet Finch-Saunders: I’d like to pay tribute to the Member—Caroline, Assembly Member—for bringing this here today. The effects upon someone’s mental well-being as a result of loneliness and isolation can be devastating. The older people’s commissioner has identified isolation amongst older people as a key public health issue. Seventy-five thousand older people in Wales feel lonely, with almost half of...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the First Minister make a statement on equality in local government service provision?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on support for small businesses?
Janet Finch-Saunders: First Minister, you will be aware of the massive campaign a couple of years ago to ensure that we had appropriate midwifery services and a consultant-led maternity ward at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. We previously welcomed the development proposals for the sub-regional neonatal intensive care centre, and it would be really appreciated if you could just update Members here today as to how well that is...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the Member take an intervention?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the right to buy?
Janet Finch-Saunders: What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the performance of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board since it was put under special measures?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Cabinet Secretary, I was going to raise the question of responses coming in with regard to voluntary mergers, and whether any local authorities had actually responded and wanted to come forward with voluntary mergers, which are a large part of your forthcoming local government reform in terms of looking for efficiency savings. Having only received one response—just one out of 22 local...
Janet Finch-Saunders: It was about engagement really.
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Today’s debate shines a spotlight on the workings of the Welsh Labour Government and so too on its failings—a Government that has systematically failed to improve living standards for our residents here in Wales. Twenty one per cent of our students are under-proficient in reading; PISA results and GVA are the lowest in the UK; funding for GP services...
Janet Finch-Saunders: No, I’m sorry. I’ve started, I’ll finish. You’re always wanting to mention Westminster; well, let me tell you, a band D property in Westminster has a council tax of £669. A band D property in Conwy: £1,401. Business rates are crippling our most hard working and enterprising individuals. In England, under a Conservative Government, our businesses are valued, they are appreciated,...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on local government reorganisation with particular reference to arrangements for regional working?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the First Minister provide an update on the status of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’d like to thank my colleague, Mark Reckless, actually—[Interruption.] I thought that would bring a smile—for raising the issue of uncontested seats, because, actually, as voters go to the polls tomorrow, it is quite a serious issue when one considers that 92 councillors, already elected, will face no contest whatsoever. Eight per cent of Welsh...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, and, of course, I hasten to mention the number of uncontested community council seats, which run into the hundreds. Cabinet Secretary, over the past few months and leading up to the local government elections, political parties of all colours—and, as my colleague over there has said, except the independents—have been outlining their manifesto pledges and...
Janet Finch-Saunders: And finally, Cabinet Secretary, across Wales, local authorities are signed up to private finance initiative schemes with a capital value of £308 million but a total overall cost of over £1.5 billion. A £53 million waste management scheme in Wrexham will cost the taxpayers £450 million, a £28 million lifelong learning centre in Rhondda Cynon Taf will cost over £112 million and the £40...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I do move amendments 2 to 5 in the name of Paul Davies AM. Tomorrow, on 4 May, voters will go to the polls to elect their members in our local authorities, town and community councils. Legislation, policy and settlement distribution, of course, have been the responsibility of Welsh Labour for the past 18 years. Over this time, our residents have seen...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Okay.
Janet Finch-Saunders: I definitely won’t abandon it, and the fundamental point here is that there haven’t been any cost savings to date since the four-weekly collections came in Social services and the care sector in Wales are in crisis. The Health Foundation states that demography, chronic conditions and rising costs will require the budget to almost double to £2.3 billion by 2030-31 to match demand, yet...
