Rhun ap Iorwerth: There have been some wise comments made from Labour and Conservative benches. I will frame my remaining comments around what I was told by one sufferer of an eating disorder. You will know that I've been doing work recently, speaking to young people about access to mental health services more generally. This individual had waited 12 months to start a series of support sessions for eating...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd. I hope that this has been a very significant statement, and what I mean by that is that I hope that this is the last major statement that marks the beginning of the end—only the beginning of the end, of course, not the end of the pandemic. There will be other twists in the road I'm sure, but we can only hope that we will be continuing to travel in the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There are two other issues. I asked the Minister last week if she would be willing to join my call for the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice in Wales to be given core participant status in the UK inquiry. I and that campaign and many of us wanted a Wales-specific inquiry; that was blocked by Welsh Government. I'm astounded by the response we heard a few minutes ago from the Minister,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Minister, for the statement, and thank you for the opportunity to discuss this. It's very important that we allocate time to mark International Women's Day here in the Senedd. The theme this year is to 'break the bias'. One area where that bias or the gap exists is with regard to health, with heart attacks specifically. The recent report by the British Heart Foundation...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the First Minister provide an update on Anglesey enterprise zone?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 2. Will the Minister make a statement on what requirements were considered when determining the capital settlement for Isle of Anglesey County Council? OQ57750
Rhun ap Iorwerth: And I certainly concur with the Minister about the need to ensure a higher level of capital funding. Ensuring adequate capital funding is vital to be able to invest in the future. Anglesey County Council, under the leadership of Plaid Cymru, has an excellent track record recently in providing property for businesses on the island, for example with important investments in Llangefni and...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on Healthcare Inspectorate Wales's decision to designate Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board's vascular services as a service requiring significant improvement? TQ605
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much to the Minister. The announcement and the statement by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales is sobering. If you read the guidance for the inspectorate, they describe the process that they follow in placing an organisation under significant improvement. It's a body that requires action when standards aren't reached.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: HIW tells us that this escalation process ensures that focused and rapid action can be taken by a range of stakeholders to ensure that safe and effective care is being provided. So, let's pause on that word 'safe'. HIW has put this escalation measure in place because the royal college of surgeons report identified a number of concerns that we believe indicate a clear risk to patients using...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: If anybody hasn't yet seen the Channel 4 film from last night about the way the Urdd welcomed with open arms the children and families of Afghanistan to the gwersyll opposite this Senedd, I would recommend that you watch it. It made me hugely proud as a Welshman that we provided that welcome. Isn't it the case that our welcome for our Ukrainian friends has to be just as warm?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. As chair of the cross-party group on the digital agenda in Wales, I very much welcome this update by the Deputy Minister today. I look forward too to hearing the update that he intends to give soon on the delivery programme for digital. It's important to put on the record that I'm grateful for the leadership shown by the Deputy Minister in this field. I...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Fast-tracking of skills.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for the question. Encouraging engagement with committees is a very important element of the Senedd's engagement work, to ensure, of course, that the public's view is reflected in our discussions. During the pandemic, we reached new audiences through a virtual engagement programme, encompassing online focus groups and other online events, and as we move back to the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for that idea. Certainly, we do need always to be trying to innovate in the way that we engage with people. The Petitions Committee, of course, is a committee that is driven by that direct engagement with the people of Wales. I know that Jack, in his role as Chair of the Petitions Committee, has been involved in one particularly successful campaign recently, and as a...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for the motion in front of us today to the Member for Aberconwy. I see value in considering how we could draw together the different elements with regard to planning related to the marine environment, even though, like the Member for Ogmore, I'm not entirely sure that we need to take that further step for legislation. I do think that we need to consider that and see how we can press...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thanks to the success of the vaccination programme, the proportion of people who catch the virus and who become severely ill is relatively lower than it should be, but there is a significant increase, as the First Minister said, in the number of those who are catching the virus at present. I'm hearing about staffing issues in health and care, schools sending children home, one further...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the development of a new health centre in Holyhead? OQ57829
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Nearly three years have passed since Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board had to take direct control of the Longford Road and Cambria surgeries in Holyhead, and, yes, it's been a period of unprecedented challenge for primary care everywhere. But, for nearly three years now, patients at those two surgeries have had to receive a standard of care way below what they should be able to expect....
