Mark Drakeford: I thank Siân Gwenllian, Llywydd. I do agree that it is good to see everything that we've done together to establish a medical school in Bangor coming to fruition in a successful manner. And, of course, as the local Member, Siân Gwenllian has ambition about drawing on the success in the context of the medical school to do more for the future. I have seen the responses that Eluned Morgan has...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Siân Gwenllian, Llywydd. Intake numbers have been agreed and funding approved for 140 students per year, once the school reaches optimum capacity. A letter of assurance was sent to General Medical Council colleagues in November to allow Bangor University to continue their forward momentum through the accreditation process.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I thank Mike Hedges. It was very good to be in Swansea with him at the start of this month, and a chance to put on record once again: congratulations to Matt Warren, who founded Veeqo less than 10 years ago, and has made it such an outstanding success. In his contribution at that ceremony, he focused on the quality-of-life advantages that come with living in the Swansea area, the...
Mark Drakeford: Investment in infrastructure, skills and start-ups are the essential ingredients in Government action to develop our economy. The Swansea bay city deal digital district programme, part-funded by Welsh Government, is an example of how we are working together to support economic development and growth.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I absolutely agree with Jack Sargeant. One of the legacies of Wales's success in getting to the world cup final has to be in inspiring that new generation of young people to take part in sports of all kind, and if they're to do that, then investment in facilities is necessary. We work alongside the FAW, with significant investment through Sport Wales, both to invest in...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I thank the Member for that further question. Let me give him two examples of ways in which we will want to follow up our presence at the world cup in the areas that he mentions. So, I said in my original answer that there would be cultural follow-up to the visit. I was able to visit the Museum of Islamic Art while I was in Qatar. It's a most fantastic museum, and one of the...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, the Welsh Government's presence at Qatar allowed us to amplify knowledge of Wales across the world and to speak up for the values that matter to us. Cultural and economic benefits will be among the products of that engagement.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that important question. As many Members of the Senedd will know, we created a new Cabinet committee back in September, which has met every week during this autumn, to look at cost-of-living measures. We were joined yesterday by the UK Minister for social mobility, and there was an opportunity there to discuss the need to improve the uptake of pension credit for all the...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I agree with what the Member says about the very tough time that faces so many communities here in Wales, particularly over this winter. The general background is not as bleak as he would portray it. I answered a question earlier this afternoon about the census, and, if you look at some of the figures in the latest releases from the census, it shows that household deprivation...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, citizens in Wales, including South Wales East, have benefitted from initiatives such as the £150 cost-of-living payment, the fuel support scheme and our Wales-only discretionary assistance fund. The Welsh Government will continue to support the most vulnerable households through this difficult period.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for the question, Llywydd. Welsh Government presence at Qatar allowed us to amplify knowledge of Wales across the World and to speak up for the values that matter to us. Cultural—[Interruption.]
Mark Drakeford: The difference between us, Llywydd, is not philosophical at all; it's simply practical. He wants to take £120 million out of activity that the NHS in Wales is committed to undertake, and would use that money to pay people. That's a practical choice; our choice has had to be different because we see the enormous pressures that the NHS faces every single day. Now, I repeat what I said: all...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I'm afraid that's a deeply confused question, Llywydd. It is the Scottish Government itself that published figures that showed that it had taken £400 million out of plans that it otherwise had to spend on NHS services and had transferred that into pay. Now, that is a perfectly legitimate decision for them to make. But they didn't find £400 million of new money; they took it out of...
Mark Drakeford: Well, let me just make two points: we know how the Scottish Government has been able to make that offer, and it's a decision for the Scottish Government to make. They have made it by taking £400 million out of the NHS and transferring that money into pay. That is not a decision that we have felt able to make here in Wales. And, as for the deal struck by Transport for Wales, it is...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I'm afraid, Llywydd, that shouting at me does not disguise for a moment the emptiness of the points that the leader of the opposition has made this afternoon. He urges me on the one hand to use the money we've had from the UK Government to pay staff in the NHS, without for a second recognising that, if we were to do that, the service pressures that led to the sorts of difficulties that...
Mark Drakeford: The leader of the opposition, Llywydd, is utterly shameless—utterly without shame. He comes to the floor of the Senedd here when his Government in Westminster ended a meeting in acrimony with the Royal College of Nursing only last night, because they refused to put, as the leader of the RCN said, a single penny on the table to increase the pay of nurses in England, which would have led to,...
Mark Drakeford: There is no money in the Welsh Government budget from his Government in London to allow us to make a better offer than funding in full, as we have, the pay award proposed by the independent pay award body.
Mark Drakeford: Of course, I agree with the comments made by Raymond Williams, and that's why, having seen the figures in the census, we are still confident about the future of the language here in Wales, and that's important. I acknowledge what Delyth Jewell said about people losing confidence when they initially saw the figures. But, having had time to consider the census results and to see that comparison...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, the identity question in the census is a very interesting one, and the results that it shows, I think, are definitely worth proper exploration. Now, why do we see some of the changes that the Member referred to? Well, we know that the number of deaths over the last decade exceeded the number of births that took place in Wales. So, the growth in the population in Wales comes...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that. Llywydd, results from the 2021 census have started to be released, but key information, such as that on housing tenure, is yet to be published. The full picture will be used, for example, into strengthening the next 'Future Trends' report, which is a key requirement of the Well-being of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015.
