Julie James: That's a very important point that the Member raises, obviously. The Cabinet Secretary for health has made a number of contributions in this place to winter preparedness, and indeed to delayed transfers of care, and a number of other issues affecting waiting lists, and so on, in north Wales. He was here listening to your point and I'm sure he'll take it to account the next time he addresses...
Julie James: I can't resist answering that one first because I'm familiar with the cafe, and I would like to congratulate them on their award—it's well deserved. My son put me in the knowledge on the cafe, and it is indeed a fantastic little place, for those people who haven't visited it yet. Italian cafes have played an enormous role in the growth of cafe culture in Wales for a very long time, in...
Julie James: Thank you for those two very important questions. In terms of the community health councils and their role in social care, the Minister was listening carefully all the way through. The Member characterised the consultation in not quite the way I understand it to be, and I think we do need to let the consultation take its course and see where we go with that. It is a consultation about the...
Julie James: In terms of the dementia strategy, I've had myself several meetings with the health Secretary about the dementia strategy, and I'm very aware that he's taken on board a large number of the issues that were raised with him by the various groups, including groups of people who have dementia themselves, and that he's on course to publish the new strategy, taking into account all of those views,...
Julie James: Thank you very much for that question. The current system is not new; WEFO Online has been used for the successful management of EU-funded projects since 2008. The majority of applicants have successfully completed the online claims process with the existing guidance and support. However, we are aware that some applicants do have issues submitting their claims and officials work closely with...
Julie James: I'm familiar with the scheme, as it happens, and it's a very good scheme indeed. I know that there are a large number of parents who have relied very heavily on the scheme in the past and I've had similar representations to the Member made to me about the benefit that the scheme has brought to families. The Minister responsible is here and has listened very carefully to your comments. I'm...
Julie James: I was very glad to see the industrial strategy published. It had a number of things of great interest to the Welsh Government in it, not least the emphasis on digital and data, which is very welcome indeed. The Cabinet Secretary for economy and infrastructure, who isn't here today to hear your question, will be bringing forward his own economic action plan, which will of course detail how it...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. The only change to this week's business is the timings for oral Assembly questions tomorrow. Business for the next three weeks is shown on the business statement and announcement, found amongst the meeting papers that are available to Members electronically.
Julie James: On the contrary. I've heard very carefully what Rhun ap Iorweth has said. What I'm saying is very simple and straightforward. There is a correct constitutional position that we are urging this Chamber to look at. I agree that we could have done it earlier. The fact that we didn't do it earlier doesn't make it the wrong solution. In fact, it continues to be the right solution. Putting a...
Julie James: No, I don't accept that, actually, and I wouldn't accept that if I were subject to a referral in standards either. The point about this process is that it can apply to any Minister, where appropriate, whereas the procedure proposed by the motion in front of us would only apply to the First Minister. The code does not prescribe the scope, format or conduct of any inquiry the adviser may be...
Julie James: No, I made no such suggestion. The ministerial code sets out the First Minister's expectations for standards of ministerial behaviour and personal conduct, and applies equally to the First Minister. We acknowledge that, until now, there has been no opportunity for independent assessment of significant concerns raised in relation to the First Minister's adherence to the ministerial code....
Julie James: Certainly.
Julie James: Not in the least. The Standards of Conduct Committee refers allegations to an independent commissioner. These are matters that can be and are more appropriately dealt with under the ministerial code, but they should be investigated outside the political process and by someone with relevant professional experience. The ministerial code sets out the First Minister's expectations of standards of...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you very much for the opportunity to respond to this debate this afternoon. I want to start, I'm afraid, by just putting right something that was said about what I said in the Business Committee, the proceedings of which, I understand, are normally confidential. I abstained from the vote about whether this motion would go forward, on the basis that I had not yet...
Julie James: Formally.
Julie James: In terms of the Member's first question on parking charges, I can only commend him to the answer the First Minister gave. There are a large number of authorities with cutting-edge practices in terms of parking charges, utilising modern methods of charging for the exact time that a person stays, including apps that do that and registering with the local authorities, and so on. And I would...
Julie James: I very much welcome the Member's question. There is a big piece across the Government about social mobility currently under way. As the Member knows, I chair the fair work board, which is looking very much in terms of fair work and how we can increase social mobility. With my previous hat on, I had a number of meetings with various Cabinet Secretaries, and I will be incorporating the remarks...
Julie James: The Member brings this up consistently, and, as I said in response to Mark Isherwood, we are working, of course, towards a situation where no-one in Wales lives in fear of violence or anything else. There's a huge cultural issue around the acceptability of domestic violence. I will, of course, be looking at violence against everybody in all kinds of settings in my new role, but it is actually...
Julie James: Yes, I welcome both of those. In terms of the breastfeeding remarks, I'll just say in addition to the remarks that I made to Jenny Rathbone, that we have a number of examples of promoting and normalising breastfeeding across all Public Health Wales programmes of work, including, for example, the NHS settings programme, where health boards will continue to be supported to achieve and maintain...
Julie James: The Cabinet Secretary has indicated to me that she thinks a statement is due shortly. Actually, I'll also be answering questions with my portfolio hat on next week, so we'll be able to cover some of it off there as well, because I think the Member is right that this is an incredibly important area and I, too, was shocked by the programme that I also saw.
