Carwyn Jones: This is a curious tale, Llywydd, which, I think, with your permission, I’d like to elaborate on. First of all, the letter received by Mohammad Asghar was dated 6 October. It apologised for the delay in responding—remarkable, given the fact the announcement was made on 3 October. I do wonder when that letter originally was sent, then, because, normally, we don’t get a response within...
Carwyn Jones: It’s absolutely right that good communication between health and community services will be crucial for the networks to be developed and established in order to spend the money that I referred to earlier wisely. We did launch our new three-year delivery plan for our mental health strategy, ‘Together for Mental Health’, yesterday, and the social prescribing pilot included in the delivery...
Carwyn Jones: It’s absolutely correct to say that we need to look at holistic approaches to helping people when they feel depressed and when they feel isolated, and the Member’s right to point that out. I can say that the Welsh Government is providing £180,000 over the next three years to help develop volunteer-led networks that support lonely and isolated people within communities, similar to the...
Carwyn Jones: We are committed to piloting a social prescription scheme as part of our programme for government, and we are currently working with stakeholders to scope how the scheme could best operate.
Carwyn Jones: The information is there. I also have to pay tribute to Lynne Neagle, my colleague, the Member for Torfaen, who has been unstinting in her advocacy of the SCCC. And it’s right to say that, with a project of this size, full consideration has to be given to the project from a financial perspective, but the decision-making process can now begin, as it will be in the hands of the Secretary next...
Carwyn Jones: Yes. Following an independent review carried out over the summer, I can confirm that the Cabinet Secretary will receive the information that he needs next week and will then be able to move towards making a decision.
Carwyn Jones: Yes.
Carwyn Jones: The business case is still being assessed, but we do understand that there is a need to modernise and upgrade facilities in Gwent, in the Aneurin Bevan area. That’s something that the Minister is fully aware of, but we need to make sure that the project is, of course, robust from a financial perspective, that it can move forward, and ensure that the circumstances exist where that can...
Carwyn Jones: Diolch, Lywydd. Can I thank Members for the way in which the debate progressed today? There were lots of questions, of course, many of which will be answered during the course of this Government’s term of office. Could I start with the issue of Brexit? The reality of the situation is that nobody knows what the model might look like; it’s difficult to plan without knowing what the...
Carwyn Jones: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Well, we return to this issue as the Standing Orders demand that we have to, and so it’s another opportunity for Members to re-examine the priorities of this Government and the legislative programme. Today is an opportunity for us to debate the Welsh Government’s priorities and programme. For the first time we’re combining the debate on the legislative...
Carwyn Jones: Now, as I said, Llywydd, when I published the programme for government, our priorities for this administration are clear. We want a stronger, fairer economy, improved and reformed public services and a united, connected and sustainable Wales. We’ve chosen those four areas in which we believe the Government can have the greatest impact and can play the strongest role in working towards the...
Carwyn Jones: Well, the Member is unfortunate in his choice of words, because what he described at the very beginning is a power grab. What he said was that these matters would now be dealt with in UK law. Well, UK law doesn’t actually exist in reality. But, secondly, it is not a matter for the UK Parliament in its entirety in terms of what happens with EU law. Much law is devolved, and it will be wholly...
Carwyn Jones: There may be a need for an LCM, but until we see the detail, it’s difficult to give a definitive answer on that. We reserve the right, of course, to decide whether to support that LCM or not, depending on what emerges. At this moment in time, what seems to be happening is that the UK Government wants to make sure that what is already in law, as a result of the EU, is not lost as a result of...
Carwyn Jones: At 6.10 p.m. on Saturday evening, I was telephoned by David Davis, the UK Government’s Brexit Minister. He phoned to inform me that a Bill would be brought forward, repealing the European Communities Act 1972. It’s been over-spun as the great repeal Bill, as it’s described now. What he said to me was that, as part of that process, he wished to ensure that what is already law in the UK...
Carwyn Jones: It is absolutely key to it. When I meet people on the doorstep and they tell me that they don’t vote, I ask them to repeat what they’ve just said but without actually using their voice. And I say, ‘Well, there you are, you haven’t got a voice if you don’t vote. If you said to me, “I do vote, but why should I vote for you?”—then politicians take notice.' It’s sad that we’ve...
Carwyn Jones: We continue to work with our partners to encourage people to register, first of all, and to vote ahead of local government elections in 2017. Assuming the Wales Bill, of course, is satisfactory as far as this institution is concerned, and it gains parliamentary approval, we will be in a position to consider the best use of new powers in electoral matters.
Carwyn Jones: Yes. In August, the Welsh ambulance service responded to 78.1 per cent of the most life-threatening calls, known as red calls, and that means it’s met its target for the eleventh successive month and is the best ambulance performance since the introduction of the clinical response model pilot last October.
Carwyn Jones: I can say to the Member that red performance within the Aneurin Bevan board area was 79.6 per cent in August—above the national average—and performance in this area has improved by more than 10 percentage points over the course of the last year.
Carwyn Jones: I can say we’ve committed £1 million annually to support the national implementation group for the neurological conditions plan to improve services in Wales. As a result of that allocation, I know that the neurological conditions and stroke groups have jointly committed £1.2 million to support community neuro-rehab services, and that investment across Wales will bring considerable...
Carwyn Jones: The neurological conditions delivery plan for Wales and the 2008 Wales neuroscience review recognise the important role neurology specialist nurses, such as those caring for people with epilepsy, can have in supporting people to manage their condition effectively.
