Angela Burns: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the public sector contract currently awarded to Interserve to undergo building works at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil? 248
Angela Burns: I'd be interested to know—. I support the whole issue of being more energy efficient; for a long time, I've been saying we should be following the Merton principles and, with every new property that we build, we should have automatically put into it ground source heating or some other way of being able to offset our carbon emissions. How, though, using these regulations, are you going to be...
Angela Burns: What action has the Welsh Government taken to address workforce shortages in the NHS?
Angela Burns: Thank you.
Angela Burns: Thank you. Good fielding. [Laughter.]
Angela Burns: That's to be welcomed, Cabinet Secretary. I'm sure you know that, in May, there was a national roll-out in England of the use of 5-ALA treatment, which is a technique that assists physicians in the removal of brain tumours. This technique has led to demonstrably improved outcomes for patients. The 2018 NICE clinical guidance recommends that, in appropriate cases, patients take 5-amino...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much for that answer to Caroline. Of course, you'll be aware that, three years ago, the Children, Young People and Education Committee did an inquiry into the whole of supply teaching, and one of the costs that isn't always recognised is the impact that a supply teacher has on pupil outcomes, especially in disadvantaged areas and the links to poor pupil behaviour. Now, of the...
Angela Burns: 8. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on new medicine being distributed through the new treatment fund? OAQ52942
Angela Burns: First Minister, there's always more that can be done and I recognise totally the commitment of the Welsh Government to this issue, and indeed the commitment of most of the parties in this Chamber to the fact that too many women, too many young girls, too many teenagers are being beaten up. I have two particular bugbears and I would like to know what you think you as a Government, and we as...
Angela Burns: But, of course, one of the keys to growing our tax base is ensuring that, one, we get more people into work, and, two, that they are able to earn a better standard of living, a better wage, so that they can then put that back into the economy. That, in turn, generates the cash for us to spend on health, education and all the other myriad public service requirements that we have. And, so, the...
Angela Burns: Will you take an intervention? May I just ask you, and I note you have the Minister for the Welsh language sitting next door to you, does your economic plan, which recognises all the regions, also weight and factor that Welsh lives very strongly in many rural areas? Unless you support those rural areas—the tourism, the health, the education, all the rest of it—then, actually, the Welsh...
Angela Burns: Thankfully, the tourism tax did not take hold; dropped from consideration by Welsh Labour when they understood the strength of feeling against it from rural communities. Because we have some wonderful accommodation on offer in rural Wales, from country hotels overlooking lakes and mountains, to bed and breakfasts next to the coastal path, all the way through to holiday parks and on-farm...
Angela Burns: Another compromise too far is healthcare. It is no coincidence that the two health boards covering the majority of rural Wales are in major difficulties. These health boards have presided over major controversial reorganisations, which aim to centralise services and save money. However, what is often ignored is the views of the local population. It may be more economically efficient to centre...
Angela Burns: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I've agreed to give a minute of my time to Mohammad Asghar, Janet Finch-Saunders and Russell George. The countryside of Wales is not only the sweeping canvass that underpins our nation and defines our borders and identity, but it forms the backdrop to a way of life that is often not understood or as valued as it should be. Yet rural Wales is home to...
Angela Burns: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First of all, Cabinet Secretary, I'd like to thank you for the technical briefing you offered this morning from your officials. It was very helpful. It's a big report, there's an awful lot in it and it makes for interesting reading, much of it welcome, some of it concerning. Four areas particularly leapt out at me in terms of sheer statistics that caused me...
Angela Burns: First Minister, this is a very serious issue. When the Public Health (Wales) Bill was going through its passages in the committees, we had some very compelling evidence from many companies and organisations about how we could tackle air pollution and how we could improve the quality of air. Your Government chose not to take those recommendations forward, despite some of the committee...
Angela Burns: Thank you for that. I now understand that this now comes under our purview, as the Traffic Commissioner for Wales is for Wales. In August of this year, he, or his office, put a notice into the local papers asking for comments from people as to a goods vehicle licensing request that had been made by a superfarm in west Carmarthenshire. And, on behalf of the people of Llanybri, Llanllwch,...
Angela Burns: 3. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the legal basis of the memorandum of understanding between Welsh Ministers and the Secretary of State for Transport relating to the creation of a Welsh traffic commissioner? OAQ52807
Angela Burns: I'd like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement on the transformation fund. It is very eagerly anticipated, because I have heard this transformation fund being claimed by so many people as a panacea for much within the NHS, so I'm very pleased, actually, to read about the general points that you make about the criteria. Perhaps you could actually just give us a little bit more...
Angela Burns: Of course, a vital component, which you touched on very slightly in your answer to this, leader of the house, is the role of the third sector. It is extremely important in terms of ensuring that a lot of our services get delivered on the ground. However, the third sector are finding it more and more difficult to engage with health and social care—harder to engage with councils, harder to...
