Nathan Gill: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on agriculture in North Wales?
Nathan Gill: First Minister, I read an article about the state of the north Wales health board, specifically about hip operations, and it claimed that some patients in north Wales are waiting two years for such operations. Compared to what’s going on in England, it’s quite disgraceful. We’re waiting a year and a half longer than is recommended. Now, I myself have been waiting—[Interruption.]...
Nathan Gill: I am ever so sorry, but this is a very serious matter. I myself have been waiting 30 weeks to have my own hip looked at. I am on painkillers, which my doctor, when he handed them to me, said that it said on the box, ‘If you take these for more than three days, you will become addicted to them’. I asked my doctor about that, and he said, ‘Your choice is that you suffer the pain or you...
Nathan Gill: Thank you for the answer. I received an e-mail from somebody in Old Colwyn who was concerned about the fact that their general practitioner is now retiring, and 1,200 of the patients are going to be disbursed amongst different surgeries. Now, it seems to me that what we need to be doing is thinking creatively around this area around GPs retiring, and maybe bringing some of them back out of...
Nathan Gill: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the improvement programme for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board? OAQ(5)0109(HWS)
Nathan Gill: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on transport infrastructure in North Wales?
Nathan Gill: Will the First Minister make a statement on improving education in North Wales?
Nathan Gill: I should probably declare an interest here: I live on Anglesey. So, the reality is, as you drive across the Britannia bridge, the very first thing that you see if you look to the right is the beauty of the Menai straits and the most gorgeous views you can imagine. But, as you’re driving across the bridge, to your left there’s a huge pylon, which then continues all the way up to Wylfa....
Nathan Gill: That just reminded me of an event. Twenty years ago, I volunteered to go to a residential home to do some carolling. We were singing all of the well-known carols, and at one point we asked the residents if they had any requests, and a lady put up her hand and said, ‘Yes, stop singing.’ Now, the reason why I mentioned that was because, afterwards, a member of staff informed us that she...
Nathan Gill: If you listen to the most successful people in our nation, they will all tell you one thing about goal setting, and that is that if a goal is imposed on us by someone else, we do not have ownership of that goal and it is harder for us to achieve that. Can I ask you, have you engaged with the heads of our schools to ask them what targets and goals they have regarding PISA? If they set the...
Nathan Gill: Cabinet Secretary, many of us raised an eyebrow or two when you joined the Welsh Government and accepted the education portfolio. Today’s PISA results are a great disappointment for all of us here in Wales, especially for parents with children in the education system right now. The only good news for you, I guess, is that you can legitimately blame your predecessors for today’s results....
Nathan Gill: Thank you, First Minister. Small businesses tell me that they are hanging on by their fingernails. There are some winners as a result of the recent revaluation, but there are many, many more losers. I received an e-mail last night, at midnight, from a small business owner outside of my constituency who had seen that I was going to be asking this question today—she felt so strongly about it...
Nathan Gill: 8. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's policy on business rates? OAQ(5)0251(FM)
Nathan Gill: I’d like to first of all acknowledge the work that was done within the committee by my colleagues. We put in a great deal of effort, but I’d like to highlight Huw Irranca-Davies and just congratulate him on the chairmanship of this committee and the work that he’s done—very professional, and I’m very impressed with it. Thank you, Huw. As you mentioned, this is the fourth Bill in 20...
Nathan Gill: First Minister, we’ve pretty much moved on since the Superfast Cymru initiative was started. In fact, there are three other types of broadband or fibre-optic, and now I believe it’s called hyper-optic broadband, which is 128 times faster than the superfast that we are fitting throughout Wales. What we’ve got is the equivalent of a four-lane highway merging into a winding country lane....
Nathan Gill: Will the First Minister outline the Welsh Government's fishing policy?
Nathan Gill: Thank you, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary—for now—Nigel Owens OBE yesterday talked about the need to talk about mental health issues, and he also talked about how suicide is the biggest killer of men under the age of 45. I would like to see counselling services in every school in Wales, which I think would go a long way towards preventative medicine, which is something that you’ve hit on...
Nathan Gill: Cabinet Secretary, will you finally recognise that there is no such thing as EU funding? It is, and always has been, UK taxpayers’ money. If the British taxpayer was to give the EU this £10 note, we would get back this £5 note. It is not, and never has been, EU money. Would you please recognise that? Also, you said in your statement that the UK Government recognises how important EU funds...
Nathan Gill: I pass on this.
Nathan Gill: First Minister, I have a solution for you with regard to the communication of the tax-raising powers that you are going to be getting. Now, the vast majority of people, if we are honest, have no idea that this is coming down the track towards them. There is a way for you to let people know what is actually happening and also for you to be able to have the communication—two-way—with the...
