Caroline Jones: I'd like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this important debate today. Our NHS is facing unprecedented demand. In the past 12 months, there were well over a million visits to A&E departments around Wales. Over four in 10 of us find it difficult to make a GP appointment and operations are routinely cancelled due to a lack of beds. While the Choose Well campaign is a step...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, Minister, the Welsh economy will be transformed in the coming decades as digital technologies become more prominent. Businesses will have to adapt as data becomes the most valuable commodity. In order to help our economy adapt, we must ensure that our young people have the necessary skills. Cabinet Secretary, what is your Government doing to ensure future generations have...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for your statement, leader of the house. I welcome your Government's updated framework for action on independent living. Independent living is something we all take for granted, but for a person with disabilities there are so many barriers that make independent living almost impossible for many. My neighbour, for example, travels 15 minutes in his wheelchair...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, as a result of this year's local government settlement, local authorities across my region are warning that cuts to essential services are inevitable. Bridgend County Borough Council are proposing to close public toilets in Porthcawl, Swansea are closing care homes, and Neath Port Talbot are at breaking point because of the cuts. First Minister, how is your Government...
Caroline Jones: I would like to thank Rhun and Darren for tabling this important debate today, and to thank Neil for his efforts to ensure the sediment being dumped poses no risk to human health or our environment. The Hinkley waste may be being dumped in Neil's region, but it also affects my region, home to some of the world's top beaches and a haven for marine flora and fauna. For several weeks now I've...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for that answer, leader of the house. The increasing instances of online gender-based and homophobic bullying are having a huge impact upon young people in Wales. This week, we learnt that a gay minister is facing repeated online abuse, mostly calls for him to kill himself. Young women are being put off entering politics due to constant torrents of abuse and rape threats they face...
Caroline Jones: 5. What action is the Welsh Government taking to tackle gender-based bullying? OAQ52720
Caroline Jones: What assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of the impact that the recent Welsh Government budget will have on council-tax payers in South Wales West?
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. The Wales Governance Centre report on imprisonment in Wales underlines what many of us have been saying for many years: Wales is dependent upon English prisons. As a person who ran her own department in the prison service, I know that prison works, but only if it is properly funded and resourced. There is often no alternative to a custodial sentence, but custody is not...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, whilst it's true that, currently, the majority of Wales's goods exports go to the EU, the growth prospects, regardless of Brexit, are not promising. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund have all downgraded EU gross domestic product growth forecast to around 1.5 per cent, whereas China will see growth...
Caroline Jones: I would like to thank Lynne, Adam and David for bringing forward this very important debate. Next week is Baby Loss Awareness Week and what better way to mark it than to debate the support Wales gives to those families affected by baby loss? It is a sad fact that pregnancy loss and the death of a baby are not rare. A quarter of pregnancies end in miscarriage and every day in the UK 15 babies...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, Neath Port Talbot, like all Welsh councils, are having to roll back social care provision due to massive shortfalls in their budgets. Social care provision is one of the most important services a local authority provides. What discussions have you had with your local government colleagues about measures they can take to protect and enhance social care provision so they can...
Caroline Jones: I'd like to thank the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee for their report. Climate change is the biggest threat facing our planet, and those who deny its impact or our role in creating it have thankfully been relegated to the fringe, along with the other crackpot conspiracy theorists, such as the flat-earthers or those who believe that lunar landings were fake. Climate...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, it's estimated that congestion at junction 43 costs the Welsh economy around £6.5 million a year, and congestion at junction 41 a further £5.1 million. Billions of pounds are spent to tackle congestion around Newport and the introduction of the metro to offer convenient, reliable alternatives to the car. Cabinet Secretary, can my region expect similar treatment to the...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, there has been a massive increase in demand for ambulances—up around 128 per cent over the last two decades. But the new clinical response model is supposed to ensure that those in the most need get the fastest response—be that a fully crewed ambulance or a rapid-response paramedic. However, last year, 16 per cent of red calls took longer than 10 minutes and 68 people...
Caroline Jones: I would like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this important debate today. As a former teacher, I'm passionate about affording pupils the opportunities to capitalise on their talents and enable them to fulfil their ambitions. Whilst I recognise the progress that has been made, we still have a long path to tread, and we have to have a workable strategy in place to ensure...
Caroline Jones: Thank you. First Minister, the key to improving the cancer survival rates of Wales's cancer patients is early diagnosis. I have been contacted by a GP expressing concern over the number of cancer referrals that get routinely downgraded by a consultant. The GP who raised this issue with me believes, as I do, that the GP should be informed of this decision so that they can challenge the...
Caroline Jones: 6. Will the First Minister provide an update on what action the Welsh Government is taking to improve cancer survival rates? OAQ52610
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I would like to thank Paul Davies for his continuing efforts to make an autism Act for Wales a reality. This Bill will help deliver what those on the ASD spectrum have been calling for for years—action to improve autism services in Wales. Action that the ASD action plan has, so far, failed to materialise. The Minister has, on a number of occasions, denied that there...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for that answer, leader of the house. Councils across Wales are looking to artificial intelligence to take over some of the functions of their staff. Cardiff council are introducing a virtual assistant to handle queries from the public, and Monmouthshire council are introducing a chatbot for its online queries. A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests that the move to artificial...
