Andrew RT Davies: 2. Will the Commission make a statement on the practicalities involved with holding hybrid committee meetings in the Welsh Parliament? OQ55562
Andrew RT Davies: I'd just like to put on the record that I believe we need to stop voting on these regulations weeks after they've been imposed. This is no longer a satisfactory state of affairs with the hybrid Plenary system we now have. The Minister himself alluded to some of the things we are voting on today in relation to raves, pilots in sports grounds, face coverings—these were all laid over a month...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon, although it doesn't tell us anything that isn't already in the press, I fear. Could you confirm, Minister, what the end goal is from these measures? I'm assuming it is to suppress the virus and, ultimately, allow our health service and other public functions not to become overwhelmed. But, for...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank everyone who's contributed to the debate this afternoon and in particular that last point that the Minister touched on. This is about saving lives, because ultimately, in the worst-case scenario, from this virus, you will lose your life, regrettably, and it is the most vulnerable in society who will suffer those consequences, those with...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I just wanted to ask the Minister if he could reply in his summing up to this particular point, because the second point is about local lockdowns and this afternoon we've had the RCT lockdown announced, or restrictions, should I say, announced. Are there any implications for the University of South Wales because, obviously, in the next two...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon. I think it is a slight variation on the statement that was issued earlier in the day, and so I look forward to reading the detailed statement that you've just given to Plenary this afternoon. I do notice that, in the remarks in the statement that was issued earlier and the one that you addressed to the Chamber, the word 'lockdown' was...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon. Can I put on record my sincere thanks to all the staff that make up the health and social care family in Wales for what they've done so far since the COVID outbreak was officially declared in March, and, indeed, to you as Minister, and the Government as well? Because I'm sure the pressure on all of you as individuals has been as great a...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, obviously any test and trace system requires confidence in the sharing of information. You've been asked twice this afternoon about the data breach that occurred in Public Health Wales—a substantial data breach. On the one question that was put to you, you were asked, 'When did the Government get alerted to the fact that this data had gone in to the public domain?' You...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, thank you for your update on the regulations and we, as Welsh Conservatives, will be supporting the regulations as tabled by the Government this afternoon. I'd just like to seek two points of clarity from you if possible, please. In your update you highlighted the four improvement notices that have been served under the regulations. Are you in a position to tell us what the...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, First Minister for your statement this afternoon. I am a little surprised, as this is the first formal sitting of the Senedd, that you haven't chosen to put a formal apology on the record in relation to the exam debacle that happened only a week or so ago now, and I'd invite you to use this opportunity to put that formal apology on the record. In response to my colleague Laura...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Minister, for introducing these regulations. If I could just seek two assurances from you, Minister. The Welsh Conservatives will be voting for the regulations as tabled this afternoon, but in relation to the use of face masks in vulnerable settings, such as hospitals and care homes, I would be grateful to try to understand why the Minister has not chosen to use these regulation...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, thank you for all you're doing in the current crisis, and in particular the time that you have to spend at your desk in the office making key decisions for the benefit of Wales. In your statement, you touch on the point about Wrexham Maelor, and the outbreak in Wrexham Maelor, and that has been a focus of considerable energy. Why hasn't the Government assisted the health board...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, thank you for your opening statement on the Stage 4 proceedings. As Welsh Conservatives, we're pleased to support the Bill's progress into law. It is a fact, though, that, sadly, Wales is the last part of the United Kingdom to bring this legislation into action, and instead of leading on this, we've been following what, as you highlighted in your remarks, Scotland and England have...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. There is a—
Andrew RT Davies: I draw Members' attention to my declaration in the Members' interests. The Welsh Conservatives will be abstaining on these regulations. Whilst looking through the explanatory memorandum, I can understand the logic that the Minister has come to a decision over, as these fees have not increased since 2015. To put through a 20 per cent increase in the current climate would seem to be...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, I notice you made a new statement today on how you will take the testing regime forward. Obviously, what's critical is replying to those tests and getting the results of the tests back to people who've undertaken the test. I heard your response to Janet Finch-Saunders, but it is a fact that, week on week, it's been a declining response rate, that nearly 20 per cent of test results...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Minister, for that answer. We saw last week many jobs, regrettably, being lost across the length and breadth of Wales. What I'm trying to understand is how your role in Government will assist the economic Minister, Ken Skates, in delivering support to make sure that we can retain as many jobs as possible, but also create new jobs across Wales. Can you enlighten me as to exactly how...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Minister, for that answer. I appreciate public health needs to always come first and people's well-being safeguarded, but many businesses have come to me pointing out other countries' experiences and the World Health Organization's advice that 1m is an acceptable social distance. Here in Wales, we have 2m. What discussions within Government have now being undertaken to see where...
Andrew RT Davies: Business manager, I would like to understand why the Government haven't tabled a statement today from the health Minister, who will be making, as I understand it, through the Government press conference, an announcement on the new testing regime that the Government are bringing forward. I did raise it with the First Minister, but it should be on the floor of the Chamber that the health...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, what would be devastating economically would be the need for either a second lockdown or a localised lockdown, and one of the key measures that you've put in place is test and tracing. Your figures for returning the results from test and tracing are getting worse. The figures for 24-hour delivery are under a 50 per cent response rate, and for 48 hours only 66 per cent of tests...
