Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much to Adam Price for what he said at the beginning of his contribution. We are eager now to do more to help families during the holidays in October, at Christmas, in February and at Easter too. That is going to cost millions of pounds, and I'm very grateful for the discussions that we've had to come to that conclusion.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I find myself in much the same position as I was earlier in the afternoon. There is a strong case to be made, I'm quite sure, for almost everything that the leader of Plaid Cymru would like us to spend more money on: more money on insulation, more money on EMAs, more money on rail fares, more money on businesses. Every one of those will have a case to be made for it. The Scottish...
Mark Drakeford: Dirprwy Lywydd, thank you very much. Can I say in opening that I think, in answering First Minister's questions, I failed to recognise the generosity of the leader of the opposition's remarks about the work of Welsh Government officials over the last week? And if I failed to do so, then I want to make sure I've put it on the record now, because extraordinary efforts were made and I was...
Mark Drakeford: Deputy Llywydd, winter is usually a challenging time for all of us and for our public services. But the cost-of-living crisis and extraordinary energy bills, even with the Government’s cap, put incredible pressures on every family and business in Wales. The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned that the impact of this crisis could lead to the biggest drop in living standards ever seen...
Mark Drakeford: Dirprwy Lywydd, that is only a selection of the schemes that I could have identified. And now there is to be more. Earlier this month, as part of the co-operation agreement, we started the roll-out of free school meals in our primary schools. Next week, we will open applications again for our unique winter fuel support payment, extending the eligibility so that, this time, 400,000 people in...
Mark Drakeford: Dirprwy Lywydd, I welcome any action to reduce the impact of this cost-of-living crisis on families, but if the cap on energy bills is to be financed by borrowing, then that really is, to quote so many previous Conservative Ministers, mortgaging our children's future. Instead of opting to fund this by using a windfall tax on the extraordinary and unanticipated profits made by oil and gas...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, none of these matters are over. All are compounded by the latest emergency to face the United Kingdom: the escalating cost of living. The war in Ukraine has seen millions of people seeking shelter and sanctuary from conflict. Many thousands of people, mainly women and children, have been welcomed here to Wales. That war is one of the reasons why food, fuel and energy prices are...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Llywydd. In recent years, our work as a Government and as a Senedd has been dominated by a series of national emergencies, from the impact of austerity to preparing to leave the EU, as Alun Davies mentioned earlier, to responding to the climate emergency and dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, we cannot ameliorate the immediate crisis of energy costs by worsening the long-term crisis of climate change. In Wales, we remain determined to deliver our net-zero commitments and to place the development of renewable energy at the forefront of our efforts to do so.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Jenny Rathbone for those important points. Llywydd, if it turns out on Friday that, as we hear, the UK Government intends to pay for the help that it will provide to citizens facing enormous hikes in their energy prices by putting the debt that will be raised to do so back into the hands of those households, then it will not have provided a solution at all. There are better...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I too want to pay tribute to Jo Whitehead for everything that she has done and to pay tribute to members of the board, too. We were lucky to reappoint Mark Polin as chair of the board for the next term, and I know that the board and those leading at a clinical level are persevering in doing what Jo Whitehead set out in her annual report. As I've explained many times on the...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Mabon ap Gwynfor for the question. The Welsh Government works with the local health board, for example by providing direct financial assistance, access to national clinical expertise and support for board development. These joint endeavours are all directed to securing the best possible outcomes for patients.
Mark Drakeford: Well, I do thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that. I can assure him that the Prime Minister's announcement in relation to fracking has no impact here in Wales, and the Welsh Government's policy remains entirely unchanged. We will not solve the energy crisis by reverting to ways of supplying energy that have done so much damage to our planet. And it is particularly frustrating to see time, energy...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, as the Member said, I welcomed the appointment of the latest Prime Minister—the fourth in six years—and I hope that it will be possible to conduct relationships between the UK Government and the other nations of the United Kingdom in that spirit of mutual respect. There has been no opportunity as yet to test the appetite of the new Prime Minister for such an approach. I...
Mark Drakeford: I have held several productive conversations with the new Secretary of State for Wales, but no opportunity to meet the new Prime Minister has as yet been forthcoming.
Mark Drakeford: Of course I acknowledge the points that the Member makes on behalf of the people who live in his constituency, and others, but these aren't questions for the Government. We haven't done this work. The charity is leading on this work, with the people who have expertise in the field. The data is their data. The discussion and debate is to be had with them. As I said to Russell George, they have...
Mark Drakeford: Of course I understand the points that the Member makes on behalf of the people he represents. It has long been the position of the Wales Air Ambulance Charity that they do not wish to receive direct funding from the Welsh Government, and they do that for very good reasons to do with their own model. They are fiercely independent in that way. I know that they have provided public assurances...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Russell George for that question, Llywydd. The configuration of bases is the responsibility of the Wales Air Ambulance Charity. Officials of the Welsh Government have discussed the joint strategic review that has been undertaken by the charity and the emergency medical retrieval and transfer service, and those discussions have taken place with both organisations.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Paul Davies for that. I agree with him, of course, on the importance of dentistry. It's not that long ago in the Chamber, Llywydd, that it was being suggested that dentists across Hywel Dda would en masse decline to take up the new dental contract that has been available since 1 April. I'm very pleased to say that 92 per cent of contracts in Hywel Dda are now being provided under the...
Mark Drakeford: Hywel Dda University Health Board continues to develop its proposals for the future delivery of services across its area. That has involved workshops with members of the public, staff and partners. The latest decisions were taken by the board at its meeting on 4 August.
