Angela Burns: 6. What studies has the Welsh Government undertaken on the potential impact of any taxes it is considering introducing during the fifth Assembly? (OAQ51236)
Angela Burns: Thank you, Minister, for bringing forward your statement today and bringing forward the aims and objectives of this Bill. There’s no doubt about it, alcohol addiction is a pernicious social evil, and it is an excuse to abuse others as well as oneself. It is something where I agree with you totally, towards the end of your statement, when you said that Wales needs to redefine its...
Angela Burns: Sorry.
Angela Burns: But, these people should have that right, because without them to act as a check and balance on our public services, we will have more of these awful, appalling instances in the future.
Angela Burns: I’d like to thank Bethan Jenkins for bringing forward this debate on safeguarding and patients’ rights in the Welsh NHS. And the reason why I wanted to make a contribution was that, in January 2012, I did a short debate that was entitled ‘Does the Welsh Government have a moral responsibility to seek to protect whistle blowers in all walks of life?’ Because one of the incidents—and...
Angela Burns: Cabinet Secretary, I do not doubt your commitment to finding an answer. The trouble is that you’ve been looking for that answer for over two years, if not longer. You offer no timeline, no end date and no commitment to a state-backed solution and no answers. The issue at hand is that GPs have to pay for two elements of insurance. There’s a relatively stable set rate for professional...
Angela Burns: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the Welsh Government’s progress in bringing forward a long-term solution to the high cost of medical insurance facing Welsh GPs? (TAQ0053)
Angela Burns: Cabinet Secretary, I know you will agree with me that resolving attachment issues is absolutely crucial for ensuring that young people or young children can grow up to be well-rounded individuals. In the last Assembly, the children and young people committee did a very hard-hitting report on adoption and post-adoption support. A lot of children who are adopted or who are about to be adopted...
Angela Burns: I was delighted just then to hear you say ‘new entrants’ to the farming schemes, because I think that the young entrants scheme is a very welcome step and we are very supportive of it. However, I find in my constituency I have a number of people who don’t fit into those criteria. Families have changed, people are working longer, and family dynamics are very different. You have people...
Angela Burns: Cabinet Secretary, one of the challenges faced by the Ynni’r Fro community energy scheme was the difficulty in obtaining planning permission and consents when wishing to create such community energy projects. How have you addressed this after the report on the Ynni’r Fro community scheme, and would that not be one of the key reasons why, in fact, so many of these community energy projects...
Angela Burns: Leader of the house, I’d like to ask for two statements, if possible. I’d like to ask for a statement to be brought forward by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport on reports that Wales’s biggest health board, Betsi Cadwaladr, which is in Government special measures, is set to overspend by some £50 million this year. I think this is a matter of great concern and has...
Angela Burns: Indeed, you do have a proven track record on that, and I really welcome it. I recognise that your Government has attracted considerable investment into the whole life sciences business, which, in our country, employs some 11,000 people. I’m very concerned though about what might happen as a consequence of Brexit, and I wondered what—[Interruption.]
Angela Burns: Thank you. I just wondered what discussion your Government has had with its Westminster counterparts around the future of regulatory frameworks post Brexit, and are you intending to feed into the House of Commons Health Select Committee inquiry, which is looking at post-Brexit arrangements to guarantee the supply of medicines, devices and products, and particularly in relation to our ability...
Angela Burns: 1. What plans does the First Minister have to support the pharmaceutical industry in Wales? (OAQ51217)
Angela Burns: What is the Welsh Government doing to support small and medium-sized enterprises in west Wales?
Angela Burns: Minister, I’d like to thank you for your statement today. I also welcome the publication of the population assessments, although I am extremely puzzled as to how these health boards and other organisations managed to make strategic plans in the past without such a thing. I am very surprised to hear that it took so long to deliver them, because I would have thought that a key component of...
Angela Burns: I’d like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today. In your statement, Cabinet Secretary, you highlight some welcome examples of good practice. What I’d like to know, though, is when could we see the results of all the pilots that were run—good, bad or indifferent—such as the health literacy questionnaire that was run by Cwm Taf, or the patient activation measures that...
Angela Burns: First Minister, I see from reports today that your Government has refused to release full sets of data to assist the Prime Minister’s race disparity audit. And its findings are stark contrast for both the UK and Wales. I do wonder, though, is your reluctance in releasing the data because you haven’t got it, or is it simply that you won’t get it? And the reason why this is so important...
Angela Burns: What is the Welsh Government doing to encourage inward investment into Wales?
Angela Burns: Diolch, Llywydd. I’m not frightened of change and, to be fair, all the people who took part in this debate, I think without exception, weren’t particularly frightened of change. I think everyone acknowledged the fact that CHCs do need to change in some way or other. However, Cabinet Secretary, your carefully well-modulated platitudes do not reassure me, because let’s be very clear, this...
