Darren Millar: Trefnydd, can I call for a statement on the local government funding formula? Residents in my constituency are very concerned that Conwy County Borough Council has suggested that council tax may have to rise by up to 12.45 per cent, which obviously is in excess of the already very high rate of inflation. That is a matter of great concern to many constituents who are finding it hard to make...
Darren Millar: Trefnydd, can I call again for an oral statement on the investigation into the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board concerning the events that gave rise to the qualification of accounts for 2021-22 and the subsequent £122 million counter-fraud investigation, which is now under way? There are lots of questions that people in north Wales have and want answers to, including whether this...
Darren Millar: Just one further point, if I may, because I think this is an interesting discussion. This is part and parcel of unlocking opportunities into wider trade partnerships with blocs in the Asia-Pacific area.
Darren Millar: I'm grateful to you for taking the intervention. Look, whenever a trade deal is negotiated, there are always going to be competing interests within each nation that is doing the negotiations, both pros and cons. What the UK Government has to do is to try to get the best possible deal for the United Kingdom as a whole, as I would expect the Welsh Government would try to do if it was having to...
Darren Millar: As the only party that seems to believe in the future of the whole of the United Kingdom, and Wales's integral place in it, it's my pleasure to be able to ask some questions in respect of your statement, Minister. The commission, as you will know, we regard as unnecessary. It's unnecessary because it's Wales just looking at one single part of the United Kingdom and not having proper...
Darren Millar: Minister, many people in north Wales will, of course, be very concerned to have read today's vascular report into the services provided by the Betsi Cadwaladr health board, and especially to learn that the coroner was not fully informed of four patient deaths from the 47 cases that were reviewed. Historical cases, of course—some of them going back as far as 2014, right up until 2021. Now,...
Darren Millar: Trefnydd, last Friday was Holocaust Memorial Day, and it was my honour to be able to welcome to the Senedd last week, along with many other colleagues, Hedi Argent, who of course is a Holocaust survivor, to the Senedd, who shared her experiences with us. As you may well be aware, the Combat Antisemitism Movement's 2022 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition report has...
Darren Millar: Will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: I'm glad you've mentioned Margaret Thatcher, one of the greatest Prime Ministers this nation has ever had. Unlike your party and the Labour Party, she had never voted to cut an NHS budget. Under her premiership, the NHS budget rose above and beyond the recommendations of the Labour Party leaders at the time and yet you, your party and the party of Government here in Wales, the Labour Party,...
Darren Millar: I move.
Darren Millar: Well, of course, the way that the UK Government has acted in respect of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill is as is laid out in section 35 of the Act of Parliament. So, it's well within the normal rules, and the decision has not been taken lightly. But can I just go back to this issue of improved diversity here in the Senedd? We all agree that we want a diverse Senedd that...
Darren Millar: I'm grateful for that response, Minister. One of the key components, as you will know, of the proposals and plans for Senedd reform includes the mandatory zipping of candidates by gender on electoral ballot papers, in order to promote better gender equality here in the Senedd. But you'll be aware of the controversial decision by the UK Government to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform...
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's plans to bring forward a Senedd reform Bill?
Darren Millar: Thank you for that response, Minister. Will you join me in congratulating the faith communities across Wales, who've been particularly effective partners, that have engaged with the warm hubs scheme, across the country, in every corner of Wales? I know that, for example, Festival Church, in my own constituency—the church that I go to every Sunday—is one of those warm hubs that is reaching...
Darren Millar: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the roll-out of the Welsh Government's warm hubs scheme? OQ58988
Darren Millar: Me in the squirrel webinar, yes. It wasn't just attended by squirrels, I have to say. [Laughter.] But, clearly, there is significant damage that is done to timber, that is done to trees, because they strip trees of bark as well, and we've got an ambitious tree-planting programme here in Wales. And therefore I would ask if we could have an update on red squirrel conservation work in Wales from...
Darren Millar: This week is obviously Holocaust Remembrance Week, and the Minister may be aware—the Trefnydd may be aware—that there's work that is ongoing in north Wales to try to chart the history of Jewish communities in the region. That work is being led by Nathan Abrams, who's a professor at Bangor University, and he's already undertaken a great deal of work in Anglesey, Gwynedd and other parts of...
Darren Millar: Thank you for that response, Minister. I'm very pleased that you do recognise the pressures that are out there in the egg industry. As you will know, Wales is the biggest producer of free-range eggs in Europe, and that is something that means that this is a particularly important issue for Wales, perhaps more so than any other part of the United Kingdom. But those pressures on producers are...
Darren Millar: 12. What assessment has the Minister made of the health of the Welsh egg industry? OQ58957
Darren Millar: I think there has been a learning exercise, obviously, through this, and obviously it's been quite a detailed and time-consuming piece of legislation as well, largely because it's the very first of its kind. But also that's taking up capacity that the Welsh Government could be doing other legislation with, and there are a lot of commitments that have been made by the Welsh Government in...
