Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. I took my advice in terms of special measures also from Audit Wales and HIW. So, there's a tripartite system that gives me advice in terms of when I need to step in. So, this is the first time they've said, 'You need to step in.' So, that's quite important as well. So, just in terms of you mentioned buildings and the situation getting worse. Well, I can tell you that the capital...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks, Gareth. I was smirking because I just thought it was very odd for you to say, 'I'm going to be straight with you,' as if nobody else before you had been straight with me. I think it's really important that people understand some of the expectations that we will be putting in place in terms of what happens next. There will be specialist advice on board governance and effectiveness....
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I'd like to read a message that I had from one of his constituents yesterday: 'Great news. Well done, Eluned. Now we have hope.' That's from one of your constituents as well. I do think it's important also for us to understand that the responsibility does go beyond independent members. I accept that, I've said that time and time again. This is a first step and we need to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. I think it's important that you recognised that there was an issue in relation to responsibility on behalf of the executives, and obviously that is something that we're very concerned about. That, I hope, is something that the new chair will undertake in terms of his responsibility. I will be speaking to him to recommend that he reads your report to make sure that he's...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Siân. I think it’s very important to understand that these changes aren’t going to happen overnight; we’ll have to go through a process. It will take some time to get a new chief executive in place, and I hope that that appointment makes a big difference. I do know that the new chair is very eager to set out a timetable for what he expects to achieve during his...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. I think it's clear that the executive team needs a lot of work in Betsi, and I do hope that the next chair and chief executive will understand the importance of that. I've talked about the levers that I don't have, the fact that I cannot dismiss people that I don't employ. I think it's really important that people understand that these people have rights, you need to respect...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Well, Plaid Cymru's answer to everything is restructuring and more management—[Interruption.] That's what happens. In terms of commissioning a piece of work, no, I'm not going to commission that. I think that the new board will come in, and if they want to look at it, it's up to them, but I won't be commissioning that work. Thank you.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, first of all, I think you're right: I think we need criteria for knowing when it is we've reached the point to take people out of special measures. So, I've asked officials to look at that, so that we've got a more objective measure for how we can measure improvement and how we know we've got to the place we need to get to. I have tried explaining the situation in relation to the letter...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks. Well, I think it’s really important that people understand that I do have the legal authority to dismiss independent members of the board. So, that’s the first thing: I have that authority, and I can do it immediately, and obviously we checked very carefully before we went down that path. You talked about them starting on an important journey. Well, you know, they’ve been in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Ken. I think it's important that we do recognise that members of the previous board had made big efforts to try and hold the executive team to account. What they haven't done is the next step, which is to follow through on the findings. And I think what's important is that there's an understanding now that it's that next step that needs to be taken. So, I would like to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much. Well, I think it's really important that people understand that this is a first step and there will be more steps that follow this, so I'll just repeat some of the points that I made earlier to Darren. But I think it's important that people understand that I have the power to dismiss the board; I do not have the power to dismiss executives. They have rights; they have...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I do not employ these people. These have legal rights that need to be respected, and there has to be a process that it is gone through. So, I think it's really important that people understand the system and understand that this is the first step of many. Now, I think that those powers that I have actually need to be strengthened. That's one of the conclusions that is clear to me—that I do...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The executives are still there. The executives are still there, and the whole point is—[Interruption.]—the whole point is and I think what's important is that we do listen and read carefully the Audit Wales report, which does talk about deep-seated fractures in the executive team, but it also says that there was a deeply worrying degree of dysfunctionality within the board and senior...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr iawn. I'm just going to give you a quick lesson in how the system works, because I think it's really important that people understand—[Interruption.]—understand how the system works. So, I am responsible for the NHS, but I delegate that responsibility to independent boards. I set them parameters, I set them goals, I set them targets. But then I appoint people to those...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The advisers will initially be contracted for six months, starting today, and will support the health board on board governance and other issues related to special measures. This will include a level of personal support to the new chair and independent members, and to provide feedback where appropriate to the board from discussions and observations. In addition, they will report formally to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Further to my written statement yesterday concerning the extraordinary measures I’ve taken to stabilise and support the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, I want to explain the decisions that I’ve made, what support I’m putting in place and what I expect to happen in the next few weeks and months. These were not decisions I took lightly. Firstly, I want to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Through the implementation of the Act, we have set out clear and unambiguous rights and responsibilities in relation to social care and related matters. That includes local authorities having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when they discharge their functions. The expectations set out in the statutory framework under the Act also include duties on local...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. I would like to thank the Conservative Party for bringing forward this important debate about habilitation support for visually impaired children in Wales. I must say, I agree with the sentiment in the motion that there is more that should be done for this group of children. I note the Guide Dogs Cymru research that states that 2,000 sight-impaired children could benefit from...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Formally.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Joyce. I just want to reassure you, really, that we'll be the ones who decide what it looks like in Wales. If we like what they're doing in England, we can copy it. If we don't like it, we don't have to copy it. But we've got the framework now to make those decisions. What we are talking about here is quite often highly specialised services that we can't offer in Wales, so...
