Caroline Jones: First Minister, during the previous Assembly, the Welsh Government increased the number of student midwifery places. However, in the latest ‘State of Midwifery Services Report’, the Royal College of Midwives states that it is no longer appropriate to maintain a steady number of training places, as the midwifery population is ageing. What plans does your Government have to increase the...
Caroline Jones: Will the First Minister outline the actions the Welsh Government is taking to support Swansea's bid for UK City of Culture in 2021?
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Lywydd. Speaking as an Assembly Commissioner, I would like to make clear that there are no Commission staff on zero-hours contracts—that is a long-standing policy. The same applies to the staff directly employed by our contractors such as CBRE, Charlton House and TSS. In addition, the Commission specifies that employees must be paid at least the living wage, as recommended by the...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, ABMU has consistently high numbers of people waiting more than 12 hours in its A&E departments. In January we saw a total of 890 people waiting more than 12 hours at the two major accident and emergency departments. Wales’s biggest A&E department only saw 150 people waiting for that length of time. Cabinet Secretary, given that ABMU is trialling the 111 service to reduce...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. While we welcome steps to improve the numbers working in mental health care, such as the introduction of new courses at Glyndŵr university focusing on mental health and well-being, we are still short of both staff and funding for mental health services in Wales. How do you respond to the director of Mind Cymru, who states that the mental health arena is still...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The Mind workplace well-being index shows that mental health problems are the leading cause of workplace absence. Even the NHS is not immune, and we lost a third of a million days to mental health issues amongst health staff last year. One of the biggest barriers to tackling this issue is the lack of access to psychological and talking therapies. What is your...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, South Wales Police dealt with more mental health incidents last year than any other UK police force. Police officers in south Wales dealt with nearly 39,000 mental health issues during 2016. Cabinet Secretary, do you agree with me that people facing mental health issues should be cared for by specialist mental health services, rather than the...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Rhossili has once again been named one of the top-10 beaches in the UK and also enjoys being one of the most dog-friendly beaches in Britain. The Gower beach has just lost out on the top spot, but competes with the top beaches in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset. Cabinet Secretary, if we are to capitalise upon this and increase the number of visitors to my region, we...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, without knowing the authenticity or even the validity of this so-called leaked document, we have to be extremely careful about whipping up hysteria about job losses at Ford’s engine plant at Bridgend. The only official indications we have had from Ford is that they’re scaling back investment, but they are still making a multimillion pound investment at Bridgend. It’s...
Caroline Jones: 6. Will the Cabinet Secretary outline the Welsh Government’s plans to increase visitor numbers to South Wales West? OAQ(5)0133(EI)
Caroline Jones: As a member of the health committee, I would like to thank our Chair and other members of the committee for the collegiate way we’ve worked together on this Bill. Also, a thank you to health officials and outside agencies for providing us with their evidence. UKIP will be supporting the general principles of the Public Health (Wales) Bill. There is much about this Bill that is to be...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I have agreed to give a minute of my time to Joyce Watson, Janet Finch-Saunders and Mike Hedges. The following was written in 1966, and more eloquently highlights the topic of loneliness and isolation than any words that I could conjure. What do you see, nurses, what do you see? / What are you thinking, when looking at me? / A crabbit old woman, not very wise, /...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the brave decision by the Tata workforce to accept the Tata deal will help secure the future of steel making in Wales. It is now up to both Governments, in Westminster and in Wales, to help ensure that demand for Welsh steel is increased. As discussed in the tidal lagoons debate here yesterday, Tidal Lagoon Power hope to source most of the steel from UK sources. However,...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, I have been contacted by a number of constituents who have been affected by the pay review being conducted by local authorities. People who have been working in highly skilled roles for decades have suddenly found that their jobs have been reclassified as unskilled, and, as a result, my constituents have had their wages cut, sometimes by as much as 25 per cent. The fear...
Caroline Jones: 8. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on how the Welsh Government ensures fair pay for local government staff? OAQ(5)0093(FLG)
Caroline Jones: We, in UKIP, are in favour of tidal lagoons and recognise that the technology has the potential to supply a lot of the UK’s energy needs, reduce our carbon emissions and, most importantly, provide energy security and diversification. I did, however, have many questions about how the schemes would be funded and how local communities and the local economy would benefit from the construction...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, the third sector and its army of volunteers save the public purse millions of pounds each year and provide valuable services that the public sector cannot. The third sector protects us when we go to the beach or the rugby, provides valuable research into numerous diseases and conditions, campaigns for better rights, housing and a whole host of other services. Without the third...
Caroline Jones: I’d like to thank Suzy for proposing that we legislate to ensure that everyone in Wales is provided with the basic skills to save a life. Yesterday, we discussed the heart conditions delivery plan in this Chamber, during which I highlighted the fact that, each month in Wales, 720 people will go to hospital with a heart attack and, sadly, 340 of those people will die. Without CPR and...
Caroline Jones: Cabinet Secretary, the majority of Welsh-medium primary schools in Swansea have pupil-to-teacher ratios greater than 25, and all bar one are in the yellow and amber support categories. This, coupled with recent news highlighting the difficulty in recruiting Welsh-medium teachers, and news about the severe delays in rolling out the curriculum, is a concern. Cabinet Secretary, what will you be...
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. Despite recent advances in coronary care, heart disease remains one of the biggest killers in Wales. This month, around 750 people will lose their lives to cardiovascular disease; 720 will go to hospital with a heart attack; and, sadly, 340 of those will die. Also, this month, around 16 babies will be born with a heart defect. Therefore,...
