Angela Burns: Will the Minister provide an update on his priorities for legislation during the fifth Assembly?
Angela Burns: Minister, thank you for this statement. I’m very, very well aware that my colleague Darren Millar has called before for a review on both the independent patient fund and, of course, the Welsh Conservatives have been calling for some kind of treatment fund for many, many years. Going through your statement, I’ve just got a couple of questions. The first is that you referred to some of the...
Angela Burns: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, I’m delighted to see this report today. I called for an independent review of this case and was excoriated—not by the Minister, who gently let me down in this Chamber, but by members of Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire county councils—for calling for an independent review. My reason for calling for an independent review was because of...
Angela Burns: First Minister, I’d like to join with you in saying what wonderful news it was last week. Not only did our Welsh team do as well as they did, but they actually managed to turn someone like me, for whom, I can honestly say, football was of absolutely zero interest, into a passionate supporter. I could probably even talk about the offside rule if I tried hard enough. But I was very proud of...
Angela Burns: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. My apologies. Minister, could you just confirm for us, in terms of the consultation that was undertaken by the previous Welsh Government on the additional learning needs Bill—? I know the previous education Minister did say he’d go back out consultation again. There was no element asking parents and carers what they thought about the transportation of their...
Angela Burns: Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, in the previous—[Interruption.]
Angela Burns: I beg your pardon. [Laughter.]
Angela Burns: Please accept my apologies.
Angela Burns: Thank you, and I do take the point that Rhun made and that you’ve answered, however, where it falls down is in a place like this: for example, an urgent referral for CAMHS if a child is presenting with self-harm and has said they’re going to kill themselves. If that child is autistic, then they don’t get that help, because CAMHS say that that is not one of the disorders that they deal...
Angela Burns: Will you take an intervention?
Angela Burns: Thank you for taking the intervention. Would you also acknowledge that one of the issues with having such long waiting times for CAMHS services is that those young people are then thrown back onto local services provided by county councils, people like the disabilities team, the team around the family, and it puts them under immense pressure and takes them away from the people who should be...
Angela Burns: Diolch, Lywydd. Minister, thank you very much for bringing forward this debate today. I have read the delivery plan with a great deal of interest and I concur with you on the Government’s overriding objectives—what you’re trying to achieve in terms of improving mental health delivery here in Wales. I don’t think anyone would quarrel with your objectives and much of your methodology....
Angela Burns: First Minister, during the week that we commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the battle of the Somme, it is vital that we celebrate the important role that county archives services play, particularly in helping today's generation keep in touch with their past. First Minister, I'm sure that you are aware that Carmarthen's archive is currently being restored, having been severely damaged...
Angela Burns: Will you take an intervention?
Angela Burns: Thank you. Cabinet Secretary, I’d be very grateful then—. Listening to what you have to say brought joy to my heart because this is an area I’ve been very concerned about with the Donaldson review. Therefore, given what you say about having five GCSEs at C grade or above as being the measure by which we measure the people here in Wales—and we have so many young people, just under a...
Angela Burns: Well-being is a very important part of your portfolio, Minister, and as I’m sure you’re aware, the annual NSPCC report, ‘How Safe are our Children?’, highlights a 26 per cent increase in the number of recorded sexual offences against children under 16 in Wales over the last 12 months—figures that have doubled over the last decade. Will you join me in welcoming this report, and will...
Angela Burns: 9. Will the Minister make a statement on his priorities for the communities and children portfolio during the fifth Assembly? OAQ(5)0005(CC)
Angela Burns: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, I’d like to thank you for this statement. I too very much welcome some of the news contained within it. I’m delighted to see that smoking has definitely gone down to 19 per cent of adults from 26 per cent. It is interesting to note that that’s a complete correlation with the number of people who use e-cigarettes. I’m delighted to hear the...
Angela Burns: First Minister, young children between nought and 14 are far more likely—or, in fact, are twice as likely—to be diagnosed through emergency presentation for cancer. I would like you to consider the children’s charity CLIC Sargent and their call that the refreshed Wales cancer delivery plan, which is intended for later this year, should improve initial and ongoing training in children...
Angela Burns: Given my Welsh children, my Scottish husband and my English father, I’ve learnt to tread in a very inclusive manner around the subject of team sports. However, I think I can safely say that the performance of the Welsh team in France will be an inspiration to many young boys and girls and we need to ensure that this enthusiasm and interest is built upon and doesn’t go to waste. I think we...
