Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, First Minister. We have seen lockdowns do untold damages to the lives and livelihoods of the Welsh public, and particularly the poorest in our society, because many vulnerable in society have been left behind. People have lost employment and businesses have closed. And whilst I appreciate we have to strike the correct balance, going forward, First Minister, will...
Caroline Jones: Trefnydd, I would like to ask for a statement from the Minister for Housing and Local Government regarding the ongoing situation at Henllys flats in Swansea. Following the flooding issues, some residents have had to be put up in temporary accommodation and those who remain in their properties have been informed that the lifts will be out of action for at least a couple of weeks, and this is...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, First Minister. The fact that COVID-19 has been allowed to spread in our hospitals is a clear failure of Government policy and a dereliction of the Welsh Government's duty to protect our most vulnerable. First Minister, why is there no clear demarcation between COVID and non-COVID patients? Why are we testing just over half of all hospital admissions? And, First Minister, surely...
Caroline Jones: 8. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Welsh hospitals? OQ55809
Caroline Jones: I'd like to thank the petitioners for bringing forward this petition. I have opposed the dumping of sediment dredged from the Hinkley C nuclear power station site in the past because of the uncertainty regarding the safety of sediment. The dredged sediment may be being dumped in the South Wales Central region, but it also affects my region, home to some of the world's top beaches and a haven...
Caroline Jones: Minister, sadly far too many businesses are falling through the cracks in the support offered, and what support there is certainly doesn't make up for the long-term impacts that various lockdowns have had. Businesses don't know if they'll be open or closed from one week to the next, and many microbusinesses get no support at all because they don't have multiple years of accounts. One example:...
Caroline Jones: It was in relation to Alun Davies's hypocritical contribution about—
Caroline Jones: Trefnydd, I would like to call for a statement from the Minister for health regarding the treatment of elderly persons during the current pandemic. Yesterday, I was asked to attend a meeting with a small group of assisted living residents to discuss the issues they were facing in recent months, only for them to be told by Coastal Housing that they had to meet outdoors. Some of these residents...
Caroline Jones: First Minister, this pandemic has had a severe impact on primary care, placing additional obligations and burdens on an already struggling workforce. We know we need to recruit more GPs to cope with workloads in normal times, but, as we enter cold and flu season with COVID-19 still running rampant, the pressures will be immense. First Minister, we know technology can play, and does play, a...
Caroline Jones: I thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this debate, and for acknowledging that my amendment would have added to the debate. As I've said previously, lockdowns were a necessary evil at the start of this pandemic whilst we built up capacity to deal with the outbreak. However, we have had seven months to build up that capacity, and it is getting harder and harder to justify the...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, Minister. As Audit Wales point out in their recent report, Wales's councils will struggle financially, despite nearly £0.5 billion in additional funding from the Welsh Government, and, while everyone looks to central Governments for action on tackling the pandemic, it's local government that are implementing the measures and keeping our schools open. Minister, what discussions has...
Caroline Jones: 2. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local government resources? OQ55709
Caroline Jones: No, Llywydd, I haven't put in to speak in this debate, diolch. Sorry.
Caroline Jones: Thank you for your statement, Deputy Minister. Pavement parking is one of the biggest problems facing those with mobility issues, young mums with pushchairs and small children, and persons with sight loss. Deputy Minister, unless measures are strictly enforced, my constituents will continue to have to run the gauntlet whenever they leave their homes. How will measures be enforced, and what...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, acting Presiding Officer. I would like to thank our committee Chair and the committee clerks for their amazing work throughout this inquiry. COVID-19 certainly meant that this was no ordinary inquiry. Remote working made holding such an inquiry even more challenging. However, the challenges faced by committee members pale into insignificance when compared with the challenges faced by...
Caroline Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and aside from wearing pink, I want to mark it in another, more personal way—to talk about my journey with breast cancer, to point out that you can survive this terrible disease, and to urge women across Wales to take the threat seriously, and to check, check, check. It has been 13 years since I found a suspicious dent in my...
Caroline Jones: Minister, if our economy has any chance of surviving this pandemic, we have to learn to live with COVID-19. Living with the disease means that we have to keep apart from those not in our immediate family and for us to wear masks in enclosed spaces. Thankfully, masks are now mandatory on public transport, but keeping apart is more difficult. We have to ensure that not only can social...
Caroline Jones: Trefnydd, I would like to call for two statements from Government Ministers. The first is a statement from the Minister for health regarding cancer care in Wales during the pandemic. Whilst urgent cancer care continues, to an extent, cancer screening, like much of the NHS, is on hold while resources are focused on the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak—understandably so at the beginning of the outbreak,...
Caroline Jones: Thank you, First Minister. It is blatantly obvious that the carrot approach is not working and the fines imposed aren't much of a deterrent either. Most of the population of south Wales are once again in draconian lockdowns and all because of the actions of a selfish minority. We have had our liberty curtailed because a few people wanted to have house parties. We are not allowed to visit...
Caroline Jones: 3. What plans does the Welsh Government have to increase the penalties for those breaking COVID-19 rules? OQ55666
