Mr Simon Thomas: The independent contractors.
Mr Simon Thomas: The communities of Porthmadog, Newtown, Cardigan, Tenby, Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, which have to wait a fortnight these days for an appointment with a GP, do feel that there is a crisis and they feel that there is a problem of recruitment and a shortage of GPs who are willing to stay in those areas. There are particular problems in terms of those who want to become partners in surgeries....
Mr Simon Thomas: They are currently private.
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Minister make a statement on Abertawe Bro Morgannwg, Cardiff and Vale, and Hywel Dda University Health Boards, in light of their escalation to targeted intervention status? EAQ(5)0036(HWS) [W]
Mr Simon Thomas: Just on that point, we’ve seen today Alun Cairns, for example, as the Secretary of State, argue that this is no longer about money, and we should have this big debate about what should replace structural funds, and though I’m up for learning from the fact that structural funds did not take us from the position we were in in 1999 to the position we want to be in today, can I just support...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I just want to endorse the comments made by Leanne Wood in opening this debate by mentioning particularly the effect on, and the need to protect, agriculture, fisheries and the environment more generally. We are in a position at present where Wales, Welsh farmers and rural Wales receive something in the region of £250 million per annum in direct payments...
Mr Simon Thomas: Just on that point, for information, when I raised this matter, the matter of the ‘Daily Post’ journalist here, the response from the ‘Daily Post’ was, ‘Oh, we’re looking to share with the BBC’.
Mr Simon Thomas: Would you like to give way?
Mr Simon Thomas: Just on the point she's making around the relationship between the press and the BBC, she knows that the BBC has said, as part of the charter process, that it's interested in supporting local press by sharing of journalism, sharing of stories and so forth. Is that something that she has looked at with—? The new committee has only just started, I know, but is that something that’s of...
Mr Simon Thomas: In light of the fact that there is a shortage of GPs and primary care services in south Pembrokeshire, I would like a statement from the Cabinet Secretary that he is confident that the service is safe for the constituents in Pembrokeshire. Secondly, would he like to explain why he hasn’t supported making the experiment of the minor injuries unit in Tenby, which was opened over Easter, into...
Mr Simon Thomas: How many times in the eight months that you were talking about, Cabinet Secretary, have the targets been met in the Hywel Dda health board area? And, who’s responsible for that failure?
Mr Simon Thomas: How many times?
Mr Simon Thomas: To return to Newtown, another important part of the heritage of Newtown in Powys is the Montgomery canal. The First Minister said yesterday that canals are seen by the Welsh Government as part of our tourism offer, and, as there is a proposal by the people of Newtown to restore the old canal that runs through the town and which is part of the industrial history and heritage of Wales, of...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to the Minister for outlining this supplementary budget. The Finance Committee agree that the main purpose of this supplementary budget was restructuring following the changes in ministerial portfolios after the election. Despite that, we would like to draw the Assembly’s attention to the report that we’ve put together and to three things...
Mr Simon Thomas: I must say, I’m quite disappointed with this statement today, Minister. When I asked an urgent question back in January, I was told to wait for the child practice review; now the child practice review has been published, I’m told to wait some inordinate amount of time again, without any timetable or idea of what the Government is going to do. I don’t share your confidence, Minister,...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the business manager for her statement of business. I’m particularly grateful for the changes to business today to allow an oral statement on the death of Dylan Seabridge, one of my constituents, and an issue on which I raised an urgent question some time ago, asking for such a statement. I’m glad that we have the review and are able to look at it later on. Can I ask the Minister...
Mr Simon Thomas: First Minister, I met recently with Newtown health forum, who told me that between the hours of six o’clock and 12 o’clock at night in Newtown, there is no GP or primary care service at all. The GP surgery closes at six o’clock, and it’s hard enough to get an appointment there, and the GP Shropdoc, run from the Newtown Hospital, starts at midnight. Between six and 12, people in...
Mr Simon Thomas: What discussions has the First Minister had regarding the report by Sir John Chilcot into the Iraq war?
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Counsel General for his response. May I tell him at the outset that his answers have been far more comprehensive than those I’ve received over the past five years, and that he himself received, on occasion, over the past five years? I respect the fact that there hasn’t been a great deal of time since his appointment, or since the referendum itself, of course. But, in terms of...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Counsel General for that response, and I welcome him to his new role, of course, by saying that I’m looking forward to five years of asking questions of him, as I asked of his predecessor. Among those priorities, how important does the Government of the Counsel General consider the fact that the European convention on human rights is part of Welsh law through Welsh legislation?...
