Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I thank the Members for their contribution to the debate. I'll try to deal with each one in turn briefly. Starting with Andrew R.T. Davies, I obviously regret the approach that he and his group are taking. From what they say, they're abstaining not because they disagree with the measures or that the measures that are being put in place are somehow not appropriate, but it's...
Vaughan Gething: The regulations we’re debating today were introduced over a period from 7 September to 17 September. They demonstrate the swift but necessary actions the Welsh Government has had to take to respond to the recent rise in the number of cases in certain parts of Wales. To ensure that we're equipped to do so, we’ve increased the powers of local authorities and implemented local restrictions...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I formally move the four sets of motions containing regulations before us today, and ask Members to support them. These regulations were again introduced under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 through our emergency procedures to support our ongoing approach to tackling coronavirus. Members will know that the Welsh Government takes a careful and...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. I want to thank Mark Isherwood for bringing the cross-party group's report to the Chamber. I have listened carefully to what he has to say, and there are a range of valid points that I would agree with and I hope that I manage to touch on in the response. I am grateful to the cross-party group and to all those who took the time to share their professional and...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Presiding Officer. These regulations today, as the explanatory memorandum sets out, have previously been laid twice before the Senedd, and it's my pleasure to move the regulations today. They were first laid on 17 March this year, and then withdrawn as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, then re-laid on 8 July, but withdrawn in order to correct a minor technical scrutiny point...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I thank Members for their contributions and I thank the committee for their scrutiny. And on the broader points raised by both Andrew R.T. Davies and Rhun ap Iorwerth on the process, these are made in mind with the made-affirmative process that this Senedd has provided for. The Government is always open to conversations about how business is transacted, and, of course,...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I formally move the three sets of regulations before us today and ask Members to support them. These regulations were all introduced under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, through emergency procedures to support our approach to tackling coronavirus. Members will be aware that the Welsh Government takes a careful and evidence-based approach to our continual...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments and questions. I think the education Minister has indicated that some of the point of the Estyn inspections was actually about addressing local authority plans to safeguard the interests of learners during this particular time in the pandemic. But I of course take on board the point that the Member makes about whether the balance is the right one, as we're moving...
Vaughan Gething: That comes back to my response to Suzy Davies, I think, earlier on, about the challenge in having delayed results. So, you have the headline rate on the day you get the tests themselves, the next 24 hours, and you then get more tests, typically coming through the lighthouse lab process, in significant numbers, and they need to put those back in on the day that the tests were actually taken in...
Vaughan Gething: On the final point, I think I've addressed that before, and we are considering the potential for table service and 10 o'clock closure on licensed premises. We're also considering off-licence sales as well. On the six-month indication that the UK Government have given for England, well, the challenge is that, I guess, in planning terms, if we could predict that it would take six months to...
Vaughan Gething: On the challenge about when we'll understand the effectiveness of the local restrictions that are already in place, we indicated it will be at least two weeks before we've understood more definitively the pattern. We're seeing cautious evidence, just before the two-week review period in Caerphilly, but we'll need to understand that and then to see a sustained fall. The local restrictions that...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the questions. On care homes, we've actually picked up a number of positive cases from our regular programme of testing of care home staff, and that's allowed us to understand what's taking place there and to isolate not just the staff, but to then have some protection and additional testing around the care homes affected. It is literally a handful—less than a handful—at...
Vaughan Gething: [Inaudible.]—challenge around travel restrictions. We had a long and vigorous discussion, you'll recall, in this Chamber when meeting entirely remotely about the five-mile guidance in respect of local travel. Now, that 'stay local' message was broadly welcomed in lots of places, including in areas of much lower prevalence of coronavirus. There is as much concern about coronavirus not coming...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the questions. On your final point, I recognise that there is a need to provide as much clarity as quickly as possible on what the restrictions mean for people. Most people want to follow the rules, and so it's about how we help them to do so. That's got to be balanced against the speed of decision making that is necessary to keep people safe. But, it's a point well made, and in...
Vaughan Gething: In the coronavirus control plan, we've set out—and I think it's the legal requirement as well—to review these individual restrictions every 14 days initially, but then to review them every week. In reality, we're looking at the daily picture of what's happening. So, we look at the rates each day and what they tell us about the trend. And, because of the challenges in getting test results...
Vaughan Gething: I welcome the comment. I thank the Member for his constructive engagement, not just in this place, but outside it as well. I have spent lots of time speaking to local authority leaders and I expect to join a call with 10 different local authority leaders after this session is finished. When it comes to the four-nation engagement, we have again made the point this morning that a regular and...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of comments, and I'll try to respond to the points with questions attached to them. The Senedd, of course, votes on regulations and the significant restrictions that have been introduced and the interruptions to people's liberty, and I recognise that; it's not an easy or straightforward decision to take. What we are trying to do though is to avoid harm, not wait until...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments. I don't think I've shifted the Government's position at all on school closures. I've been very, very clear that it's the Government's priority to keep schools open as far as possible, and we will prioritise schools above other sectors. So, we'll close other parts of public services, or indeed the economy, to protect the ability for our schools. There's a direct...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, thank you for the series of questions. The end goal, in terms of the restrictions we've introduced, is to reduce and suppress the virus and to avoid harm. And you'll have seen the UK Government's chief scientific adviser and the Chief Medical Officer for England yesterday indicating that, unless measures are taken to arrest the spread of the virus, we can expect, by mid October, on...
Vaughan Gething: From 6 o'clock tonight, new restrictions will come into force to control the spread of the virus for everyone living in Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport local authorities. This will mean people will not be allowed to enter or leave these four local authority areas without a reasonable excuse, such as travel for work or education. People will only be able to meet people they...
