Joel James: Thank you, Llywydd. Concerning the general principles of this Bill, I think it is fair to say that this Government has completely failed to communicate what problem it is trying to solve and why it is implementing this legislation. The Welsh Government is stating that it wants to put social partnership on a statutory footing to improve public procurement processes, but it's not made any...
Joel James: First Minister, Cardiff Council have cited a maintenance backlog to the tune of £55 million as a motivating factor behind recent soundings to sell St David's Hall in Cardiff. The systematic failure to provide adequate ongoing maintenance now means that the venue, which hosts cultural and civic occasions, as my colleague Rhys mentioned, that add to Cardiff's prestige as a capital city is...
Joel James: As I'm sure everyone here will agree, it was very pleasing to see that the Minister has accepted all the recommendations made in the committee report, but, to be honest, with such slow progress of this Government in meeting its duty to provide appropriate sites in the last eight years, there is little to be reassured about in terms of what will be different this time. Reading the report, I...
Joel James: Minister, as I am sure you are aware, disadvantaged children face a myriad of challenges that do not necessarily exist for most people. One such disadvantage is the availability of internet and appropriate devices at home. The Children's Commissioner for Wales has estimated that a third to perhaps even half of children do not have access to appropriate devices, and that, even when these have...
Joel James: But that statement wasn't me, that was the report.
Joel James: Thank you, Deputy Minister, for your statement today, and, if I may, I'd like to pick up on a few points. Firstly, the basis of your proposals is that firefighters are no longer dealing with so many fires and therefore have a greater capacity to help with medical emergencies, but I feel that you have failed to recognise that the drop in the number of fires is due to firefighters doing a very...
Joel James: In my preparation for my remarks today, I was able to speak with a property management company that has quite a number of properties affected by cladding issues in England and in Wales. And though you might not expect this from me, I want to say that they had extremely positive feedback on the application process of the building and safety fund in Wales, and were happy that things were now...
Joel James: Thank you, Llywydd. Just two days ago, on 14 November, we commemorated World Diabetes Day, and this year there's been the fantastic announcement by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Diabetes UK of a jointly funded early surveillance for auto-immune diabetes study, which is a trial screening programme for type 1 diabetes that has the potential to transform the way the condition is...
Joel James: Thank you, First Minister. Despite all the interest surrounding the potential for hydrogen to become a major game changer in decarbonising the automotive industry, we are at present yet to see any real evidence of this on our roads. I, like many here, I'm sure, believe that there's a huge opportunity for green hydrogen to become a major part of the solution in decarbonising the automotive...
Joel James: 1. What are the Welsh Government's plans for the use of hydrogen fuel for automotives in Wales? OQ58713
Joel James: Finally, Deputy Minister, in terms of the social partnership council, as you mentioned in one of your earlier responses, there is concern that the council will not adequately represent the wide and diverse range of views present when providing evidence and advice to the Welsh Government. For example, social enterprises, non-unionised workers, ethnic minority communities, health and social...
Joel James: Thank you, Deputy Minister, for your answer, but I'm conscious of what I've said, that it's most likely that, in most cases, you are going to get that compromise, but I think, with all the will in the world, you will always still get disagreements that cannot be resolved, and, without a proper mechanism in place, I fear that this Bill could have the potential to grind procurement for public...
Joel James: Thank you, Llywydd. Deputy Minister, I wanted to pick up, if I may, a few things today in relation to the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Bill. According to the draft Bill, one of the overarching objectives is that, and I quote: 'A statutory duty will be placed on certain public bodies to seek consensus or compromise with their recognised trade unions (or where there is no...
Joel James: Thank you, Trefnydd. As you know, the most recent update in NICE guidelines concerning the eligibility for flash and continuous glucose monitoring, CGM, is without a doubt a major step in helping those who live with type 1 diabetes access better technology in managing their blood glucose levels. This is important because not only does it help people manage their lives, and in particular their...
Joel James: 6. Will the First Minister provide an update on the qualifying criteria for flash and continuous glucose monitoring technology for diabetes management? OQ58672
Joel James: Minister, as you are no doubt aware, a new sewage pumping station has been proposed on the community green space of Hailey park in Cardiff in order to service the needs of the new Plasdŵr development. Proposals have come about because the developers of the new housing estate have failed to make adequate provision, and the proposals have met with fierce opposition from local groups, such as...
Joel James: Minister, as you're aware and has already been brought up by several Members in this Chamber, local authorities in Wales have vast usable reserves in their coffers. At the end of the 2020-21 financial year, this totalled over £2.1 billion, an increase of £600 million on the year before, with some local authorities, such as my own of Rhondda Cynon Taf, having just under £208 million in...
Joel James: First Minister, more than 60 per cent of the digital data that firms generate is collected, processed and stored for single-use purposes only. This could include outdated spreadsheets, multiple near-identical images, or the thousands upon thousands of unread or stored e-mails that will never, ever be looked at again. This type of data is known as 'dark data' or 'unstructured data'. It...
Joel James: 8. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the need for digital decarbonisation? OQ58620
Joel James: Can I thank Altaf for giving me a minute of his time? As chair of the cross-party group on liver disease and liver cancer, I want to highlight some of the challenges facing liver cancer patients navigating treatment pathways in Wales. Liver cancer is one of the least survivable, but fastest growing forms of cancer in the UK, and outcomes are shockingly poor. Only 13 per cent of people...
