Mark Drakeford: I thank Jane Dodds, Llywydd.
Mark Drakeford: There is an independent child trafficking guardian service in Wales, and many young, unaccompanied asylum seekers will meet the definition of being trafficked to the UK and therefore will be within the scope of this service, and it is similar, but not identical, I can see that, to the Scottish Guardianship Service. I'm very happy to look at whether there are aspects of the Scottish system...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Jane Dodds for the question. Our nation of sanctuary plan sets out the support that refugees arriving in Wales can expect to receive. This includes the advice and services needed to reduce inequality, prevent destitution, aid integration and help people seeking sanctuary to create a better future for themselves and for Wales.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, what I want to see is the responsibility being transferred to the Senedd for us here to have the opportunity to legislate to have a bank holiday on St David's Day. I think it's in the hands of the Senedd that would be the best place to make those decisions. They are with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland already. It's only in Wales that we can't make the decisions for ourselves...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I thank Rhys ab Owen for the question. We will celebrate St David’s Day at home and overseas, using our national day to raise the profile and awareness of Wales across the world. My own St David’s Day schedule includes virtual events in Japan and Germany, and face-to-face meetings with representatives of Quebec, Canada and key European partners.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Vikki Howells for that important question, Llywydd, and I thank her for drawing attention to the winter fuel scheme, particularly on a day when my colleague Jane Hutt has been able to announce a doubling of the amount of help available from it—you know, a really fantastic thing to be able to do in the face of all the challenges that we know families in Wales will now have to live...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, this crisis will have a profound impact on thousands of Welsh families. Cruel and deliberate cuts to benefits, failure to counteract fuel price rises, and a decision to go ahead with a broken manifesto promise not to raise national insurance contributions demonstrates that this is a crisis made in Downing Street.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that. I agree with a number of the points that he made; as well as the technical skills and academic qualifications that people need, it is often the human skills, the soft skills that get people into the workplace and allow them to make a success of that first experience. I also agree that the more that can be done to make sure that young people, in our secondary...
Mark Drakeford: Developing workplace skills runs as a thread across all areas of the new Curriculum for Wales. It prepares learners for later life by giving them the knowledge, skills and experiences to thrive in their future careers.
Mark Drakeford: I don't believe that a public inquiry, with the length of time that it would take, would be of much benefit to patients in north Wales. What I think is that there is an independent review of the service carried out by the Royal College of Surgeons, and there is part 2 of that still to report. I expect that report to be taken seriously by the board and by the people responsible for the service...
Mark Drakeford: I think there are two things that have be distinguished here. There is the original decision to concentrate specialist vascular services at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. The Member said that that had happened 'for some reason' as though it was a trivial matter that had just been plucked out of the air. He will know perfectly well that the case for the concentration of specialist services was one, as I...
Mark Drakeford: Vascular services in north Wales were reorganised in 2019. Specialist services have been developed at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, while other vascular services remain at Ysbyty Gwynedd and Wrexham Maelor Hospital. The new model was endorsed by the Royal College of Surgeons and the Vascular Society.
Mark Drakeford: The Welsh Government is willing to consider all the ideas that are there in order to help us to deal with the backlog that has built up during the COVID pandemic. James Evans is right; it is not a Welsh problem, it is a UK problem, and that's very much borne out in the Powys circumstances. We've had this debate on the floor of the Senedd previously, and I'd just say to him what I've said to...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, 4,433 Powys residents are waiting for orthopaedic treatment, of whom 2,532, or 57 per cent, are waiting for treatment in England. The number of Powys residents waiting over 36 weeks for orthopaedic treatment fell by 16 per cent between November 2020 and November 2021.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I know that Adam Price will know that the Minister responsible has already established an expert group of people to help us to see how we can bring further investment into woodland creation in Wales in a way that does not lead to the sorts of damage that he identified, and he'll know that that group has many interests represented on it—Llais y Goedwig, Woodknowledge Wales, as well...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I think, Llywydd, that the history of what we've done over recent years shows that the second suggestion is the one that we have pursued. What we want to see is Welsh farmers leading the way, Welsh farmers planting trees and ownership remaining local.
Mark Drakeford: If every farmer in Wales were to plant 25 hectares of woodland, so, not the first solution that the Member—. Sorry, 5 hectares of woodland, I beg your pardon. If every farmer planted 5 hectares of woodland—mixed woodland, broadleaved woodland for carbon capture and productive woodland for house building here in Wales—we'd be well on our way to reaching the targets that we have to reach...
Mark Drakeford: Well, of course, Llywydd, any information that helps us to see the scale of the problem will be helpful. The information that I have goes like this:
Mark Drakeford: In the first 10 windows of the Glastir woodland creation scheme, there were 1,121 beneficiaries. Thirty five of those had addresses outside Wales, and amongst those 35 are organisations like the Woodland Trust. Now, if there is further information that is available through the farming unions, then of course that would be very helpful, and I look forward to receiving it.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, there is a timetable in place, it's the timetable drawn up by the non-devolved Coal Authority, acting under the direction of the committee that I jointly chair with the Secretary of State for Wales. I don't need any lessons from the leader of the opposition here about working with others when I co-chair the group with the Secretary of State that has overseen this work. We have...
