Andrew RT Davies: But I would like to start with the comments that I raised with the First Minister in the First Minister's question session that we had this afternoon. The one overriding narrative that has dominated the last 12 months has been the NHS waiting times, and the scale of that challenge has got deeper and darker as each week and each month has passed, with 700,000 people on a waiting list today...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I formally move the amendment in the name of Darren Millar on the order paper this afternoon. And, before I start my contribution, I'd also like to put on record, over the last 12 months, my group's sincere thanks to all the NHS and public workers who have worked tirelessly in the COVID pandemic that we continue to face today. I know we'll disagree on policy...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, if you want to debate the Conservative leadership contest, I'll happily provide you with a membership form and you can come to the hustings. I will also—[Interruption.] I will also quite happily sit on any tv platform and debate with you on the merits of that. And I can hear the front bench shouting. The figures I've put to the First Minister, that 68,500 people are waiting...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for the explanation on the tie, First Minister. It's always good to have a bit of good news in this Chamber. But there is another way, because as we've seen in England with two-year waits, those figures peaked at 23,000 waiting two years or more out of a population of 57 million; they now stand at 12,000, or just over 12,000. I accept the pressures on the NHS and staff in particular...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Could I comment on the First Minister's tie? Looking very loud today, with a knot at the top of it, which isn't usual for the First Minister, in fairness. Perhaps it's the end-of-term feeling that he has. [Laughter.] I'd just like to ask the First Minister, if I may, on NHS waiting times. If we were standing here this time last year, the two-year-wait figure for...
Andrew RT Davies: So, I'll touch on the five Bills that the First Minister has highlighted, and rather than looking backwards, looking forward to what the First Minister's Government will be bringing forward in the next legislative session. And the clean air Bill, which he and I have spoken about many times in this Chamber, does now seem to be seeing the light of day, which is something to be welcomed. I have...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, First Minister, for your statement this afternoon, and I do put on record my thanks to the Government lawyers and the Senedd lawyers who do assist us in our scrutiny of legislation and bringing that legislation forward. We can disagree on the policy positions, but, ultimately, a great deal of legal brain power goes into these pieces of legislation. The reason legislation is so...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, the Government in 2015 made that commitment to, obviously, phase out the use of B&Bs, hostels and budget hotels. Do you still stand by that commitment? I appreciate that seven years have passed, but is it still a Government priority to stick to that commitment? And if it is a Government priority to keep that commitment, will you commit today, in the time that you have left as...
Andrew RT Davies: I'm grateful for that answer, First Minister, but the fact of the matter is that a pledge was made seven years ago, in 2015, and some of the answer that you gave me today about highlighting good practice in local authorities such as Carmarthenshire, such as Neath Port Talbot, was highlighted as part of the Government statement at that time about how you drive good practice through local...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Could I just send a warm welcome to colleagues in the gallery from Pakistan, who are attending from one of the regional assemblies and watching our proceedings today? First Minister, why has the Welsh Government failed in its commitment, made some seven years ago, to eliminate the use of B&Bs for young people in the care sector here in Wales?
Andrew RT Davies: I’ve read on the order paper your amendment, but I don’t think, under the rules of the competition, we could enter it, just like the Basque Country couldn’t enter, and Spain is the representative of the Spanish entry to the competition. So, the rules do not permit that amendment to actually be enacted.
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Minister, for that response. The waiting times are horrendous for eye treatments anywhere in Wales. And there are difficulties across the United Kingdom; I accept that, Minister. Dr Williams highlights three points that he believes need dramatic intervention on behalf of the Government, working with health boards. The first is, obviously, changing working practices and actually...
Andrew RT Davies: Minister, abandonment of pets is a big issue and it always has been a big issue. For some residents of homes, they have to abandon their companion animals because in the rented sector, some landlords say that no pets are allowed. In Westminster, they are bringing through a piece of legislation that will rule that out and make it illegal for landlords to insist that pets cannot be taken into...
Andrew RT Davies: 2. Will the Minister make a statement on the warning by Dr Gwyn Williams, of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, that a tide of avoidable blindness could sweep Wales if eye care services are not reformed? TQ647
Andrew RT Davies: Will the Minister take an intervention?
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for taking the intervention, Minister. Last week, I intervened about the provisions regarding higher education institutions and the provisions that could force amalgamations of those institutions with the provisions that are contained in the Bill. Could you give an assurance that only in exceptional circumstances that those provisions would be enacted by the Minister, and that it is...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, the point I'm making to you is that you took the plaudits, and rightly took the plaudits, that you identified yourself as a supersponsor Government for refugees coming from the horrors that we are seeing in Ukraine, and we all want to play our part. But you have to identify the resources to marry up to the demand. Now, you have indicated, in your own words, that at the moment...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you for that response, First Minister. I’m in agreement with you that the centres offer that initial support, that initial sense of safety and sanctuary after coming from such turmoil as there is in Ukraine. But what’s really important is to understand how the Government are now identifying the additional resources that will be required to cater for people beyond the initial...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, two weeks ago, the Government announced that it was temporarily suspending its Ukrainian refugee scheme of being the supersponsor for refugees coming to Wales, a scheme that we welcomed when it was officially brought before the Welsh people to show what we could be doing in this part of the UK to help refugees coming out of Ukraine. Yesterday we...
Andrew RT Davies: Will the Minister take an intervention?
