Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member; that it is an important point. I met recently with a very successful third sector organisation in the field of mental health, together with the Minister, Lynne Neagle. And the point that we discussed there is one that I know I have rehearsed many times here in the Senedd, that the reason why young people sometimes wait too long is because there are too many people in the...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Jane Dodds for those questions, and, of course, I agree about the importance of mental health, particularly among young people, as I've said more than once on the Senedd floor. Every time I meet groups of young people, mental well-being arises every time. There is one point in the co-operation between us and Plaid Cymru on mental health. That's something specific, and the Minister...
Mark Drakeford: When the draft budget is laid, Llywydd, Members will be able to see, I believe, continued investment in the broader field of mental health, including emergency and crisis services that go beyond the specific part of mental health that we've been able to agree as part of our co-operation agreement. And I hope that when the Member sees the budget, she will recognise the impact that she and...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Llyr Gruffydd for the comments. We only have 30 votes in the Labour Party on the floor of the Senedd, and if we do want to press ahead with radical and ambitious issues, that's not adequate. And that's why the agreement is important, because it does focus on the areas that are difficult to press ahead with without more support.
Mark Drakeford: That is exactly why I have believed that an agreement was so important. I remember saying to the leader of Plaid Cymru, in one of our very first discussions, that I wasn't particularly attracted to an agreement on easy things, because easy things we can probably do anyway. What I wanted was an agreement on difficult things, challenging things, where, if we couldn't form an agreement, the...
Mark Drakeford: I’m afraid, Llywydd, there’s a fundamental misunderstanding from the Member about what we have agreed. It is not that there is no change to the policy—it is that there is no change to the regulations that were passed on the floor of this Senedd towards the end of the last term. Those regulations remain on the statute book and we will not be revoking them. But, of course we will listen...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Vikki Howells for those questions. She’s absolutely right; vaccination, while it is the single most important defence we have, is by no means the only one. It's those simple things that we’ve learned to do in our own lives—the face coverings, the social distancing, hand washing, just being respectful of other people. If you’re out and about and there’s a lot of other people...
Mark Drakeford: Seventy-five per cent of the programme for government is, indeed, outside the agreement, and there will be days when we have differences of views on many of those items, but that's exactly what we recognised would happen when we started off on the journey to create the agreement we were able to sign last week. This may be relatively novel here, in the sense that it's the latest manifestation...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Adam Price for those comments. Of course, I agree with what he said about the spirit of the programme that we've agreed together. Where we can co-operate, it's important that we do co-operate, and that's been part of the history of devolution here in Wales from the outset. What we've agreed in this term is something new—something that we've created together here in Wales—but it's...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I thank the leader of the Welsh Conservatives for those detailed questions, and can I thank him for the way he began, for his support for the call for people to come forward for vaccination? Every single Member of the Senedd has a reach into our own communities. We regularly publish things; we're always trying to communicate with people who vote in our localities, and anything any one...
Mark Drakeford: Vaccination remains our strongest defence against this cruel virus. By this time next week, a million people in Wales will already have received a third, booster dose. But there are still too many people yet to take up the offer of vaccination, and if there is one message that I would like to convey today, it has to be this: when you receive your invitation for a vaccine, whether it’s your...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I make this statement as we continue to respond to the pandemic, including to the latest adverse developments in order to meet our overriding priority in the programme for government, and that is to keep Wales safe at a time of a global public health crisis. This week marks a year since vaccinations became available. Since then, more than 5.5 million doses have been given to adults...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, our programme for government for this term was published within weeks of the elections in May, and I made a statement to the Senedd on 15 June. The programme was published early, so that we could make a start on the radical and ambitious policies that we need as we face the unique combination of the ongoing pandemic, the aftermath of Brexit and the challenge of climate change. We...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I think that where there are businesses—and I know that Technovent in Bridgend, which is, I'm sure, well known to the Member, is one of those businesses that has expressed such an interest—of course where there are businesses that decide that it's in their commercial interest to move in that direction now, the Welsh Government would be keen to support them. In general, as Luke...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, regular discussion takes place between the Welsh Government and the future generations commissioner's office on a range of issues, and that includes the case for a four-day working week.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Carolyn Thomas for that, and she's right to point to the complexity of planning transport services over a geography that includes urban concentrations, but many, many rural areas as well. As the Member knows, the Welsh Government will bring forward legislation during this Senedd term to reform bus services across Wales, making sure that they are organised and delivered in line with...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that, Llywydd. Transport for Wales is working with the local authorities in north Wales to prepare a comprehensive plan to improve local bus services as part of our recent announcement to create a fully integrated public transport metro network across the area.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for another very important question this afternoon. Those were disturbing figures that were published and, as ever, it is very difficult to distinguish between the success that organisations on the ground have had in persuading more people to come forward and to report crimes of domestic abuse from the actual increase that we know has been there as a result of the pandemic,...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, public consultation begins today on the Welsh Government's next five-year strategy for eliminating violence against women, and there'll be a statement later this afternoon from my colleague Jane Hutt. Amongst other actions, it focuses on bringing together all agencies in Wales to challenge attitudes and behaviours and improve the trust of women in the help available to them.
Mark Drakeford: as Rhun ap Iorwerth was saying
