Lesley Griffiths: Local authorities are the admission authorities for the majority of schools. Admission authorities are responsible for setting admission arrangements and any oversubscription criteria, and ensuring they are implemented properly and applied fairly. In undertaking their school admissions functions, admission authorities must act in accordance with the school admissions code.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. We certainly have seen retired clinicians, and also volunteers and nurses, help us with the amazing vaccine roll-out programme here in Wales, and I’m sure it’s something that can be considered by health boards as we come out of the pandemic and look at that backlog, and clearly there is a backlog. There are lots of harms from COVID, not just the vaccine itself, and one of them...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Alun Davies raises a very important point that I'm sure that we all recognise from our Member of the Senedd postbags. The Minister for Health and Social Services, along with the general practitioners committee Wales and health boards, is due to write, I think probably this week, to reiterate to general practitioners what exactly is expected from them in terms of access and how they...
Lesley Griffiths: Primary care and out-patient departments across Wales have adopted new measures to protect staff and patients. They are providing a wide range of options for patients to access services through the use of digital technology and via face-to-face consultations where it is appropriate.
Lesley Griffiths: The Member certainly raises some very sad statistics in his contribution. I'm not quite sure whether the road you refer to is part of that A40 scheme, but, clearly, that is under way. You'll be aware of the review that the Deputy Minister for Climate Change is undertaking in relation to roads. I'm aware that the chair of the panel is due to be announced before summer recess—before the end...
Lesley Griffiths: Certainly, my briefing tells me that there are excavators on the ground—Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd entered into the contract in the middle of last month—but I will certainly ask the Minister to write to you with the specific location.
Lesley Griffiths: We are improving the A40 between Llanddewi Velfrey and Redstone Cross. The contractor has commenced on site, carrying out preparatory ecological and ground investigation survey works. For this financial year, we have also provided over £5.5 million to Carmarthenshire and £3.7 million to Pembrokeshire councils via our local transport fund.
Lesley Griffiths: I think that's a very important point, because we want people to self-isolate, don't we, so it is really important that we are able to support them as best we can. Obviously, north Wales businesses have received a significant amount of funding, particularly from the unique-to-Wales economic resilience fund. I'm not aware of any discussions that the Minister for Economy is having in relation...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Obviously, I'm very aware of the outstanding industrial heritage that we have in our part of north-east Wales and right across north Wales. I'm sure you're aware that officials in Cadw have been a key part of the group that's been looking at the nomination for the slate landscape of north-west Wales. It's been nominated as a world heritage site and I understand that there's a...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. You raise a very important point around balance. I should say that the new national park was in the Labour Party manifesto on which we were elected in May. I have to say, and I'm sure Llyr will agree with this, certainly on the doorstep, it was something that people wanted to talk about, so I think people are excited about it. But you are absolutely right; we do need to get that...
Lesley Griffiths: I'm not aware of the letter to which you refer. I am assuming it's addressed to the First Minister and the First Minister will obviously respond to that. But just let me say that the NHS in Wales has worked incredibly hard throughout this pandemic, and we as a Government have done all we can to support them—if you think about the millions and millions and millions of pieces of PPE we...
Lesley Griffiths: Diolch. We published our tourism recovery plan, 'Let's Shape the Future', earlier this year. The plan outlines an approach to partnership working to reconstruct a resilient future for our visitor economy. Financial support packages and a return to proactive Visit Wales marketing will support the sector through the coming months.
Lesley Griffiths: As I say, I don't think I can say any more. The First Minister made it very clear that he thinks a UK inquiry is the best, for the interdependencies that I've just explained. I don't think you can ever accuse the First Minister, or any other of my ministerial colleagues, of not being open to scrutiny. We sat all last year. When the UK Government didn't sit, we were sitting; you were able to...
Lesley Griffiths: I do think the inquiry needs to be sooner rather than later. I don't think it's ducking scrutiny; I'm sure the spotlight will be very firmly on all four nations. I don't think I can add anything in relation to the First Minister's view to what I said in my answers to Andrew R.T. Davies. Clearly, within Wales, we've done a review. The health Minister has led, within her department—or...
Lesley Griffiths: Well, I disagree with you completely. The First Minister has made it very clear that he would expect certain chapters of that inquiry, obviously, to have a specific focus on Wales. But I go back to what I was saying—you can't just do it in isolation. There are too many interdependencies to do that. The First Minister has committed to having a UK-wide inquiry, and I absolutely believe that...
Lesley Griffiths: No, I won't. You'll have heard the First Minister say many times—and I know the First Minister in his answers to you in the Chamber has said this—that he's agreed to a UK, four-nation inquiry. He's had discussions with senior Ministers—I think the Prime Minister himself—in the UK Government. If we had our own inquiry, we wouldn't be able to look at so many of the interdependencies...
Lesley Griffiths: Well, I think the first thing to say is, obviously, far too many people have died of the COVID-19 pandemic, and far too families and friends are grieving at the moment. We have done everything we can, obviously, as have the hospitals and care homes themselves, to keep the virus out, but, of course, it doesn't stop at the door of hospitals, it doesn't stop at the door of care homes. There's no...
Lesley Griffiths: I don't agree with Siân Gwenllian. We're very committed to supporting all our young people, and our childcare offer provides 30 hours of early education and childcare to three and four-year-olds whose parents work, for instance, for 48 weeks of the year. In our programme for government, we've already committed to fund childcare for more parents in education and training, and, of course, to...
Lesley Griffiths: Well, obviously, I can't make that commitment today, but the relevant Minister will be in the Chamber, either physically or virtually, and will hear your request. Obesity and tackling obesity is something that the Welsh Government takes very seriously and has been a priority, and we have schemes to encourage healthy eating in particular. I think the point you make around sport is very...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. We do recognise that parents—and that, of course, includes lone parents—and their children may need additional support following the coronavirus pandemic. The type of support needed may vary, so I would encourage anyone who does need support to contact their local family information service so that they can be signposted to the correct support and advice within their local...
