James Evans: 2. Will the First Minister provide an update on the work the Welsh Government is doing to improve health services in Brecon and Radnorshire? OQ58044
James Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. I move the amendment tabled in the name of my colleague Darren Millar. I'm extremely grateful for Plaid Cymru bringing forward this important debate on a pressing issue that we all face here in Wales. The last contribution was very powerful and I thank you for that contribution. This debate on alcohol-related deaths highlights the number of alcohol-related deaths in Wales....
James Evans: What we want to see is timescales. We're not seeing adequate timescales for delivery on these things. We're seeing the surgical hubs some of us don't have; we're not seeing when surgical hubs are going to be delivered right the way across Wales. There's no time frame for that—it's in the plan. We're not seeing where all this money is actually going to be invested. We want to see that so...
James Evans: Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. I want to start this by thanking everybody in this Chamber who has contributed to this very important debate today. This debate is of vital importance to the people of Wales. I know personally about this waiting list, because my mother had been waiting four years for a hip operation, in excruciating pain, but I'm pleased to say that she has now been treated. As my...
James Evans: I'd like to thank the Minister for his answer. Many communities and towns right across rural mid Wales—that's in Brecon and Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire and in Ceredigion—would really benefit from an area of an enterprise zone so that they could have better growth opportunities for the businesses that live there, better planning decisions for the people who are there, a better business...
James Evans: Definitely, and thank you for your answer, Deputy Minister. It's very important that you work very closely with the Minister for education around that to make sure that our young people are educated in schools around that. And you talked about accessing support, and many of those young people who are struggling need the appropriate support through their troubles, but a lot of that, Minister,...
James Evans: Diolch, Deputy Minister. Body dysmorphia is a huge problem facing many people across the country. Many young people cite the problem of the consistent bombardment on social media of highly edited images and filtering, giving many young people a warped perception of what is reality. The online safety and harms Bill proposed by the UK Government will hopefully go some way to addressing these...
James Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. Deputy Minister, this week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and I'm sure that you'd like to join me and others in this Chamber in recognising the importance of this week of raising the profiles of those struggling with their mental health, and to help those to access the support that they need from organisations whom they need to hear so we don't have people across Wales...
James Evans: 10. What plans does the Welsh Government have to develop an enterprise zone in rural mid Wales? OQ58019
James Evans: Diolch, and I'd like to thank you, First Minister, for your answer. First Minister, degree apprenticeships are vitally important to fill in the gaps in our workforce, whether that's in the NHS and social care, construction, engineering, to name but a few. In late 2020 the economy committee made a number of recommendations, including one to enable, fund and support more formal structures or...
James Evans: 6. Will the First Minister provide an update on what work the Welsh Government is doing to increase the number of degree apprenticeships across Wales? OQ57986
James Evans: Will you take an intervention?
James Evans: Do you not agree with me that the reason that the Conservative Government had to take prudent measures to get the public finances back in order is because the Welsh Government and the Labour Government at the time left this country in a poor financial state? As the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said, there was no money left.
James Evans: The tourism sector in Wales is of significant importance to the Welsh economy and to the people who live and work here in Wales. Tourism plays a huge part in my constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire, from Ystradgynlais to Llanbadarn Fynydd, the town of books in Hay-on-Wye, the Greenman festival. I could go on, because Brecon and Radnor is the tourism hub of Wales. Too many people in this...
James Evans: Minister, the war in Ukraine has really highlighted just how fragile the global supply chains are around the world, and, as my colleague the leader of the opposition mentioned yesterday, farmers are facing huge pressures with regard to rising costs of red diesel, fertiliser prices, and feed to actually feed their animals. Minister, this is a huge problem. The first job of any good Government...
James Evans: It doesn't matter. [Laughter.] Let's move on—[Inaudible.]
James Evans: I've got three questions and I'll make them very quick. Minister, you talk about recruitment. Dentists and nurses are extremely hard to recruit, especially in places like Brecon and Radnorshire, so do you think that the NHS degree apprenticeships are something that you would bring in to actually try and get more people into the NHS? I'd like to have a comment on that, please. The additional...
James Evans: Will the First Minister provide an update on what work the Welsh Government is doing to attract major sporting events to Wales?
James Evans: Will you take on intervention?
James Evans: Do you agree with me, Rhun, that it's the job of the Welsh Government to make sure that we can actually invest in that workforce and get more people into becoming pharmacists by offering a degree apprenticeship into the pharmacy route, and that that's something that the Welsh Government should pursue with urgent pace?
