Carolyn Thomas: Minister, I welcome that flood risk is a priority for Government. It's frightening and devastating, and I welcome this package of funding as well for it. Many of our old drainage systems cannot take the amount of monsoon-type rainfall we're experiencing more frequently, and roadside gullies and drainage systems need emptying more frequently. Plus, the responsibility of ditches, culverts and...
Carolyn Thomas: Minister, very often with these announcements, you can't put them into reality until you actually visit a facility, I think, and I visited Marleyfield House in Buckley last year. The capacity has doubled and been designed with reablement in mind, so patients can leave hospital, build up strength before moving on to their own home. It's fantastic. Each room has balconies overlooking Hope...
Carolyn Thomas: Okay, fine. I will write to the Minister with the other one. [Laughter.]
Carolyn Thomas: Okay. So, I encouraged my son to learn when it was free. We would not have had access otherwise to that music service, and he would never have had the chance to learn because we couldn't have afforded it. So, will it really be free for people to try? And also, he learnt the trombone because it was the only instrument left for him to try, but he stuck with it and managed to do it to grade 8....
Carolyn Thomas: This is music to my ears, this announcement. [Laughter.] I'd also like to pay tribute to Rhianon Passmore, who has been instrumental in championing this. I learned music through a recorder at school, and then stuck notes on my grandmother's piano so that I could learn on her piano as well. And people learned through the colliery brass bands, didn't they, at one time. My son learned through...
Carolyn Thomas: —which is what has impacted on not only social care services, but services that are able to be provided through local authorities, preventative services, all sorts of things and help to people. Do you not agree with that, Sam Rowlands?
Carolyn Thomas: Will you take an intervention?
Carolyn Thomas: Thank you. We've talked about—. Over the last 10 years, we've had cuts in public service funding, which has impacted on the money that's been available to social care through the councils. We've talked about not being able to move people on—[Interruption.] No, the UK Tory Government have cut public service funding under 10 years of austerity, which has impacted—
Carolyn Thomas: Thank you for that answer, Minister. I've been contacted by a resident who's been waiting for an orthopaedic consultant for nearly two years, during which time their arthritis has moved from moderate to severe. The resident is understandably concerned that longer waiting times for elective surgery will mean their condition will continue to worsen. They've received conflicting advice from...
Carolyn Thomas: 3. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to deal with the backlog of elective surgery in North Wales? OQ58010
Carolyn Thomas: I'm pleased to say that Labour won more than all other parties combined in England, but the real success for Labour is here in Wales, where the First Minister runs a popular and progressive Government, and nearly half of all Labour gains across the whole of the UK were here in Wales, which is fantastic. I'd like to congratulate all new councillors and hope they enjoy the important role as...
Carolyn Thomas: What steps is the Welsh Government taking to promote employment in the public sector?
Carolyn Thomas: I think the Welsh Conservatives have a lot of audacity bringing the debate forward, blaming the Welsh Government for poor stewardship of the Welsh economy. The Conservative UK Government has cut public service funding under austerity. Public services are one of the biggest employers in Wales. This current UK Government's push for Brexit then created a mountain of bureaucracy and cost for...
Carolyn Thomas: Thank you. It's just that my name was mentioned earlier on. Could you just repeat what you said, because I want to just clarify that, please, for the record?
Carolyn Thomas: That's not what you said. You said I was against Welsh Labour policy. So, thank you for correcting that. That's fine.
Carolyn Thomas: Sorry, but it's with the WLGA as well. Thank you. Not Welsh Labour.
Carolyn Thomas: —and it's the UK Tory Government that needs to step up and provide the funding needed as a matter of urgency for public services, not cut them. Thank you.
Carolyn Thomas: I was referring to the rugby club, so that's what I know about, but I do know about the Queen's buildings too. All this funding is really important, whether it's European funding, Welsh Government funding, funding from the UK Government as well. It's really important to enable facilities for our residents, so I can agree with you. Welsh Government has also funded learning hubs. I visited Tŷ...
Carolyn Thomas: Yes, sure, Gareth.
Carolyn Thomas: Can I declare I'm a Flintshire councillor, for the last day? When you walk around the community I'm proud to be part of, you can see what has been achieved thanks to the policies and investment of the Welsh Labour Government working with Labour-led Flintshire council: twenty-first century schools, extended new nursery provision, investment in community buildings, new social housing, council...
