4. 3. Statement: The Public Health (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:32 pm on 8 November 2016.

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Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 3:32, 8 November 2016

Minister, many questions have already been asked, and I support fully Julie Morgan’s points on public toilets. I think we need to ensure that the strategy is actually implemented, and that people have access to all facilities. And if there aren’t any there, that they can’t simply say, ‘We can’t afford it’, but that they do something about it because it’s critical that those facilities are available. And signposting to those facilities in the towns is also critical. My simple comment, as someone who sat through the previous incarnation of the Bill, is that I’m very pleased to see the nicotine aspect of registers, because nicotine is an addictive chemical and it’s clearly important to register those as well as tobacco. It’s therefore important because we wouldn’t want anybody selling that type of product, considering the implications that that addiction could have.

Just one point. One of the things we were held up on is the cosmetic procedures issue. We were told very carefully that the 2013 Sir Bruce Keogh report was instrumental in looking at this, and it has been done, it’s been reported on. What are you doing to actually look at whether recommendations from that report to the UK Government can be implemented in this Bill, so that we do cosmetic procedures? I know that there was very deep concern about some of the procedures that did pierce the skin, but were not included in here, and therefore could be under that umbrella, but also had perhaps some serious implications for people, because there is a desire in many young people today to have different looks and cosmetic procedures. Therefore, we need to ensure that all cosmetic procedures are carefully regulated to ensure that young people don’t come across a situation where they face a terrible life ahead of them because they took the wrong decision and there was no regulation in place.