Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:33 pm on 22 November 2016.
I thank the Member for raising that for particular attention. I’ll start with your point on special leave. These are, broadly, public servants who go out and undertake these international learning opportunities—not just public servants, though. As I was leaving, a new group came in, and one was a counsellor who had taken time out of their public duties to go, and another was from the International Red Cross. So, you had different groups of people, but the special leave policy is really important to allow people to undertake those opportunities and to come back with, actually, sometimes new skills but certainly new and renewed commitment to public service and they people they work for and serve.
You’re right to highlight Angela Gorman’s role. I met her before coming to this place. Dawn Bowden will know Angela Gorman is a Unison member, and I met her as a representative within that particular trade union some years ago, when she had just started getting engaged within this particular programme. And you could see the difference it made to her about making an even bigger difference in another part of the world. Part of the reason why we supported the motorbike ambulance programme was that it allowed and enabled women to move from where they were to actually go to a delivery unit somewhere. And actually, that’s significantly improved outcomes for women and babies in that part of the world, and it’s actually been taken on and funded by some of the local district authorities because they recognise the significant benefit it had brought. There’s something there about not simply encouraging groups here with some money to help them to develop, but also, the impact of our programme means, sometimes, starting and then encouraging local partners with their own responsibilities to sustain that service themselves. That’s part of what I was referring to in making choices, about how those people need to make their own choice about their own resources and responsibilities as well, but it’s got to be a genuine partnership for it to be meaningful. So, I’m more than happy to recognise and reinforce the points the Member makes.