2. 2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 26 September 2017.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 2:36, 26 September 2017

Could I first of all begin by echoing Mike Hedges’s call for either a statement, or actually a debate, I think, on the issue of cavity wall insulation? When it’s done well, it can really transform homes for the better. When it’s done poorly—and I suspect probably every Assembly Member in this place will now have instances of poor installation—it is a disaster. I have one constituent from a family of no great means but their only investment is their home. Their home was great, they’d invested a lot of money into it, until they were advised on a Government-backed scheme to actually invest in cavity wall insulation. It has destroyed their house and it has destroyed their family around it and it’s terrible to behold. And it’s not the only one. In a statement by the Cabinet Secretary, which we welcomed, back in June or July, she mentioned that 2,000 claims had been made under the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency’s advice, against 300,000—that’s one in 150. If there were one in 150 cars breaking down, or one in 150 cans of beans rife with mould that you picked up from a supermarket, there’d be an outcry. So, I think we do need this. I’d welcome the opportunity to have a full debate to see how widespread this issue really is—and the simple fact that CIGA are not paying the amount of compensation that goes anywhere near the repair of homes.

Could I also ask for the opportunity for a statement or a debate on the issue of the growing treatments of Botox and other such treatments that sometimes are being carried out in training courses by unqualified, unregistered, unregulated practitioners? And I say this because a GP in my constituency, out of interest, went to attend one of these, and it was in the kitchen of the individual who was carrying out the training while the dog was running around with no proper medical knowledge whatsoever, and they were offering certificates in how to inject Botox into people’s faces.

But, finally, could I ask the simplest one of all? Could I ask the Minister for a statement—and it’s very parochial—on the 17:19 service from Cardiff Central to Maesteg? It is regularly late by over half an hour. Last night, it was late by over 36 minutes leaving. It was the pattern for the rest of the night. It is the service that always falls to bits. Could we have a statement on what the heck is happening there?