Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:48 pm on 15 October 2019.
Can I call for two statements from the Welsh Government? The first one is from the Minister for Health and Social Services, and it's in relation to secondary breast cancer and awareness of secondary breast cancer. The thirteenth of October, last Sunday, marked Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day, and I don't know if you're familiar with details about secondary breast cancer, but the reality is that there are thousands of people in Wales who are living with secondary breast cancer and, unfortunately, many of those will have experienced significant delays in diagnosis. According to statistics, it suggests that about one in three patients have to visit their GP more than three times in order to secure a diagnosis; one in four have expressed concerns about access to treatment; and one in three are not allocated a clinical nurse specialist, even once they've been diagnosed. So, clearly there needs to be some action on this front, and it would be good to have a statement from the Welsh Government about what action is being taken in order to address those particular concerns.
Can I also call for a statement from the Minister for the Environment and Rural Affairs in relation to Old Colwyn's sea defences? I know that I've raised this matter on many occasions over the years in this Chamber, but you'll be aware that Conwy County Borough Council are trying to revisit the situation and to evaluate the current state of those sea defences. They have warned that the sea defences are at risk of catastrophic collapse. We know that those sea defences are right alongside the A55 and the north Wales railway line, and, in addition, they protect a significant part of the sewerage network in the Old Colwyn area. I think it's absolutely essential that we get to grips with the issue that is there in Old Colwyn, so that we can have those sea defences properly reinforced rather than the patch repairs that are done on an occasional basis by the local authority at the moment. I know that the budget round is coming up, and I think that may give scope for a big infrastructure project in places like Old Colwyn in order to protect that part of the coastline from collapse. I wonder whether we could have a statement on the readiness of the Welsh Government to address this particular problem in my constituency.