Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:40 pm on 1 April 2020.
Can I just start by placing on record my heartfelt thanks to the NHS staff in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area and the local authority staff? Members will have seen that we have been very much at the epicentre of the outbreak in Wales, and I am really grateful to everyone, and I include people like our shop workers, who are supporting everybody within the community.
I've got a few questions for the First Minister, the first was on the issue of access to online shopping. As the First Minister knows, this has been raised with me many times by constituents because of the decision to go ahead on an England-only basis with a registration scheme for vulnerable shoppers. I hear what you said in answer to Paul Davies about the steps that are being taken to resolve this. I think it is vital it's resolved, because, as helpful as food parcels are, many people will simply want to do their online shopping. So, are you able to provide some kind of timescale for when you expect there to be a similar system in place in Wales to that which is currently in place in England?
I'd like to just clarify—you've referred to the local authority hubs—if there are people who aren't in the extremely vulnerable group, but who cannot, for some reason, find somebody to help with shopping and maybe they're inside with symptoms or whatever, is it your expectation that local authorities will provide assistance to those people if they're not on the list for food parcels?
And then, I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about vulnerable children and young people. I'm talking about vulnerable children and young people in the wider sense, whether they are in school, whether they are vulnerable because of safeguarding issues or health problems. I'd like to ask what steps you are taking to ensure that the needs of vulnerable children are being closely monitored throughout this process. We know that for some children home is not a refuge, and we need to make sure that these children don't slip through the net.
And then my final question to the First Minister relates to the excellent work that's ongoing to support the families of key workers and some of our vulnerable children in a school setting. I do, again, thank all of the people who are helping with that. Can I just ask the First Minister for some assurances about how sustainable those arrangements are going to be, going forward, especially as we reach the peak of this epidemic? Thank you.