2. Statement by the First Minister: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:33 pm on 22 April 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:33, 22 April 2020

Llywydd, thanks to Leanne Wood for those questions. I entirely share her concerns about grass fires. We work very hard with the fire and rescue service. I'll make sure that we convey to them the point that she makes about community involvement, because that's a service we would have to rely on to carry that out. But, at a time when we need the fire and rescue service to be assisting our ambulance service, with everything that they are assisting us with in the coronavirus crisis, it is just completely wrong that people are having to deal with events that need never have happened. We've said in the past, as you know—it's often been said that it's young people, it's children who do these things—there is evidence that these are adults who are causing these grass fires, people who really ought to know better. And I thank Leanne for that point about community involvement, and we'll make sure that the fire and rescue service get that message.

On supermarkets, let me just be clear: there was no delay in getting supermarkets the information. There was a considerable delay in some supermarkets taking down off their websites the notice that said they were waiting for the information. They'd had the information for several days, many days in some cases, before they managed to take that notice down. They'd had that information from us. But again, to be clear, it is people in the shielded group—it's not that wider group of people who have other vulnerabilities who are being prioritised through the agreement that we have with the supermarkets, and that's exactly the same in every other part of the United Kingdom. So, all the supermarkets have the data of who are in the shielded group. Where people are being added to the shielded group, as they are because of general practitioners adding names, supermarkets are getting that additional information as well. Lesley Griffiths meets the supermarkets on a weekly basis. They, too, want to extend the number of slots they have available, but increasing their capacity is something that just can't be turned on overnight.

Where there are people who cannot get home delivery via the supermarkets, and where they have a real need, because they can't rely on anybody else to do it for them, that's where local authorities have been stepping in with the volunteers that we referred to earlier. And where any Assembly Member has an individual or a family not able to access the shielded slots for supermarkets but still in need of assistance, it's to the hubs that local authorities have created that we should go, and we've got real evidence of them being able to mobilise help where it is needed.

And as for key workers, I think Leanne said that she'd written today, so I will look out for her letter, and then respond when I've had a chance to consider what she has said in it.