Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:18 pm on 16 September 2020.
Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon. I think it is a slight variation on the statement that was issued earlier in the day, and so I look forward to reading the detailed statement that you've just given to Plenary this afternoon. I do notice that, in the remarks in the statement that was issued earlier and the one that you addressed to the Chamber, the word 'lockdown' was not used at all, yet if you go on to any social media platform or mainstream media, the word screaming out at you is that RCT has gone into 'lockdown'. I presume this is a deliberate change of language from the Minister and his officials, because most people associate the word 'lockdown' with, obviously, the national lockdown that happened in March, and obviously these new controls are nowhere near as severe as those introduced at the national lockdown. But I'd be grateful if you could clarify exactly why the word 'lockdown' hasn't been used by you, and if it is a word that the Welsh Government are trying to avoid, then what liaisons have you had with the media and other outlets to try and phrase the language so that people who are affected by these new restrictions can get first-class information and can adhere to the requests that you are making of them. Because, as you said in your statement, it's quite clearly down to personal responsibility and people responding to the requests—the virus has not gone away and there are actions that they need to take.
And with that first-class information that needs to be conveyed, I do regret that local Members were not taken into confidence about this announcement today. As I understand it, obviously Welsh Government chose to put itself up to the press conference last night, so I assume this announcement was, well in advance, considered by Welsh Government, and I think it would have been most helpful if local Members could have been taken into confidence or, if some local Members were taken into confidence, why not all local Members? Could you confirm who exactly did have a briefing prior to this announcement in the press conference at 12.30 p.m.? Two simple requests that have come into my office since this announcement: a lady who is enjoying a holiday in Tenby, for example, with her family now wonders whether she needs to be back in Aberdare before 6 o'clock tomorrow night. Well, clearly, I don't think that's the case because these are local restrictions. Another request that came in was about driving lessons and driving tests, because they're using the Merthyr test centre—would they be able to undertake the test now in Merthyr because they live in Aberdare. Those are just two very simple things for which, as a local Member, I certainly would have benefited from some form of briefing from officials so that I could have requested a more detailed briefing and understand it so that I could convey proper, sound information back to constituents, so that people don't end up falling foul through misinformation. I wonder whether such a briefing could be furnished in the coming days to local Members so that they can obviously assist their constituents.
I'd also like to try to understand—in your statement, you say that, in the next two weeks, the new restrictions will be reviewed. What will be the threshold that you will be looking for that would lighten the load on some of these restrictions and start a rollback from the RCT area to get back to, maybe, what other parts of Wales comply with at the moment? I think it's important that people understand, whilst these restrictions come in at 6 o'clock tomorrow night, what we are aiming for in the next two weeks and what the numbers are that you as a Minister and your officials will be looking at to make sure that that is the case.
My final request to you is: in England information obviously is power in making these decisions and, in England, it is published on a local authority basis on a weekly level and, especially by ward level, that information is made available in council areas. You go out here today into the Bay area and you see people enjoying the late-summer sun that we're enjoying at the moment, and you wouldn't say there was a care in the world, yet just a couple of miles from here, two areas are under severe restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak. Wouldn't it be a good use of information to make that available, as England do, on a ward-by-ward basis so people can understand the level of infection that is circulating in their community and can make sure that they are doing all they can to support their community in bearing down on this virus? If it can be done in England, why can't it be done in Wales? I hope you will give us a positive response in your answer.