1. What evaluation has the First Minister made of the Welsh Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic? OQ56088

Llywydd, throughout this unprecedented crisis the Welsh Government has acted to save lives and livelihoods. We continue to monitor and review the actions we take to keep Wales safe in line with the latest clinical and scientific advice.

Thanks for that response. We have had a lower vaccination rate than the other parts of the UK so far. The rate in England is about 3.5 per cent of the population, while in Wales it has been 2.7 per cent. Although you have tried to play down this difference, it does amount to an extra 25,000 people who could have been vaccinated in Wales if you and your health Minister had been on the ball. Given that your health Minister has not even set foot in an NHS hospital in recent months because he is worried that he will be getting in the way, does he now need to resign so that he isn't getting in the way of vaccinating more people, and do we now need to adopt a UK-led approach to vaccinations?

No. 

First Minister, the vaccination programme is a huge programme for the Government and the people of Wales to embark on, and it's important people maintain confidence in its delivery in every part of Wales. What consideration have you given to creating a position within the Government of a vaccination Minister to help drive this logistical exercise across Wales, to iron out any of the difficulties that might occur? Because we do know that the NHS as a whole is under enormous pressure, and the current health Minister has to spend a considerable amount of time dealing with those issues, rightly so, because, obviously, elective surgery has been postponed in many areas and those pressures will be unrelenting in the coming weeks. So, have you given any consideration to drawing on some of the talent on your back benches, such as Carwyn Jones or Alun Davies, who could fulfil such a position of a vaccination Minister?

Llywydd, I thank the Member for his recognition of the scale of the effort that is needed and is being made to roll out the vaccination programme on the size and scale that is necessary here in Wales, and for his recognition of the enormous pressure that the health service is currently operating under while it rolls out the vaccination programme.

My view is that vaccination is intimately connected with everything else that the health service seeks to do—that you cannot make decisions in one part of the NHS's responsibility severed off from everything else. Much better, I believe, to allow the health Minister, who is intimately acquainted with everything that has happened in the last 10 months with the coronavirus effort of the health service, including vaccination, to be in charge of that effort. I think that works better than trying to hand over just part of what the NHS has to do to one other person, inevitably creating new barriers and borderlines, and so on. Our health Minister has worked absolutely tirelessly over the last 10 months. He is in the best position to make sure that everything we need to do in vaccination is taken forward in line with the plan that was published yesterday. 

I'm glad the First Minister gave such short shrift to the questioner on this matter. This was, of course, somebody who wanted to invite Donald Trump to open his ill-fated office in Pontypridd, and also has got everything wrong at every point over the last nine months.

What is important now in terms of reviewing how we go forward is to ensure that we continue to support people through this pandemic. The First Minister will be aware that the Conservatives are promoting the idea that there's £1 billion sitting either underneath his sofa or in his back pocket somewhere. Will the First Minister confirm that the Welsh Government is using all its funds, all its resources to support the people of Wales and businesses across the whole country as we move forward through this terrible pandemic?

Well, Llywydd, thanks to Alun Davies for both of those questions. In fact, a constituent sent me the quotes from the person who asked the question in which he invited the President of the United States to open his office in Pontypridd, an office as you remember that never did open, many thousands of pounds of public money having been wasted in the process. The same constituent also reminded me that Mr Bennett had placed an amendment in front of the Senedd in December saying that he believed that the new level of restrictions that were being introduced in Wales were disproportionate. Well, he'll have seen now that the rest of the United Kingdom has followed suit. It was not disproportionate; it was simply necessary. He was wrong on that, as he's wrong on what he has asked me today.

And on this complete canard about £1 billion just sitting in the Welsh Government, Llywydd, in November, we were two thirds of the way through the financial year and we had spent two thirds of our budget. At the end of December, we were three quarters of the way through the financial year, and we'd spent three quarters of our budget. We've spent 80 per cent of the budget now in January. Can you imagine anything more irresponsible than urging the Welsh Government to be entirely spent out of our budget with a quarter of the financial year still to go, and a very demanding and challenging quarter as well? I thought the points that were made by Conservative MPs were not simply misguided, Llywydd, they were foolish and they were designed to misinform, and I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to put that record straight this afternoon.