2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:35 pm on 2 November 2021.

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Photo of Peter Fox Peter Fox Conservative 2:35, 2 November 2021

Trefnydd, could I call for a statement from your colleague the Minister for health on the use of COVID passes in Wales? A number of constituents have contacted me about issues that they have experienced when trying to access paper passes. In particular, they have not been able to speak to an advisor to request a pass, as the phone number listed on the Welsh Government website has not been working. In fact, my office tried calling the helpline yesterday and struggled to speak to somebody, with the call cutting them off. Obviously, this is an important issue, as it may prevent some people from being able to access social activities and hospitality services. And so, an update from the Minister at the earliest opportunity about this issue would be much appreciated.

And finally, could I ask for an urgent statement regarding Welsh Government response times to correspondence from backbench Members? Whilst I appreciate that officials have experienced a high workload in recent times, I am finding that it's taking a long time to get responses on important issues raised with me by constituents. This restricts the ability of Members to respond to issues in a timely manner, and causes frustration amongst constituents who need help. It would be helpful if all Members could access departments directly, to get answers to more mundane issues, such as traffic issues on trunk roads, for example. Could I ask you to work with Government officials to look into ways of modernising the processes here, so that Members are able to fulfil their duties more efficiently? Diolch.