Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 25 January 2022.
Well, Llywydd, I've answered this question from Members from the Conservative Party time and time and time again, and I'm not intending to just repeat what I've said to them on those many occasions. What would it take for us to have a Wales-wide inquiry would be for me to lose faith, as he clearly has already, in the Prime Minister's ability to deliver the inquiry that he has promised. Now, if I come to his lack of confidence in the Prime Minister's willingness to do that, then I would have to think again about arrangements here in Wales. So far, as I've also explained many times in the past, the Welsh Government has had an opportunity to be involved in the appointment of the judge, Judge Hallett, who will lead the independent UK-wide inquiry, and I was satisfied with that appointment. I'm very glad that she is someone who has a very strong understanding of the devolved context and will bring an ability to ensure that that inquiry does focus on experiences here in Wales.
There is another hurdle to pass in the next few days, when I hope that we will see the draft terms of reference. They're with the judge still at the moment. Welsh Government, through our officials, have contributed to the development of those terms of reference. The Prime Minister has promised there will be a more formal opportunity for us to comment on them once Judge Hallett has completed her consideration. I will want to see that those terms of reference guarantee that the experience here in Wales will be properly and fully explored by that inquiry. And then there will be a further set of issues that I will need to be satisfied about, about the way in which the inquiry itself will go about its business. I will expect the inquiry to have access to expertise about Wales. I will expect it to have hearings here, directly in Wales, to make sure that it can collect the experiences, the views and the questions of people in Wales who will want that inquiry to be able to make the best sense it can of the experience of families, patients, staff here in Wales during the pandemic. They will only get those answers, I believe, when they are able to explore what happened here in Wales within that wider and sometimes shaping UK context. That is why I believe that that remains the best way of getting answers that people will wish to see from an inquiry about what happened here in Wales. And no doubt that will include the other questions that the Member has raised this afternoon.