2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 1 February 2022.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 2:36, 1 February 2022

Minister, I'd like to call for two urgent statements, please, the first on access to NHS dentistry. We've known for some time that there's been something of a crisis in accessing NHS dentistry in communities across the country. But in Ebbw Vale at the moment, there's a real emergency, where NHS dentistry has been withdrawn, there's no access for children, for pensioners, to an NHS dentist, and there are many people contacting me today who really don't know where to turn. The health boards, we know, have a responsibility to deliver dentistry services, and I'd like to have a statement from the Welsh Government on what the Welsh Government is going to do to ensure that health boards deliver on that duty.

The second statement I'd like to ask for is a very urgent statement. We've spoken time and time again in this Chamber about how, during the pandemic, the Welsh Government has sourced personal protective equipment from Wales, from social enterprises across the country—in my constituency, in sir Fôn as well. And those people, who worked so hard, face losing their jobs, potentially even this week, because we are no longer ensuring that those contracts are awarded to social enterprises in Wales, maintaining work and employment in Wales and ensuring that some of the people who are furthest from the labour force have an opportunity to work for delivering for our NHS. It's an absolute emergency for those people, Minister, and I'd like to have a very urgent statement, this week—a written statement if you're not able to produce an oral statement tomorrow—to demonstrate that the Welsh Government is going to take action to ensure the continuity of employment for all of those people.