17. Debate: Welsh Government Annual Report — Delivering our well-being objectives

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:41 pm on 12 July 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 6:41, 12 July 2022

(Translated)

Deputy Presiding Officer, last week, the first annual report of this Senedd term was published. It notes the work that we've done towards delivering our well-being objectives. The programme for government of this Government was published less than six weeks after the election in May 2021. This shows our commitment to quickly tackle the challenges facing Wales and to start to implement our radical policy agenda. We said that our Government would be based on trust and ambition, and it would focus on national prosperity and future generations. Our programme for government did note the actions that we would take to deliver 10 well-being objectives in the term of this Government.

In December, we signed a co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru—a bespoke agreement that includes 46 areas where we have common interests. Some of these measures are included in this annual report, but a full report about what we have achieved together in the first year will be published in December.

Dirprwy Lywydd, in the first year of this Senedd term, we have faced a series of unprecedented challenges—some familiar and others new. We are still facing the consequences of Brexit. It has reduced the size of our economy. It has created a shortage of workers in every part of the community. It has led to a disgraceful situation where the UK Government is ready to repeal an international agreement that it negotiated and signed. Maybe Prime Minister Johnson did deliver Brexit—'Get Brexit done', as he said—but certainly he didn't deliver it successfully, and he has never made Brexit work for the people of Wales.

We have continued to deal with the impact of the worldwide pandemic, the coronavirus. And this virus remains with us. In recent weeks, we have seen an increase in infections, and by now, once again, our hospitals are under strain. Two thousand members of staff are away from their posts because of sickness. More than 1,000 COVID-19 patients are in hospital beds, and there has been an increase in the number of people who need intensive care.

And then, on top of those challenges, in the first year of the sixth Senedd, we have faced an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, and, of course, the conflict that continues in Ukraine and that has created a humanitarian disaster on our doorstep. The cost-of-living crisis affects all of us. It makes everyday life a challenge for people across Wales as prices increase.