Questions now from the party leaders. The leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew R.T. Davies.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Minister, last week we had the waiting times out for the NHS in Wales. In north Wales, which you are the Minister directly responsible for, there are 15,000 people waiting two years or more for a procedure. Will you apologise to those 15,000 people who are waiting such long times on the Welsh NHS?

Well, of course, we don't want anybody to be waiting for lengthy periods of time. If you're in pain and you need surgery, then obviously we want to get that surgery and those procedures as quickly as possible. You'll be aware the Minister for Health and Social Services has put significant funding into the NHS, and it includes the north Wales health board, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, to try and bring those numbers down and to sort out the backlog as well. But, a lot of that funding will unfortunately go on the energy crisis now.

Well, Minister, 'sorry' seems to be the hardest word when it comes to talking to the 15,000 people who are waiting two years or more within the NHS in north Wales. Let's offer you a second chance to say sorry: 25 per cent of the population in north Wales are on an NHS waiting list—25 per cent. Will you say 'sorry' to that 25 per cent?

I go back—it's not a matter of saying 'sorry', is it? It's about making sure that we are able to help the health board deliver the procedures and the surgery that are required as soon as possible. You make it sound as if it's only in Wales that we have waiting lists; of course we have waiting lists right across the UK. I appreciate we are looking at north Wales now and, as you're aware, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board have had issues. We've put significant resources, both human and financial, into helping them with targeted intervention particularly. We're absolutely determined to tackle the backlog. I mentioned the funding that the Minister for Health and Social Services has put in. We are aware of how difficult it is for people who are waiting for a long time for treatment. We do continue to make progress to reduce the longest waits, and the number of patient pathways waiting more than two years did fall—I think it was the fourth consecutive month they've fallen. So, we are seeing some progress. It's now 14 per cent lower than the peak that we had in March this year.

Minister, on two occasions I offered you the opportunity to apologise to the citizens of north Wales, for which you have direct ministerial responsibility, and, indeed, you are a constituency Member for the town of Wrexham. It is a fact that other parts of the United Kingdom, not just England but Scotland, have all but wiped out the two-year waits. They have all but wiped out the two-year waits. In a press statement last week, the health Minister said she was breathing down the neck of health boards to try and get on top of the waiting times. Yet, we saw those waiting times nearly hit 750,000 episodes of care being waited for by the people of Wales. So, you've said that you're trying. What tangible efforts are you making to bring us in line with the other parts of the United Kingdom, that will see wiping out the two-year wait, progress on the 12-month wait, and, above all, the decline in the overall number of patients waiting within the NHS in Wales?

First of all, I represent the city of Wrexham, not the town of Wrexham.

It's not a matter of—. Of course we're sorry that people have to wait for a lengthy time. You paint this picture of the rest of the UK that just isn't true. I mentioned the significant funding that the Minister for Health and Social Services put in, I mentioned how we've seen a drop again for the fourth consecutive month, and you're just dismissing all of that. What we should be doing is praising the NHS for the fantastic work that they do. You know the challenging times the NHS have been in. Our staff have worked relentlessly during the COVID-19 pandemic. We're now asking them to do more again to try and look at the backlog. As I've mentioned, the Minister for Health and Social Services is supporting Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board specifically with targeted intervention.

The leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price.

Diolch, Llywydd. Rent is rising higher in Wales than anywhere else in the UK, except London. Rent in Cardiff alone has increased 36 per cent in just two years. A quarter of private tenants in Wales are worried they will lose their homes in the next three months. Shelter Cymru, echoed in England by the Kerslake commission on homelessness, are calling for the reintroduction of a temporary ban on evictions—evictions for arrears as well as no-fault evictions—that we saw during the pandemic to ensure that no-one is made homeless as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. Scotland is doing it and their competence mirrors ours. As a Government that says it is committed to ending homelessness, will you also ban evictions this winter in Wales?

You mentioned the policy that the Scottish Government are now bringing forward. I think I answered last week on behalf of the Minister for Climate Change to say that she will, obviously, look very carefully at it, but it is really important that we don't get unintended consequences from such a policy.

You mentioned what we did during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect people from evictions, and, again, it's something that the Minister will be looking at. But, you'll be aware of several pieces of legislation that Welsh Government are bringing forward—the renting homes Act, which will be introduced in December, will provide six months' notice for all new tenants, for instance, where they're not at fault. So, there is a great deal of work going on in relation to support for tenants. 

In an emergency, we as a Senedd need to be able to pass emergency legislation; we can sit at weekends, if necessary, to do this. The Scottish Government has also announced a rent freeze at least until the end of March next year. Sadiq Khan, as Mayor of London, has asked for the power to introduce a rent freeze there. We have that power already in Wales, and since social housing rent won't increase anyway until 1 April, a rent freeze over the winter won't cost the Welsh Government a penny; it's focused on the private sector. Even Conservative MPs like Natalie Elphicke, a former chief executive of the Housing and Finance Institute, are making the case for a private sector rent freeze, arguing that there is no justification for the excessive rent hikes in recent times. Now, we prevent that in future through the system of fair rents that we outline in the co-operation agreement, but the choice that we're facing in Wales now this winter is between freezing rents or freezing people. So, will the Welsh Government act to introduce a rent freeze as the Scottish Government have done?  

As I said, the Minister for Climate Change, who obviously has responsibility for housing, is currently considering the maximum social rent increases, for instance, in Wales, and an announcement will be made in due course. I'm not here to make up housing policy on the hoof, but I'm obviously aware that the Minister is looking very closely at what the Scottish Government have done. But it is important that you don't then suddenly get landlords taking houses for rent off the market, and having those unintended consequences. 

People are facing this cost-of-living crisis now, aren't they, so we need a sense of urgency. A rent freeze, it's practical, it's necessary, but it's not radical or new—even the Heath Conservative Government did it in 1972 when we were last facing a period of stagflation. Harold Wilson, again, did it when Labour was elected in 1974. If the centre-right and centre-left of British politics could do it 50 years ago, then surely this Senedd should have the same sense of urgency and agency now. We shielded the vulnerable during COVID and now we must do the same again. 

Now, alongside a rent freeze, can you also give immediate urgent consideration to establishing a mortgage rescue service for all those who are going to be affected by the rise in interest rates so far and the further rise that is anticipated? The One Wales Government in 2008 was the first Government in the UK to introduce such a policy, and it managed to save many, many families from losing their homes. 

I think you make a very important point around mortgages. The role of Government, I think, is to have very careful stewardship of our taxes and of our money, and, certainly, it's a very reckless approach that the UK Government are taking, and we've seen the headlines today around mortgages. I haven't had the opportunity to discuss with the Minister for Climate Change anything around a mortgage rescue scheme. But you know that, as a Government, we're doing all that we can with the levers that we have to help people in the here and now in relation to the cost-of-living crisis, because, as you say, it is happening now and we need to look at ways of supporting the people of Wales. But I'm sure it's something that the Minister will have a look at.