Our motion today, jointly tabled with Plaid Cymru, sets out a number of factual points and then goes on to ask the Welsh Government to work with its NHS partners and the Welsh ambulance trust to ensure that air ambulance bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon remain in operation. I've so far seen no evidence that moving a base further away from mid or north Wales, as proposed, will be of benefit to those people living in those areas that depend on those services. There have been significant public concerns raised by the proposals. We've seen a paper, an online petition, of over 20,000 people, calling for the retention of the Welshpool and Caernarfon bases—and, of course, many people who signed the petition also donate to the service—and expressing their concerns over the centralisation over this base into one location.

Now, I represent a constituency in mid Wales, so I can talk about the views in mid Wales, and I know that colleagues representing north Wales will make similar points. People in rural Wales just feel left behind. Public transport is poor, we have poor road infrastructure, and many public services are being gradually deteriorated. All this means that people are genuinely and deeply hurt by the proposals to close the Welshpool base. Now, the original proposal was brought forward last August. That's now effectively on hold, and we're now waiting for a further proposal to be brought forward by EASC, or the Emergency Ambulance Services Committee, another service within the Welsh NHS, which is of course ultimately the responsibility of the Welsh Government. The whole process and information surrounding these proposals has been confusing, and I wouldn't blame Members across this Chamber for not being able to keep up with what I've outlined so far.

In August, I first met with the air ambulance charity to raise both my and residents' concerns, and the charity indicated to me that they owned the process and the trust committed to a genuine consultation with residents. There were discussions about a potential public meeting happening in September, and they also confirmed that they would publish data the following month. That said, the charity later said that the data in question did not belong to them, it belonged to EMRTS Cymru, the service within the Welsh NHS. Now, in August, the charity, when I spoke to them, seemed absolutely certain that their proposal would lead to a better service for all of Wales, despite the analysis that sat behind the proposals not being completed and ready to be published. In September, that's when I raised my first concerns here in the Senedd with the First Minister, pointing out that mid Wales suffered from years of poor access to health services, also stressing that we have no district general hospital, either in my constituency or the county of Powys, and very poor road connections. So, it is vital that we have access to good emergency services and that people can be transferred quickly to emergency care if that is needed. 

I asked the First Minister to publish the data that sat behind the proposals, and the First Minister said that the data that sat behind the proposals is not owned—. He said that the data that's sat behind the proposals is owned by the charity, despite the charity saying at around about the same time that it belonged to the Welsh NHS EMRTS service. When I raised this in the business statement in October with the Trefnydd, the Trefnydd seemed to suggest that the data wasn't ready for publication, so implying it is owned by the Welsh NHS and the Welsh Government. So, if Welsh Government Ministers are finding it difficult to follow and understand this process and who is responsible for leading this and who is responsible for the data, then I do ask how difficult it is for the public to follow.

We've had a little bit more of a clearer picture now. In October, the Welsh NHS EASC team announced that they were now leading the proposals that sat before us, and the chief commissioner for the ambulance service would be responsible for the engagement process—the chief ambulance service commissioner, Stephen Harrhy, who's now leading that process. Interestingly, when I met with the charity last month, they said that the proposal was now not theirs; they were now consultees in the proposals themselves. So, EASC published an update last week—here it is—with the Welsh NHS logo on the top, and this clearly says that they will be deciding and making the final decision. So, I hope that all can appreciate and the Minister can confirm this is very much a decision for the Welsh NHS and the Welsh Government—that's where it clearly lies. And that's why we won't be supporting the Government's amendment today, as I think it is misleading. The Welsh Government and the Welsh NHS were clearly involved in the process.

I want to challenge some of the assumptions made in the original proposal. The Wales air ambulance could attend up to 583 additional missions every year. This was a big part of the proposal to close both bases; that was a key element. Now, this should not be about missions attended, this should be about attending the most crucial incidents, which I would suggest are going to be in the most rural parts of Wales, due to poorer road infrastructure and the time it takes for an emergency service to get to an incident by road. And whilst at the time the charity and EMRTS seemed absolutely confident with their proposals, after much challenge, I think that 583 figure is now perhaps not so accepted. And it would be interesting to see any updated figures in the new proposal document. 

I don't think the original proposals adequately reflect weather conditions, something that really should have been front and centre of considerations, bearing in mind the challenges of flying in and to parts of mid and north Wales. And proposals for moving bases also mean the rapid-response vehicle, which is also an important element to this, won't be rapid in large parts of Gwynedd and mid Wales if they are also moved. Now, there are huge areas of mid and north Wales where emergency and A&E facilities are over an hour to get to by vehicle, and we have seen a confused process since last August—confusing for the Welsh Government also, it seems, and confusing for the Welsh public. So, I would urge the Welsh Government to work with their NHS partners to ensure that updated proposals include for air ambulance bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon to remain in operation so that there is adequate emergency air ambulance cover across all of Wales.

So, I do hope that, as this debate now moves forward, we can work together on how we can achieve that, for both bases to remain open. I hope that this debate will lead to an outcome where the Welsh Government and the Minister can intervene and allow for that process to happen.