Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:41 pm on 17 January 2023.
Minister, you'll be aware that, on Friday, the south Wales coroner made a ruling that two nurses who died as a consequence of contracting COVID at work died of an industrial disease. This will clearly have some significant repercussions for the approach of the Welsh Government in dealing with these matters. I've raised issues around public service workers in my own constituency who have had long COVID and have suffered as a consequence of that, and I'd like to ask for a statement from the health Minister on how the Welsh Government will respond to this coroner's ruling.
Also, last week, Minister, I visited Llys yr Efail in Blaina. It's a sheltered housing scheme, and I met several residents there who've been asked to contribute towards the heating costs of communal areas. We know that people are already suffering as a consequence of the Tory cost-of-living crisis, and we are also aware that some of the people who live in sheltered hosing are the more vulnerable parts of our community. Would the Welsh Government be able to look at how any support might be provided from here to ensure that some of our most vulnerable people don't have this issue facing them as a consequence of Conservative Party failure?