1. Will the Minister make a statement on the recent decision of Wales Air Ambulance to maintain services in mid Wales for the next three years? OQ59209

I've noted the announcement made by the Wales air ambulance service. The Wales Air Ambulance Charity is an independent organisation, which does not receive any direct funding from the Welsh Government. As such, decisions regarding the configuration and operation of its services and bases are an operational matter for the charity and its board of trustees.

Thank you, Minister, but I don't agree with that. The Wales air ambulance operates through the service of the charity itself and also the Welsh NHS, and it's your responsibility as health Minister, of course, to ensure that we have adequate cover across Wales, which I know you'll agree with. I was very pleased that the Wales Air Ambulance Charity announced that they would keep using the Welshpool base up until 2026, and the campaign in mid Wales, and indeed Caernarfon as well, now moves to ensuring that those bases remain in place beyond 2026 and into the future. But we're currently waiting for the formal engagement process to commence.

The communications have been pretty abysmal on this, I have to say, during the last half of last year. We saw all organisations involved, and I include the Welsh Government in that, deny responsibility, passing over legitimate concerns and causing some serious worry as well. But I think, in part, that was recognised, which is why the chief ambulance commissioner was appointed to lead a review, then leading to a meaningful process and proper engagement.

Of course, you appreciate this is such an invaluable service to the people of mid Wales, as it is indeed to people in north Wales, but, Minister, we really need a date for the formal consultation to start. My constituents want to give their views on this proposal. It was supposed to start at the end of last year, and then it was January, and an e-mail drops into my inbox today from the chief ambulance commissioner, I'm expecting it to have the date when the engagement is going to start, and there's very little in that news update to date. It just tells me that they're still working on plans and the engagement material.

So, can I ask you, Minister, what is your assessment of why we've had to wait several months for the formal engagement process to begin, and, ultimately, when do you think that my constituents will be able to formally present their views on what they think about proposals to close the base in Welshpool, and indeed Caernarfon as well?

Thanks very much. Obviously, I know you'll be pleased that the current organisation configuration will be in place until 2026 and that a seven-year contract has been issued to Gama Aviation, but you're quite right, within the contract, there is a possibility to reconfigure if that's what's thought necessary. I think that it is important that we do continue with the review, because it's just good practice to make sure we just keep on looking at whether we are getting what we need from the service. So, I expect the formal engagement process to commence by the end of March. So, by the end of this this month, I hope that your constituents will have the opportunity to say their say. I know how passionately they feel about this, and I think it is important. I've been looking again to make sure that—. Actually, the criteria that we're looking at need to be the right criteria, so I have been having conversations around that as well.

Thank you to Russell George for asking this important question. In the response and the campaign on the ground, it's demonstrated clearly the importance of this charity and the place it holds in people's hearts. I attended a number of public meetings in Tywyn, Porthmadog, Pwllheli and Caernarfon, with hundreds of people turning out in the middle of winter to listen and to share their experiences. It's these people and the people who organised the campaign and gave thousands of hours of their own time, dozens of these people, who ensured that there was a change of view and that the air ambulance did listen. So, will the Minister join with me in thanking these campaigners for their work? But also, will the Minister work with other stakeholders in order to ensure that the air ambulance centres won't be centralised away from our communities and that we can secure their futures in their communities in looking to the future? Thank you.

Thank you very much, and I know that people in your area do feel very strongly about this issue, and it's evident that their voices have been heard, and I'm sure that they will be eager to respond to the consultation that will start at the end of the month. After the last discussion that we had in the Chamber, I asked the chair of the emergency ambulance services committee to ensure that he read what was said in this Chamber, because I think that there are strong feelings, and I think we have to ensure that the criteria for what we want out of that service are right.