Gallery lordy I called members tauter the item first my first item on our
agenda is questions to the First Minister the first question is from
heaven David will the first minister make a statement on Welsh government
funding for major infrastructure projects yes the Wales infrastructure
investment plan sets up plans to invest over 6.5 billion pounds in
infrastructure across Wales over the remainder of the current Assembly term
that includes our flagship infrastructure projects such as
investment in 20,000 affordable homes and the south Thank You First Minister
in spring 2017 the cabinet secretary for finance announced well the Welsh
Government's undertake intention to undertake three major infrastructure
schemes using the mutual investment model for this year and according to the
Welsh Government information they've combined capital value those three
projects of 1 billion the Welsh government stated that the mutual
investment model or mem will see private partners build and maintain public
assets in return Welsh government will pay a fee to the private partner which
will cover the cost of construction maintenance and financing the project
and at the end of the project it will be transferred into public ownership so can
I ask the First Minister would you outline the key differences between MIM
and PFI and identify whether other schemes will be used using the min model
in the future during this assembly term well the year difference is that min has
value for money among its core objectives it won't be used to finance
soft services such as cleaning and catering which led to expensive and
inflexible contracts in the historic PFI model nor will it be used to finance
capital equipment will invest a small amount of risk capital in each scheme
ensuring the public sector participates in any return on investment so it's a
different model to PF I I can say that a public interest director will be
appointed by government to manage the public share holdings and to promote the
public interest more widely and that course will ensure there's
transparency about costs and the performance of private partners no
crumbs our First Minister broadband is a key part of our economic infrastructure
within Wales the UK government has established the local full fiber network
Challenge Fund in order to bring on the next generation of digital
infrastructure and to help local led projects leverage commercial investment
into the full fiber future the gold standard of reliability
in broadband would you join me in welcoming the news that Monmouthshire
and neighboring local authorities turbine Newport as part of the city
region have successfully bid in to this scheme and can you tell us how the Welsh
Government's own plans for developing broadband infrastructure and Wales will
dovetail into the success of the areas like Mama's shirt or vine and Southeast
Wales to make sure that we capitalize on this these are the first areas of the UK
to benefit from this from this new development
how is Welsh government going to make the most of it well we are involved as a
government with the projects that he has mentioned it builds a course on
superfast Kamri which has been hugely successful in bringing broadband to many
communities that otherwise not be served with broadband if it was left to the
Year to the market because of of their size so we look to work with the UK
government to deliver the best digital outcomes for all our communities I don't
price interest rates and and annuity rates a debt service liability of about
150 million over the course of a 30 years would an unlock about two point
five five billion using this of the kind of innovative financing method like the
min that the First Minister referred to do you think that represents value for
money and if it does shouldn't we be much more ambitious in terms of the
scale of the capital investment programme
to maximize this historic opportunity of low interest rates and with him on
ambition but it has to be tempered of course with with prudence so I can say
of course the min incorporates the best of the Scottish non distributing model
optimum risk allocation whole life costing and performance related rate
based payments whilst ensuring that new investment is classified to the private
sector hugely important issue cause gotta deal with this chamber on many
times and it's therefore genuinely additional to investment from other
public services it was a different model from PFI we will always seek to to
maximize the amount of funds available through the scheme but of course we also
have to bear in mind the the affordability of our ambition for world
questions-- questions-- to chain bryant governments have to support technology
companies in south-east wales the regrowing action plan recognizes the
importance of technology to future-proof and maintain the competitiveness of our
economy our calls for action with their focus on digitalization automation in an
innovation will see us foster the conditions that will enable technology
businesses across wales that's right Thank You First Minister
on Friday I visited innovation point to digital innovation company based in
Newport that helps provide expertise knowledge and contacts to small tech
firms their annual international digital festival is the biggest tech event in
Wales innovation Point has attracted many companies to Wales work by
businesses like these a vital in sustaining growth and establishing our
reputation for being at the forefront of technological developments so will the
First Minister set the steps the Welsh government is taking to assist small and
medium sized technology firms in Newport and the region so that we can seize the
opportunities to attract more investment and ensure southeast Wales maintains its
place as a digital hub well first of all of course the Cardiff Capital Region
deal will help to deliver more funding for digital businesses we provided 25
million pounds of the funding to the Institute for compound semiconductor
technology in Cardiff with a further 38 million per investment of the Cardiff
Capital Region and of course the UK's first national software Academy and new
national the security academy and of course as
member said innovation point in 2017 we announced we would invest 100 million
pounds in a tech valleys program over ten years to support the creation of
more than 1500 jobs and indeed two months ago in May the cabinet secretary
confirmed we would invest an extra 25 million pounds in the tech valleys
program over the next three years as part of that commitment Mohammed Oscar
thank you madam please I beg of you sir I recently visited the electricity
confound Asian in Newport which is an educational charity with a mission to
train and mentor graduates to create next generation of high-tech companies
based in Wales by providing the skills and knowledge required to run a
profitable technology startup it also supports businesses by challenging its
graduates to solve practical problems forces directly from companies
themselves well the first mister join me in congratulating dr. will Williams and
his team and the private benefactors who helped fund this charity alongside the
West government for the fantastic work they are doing in training the next
generation of entrepreneurs with the skills required to run the companies
that will provide the job we need in the future in Wales yes I would join him in
in that I think it's usually important that advice is given to individuals who
have great ideas but who need advice as to how to run a business have to be
entrepreneurs and to be able to receive that advice is invaluable to them
Kristen and I can now call the party leaders to question the First Minister
leader of plaid comme de Leon would lead stage cancer diagnosis well I mean
that's something that I would have to write the member about but we do know
that as far as the targets are concerned in Wales or figures compare very well
rich or poor where rural or urban man or woman comes
is an indiscriminate disease yet diagnosis is anything but recent
research by Macmillan shows that cancer diagnosis in this country remains a
postcode lottery and our poorest communities consistently face later
stage diagnosis where stage is recorded more than one in four people in Wales
were diagnosed with cancer at its latest stage which is Stage four this is not
only unacceptable in the context of our rates be in the worst of any country in
the UK it's not acceptable full stop for some cancers the wait between first
suspecting that something is wrong and diagnosis is the longest in Europe we
all know that catching cancer early saves lives
First Minister you can save lives will you commit to setting and sticking to a
28-day cancer diagnosis target for all so that we can catch cancer early what
medics tell me is that it can't be done for all types of cancer that sometimes
it takes longer to for certain cancers to be diagnosed no she makes it at the
point that is hugely important for example for people to be encouraged to
present early and also of course for GPS to to refer people early on in the in
the pathway we know the vast majority of cancer patients who will start their
treatment within target times we know that the incidence of cancer continues
to rise and treatment is increasing in complexity the number of referrals for
suspected cancer requiring investigation has risen by more than thirty sixth I
wasn't over a five-year period to around ninety six thousand referrals a year
which i think is at least partial good news because it means people are being
referred on more quickly we know of course that eighty five point five
percent of patients newly diagnosed with cancer via the urgent suspected cancer
route start the definitive treatment within the target time of sixty two days
and ninety seven percent all of those diagnosed not via the urgent route
started definitive treatment in their target time of thirty-one days so you're
talking about treatment and I'm asking you about diagnosis Cancer Research UK
as champion debt clinicians are calling for it England is doing it and yet First
Minister you continue to argue with the experts you
deject 28-day targets not for the good of patients but for the good of your own
public relations you won't hit those targets and you won't meet those
patients needs First Minister the evidence is clear people in poorer areas
are diagnosed later McMillan's data shows Stage four diagnosis in our
poorest areas is up to nine percent higher compared to their wealthier
neighbors you can't afford to be poor and ill in Labor's Wales an information
campaign already read and readily access to GPS anti ignosi services could turn
this around so will you commit to creating accessible cancer diagnosis
services in all parts of Wales so that whether you are rich or poor your cancer
diagnosis is not left too late well I mean as somebody who is married somebody
works for Macmillan I'm lobbied on a daily basis in terms of
the way cancer is dealt with in Wales and I can say there is no clinical
evidence at all it's just a 28-day tag it was I come from where is the clinical
evidence to say that 28 days is some kind of golden figure politicians love
these figures but in reality I don't I don't see any clinical evidence for it
there are the issues well there's no point shifting you guys the question you
know answer the question for you know part of the problem is a reluctance in
some areas for people to come forward early and that doesn't help we need to
make sure that all GPS are referring as quickly as possible because access to
treatment is the same for everyone it's simply a question of encouraging people
to come forward as early as possible and for GPS to refer as quickly as possible
and that is something that is hugely important in terms of the campaigns that
we've run in terms of raising awareness of different types of cancer because we
know if people are asked to check their symptoms they are more likely to present
early and that's the way to make sure that more people not just our curative
cancer but they live with cancer making sure that people are aware of the
different types of cancers and their symptoms and the work that that
Macmillan does is exactly that part of their work is to raise awareness of
different cancers provide evidence to be they will be at the Royal Welsh Oh one
of the themes they've had of the Royal Welsh Oh is they have dealt with skin
cancer melanoma especially whether the show that's held in the summer and they
they focus very very strongly on people identifying cancer to an early stage
themselves or what may be the symptoms of cancer so they can present so then of
course they can have a better outcome on behalf of the opposition Paul Davis the
report published by independent examiner Donna Ockendon last week provided a
frightening picture of the delivery of services in North Wales the damning
report showed that leadership at the Health Board has been wholly
inappropriate and significantly flawed since its creation and that mental
health services are chronically understaffed at a time when patient
numbers and our keyword she was increasing
First Minister are you ashamed of your government's management of Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board well there will be a statement on this
further on on the agenda this afternoon what I can say is of course this is a
difficult report the reported high lÃ­deres of progress in the presentation
of the board last week BC who now has a different executive leadership team in
place this is 2016 a new chief executive 7 executives including a medical
director and director of Nursing and a new director of mental health have been
appointed to lead on the improvements needed a new chair will take a post
shortly I know that the cabinet secretary has published a written
statement he will as I say make an oral statement on the review later this
afternoon and he has been clear body what he expects from the board should be
ashamed the way that you actually run this health but it'll be three years ago
this summer that the Welsh government put Betsi Cadwaladr health but in
special measures and the Occident report has shown that over that period progress
has been slow and significant improvements have yet to be made lessons
simply haven't been learnt and people in North Wales will rightly feel anger and
outrage at the lack of progress over the past three years in addressing these
serious failings this is a Health Board there is only 8 years old and has been
in special measures four or three of those years
it's your government's responsibility to run this health board you were
your cabinet secretaries are comfortable to you for the delivery of health
services in Wales what are you doing to make sure that he sorts this mess out
and how are you you performance managing the health secretary to make sure he
improves Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board you clearly have no targets for
improving the health board have you set any targets for your health secretary
well I can say that Donnell Caden was commissioned by BECU in 2015 to review
the governance arrangements relating to the care of patients in pain Betsi
Cadwaladr she presented her findings to the board in the 12th of July report
runs to her 500 pages with the executive summary alone running 250 pages I wonder
if he's read that report the findings are consistent with previous reports in
many cases a summary of previously since 2009
now what's hugely important now that we have that report it we can now build on
that report as the cabinet century will outline this afternoon and know that we
know what the challenges are meet those challenges failed when it comes to Betsi
Cadwaladr University Health Board the Welsh Government's record of delivering
health services in North Wales speaks for itself let me give you some examples
First Minister 93 year-old Margaret Megan Evans waited on a concrete path
for more than three hours after falling and breaking her hip and then was not
seen by an emergency department doctor until almost 11 hours after help was
initially summoned 46 year-old Esther wood waited five hours in an ambulance
before being admitted to hospital where she then died 78 year-old Neville Welton
passed away following a delay in treatment because of capacity staffing
administration errors and patient flow problems First Minister these are real
people warnings that lives remain at risk have been issued by the coroner's
office following deaths in hospitals and in the past 12 months the Health Board
received 294 new claims for either personal injury or clinical or medical
negligence there's clearly a culture of deny defend and dismiss at the heart of
Betsi Cadwaladr health board and your government
First Minister when will your government take responsibility for the catalogue
failures in care at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board since it has
been in special measures and will you now apologize to the people of North
Wales for the shambles of a system that your government has presided over and
for the lack of accountability in handling these services yeah well this
contrast doesn't it were the way his party approaches things in England where
if there is an issue like gospel it's always the party it's always I know is
the leadership contest top seed like the question when all these things are
brushed off towards the health course is never the fault of the UK government we
take responsibility for what happens we take responsibility for what happens in
Betsi Cadwaladr because it is in special measures and it is the report that we
will use in order to create that improvement we are diverting and putting
resources into Health as best we can despite the austerity despite the
austerity well they can normal despite the austerity that has been put in place
by his party if he stood up and demanded the same for Wales as his party's given
to Northern Ireland to Northern Ireland he would have more credibility in the
arguments that he puts forward as I say the cabinet secretary will make a
statement on this this afternoon it's time he and his party apologized for
fleecing the people of Wales or the past eight years leader of the u-clip group
Caroline Jones mr. Kirwin Auditor General for Wales has been highly
critical hello Caroline Jones to ask the question Caroline Jones do heareth First
Minister the out to go in order to General for Wales has been highly
critical of the Welsh public sectors inability to adapt to reduce budgets in
evidence Sam to the Public Accounts Committee
Yvonne Thomas said that the public services could be reforming for the
better but their only response to austerity has been cutting costs and he
also said that he was frustrated that devolution hasn't led to a fundamental
rethink on how we deliver public in Wales the reality is that regardless
of whomever is empowering Westminster we will not see massive increases in
public so it public spending because the UK is now nearly two trillion pounds in
debt which equates to around 85 percent of GDP we can't borrow our way out of
this mess so we have to spend smarter so First Minister do you agree with the
outgoing Auditor General that we need a radical rethink for public services
well we always look to to put in place the best system of public services that
that we can for example we took three most common sponsored bodies than the
one nrw we reduced the number of bodies delivering we reduced the number of
bodies delivering health to make sure that there were fewer organisations that
people have to be in contact with but the reality is this we have protected
the Welsh public services budget local government in Wales is far better
financing is the case in England we haven't seen the destruction of social
services that is happening under Tory government in in England we have put
resources into social care and also into health
we've also of course put resources into education we have seen the cat in
education funding that we saw in England last week where schools have been
starved of money by a conservative going why is this relevant because if they
were in charge they would do exactly the same in words exactly the same in Wales
we have fought against the austerity but the Welsh conservatives have greeted in
Wales and we know what would happen to our old people to our young people to
schools the hospitals to social services if ever God forbid they got their hands
on power I agree with the former Auditor General that austerity is the biggest
challenge facing public services in Wales coupled with the rising demand
these services are facing incredible pressure while NHS spending has
continued to rise local authority cuts are impacting upon Social Care which in
turn impacts upon healthcare we spend more per head on health than they do in
England yet we have to wait longer for appointments and long of her treatment
so First Minister your government's long-term plan for Health and Social
Care will help us prepare for future challenges
what about now how do we meet the challenges of today who Vaughn Thomas
said the public services in Wales need to think more radically about how
services are delivered with a focus on outcomes rather than structures so First
Minister is your government too focused on structures as opposed to outcomes
no because example in the field of health that would mean we were looking
at yet another reorganisation that's not something that would be that would cause
stability in the in the health service it is down to resource it's down to
ensuring that we can allocate as much resources we can to health and other
public services but it's a hugely difficult task against the background
backdrop of austerity that we face and what we face over the past eight years
Huw Vaughn Thomas said that the Williams Commission report clearly sets out the
nature of systemic problems that need to be fixed he added that he finds himself
both frustrated and increasingly concerned that many clarion calls for
action that Wales has heard over the last decade or so have not yet generated
the tangible changes that are now urgently needed and that we have not
used evolution as an opportunity for fundamental rethinks so First Minister
does your government lack the will to do what is necessary to drive forward
change in Wales public services or do you truly believe that the change is
proposed by the Williams Commission and others are unnecessary thank you I'm not
sure whether it's know you could policy to back what was in the Williams
Commission in terms of government reform if that is the case that that's
interesting but we have seen a situation in worlds what we have seen a
development of consortium for example in education which is led to far better
outcomes for education that was previously the case at one point we had
six local authorities in special measures we had one local authority that
collapse completely in in anger see we're far from acquisitions we've worked
to make sure that a lot of thoughts have become more sustainable there are still
challenges to make sure that happens in in the future and that is where of
course it'd be interesting to hear the party's views in terms of what the
structure of public services should be in the future rather than simply saying
well we don't like this but what are the the views of of other parties and let's
see if there is a consensus we've had the parliamentary review on on health
but a consensus in terms of how public services might be structured in the
future mr. 3-nil McAvoy the first minister make a statement on
traffic congestion on tackling traffic congestion in South Central
well the Metro obviously is one obvious example of how that is being done we
also have a pinch points program the improvements to public transport of
already mentioned and supporting local authorities to address key local issues
First Minister we all know that you are making traffic congestion worse in
Cardiff rather than tackling it thousands of houses are being thrown up
right now right now a long climb just a load for example in the west of the city
where there's only a single carriage road the Metro is at some point in the
future you're also planning on building and moved away when you can make a
decision but that traffic will then end up in in local roads now in this region
in the city especially in the west along plant recent roads traffic jams already
go on for miles there is no Metro in place there is no
public transport in place there's no actual plan when you speak to developers
so my question is what our constituents meant to do and what advice do you have
so those people stuck for hours and hours and hours in jams and I would
appreciate you this time if you could just take just that little bit of care
and actually address the question what are my constituents supposed to do well
I expect the first of all the issue of development is a matter for college
council not for the Welsh government secondly we do expect
councils to put in place plans for sustainable transport on particularly
for active travel and I know the intention of Cardiff council for example
to look at five a cycling as superhighways was an excellent idea for
the year for the city he is right to say that we cannot keep on building houses
without there being an active transport plan that supports those developments we
can't rely on the roads in Cardiff forever and a day to take the traffic
but these are matters that have to be addressed in the course of the planning
process Thank You presiding officer
congestion straddles the whole of South Wales central just a distance from this
chamber the village of Dennis Powis exists the largest religion Wales on the
one side of it berry the largest tylium Wales and the capital city towards the
other side of it for some 40 years there's been a campaign to have a bypass
built around the village of Dennis Paris and successive campaigns sadly have come
to nothing do you identify with the issues around congestion in the village
of Dennis powers the blight it puts on people's lives there especially with air
pollution and noise in particular where that road passes several schools primary
schools I might add and will you identify this as a top priority for the
Welsh government and work with the Vale of Glamorgan Council to take forward the
plans that are currently being discussed well this is primarily a matter of
course the varible morgan council but we did award funding of 20,000 in 2016 to
17 and 80,000 in 2017 to 18 to the council towards a study looking at the
options to resolve traffic congestion in Dennis howÃ­s the scope of that work was
extended in April 2089 understand available Morgan councilors funding
additional work and then consultation on the next stage is planned for September
24th of this September 2018 julimanu
stations in my constituency of Cardiff north the Balfour Lant of North one of
them and the other one to go in the center of a new build of the Villandry
Cancer Centre that these will aid traffic congestion in the city of
Cardiff yes I do I think it's hugely important there is no way that cardiff
city centre can plan its way to out the traffic congestions of you by Roseman
it's self-evident does why of course would making the investment in the the
metro and what's important about the metro is it's it's extendibility
but in the future new stations can be opened up with light rail to provide
better alternatives than we'll have at the moment in terms of
public transport Legislature whether it's buses whether it's heavy rail and
of course the need to make it easier for people to cycle there's no doubt in my
mind that a substantial proportion of cyclists apart on the dedicated few who
I know now some of this chamber don't feel comfortable about sharing the road
with with heavy vehicles so anything that can be done doing the easier for
people to to cycle to to work via separate highways recycles I think is
something to be welcomed Superjail question for Jane hat minister make a
statement on the Welsh Government's review of gender equality yes my
ambitions for the route to provide the change needed for worse to become a
world leader in women's rights and gender equality I know that we do the
house you simply updated members on the first phase of the review and Phase two
will provide a comprehensive programme of actions to take Thank You First
Minister last week we had the first meeting across the party group on women
supported by the women's equality network a membership network over
thousand organizations and individuals working to advance the rights of women
in all spheres of Welsh life the women's equality network delegation is
presenting their UN Convention on the elimination of discrimination against
women report the UN Committee this week asking a wide range of questions of the
UK and Welsh Government's regarding gender equality will you agree to meet
with the delegation to respond to their report which includes calling on the
Welsh Government to formally adopt the Istanbul convention and see a seed or
pursuit principles to provide internationally recognized standards to
make Wales the safest place in Europe to be a woman yes it would be open to meet
with a delegation to discuss the report we will of course formally respond to
the report during the UN examination on the Convention on the elimination of all
forms of discrimination against women in February of next year because it's just
as well of course the leader of the House on a national advisors who
recently attended cabinet are also involved in any meeting with Jonathan
Saunders First Minister your own intentions towards honing a government
of equals is sadly and bind by figures which make clear that the Welsh
Government's gender hey gap for your own staff as recently
increased the annual employer equality report earlier this year found that the
gate pay gap between men and women working in the Welsh government had
actually increased in 2017 from the previous year on average men actually
earn more than women in every single pay grade from team support to senior civil
service men also outnumber women in each of the three highest pay grades and the
average basic full-time equivalent salary for men was more than three
thousand pairs higher than for women given such a scale of iniquity and in
fairness unfairness within your own government departments do you not know
think that it is time to practice what you preach and to better seek to lead by
example in other words first minister by getting your own house in order
well the Welsh Government gender pay gap is 8 percent it is nothing to show to
vote of course but it's better than the pay gap that exists in Whitehall what on
earth is wrong what on earth is wrong with comparing the situation in Wales to
the situation is so shameful the Conservatives in
the First Minister is answering the question if we please
will you allow the First Minister to continue is that so we do recognise the
current position isn't good enough it's fair to say the majority of higher paid
roles are currently filled by men and Welsh government is fully committed to
doing everything can to reduce the pay gap women hold 40% of senior civil
service posts in the Welsh government now of course the pay Arrangements a
senior staff are not in the control of the Welsh government they're not
devolved but there is a commitment on our part to achieving 5050
representation across the senior civil service by 2020 so what measures are
being taken what measures are being taken to attract more women into senior
posts this includes support for women who are pregnant or on maternity leave
ensuring job adverts are inclusive offering development courses to women
and having no all-male short lists for recruitment exercises alongside this to
watch government has signed up to heretics Fair Play employer benchmarking
service and that will help to review existing practices and develop the
action plan to further changes custom pimp cheer question five Cleophus thank
you so with will the first minister make a statement that seeker Aalto University
Health Board we have set out clear expectations and milestones for Betsi
Cadwaladr Health Board to meet in order to drive improvements and action
recommendations made in key reports during the next 18 months a new chair
has been appointed and more intensive support is being put in place to
accelerate improvements to benefit the population of North Wales and this is
the response that I've been hearing over five years of asking this question to
all intents and purposes and we've heard reference to another damning report
which is just being published recently and it is a beast of a Health Board that
certain certainly the largest health board we have in Wales and perhaps the
biggest public body we have in was but over the last three years it has been in
special measures and therefore it has been directly accountable to your
government directly under the purview of your
cabinet secretary and therefore the buck stops directly with your government you
can't deny that but tell us how many more damning reports and how many more
scandals are needed before you accept that situation as it currently exists is
unsustainable and it's time for change and we now need to look again
at the structures of delivering health services in North Wales don't think a
change of structure will do anything but what we need a changes to ensure that
action is being taken on those reports if nothing happens after the court then
the criticism would be very fair in my opinion it's intrusive that we
understand what the challenges are before we get to those challenges what's
happening positively in Betsi Cadwaladr well there is a mental health strategy
that's been developed with partners and users of service there is more of a
focus on quality and experience of patients we've seen of course maternity
services improving and coming out of special measures we've seen a
significant improvement in those who come to an end of their training
we know that therapy services the right access within the target of 14 weeks so
things have improved but it is true to say that there is work to be done again
it's crucial that we consider the Ockendon reports in order to know what
to go on with I think that was a very complacent answer it's very clear from
the Ockendon report that the issues which were identified when the health
board was put into special measures and not being addressed and I quote from the
one of the reasons that the health board has been putting special measures the
health board must implement must implement governance and assurance
actions which have been highlighted in a series of reports including the Wales
Audit Office and healthcare Inspectorate Wales and a review carried out by a
monoid the Don Ockendon report makes it absolutely clear that those things have
not been fully implemented and yet the man who's responsible for the oversight
and accountability arrangements of these special measures who sat on the your
front row in your cabinet around that cabinet table who is responsible for the
failure is in his post don't you agree with me that
there needs to be an apology from the cabinet secretary to the people of North
Wales and to the foul families of the tower van patients who were failed by
your government in terms of turning this situation around and will you accept
that given that we don't have any confidence in your health secretary to
turn the situation around that he ought to go and go now oh dear oh do you
standing for the leadership as well I mean really we have a report that was
published last week we don't have a chance to respond to it yet a puff the
account the Conservative Party these responses can cover in a few days it's a
500-page report I wonder if they're actually read the report but are 50
pages of an executive summary and it is right to say the cabinet secretary will
need to respond to that report which he will do this afternoon this is all about
improving patient experience not about scoring political points Michelle Brown
creation of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board well because we
know that there were enormous problems in the Health Board those problems are
not yet resolved and that has to be accepted there has been some progress
but it's reports such as Ockendon to provide us with the ability to identify
the challenges more closely and ensure the health board then meets those
challenges question where dialogue question six tonight thank you Kevin
will the first minister make a statement on the provision of nighttime
domiciliary care local authorities are responsible for assessing an
individual's needs for can support including any nighttime domiciliary care
required and for subsequently meeting those needs through a care and support
plan thank you very much for that response you know some important work in
analyzing the provision or rather the lack of provision of nighttime domicile
care in Wales unfortunely eight out of the 22 local authorities actually
provided figures in terms of the number of adults receiving nighttime Thomas
free care of those local authorities that could provide figures we know that
only one point nine two percent of care and support assessments led to nighttime
Domus Aurea care and the two percent of assessments led to nighttime Domus Aurea
care with wide variations between local authorities so what therefore is
your government going to do to tack to the lack of data collection the first
place and more importantly the lack of consistency and provision in terms of
nighttime support to our most vulnerable citizens well we've already taken action
to improve the terms and conditions of the workforce we provided 19 million
pounds of recurrent funding to local authorities for them to work with
providers to further support the workforce we're aware that a number of
authorities use part of that funding to pay a higher rate for sleeping cover we
will of course continue to work using for example social services and
well-being act with the local authorities in order to make sure the
local authorities understand their duties and to create greater consistency
so a difficult course to understand on an individual basis whether somebody is
it has been it has been assessed or not for nighttime domiciliary care but it's
usually important the local authorities are flexible enough in their
interpretation of the regulations and their assessments to make sure that
people get the care that they need well I think those figures just highlight the
critical role of unpaid carers in overnight care for people within their
family usually and obviously in those circumstances it's very often mental
health care and a traditional domiciliary care is it's not appropriate
anyway and you remember that the worst conservatives launched a policy last
year last month to give grants to young adult carers to help them stay in
education post 16 partly on the basis that it needed to be recognised of
carers allowance should be payable to two of those individuals taking into
account their overnight care and responsibilities as part of their I was
for responsive for eligibility can you give us some steer on whether this
policy is going to be considered by the advisory body that's supporting the
minister who's at the moment trying to get together some policies to support
carers well there is no there's nothing that is not on the table as far as
future policies are concerned there is the question of course of identifying
the resources in order to to do that but also we do have the education
Maintenance Allowance say in in Wales which I suspect would apply to
potentially to too many carers but of course if there are other proposals that
come forward we will of course look at them question scythe Josh and Sam Joyce
watts and will the first minister make a
statement on the accessibility of children's play areas well all children
benefit from being outside interacting with an environment and developing
through play statutory guidance directs local authorities working with partners
to consider the diverse needs of all children and young people in their area
Thank You First Minister but I'm sure that anyone would be moved by the story
that broke last week of a nature of boy Kobi Barrow who helped design a park
which could be used by both able-body and disabled children and he did that in
memory of his best friend Breanna who sadly passed away in 2016
emerged that Rihanna had to travel for three hours from her home to play in a
playground that had suitable equipment and he wanted to rectify that for the
other children who lived more locally First Minister what steps are the Welsh
government taking to ensure that playgrounds in Wales have inclusive play
equipment for children and how are we going to monitor progress of that
throughout Wales well the stuttery guidance directs local
authorities to consider the diverse needs of all children and young people
in their area including those with disabilities I know that in April the
Minister for children all the people in social care visited Auckland's play area
in our CT which is a good example of an accessible play area it shows what can
be achieved in May local authorities were reminded of the expectation from
two local authority to develop a clearly identified play section on their
websites the information should be made available in a way that supports
children and families to know what's available their local areas and should
also include actions that local authorities proposed to take to achieve
sufficiency and improve inclusive play opportunities I can also say that the
government Wales snap camera sustainable play project trained play workers in
disability awareness and inclusion and that was extremely successful in
engaging disabled people in outdoor play Angela burns
but of course you hit on the wordplay and you said that everybody should have
access to be able to play especially young children we talk in this place a
lot about obesity about making our kids healthy and fit and active and all the
rest of it and yet First Minister what I'd be interested to know is what is
your government doing your government born here in Wales doing to ensure that
the planning system in Wales takes do regard of a necessity to have safe
accessible play areas close to homes that are currently being built because
too many times you get to a situation where the developer will actually
perhaps do through the use of a 106 agreement or something will put aside an
area for a play area but it happens to be the other side of a busy main road or
it happens to be the other side of the village where kids can't access it in
the old days we used to put our play areas near our houses so the parent at
home will the carer could look out and just check the kid was still safe and
out there playing we can't do this now and I've seen planners use the pavement
the green grass by the sides of payments as part of the square footage to add to
the so called playing area available in a housing development how can we stop
that how can we make safe play areas that small kids can access all the time
where people can watch them and know that they are truly truly protected
well the effective planning I thought you'll do just that I've seen it happen
in my own authority my play areas are accessible on new housing estates and
very accessible there's no reason why that can't be emulated by authorities
elsewhere through the use of section 106 agreements and through the use of
planners ensuring that play areas are available for a new residence on newer
development so there is responsibility and local authorities and their planners
to make sure they follow the best practice that I've seen elsewhere in
Wales Kristian oily question 8ly waters the Welsh government have to introduce a
default 20 mile an hour speed limit in the urban areas better the comprehensive
reviews implemented schools on only a trunk roads and we have a multi-year
program to introduce part-time 20 per our limits in those locations we
also provide funding for local authorities to implement 20 mile per
hour zones and limits to the road safety and safe routes in communities grants we
have also commissioned dr. Adrian Davis to carry out an evidence review on the
20 mile an hour limits to inform any future policy development that review
will be concluded in August and that will show us at what the direction Thank
You First Minister because two years ago Public Health Wales did produce some
research which showed that the default 20 mile an hour speed limit would result
in reduction in road traffic casualties a reduction in carbon and nitrogen oxide
emissions in residential areas a decrease in noise an increase in active
travel community cohesion and more spending in local shops put simply it
would achieve all the national goals set out in the world being in future
generations act now having said that we'd introduced 21 Ozone's once we had
the powers now we have the powers it does seem that we are waiting for the
Department of Transport in London to complete some further research before we
before we go ahead when the First Minister agree that the evidence is
clear and consistent and we should now get on with it well I mean let's let's
wait to see what the review that says we're not dependent on what the DFT does
what their work is of interest to us of course but we have our own review once
that's published then of course further decisions can be taken us to then
whether or not we introduce a comprehensive - and in my own element
David mouthing Minister this has been examined reveal endlessly across Europe
and very many countries now have a 20 mile an hour limit or 30 kilometers in
their in their measures can I commend Cardiff council for just getting on with
this and I welcome the local campaigns that are now pushing us like the one in
sully it should be default and the motorist should not be king in terms of
who can go out and enjoy the outside environment when we drive cars we have
to be responsible for that and the pedestrian needs greater protection and
we need to shift to more active forms of travel
it's impossible to argue with him when he puts it that way and he is right to
say that active consideration will be given to a 20 mile per hour speed limit
he's also like to say that we want to encourage more people to other forms of
transport as precisely as I outlined earlier on myself and what we're looking
to do Simon Thomas well this is a third party getting up to
support 20 miles per hour as the default in our towns and villages when I went to
primary school 90% of children walk back and forth to primary schools alone now
only 25% traveled to school to primary school in that way that's because the
car has come to dominate our urban landscape in a way that isn't natural
and doesn't allow natural play or health so will you at least empower local
authorities now to introduce these zones without any barrier put in place by the
Welsh Government well we are providing funding to local authorities to ensure
that there are 20 miles per hour zones that already and people see them across
Wales it's not a legal problem but a financial one they need to know that the
funding is available and that's why there's a grant available to ensure that
these zones can move forward we need up Thank You First Minister the next item