24 January 2023 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Census 2021—Welsh Language Results
… clear, we're not disregarding what the census says, but the fact that it has happened in the time frame that it has, during COVID, is obviously something that you can’t just ignore. You can't just … shown in the survey. So, that’s the choice that I made—to press ahead rather than to wait , and I’m sure that you agree that that’s the right thing to do, of course. But there …
11 September 2022 , Plenary
Motion of condolence and tributes to Her Majesty The Queen
… deepest condolences to King Charles III and his family on their behalf. I can remember the very first time I saw the Queen in the flesh. It's quite a thrill, isn't it, when it hasn … turned up to this place, and there were thousands of people in the stadium. We were all waiting for the royal couple to arrive—Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh—and there was a compère …
5 July 2023 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: National Health Service
… rehearse those, because they've been rehearsed by everybody and I'm a little bit short of time . Rhianon got up and, quite passionately, talked about the vision of Aneurin Bevan and the future of our health service … that they’re actually seeing the people they need to see, rather than the people sitting in the waiting rooms who probably don’t need to be there. But we do need to do more work on reducing …
2 December 2021 , Health and Social Care Committee
Impact of waiting times backlog on people who are waiting for diagnosis or treatment: evidence session with organisations representing the patient's voice
… well. People don’t think that normality is going to return. They’re so concerned about the growing waiting lists. They don’t have that much confidence that everything is going to open up again and they … But we know about the crisis about that across Wales, and that’s going to take a long time to resolve. In our survey of the latest experience of lockdown, we had over 1,200 responses, and reading …
23 October 2025 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Bill - Stakeholder evidence session with dog trainers
… the gallop, I've got a 250 yd gallop, and I'll bring them back and wait half an hour until they're content. I wouldn’t do any exercise with them or have them eating food just … where they can roam and play at their will. So they can do that. And then, at this time of the year, I bring them back in. They'd be finished at about 6 o'clock …
4 October 2022 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: The Cymraeg 2050 Annual Report 2021-22
… Chamber previously, it is possible that neither he nor I will be in this Chamber in 28 years' time , so the question must be asked as to who will be accountable if this ambitious target is not reached … ambition and intention that we need to reach that important target. I am aware that we are still waiting for the publication of the 2021 census data—before Christmas, I think—but without jumping ahead, I'd like …
28 September 2022 , Plenary
Motion to approve the Official Languages Scheme for the Sixth Senedd and note the annual report on the Official Languages Scheme for 2021-22
… course, we're very eager to learn and improve all the time . So, thank you for the time to be able to discuss these two reports today. The fact that we can discuss reports in this way shows … for improvement, and there is room for us to pass our expertise on to others, but don't wait until formal consultations to discuss with the Commission your ideas in terms of the use of language. Our door …
24 May 2023 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: NHS Dentistry
… makes it abundantly clear that there needs to be more investment, that the problems started a long time ago, and that there needs to be a strategy to get out of this hole, as I described it earlier … the problem. And that is why this issue of making sure that we know how many people are waiting to register with a dentist is so critically important, and I can't believe that it takes a committee …
24 June 2025 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
… translating into better outcomes. First Minister, despite millions poured into tackling NHS waiting lists, the numbers of people waiting for treatment continue to climb. It is clear that extra funding is not working. We are spending significantly more … how much we put into the NHS, but how we spend it. Don’t you agree it is time to shift our focus to effectual spending? Thank you …
15 October 2024 , Plenary
Debate: The Children’s Commissioner for Wales Annual Report 2023-24
… identified mental health as a priority area for her work, because as I've mentioned a number of times now, ensuring prompt and effective mental health treatment for children is crucially important for the preventative agenda. The greater … life. But it continues to be the sad reality that children in Wales have to suffer long waits for mental health services, which are far longer than for adults. At the moment, only 57 per cent of therapeutic …
18 June 2025 , Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
… cent of local planning authorities in Wales are meeting the target to determine planning applications within the preferred time frame. That's a shocking drop from 27 per cent from the previous year. Let's be clear, these … local councils themselves are being stalled by slow, inconsistent planning systems. With over 90,000 people on housing waiting lists in Wales, it's not just frustrating, it's unacceptable. So, Cabinet Secretary, what specific action is being …
24 May 2022 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
… unacceptable. I had a meeting with the Minister Julie James and she said that she's waiting for the UK Government to act, and then will introduce a legislative consent motion to address the gaps that may … action through the Welsh Government's legislative powers if the UK Government fail to address this in good time …
4 June 2025 , Finance Committee
Post-legislative review of the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019: Evidence session 5 - Health related authorities
… the way some patients with prostate cancer had been tracked in the system, whether or not they received timely care, and I don't think the health board was reporting on that, because they felt they'd done … legal change, but it was definitely a change in the ways the health boards report on cancer waits . So, by doing that piece of work, the ombudsman has influenced change with Welsh Government and the way in which …
9 February 2022 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Cancer services
… more ambitiously to fight this big killer. In my own region of South Wales East, we are seeing waiting figures for cancer treatment that are the worst on record. My constituents feel let down. I am pleased … very, very welcome. This will be a vital step as we all know that, without access to timely diagnosis and the use of the most up-to-date and effective treatments, outcomes for cancer patients in Wales will …
12 September 2023 , Plenary
Legislative Consent Motion on the Non-Domestic Rating Bill
… date and the new rating list coming into effect. And those are examples of things that weren't time -critical, and although there's a discrepancy in the legislation, it won't mean that there's a disadvantage … that's something we wanted to do. We could do it from next year, not having to wait until the year after. And then in terms of the digitalisation agenda, again, this is about having the necessary information …
16 November 2022 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
… business case to you, planning procedures and anything else that's pertinent to their remit. So, they are waiting for you, Minister. People in Rhyl, Prestatyn and north Denbighshire have been promised this for a decade, without … constituency have to travel as far as Colwyn Bay, Llandudno and even Bangor and Holywell at times to receive step-down treatment, and not all people have access to private vehicles, relying on an equally failing public transport …
24 June 2025 , Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales: Support for the Armed Forces Community
… the dead, the wounded and the traumatised survivors were Welsh Guards, and they and their families are still waiting for an explanation as to why they or their loved ones were trapped on a ship for over five … naval inquiry into the loss of the Sir Galahad back in 1982 was a whitewash. During all this time , the Welsh Guards have had to put up with being blamed for their own tragedy, contrary to having been …
16 October 2024 , Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales
You talk about a twenty-first century standard; are we going to have to wait until the twenty-second century for it happen? It would be worth knowing what sort of timescales you’re looking at there and … mind, are that it needs to be reliable, it needs to be frequent, it needs to be timely , and it needs to have reasonable fares. Less than 4 per cent of our railway is electrified, you cannot get …
10 June 2025 , Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
… have received constituent casework regarding a prospective patient waiting years for a knee operation. Placed on a waiting list for surgery, it was suggested by their GP to seek private healthcare. Making enquiries with a private provider, they … the NHS, secretaries are conducting additional work beyond their job description for outside organisations during their NHS working time . While NHS staff perform normal duties, it appears that others are sifting through e-mails benefiting other organisations …
10 January 2024 , Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Programme for International Student Assessment results
… instead the sector has to deal with more crushing cuts. Do we really expect better PISA results next time round if we can't fix or even recognise the current most pressing issues in our schools? I think … testing, to help parents and teachers monitor learner progress at key stages and compare performance. We cannot just wait for students or learners to finish their GCSEs or wait for PISA results to see if progress …