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30 November 2022, Plenary

Debate on the Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee Report—'Levelling the playing field: A report on participation in sport and physical activity in disadvantaged areas'

… children from the most disadvantaged areas were taking part in sports outwith the curriculum three or more times a week. The figure for pupils in the least deprived areas was 47 percent. We have an opportunity to change … explain this. The Welsh Government has acknowledged that sport can be the most effective preventative health tool. NHS waiting lists grew 50 per cent between March 2020 and April this year, so a tool of this kind would …

19 March 2024, Plenary

Debate: Final report of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales

… then, look like now? What could it mean to us today?' And I don't think we should wait for the seventh Senedd. I've always been a person in a hurry. I think there's some work … kind of wonderful contradiction, because, in some ways, it's trying to do something new all the time, but giving new form to enduring values? And when we think about our own democracy here, it's that sense …

24 September 2024, Plenary

Statement by the First Minister: Inter-governmental relations

… this place from Brussels. I can also remember that the leaders at the time would spend considerable time in Cathays Park, and in Westminster, discussing and debating what should be within those Welsh Bills that came forward transferring … colleagues and Ministers in Westminster. I pressed her, in First Minister's questions, about this offer to take waiting-list patients into capacity that is deemed available in England, yet I note the statement doesn't touch …

30 June 2026, Plenary

Statement by the Deputy Minister for Transport: Integrated Transport: North-South Coach Services

… what this starts as being is a pragmatic start to make sure that things work, because we can wait forever for things to change, or we can make a difference quickly. This is about making a difference quickly … make sure that the coach can get from A to B, from north to south, in a time that's convenient for people and works for people. So, that's really important. It's also why …

26 June 2024, Plenary

Plaid Cymru Debate: Wales and the next UK Government

… for example, the devolution of justice and policing, an established policy position of the Welsh Government for some time, whose clear benefits are corroborated by a sizable corpus of reputable academic research, including the Independent Commission on the … Labour Member, you'd be forgiven for assuming that this was a Tory Secretary of State in waiting, honouring their party's tradition of undermining the course of devolution, something they've pursued with particular vigour in recent …

2 October 2025, Health and Social Care Committee

Inquiry into the future of general practice in Wales: evidence session 4

… are looking for. As Paul mentions, coming out of COVID, there was a significant list of people waiting for planned care procedures, for example. We know that we have rising demand and a rising demographic across Wales, particularly … frail population can access more responsive, proactive care, to mitigate and reduce the need or the length of time that they need secondary care treatment. I think that's something that, without thinking about how we're allocating …

13 October 2022, Health and Social Care Committee

Dentistry - evidence session with British Dental Association Wales and British Orthodontic Society

… opportunities to make sure that you don't destabilise services by employing someone just to deal with a waiting list initiative over a two-year period, but then not for the long term. Because you're unlikely … look at backlogs, and actually, that needs to be brought into the commissioning cycle so that, over time, you are gradually going to reduce those backlogs, but in a sustainable way. Practices in primary care are independent practices …

27 January 2026, Plenary

Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care: NHS Waiting Times

… your laser-like focus on performance. One of the areas where my constituents are still having to wait more than two years is to see a urologist, which is very poor compared with Swansea Bay, for example. One … could save ourselves £46,000, just by preventing two strokes a year. That's a lot of nurse time that could be saved. So, I wondered how much attention the Welsh Government pays to the fantastic work going …

10 December 2025, Plenary

Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government

Diolch. In February 2025, the Caerphilly Observer reported 6,420 people on Caerphilly County Borough Council's waiting list for housing at the end of 2024, with 3 per cent of the local authority's properties void … into housing people? And guidelines—. What does the Welsh Government set out for local authorities about the recommended time for converting void properties into occupied homes …

27 November 2025, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee

Scrutiny of the Welsh Government draft budget 2026-27: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language

… the chief executive was explaining to me was that more than half of the schools that spend residential time in those centres come from the English-medium sector. So, when we were having a great deal of discussion … order to provide more resources so that they can open throughout the year, because they do have a waiting list, and there are more schools wanting to visit the centres than there is capacity for them …

14 July 2026, Plenary

Debate: The First Supplementary Budget 2026-27

… the retention, intact, of your own Welsh Labour Government budget, but also against new money to reduce NHS waiting lists, to provide more free childcare, to extend £1 bus travel for young people, to spend more on backlog … Today, Labour have abandoned those values. And in these final few moments before the vote, there is still time for you to reclaim them. Reclaim them …

27 June 2023, Plenary

Questions to the First Minister

… adopted, such as dental therapists and dental hygienists being able to open and close treatments, such as centralised waiting lists—a real improvement. Thank you for that, and thank you to the Chair of that committee as well … NHS dentist, that we have more transparency and communications for people who come to us all the time saying they’ve been turned away from an NHS dentist and they don’t know when they’re going …

13 July 2022, Plenary

Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services

… long COVID. I've spoken to a number of parents—one who said that they'd had to wait five months for a referral, and had had to go private to a paediatrician, and paid hundreds of pounds … that support is available for children and young people, because they will be left behind because of the time it is happening in their life cycle …

6 November 2024, Plenary

Welsh Conservatives Debate: Welsh Government response to UK Government budget

… its own budget, but I imagine the answer is either going to be, ‘It's too expensive’ or, 'Wait for the budget’, which I think is actually the more likely answer. But what I really want to get … changing the emphasis on who pays what within the business rates system. I’ve said a number of times that supermarkets, out-of-town shopping centres and large chains should be paying more business rates, using that funding …

9 March 2022, Plenary

Welsh Conservatives Debate: Housing

… Dwyfor Meirionnydd should maybe have a lie down and check his blood pressure and spend a bit less time on Twitter. It's an absolute pleasure to take part in this important debate tonight, or this afternoon … constituents, who I've been dealing with since the elections last May, with disabled children, has been waiting years for a suitable property, one that is adapted for the needs of her children. This is totally unacceptable, and …

11 May 2022, Plenary

Welsh Conservatives Debate: NHS waiting lists

… its limit and, prior to the pandemic, in 2019, we had no more than 9,000 people waiting for 36 weeks for treatment. North Wales—lots of you talked about north Wales—it needs some attention, and … that backlog. I think it's really important we're really careful about talking down Betsi all the time because, frankly, it's making it more difficult to attract and recruit people. So, can we please be sensitive …

24 October 2023, Plenary

Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023

… that you put in place then, at that time—. A lot of that stock was really behind the times in terms of good kitchens, good bathrooms, insulated, double-glazing. And I think your standard in the past has … Wrexham that the Welsh Government housing quality standard, however, was actually hindering the authority from reducing the housing waiting list, but I imagine, Minister, that you've actually taken this into consideration, because we all know of registered …

26 April 2023, Plenary

Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services

… new diagnostic strategy, and in there it was very clearly stated that we are intending to expand the time frame when diagnostic treatment can happen, to include longer hours during the day and to include weekends. Obviously … surgical hubs in relation to diagnostics, and it's important to emphasise how crucial that is to the waiting list pathway, because 85 per cent of people who need treatment need some kind of diagnosis. So, getting flow …

14 October 2024, Equality and Social Justice Committee

Disability and employment: evidence session 6

… But then, on the specific initiatives that there are, Access to Work has been around for a long time; it's known as the best-kept secret in Whitehall. As a scheme, it's a very good scheme … access, getting assessments and then getting the equipment, or whatever it is, signed up. Many employers can't wait weeks and weeks for an employee to be able to properly do their job. So, there are big problems …

6 December 2023, Plenary

Short Debate: Increasing the use of public transport: Why young people should travel for free

… buses, however they're becoming overcrowded, they don't always get on, and some pupils have had to wait another half an hour for a bus, which means they're getting to school late. One child arrived late … during this cost-of-living crisis, but, as you said, increase that use of public transport at a time when it really needs …