Search

13 January 2026, Plenary

Questions to the First Minister

… have increased the amount of money that is being spent in the community significantly. At the same time, though, because we had the backlog as a result of COVID, we've had to put more money into secondary … overnight. COVID put a real spoke in the wheels in the sense that we have to bring those waiting lists down. They are coming down—a 90 per cent reduction from the peak—and I hope that …

1 April 2025, Plenary

& 9. The general principles of the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill and the financial resolution in respect of the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill

… keeping its economy thriving and paying the additional costs that they create. The question is: why have we waited so long? In the UK, Edinburgh is set to introduce its inaugural tourism tax for the visitor levy. This … Hotels are charging over double the regular rate for Oasis concert nights. Cardiff hotels are at least three times more expensive for the first reunion gig …

26 June 2024, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee

General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport

… have a regular rail network that is designed to carry tens of thousands of people all of the time. So, I think we have to just recognise that, no matter where you go in the world, when there … the station very safely. And it would be unreasonable, I think, to have thousands upon thousands of people waiting on trackside. So, actually, queueing outside of Cardiff Central is, for safety reasons, absolutely essential. But I do think …

18 January 2024, Finance Committee

Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 8

… around about then, the Welsh Government was working up different proposals and full work streams at that time to look at whether or not we could do something within this sphere. And if my recollection is right … what is the current thinking from you, as a finance Minister, and within Welsh Government? Are we now waiting for some future Government at a UK level to step up to the mark and get serious about investment …

10 May 2022, Plenary

Questions to the First Minister

… not provided on vacancy rates. It was welcome that the nurse staffing measure was put in place some time ago that protected certain positions within the hospital settings, but what we do know from the freedom of information … moment so that ward rounds can be covered and we can make real progress in eating into the waiting lists that have built up through the pandemic …

27 February 2023, Petitions Committee

Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities

… agreed to undertake it, and it was with a view to taking action. I think the length of time it took—so, it was 30 April 2020 was when responses were given in by, and then we had … way that the Welsh Government would have and could have. So, really, now, it's fair enough to wait for that. The danger is, if Welsh Government act now in parallel with UK Government, they could come …

1 July 2024, Equality and Social Justice Committee

The EU settlement scheme and citizens' rights after Brexit: evidence session 2

… significant number of people who hold status, who hold pre-settled status, were, at least at the time of the census, which is the best data we've got, actually living outside of the UK. A significant number … pre-settled status has been revoked, of course, subject to appeal. But, again, we're still very much waiting for confirmation from the Home Office, but this is potentially an important uncertainty there …

5 February 2026, Local Government and Housing Committee

Follow-up inquiry on social housing supply: Evidence session 3

… now with nitrates. It has come in with immediate effect, it's stalling stuff, with no lead-in time. But the key one is, there's planning and there's also viability. As we all know, the delivery … site, and it's still very expensive and complex to build, and there's still a social housing waiting list in that area. That's just one, but I don't want to hog the table. I could …

17 January 2023, Plenary

Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on meeting with NHS trade unions

… wait virtually being eliminated in England, yet, in Wales, we've still got tens of thousands of people waiting for over two years for treatment. Now, I think that, last week, you almost lost your temper with … final question to you, Minister, is, quite simply: do you think you will resolve the pay dispute any time soon …

11 June 2024, Plenary

Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office: Context for and approach to the next Spending Review period

Can I thank you for the statement, Cabinet Secretary? We are at that time of political challenge, we know. Obviously, the first half of your statement was the predictable political diatribe that seems to be the default position … cut, forcing councils to push up council taxes. We see continued decline in our health service, the longest waiting lists in the UK, education languishing at the bottom of performance tables, we see an underperforming economy with the …

30 November 2021, Plenary

Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: The Homelessness Action Plan

… not going to be drawn on what the draft budget will say—Members will have to wait for my colleague, the Minister for Finance and Local Government, to make those announcements. What we are announcing today … temporary accommodation, because the alternative to that would be rough-sleeping, as you see in England all the time. So, you'd do well to look to your own Conservative Government there for some compassion. You also spoke …

10 July 2024, Health and Social Care Committee

Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill: evidence session with representatives of local health boards

… right. There can be delays, when people are on holidays; getting everyone together, collating assessments can take some time, but the national framework, the policy framework, requires us to do that within a specific timeframe, so that … they've got in terms of workers. We find that increasingly difficult. There are more delays and more waits for dom care. It's a very difficult area, isn't it? It's not paid hugely. We are …

24 November 2022, Local Government and Housing Committee

Homelessness - evidence session 2

… thousands of social housing properties in the next two to three years; it's going to take time. But the problem we've got is immediate, and it's obviously right that we take action in the immediate … doesn't really resolve anything necessarily in the longer term because we're just moving the problem from waiting lists for temporary accommodation to having loads of people in temporary accommodation and nowhere to move them …

14 December 2023, Children, Young People, and Education Committee

Scrutiny of Qualifications Wales Annual Report 2022-2023

… the work that's going on here. So, I think there has to be some care, and some time needs to be given for CTER, alongside the Welsh Government, to clarify its policy position, because I think the … part to play. There's a lot that we're still doing. We're not just sitting and waiting. As I think Philip has referred to, we've already done a number of reviews and published them, and …

29 November 2023, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee

HSBC UK Welsh Service Line: evidence session with HSBC UK

… and my family in the way that your advertising tells others that you're doing. So, the next time I walk along an air bridge and see all those adverts telling me that you are the world … cash by the afternoon. I can do that through the app. Telling me that I've got to wait three days to speak my language in my country, frankly, isn't the service that is going …

5 July 2023, Plenary

Welsh Conservatives Debate: National Health Service

… has touched very personally, and also with the help it has provided to all of us in a time of need. Russell George opened our debate and actually talked about the challenges and the changes that the NHS … mentioned the problems in dental services and the staffing issues currently facing our NHS, and also the long waiting lists which other people have talked about as well. Huw Irranca made quite an important intervention, I think, without …

5 November 2025, Plenary

Plaid Cymru Debate: A national care service for Wales

… the sector remains under pressure, and the gaps between policy and practice continue to grow, because time and time again, Government come out with a policy and, unfortunately, it isn't implemented on the ground. There are other … about unpaid carers, and the situation is equally concerning for unpaid carers. Too many still wait far too long for their carers' needs assessments, the level of respite support varies drastically between the local authorities across Wales, and …

22 October 2024, Plenary

Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales: Rail Collision on the Cambrian Line

… morning. There are lessons to be learned, of course, in looking to the future, and we will be waiting for that further statement from you with regard to the findings of the investigation that is now under way … advice would you give them if this line were to have to close for a longer period of time than expected? Thank you …

11 May 2022, Plenary

Plaid Cymru Debate: Alcohol-related harm

… delivery plan, as this is crucial to how this country responds to a growing challenge; at a time when we have seen a reduction in treatment numbers over the past five years, the number of alcohol-related deaths … also important that Wales establish a Wales-wide recovery plan for those who are now sat on lengthy waiting lists for community prescribing and in-patient detoxification. I appreciate that, as we emerge from the effects of the …

20 February 2025, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee

Annual scrutiny of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales

… are other communities in Wales where everyone's working full-time, and they don't have, perhaps, the time, or perhaps the expertise, to put into that. You might have communities who are vulnerable, maybe they are isolated … communities to feel like they're taking some of that power back—that they're not just victims waiting for a flood event to devastate their lives, but actually that they have an ability to prepare and …