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Y Llywydd / The Presiding Officer: Good afternoon. The National Assembly is now in session.
Suzy Davies: 1. Will the Welsh Government's review of the Individual Patient Funding Review process extend
to applications for all drugs which have not yet been approved by NICE or the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group? OAQ(4)1396(FM)
Carwyn Jones: Preparatory work is currently
under way in terms of the review. Detailed terms of reference will be agreed next month.
Suzy Davies: I look forward to hearing more about that, because, last week, in challenging
my assertion that Afinitor is more readily prescribed in England than in Wales, you referred
to seven criteria that women in England must meet before they can receive Afinitor from
the cancer drug fund. What you did not say is that only women who do not meet all the
criteria have to make their case through a process akin to the individual patient funding
request style of application. Women in Wales still have to go through that process whether
they meet the criteria or not. Between April and September of this year, 279 women in England
met the criteria, which was simply confirmed by their own consultant, and the cancer drugs
fund paid for their treatment. Proportionally, you would expect 16 women in Wales to have
benefited automatically from a Welsh fund. First Minister, how many women in Wales who
meet those criteria have received Afinitor as a result of the IPFR, and will you consider
automatic entitlement for women whose consultants confirm that they meet those seven criteria?
Carwyn Jones: I will write to the Member with the information that she requested. But, it
is right to say that it simply is not the case that, somehow, there are drugs in England
that are easily available as compared to Wales. There are processes that have to be followed
there for the cancer drugs fund as well. Bethan Jenkins: First Minister, I have been
told by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry that there is such as thing as the
ënamed-patient basisí, which is part of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory
Agency. In certain circumstances, the doctor can prescribe the medicine because the patient
has a special need for it. I do not think that many people are aware of that particular
process. I was wondering whether you could work with the Minister for Health and Social
Services to make people more aware of it, because if they do fall through the gaps in
such circumstances as those that Suzy Davies has outlined, perhaps this would be another
way forward for people to seek the drugs that they need.
Carwyn Jones: I see no reason why that situation cannot be publicised and I will discuss the
issue with the Minister for health. Byron Davies: 2. Will the First Minister make
a statement on the development of bus services in Wales? OAQ(4)1399(FM)
Carwyn Jones: We are committed to supporting bus services now and in the future. We are
actively looking at ways to maximise value for money and secure the best possible provision
of services in Wales. Byron Davies: I asked the Minister for Economy,
Science and Transport last week about the concessionary fares scheme and for assurances
that it would not be cut. There was expectation in the industry that an announcement would
be made in the first week of December. Now, the Minister tells me that she hopes to make
one in January. Could you assure this Chamber that the Government will ensure that people
who hold concessionary bus passes, which we strongly support on this side of the Chamber,
will actually have a bus service to use in the new year? Could you also reassure the
industry at the earliest opportunity that you will properly fund concessionary passes?
Carwyn Jones: Negotiations are ongoing. I understand that there was a meeting last week
and there is a meeting due this week as well. Our aim, during the course of those negotiations,
is to achieve a settlement that achieves our aims and is fair to the operators.
Yr Arglwydd / Lord Elis-Thomas: Would the First Minister agree that it is crucial for
his Government to connect bus services with an integrated transport system, that the recent
development of the regular bus service to Cardiff Airport is crucially important in
terms of integrating with aircraft, but that it is just as important to have integration
with trains across Wales? Carwyn Jones: That is true, of course. The
most effective public systems are those that tend to connect trains, buses, airports and
every port in the country, namely Wales, of course.
Eluned Parrott: First Minister, you will be aware that a number of services have been
cut and reduced in the Vale of Glamorgan and that this is creating difficulties for the
residents who live there in getting to work and to school. You have stepped in in other
parts of Wales where there has been a market failure in the bus service, and I wonder what
you can do for the Vale of Glamorgan to make sure that people living in that area are still
able to access an effective service. Carwyn Jones: The Minister is aware of the
situation in the Vale of Glamorgan, as Members will be aware of what happened in Ceredigion,
particularly. I know that she is monitoring the situation to see what might be possible
in the future. Y Llywydd / The Presiding Officer: We now
move to questions from the party leaders. First this afternoon is the leader of Plaid
Cymru, Leanne Wood. Leanne Wood: On Thursday this week, the results
of the south Wales programme will be announced. More than 60,000 people participated in that
consultation. The response will be given the day after the very last Plenary session of
this term. That means that there will be no opportunity to scrutinise the announcement
until the new year. First Minister, can you tell us how this is an example of transparency
and can you also tell us whether your Government agreed to the timing of this announcement?
Carwyn Jones: This is not a Government announcement; it is a matter for the programme board. There
will be ample opportunity for Members to scrutinise. First, the community health councils will
need to express a view and they will, of course, arrive at their views in due course, but I
am sure that Members will be fully able to scrutinise the decision before any final decision
is made. Leanne Wood: You did not answer the question,
First Minister. I asked you whether you agreed to the timing of this announcement. Today,
there has been yet another negative report on the organisation of our NHS, about Betsi
Cadwaladr University Local Health Board. Yesterday, there was further criticism of poor performance
in transferring from ambulances at accident and emergency departments. These are pressures
that are likely to get worse under your centralisation proposals.
Leanne Wood: The British Medical Association is saying that consultants are overworked.
The Royal College of Surgeons has also called for a widespread inquiry into the Welsh NHS.
Too many people are starting to see this looking like a crisis. After four years as First Minister,
is this a legacy that you are proud of? Carwyn Jones: I am proud of the fact that
we see improvements in cancer treatment times so that we are now in the same position as
England and that we have seen improvements in ambulance waiting times. I am proud of
the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013 that we have put in place. I am also cognisant
of the fact that the Royal College of Surgeons has called for reconfiguration. It is one
thing to pull on thing that it has said and ignore another, but that is what it has said.
That reconfiguration, whatever shape it takes, of course, will be crucial for a sustainable
and safe NHS in the future. In answer to her previous question, if she was asking me whether
the timing of the programme boardís announcement was deliberate to avoid scrutiny by this Chamber,
and agreed by the Government, the answer to that is ënoí.
Leanne Wood: First Minister, it sounds like you are saying to us, ëCrisis, what crisis?í
You come here and you are in denial about the state of the health service every single
week. Leanne Wood: Let us look at education. An
Estyn report out today says that you are not doing enough to break the link between poverty
and educational attainment. Last week, the programme for international student assessment
results showed Wales to be the worst ranking in western Europe. You may well have an anti-poverty
Minister, but you have no anti-poverty strategy. In health, in education, and on the economy,
Wales is bottom of the league. Leanne Wood: First Minister, when you first
became First Minister, you said that your leadership would be all about delivery. Has
he delivered? After four years in charge, First Minister, when can we expect to see
some evidence of delivery from you? Carwyn Jones: The script is kept to, of course,
once again. ëCrisis, what crisis?íóshe should avoid clichÈs like the plague. We
expect this week after week. When it comes to health and education, things are moving
in the right direction. When it comes to the economy, it is simply untrue to say that we
are bottom of the league. We are doing far better than the north-east of England, the
north-west of England and the west midlands. Our unemployment rate is lower than Londonís.
Our economic activity rate is higher than Northern Irelandís. We are in the middle
in terms of the UK, and we had to, of course, undo the damage that her party did when it
ran economic development, which she tries to forget, when it was in Government. The
reality is that we have in place Jobs Growth Wales, the most successful scheme for recruiting
young people to apprenticeships, probably in Europe, and I doubt whether there is a
better one in the world, actually. You should look at what we have done with the Wales economic
growth fund and the enterprise zones. We saw only this week what has happened in England
with enterprise zones; all those promises of jobs have had to be scaled back by between
70% and 90% because of the wild overestimates that they put in place to begin with.
Carwyn Jones: We are a Government that delivers. We are a Government that has made sure that
the lives of the people of Wales are improved by the economic growth fund, enterprise zones,
an expanded Flying Start, a new tackling poverty action plan, the organ donation Act, the cap
on domiciliary care charges, the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013, the Wales coastal path,
the negotiation of the devolution of tax and borrowing powers, the blacklisting ban, the
carrier bag charge, leading the way forward on recycling, the foundation phase, student
finance support, Houses into Homes, Help to Buy Wales, 500 community support officers
delivered, and the first anti-human trafficking co-ordinator in the UK. I will stop there,
Llywydd, because I have already gone further than the entire length of the Plaid manifesto.
Y Llywydd / The Presiding Officer: We now move to the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats,
Kirsty Williams. Kirsty Williams: First Minister, yesterday,
for the second time in as many weeks, Wales made the UK news headlines for all the wrong
reasons. On average, Welsh patients spent the most amount of time stuck in the back
of an ambulance waiting for a bed in an accident and emergency department. In fact, between
August and October this year, one ambulance took an amazing six hours to discharge a patient
into hospital. Is that an example of the Assembly of delivery that you promised us?
Carwyn Jones: The average handover time for patients in Wales is 20 minutes, which shows
that the time that she has made mention of is an exception to the rule. It is all very
well picking out an extreme and trying to present that as the norm when, in fact, that
is not the case. It is the case that most people wait for approximately 20 minutes,
and that six hours, although difficult to explain and justify, is an exception.
Kirsty Williams: The average wait for Welsh patients is longer than anywhere else in the
UK, and that comes in the wake of the news that our educational results, according to
PISA, were worse than those of the rest of the UK. In fact, we barely made it into the
top 40, despite you promising me, time after time, that we would do better. We do have
a higher jobless rate and a lower economic growth rate than the rest of the UK and, with
regard to apprenticeships, First Minister, the number of apprenticeships in Wales has
dropped 30% in the last five years while, at the same time, it has tripled in England.
Are these yet more examples of the Assembly of delivery that you promised us?
Carwyn Jones: Once again, she refers to figures that are untrue. That is, she claims that
the economy in Wales is doing worse than in anywhere else.
Carwyn Jones: It is simply not true, on a basic reading of the figures. If you look
at unemployment, if you look at employment, if you look at economic activity, we are doing
betteróas I have said, and I will repeat it againóthan the north-east of England,
the north-west of England and the west midlands. We are doing better on unemployment, for example,
than London, and we are doing better in terms of economic inactivity than Northern Ireland.
We sit somewhere in the middle; that is the reality of it. Our unemployment rate is 7.8%,
which is just north of the UK average figure of 7.6%. So, it is simply not right to say
that Wales is doing worse than any other part of the UK. That is preposterous. When it comes
to education, we have accepted that there is work to be done with PISA; that much we
understand. If she wants me to do so, I can read out once again what we have delivered
over the course of the past year or two, because, unlike her party, we make promises that we
keep, rather than breaking them a month or two into Government.
Kirsty Williams: First Minister, back in May 2011 you promised us that your Government
would act with humility in the face of the problems that Wales faced. Your answers today
show nothing but contempt and complacency and a selective reading of the figures. First
Minister, I have seen very little evidence of humility from you in the past few weeks,
but is it not the case that, with a record like your Governmentís on health, on education,
on jobs and on economic growth, there is an awful lot for you and your Government to be
humble about? Carwyn Jones: Well, we are open about the
problems that we face. We do not try to spin out of them. We were open about the problems
with PISA and we have been open about the problems with the NHS. We have never tried
to conceal them. Being lectured by the Lib Dems on this is incredible. Talk about humility:
this is the party whose leader stood with a placard saying, ëThere will be no student
tuition feesí. It was a line that was broken within months. On the bedroom tax, there is
utter silence. We see people who run the risk of being evicted because they cannot find
somewhere to live, and the Lib Dems sit there in utter silence. They talk about humility:
if any party wants to show humility, it is the Lib Dems, because they have much to be
humble about. Y Llywydd / The Presiding Officer: We now
move to the leader of the opposition, Andrew R.T. Davies.
Andrew R.T. Davies: First Minister, how many people slept homeless in Wales last night?
Carwyn Jones: It is impossible to answer that question, as well he knows.
Andrew R.T. Davies: It is not impossible, actually, because if your Government started
to collate the data as other parts of the United Kingdom do, you would have a basic
idea of the problem that you need to deal with. Last Wednesday, I had the privilege
of going out with one of the charities based here in Cardiff to help on the breakfast run.
The point that it made to me about homelessness in Wales was that your Government, since 2007, has failed to collate
any statistics to help understand the scale of the problem in Wales. Will you today commit
to your Government working with local authorities and the charities to collate these figures
so that you can begin to address the problem of long-term homelessness on our streets?
Carwyn Jones: We already collect figures for homelessness, and they are figures that we
make reference to during the course of questions and elsewhere. The reality is this: I just
cannot quite believe that the leader of the opposition is standing there and telling us
that he has been on the streets talking about homelessness, and yet he defends the bedroom
tax. There is no policy more calculated to put people on the streets to live than his
own policy of the bedroom tax. I ask you now: I wonder whether they mentioned this to him,
or did they praise him and say, ëThanks for introducing the bedroom tax; it will make
homelessness betterí? I doubt it very much. The reality is that his party in Government
has introduced the most spiteful and most ill-thought-out policy in terms of ensuring
that more people become homeless, and he has sat there mute through it all.
Andrew R.T. Davies: I have to say that, when you hear the First Minister and his backbenchers
and the parties of the left, they seem to think that they have the freehold on poverty.
Well, they have the monopoly on poverty; they helped to create more poverty than any other
party. When you look at the figures, more poverty was created after 14 years of Labour
than under any Conservative Government. I asked you a very reasoned question, which
the charities are putting forward, on the fact that, sadly, since 2007, the Welsh Government
has failed to collect statistics on long-term homelessness.
Andrew R.T. Davies: The individuals whom I spoke to last week on the streets of Cardiff
were not on the streets because of the single occupancy tax; they were on the streets because
of many of the problems that they faced, such as mental health problems, for example, and
domestic disputes. Those were the issues that needed to be addressed. So, why on earth is
your Government not working with the homeless charities to address this by undertaking a
simple measure of the problem, so that your two poverty Ministersóyou have two Ministers
to handle poverty, after all of the initiatives that you have brought forwardócan actually
put something in place that will help those individuals who find themselves on the street,
night after night, year after year, First Minister?
Carwyn Jones: I can tell you that 5,795 households were accepted as homeless across Wales in
2012-13. During the April to June quarter of 2013, a total of 1,355 households were
accepted as homeless. The number of households placed in temporary accommodation decreased
at the end of 2012-13. At the end of June 2013, there were 275 households placed in
bed-and-breakfast accommodation. [Interruption.] There is no point in moaning about it. What
he asked for was figures. He has those figures; those figures are collated. It is not good
enough for him to say to the people of Wales, ëThe bedroom tax has nothing to do with me.í
I can tell him now, because I have met them in my surgeries, that there are people out
there who will be evicted because of the bedroom tax. They will be evicted because of the bedroom
tax, and because of the meanness of his party and the fact that he has done nothing to stand
up for the people of Wales who face eviction. Carwyn Jones: I have to say that I was quite
amused to hear him talk about the parties of the left. I know that, in his press conference
this morning, he talked about the personal chemistry that existed with the leaders of
Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems. I wonder whether flowers have changed hands across the Chamber,
and I wonder whether there has been wooing that has taken place on behalf of the dynamic
leader of the opposition. Perhaps the opportunity will arise over the Christmas period for the
leaders of Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems to tell us exactly what the nature of that personal
chemistry is. Y Llywydd / The Presiding Officer: We now
move back to the agenda. Question 3 is from Darren Millar.
Darren Millar: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on the future of education
in Wales? OAQ(4)1388(FM) Carwyn Jones: Yes. We are committed to ensuring
that every learner reaches their potential. We have a range of initiatives in place to
raise standards across education, and we are confident that these are the right reforms.
Darren Millar: First Minister, there is no doubt that the PISA results, which showed
us right down at the bottom of the UK league table, and which were published last week,
are a cause for concern and, indeed, national shame here in Wales. What work are you doing
with the providers of education in the faith sector in Wales to perhaps work with them
to raise standards? You will be aware that faith schools generally perform better than
non-faith schools, and I am sure that the diocesan offices across Wales, in both the
Catholic Church and the Church in Wales, would want to work with the Government in order
to improve standards across the board. Carwyn Jones: I do not see that there is evidence
that faith schools perform better. [Interruption.] I have seen the figures. There is variety
in terms of the performance of all schools in every sector. I thought from the beginning
of his question that he was suggesting that it was the faith schoolsí fault that the
PISA results were as they are. Clearly, that is not the case. We will work with all providers
in the state sector in order to ensure that the PISA results improve in the future. That
is what we have said on many occasions. What we will not do is fragment education in Wales,
and we will not cut education spending, as his party wishes to do.
Simon Thomas: First Minister, the evidence that is being gathered by Estyn, and, in particular,
in a recent report on Welsh-medium learning in the foundation phase, demonstrates that
the criteria used in the foundation phase, the learning techniques and so on, are starting
to achieve their aims. Children are starting to reach the level that they should be attaining
because of the techniques being adopted. Could you therefore give a pledge to keep the ethos
of the foundation phase, despite the necessary pressures that exist to increase standards
across the curriculum? Carwyn Jones: They do not have to be mutually
exclusive, of course. I met this morning with Huw Lewis, the Minister, and Sioned Davies,
who has reported back to us on the teaching of Welsh as a second language. Her good work
will feed into the structure of Welsh-medium education, or education to ensure that people
are able to speak Welshóperhaps that would be a better way of putting itóin the future.
Of course, we have seen what the foundation phase has done in order to grow and improve
standards in Welsh and everything else. William Powell: First Minister, yesterday
it was my pleasure to visit Pembroke power station. One issue that was raised with me
was the relative difficulty that RWE has experienced in recruiting key skilled workers for particular
functions within that organisation. While Pembrokeshire College has strong links with
RWE, it has had consistently to go further afield than Swansea or Cardiff to source candidates
for its year-in-industry internship. What steps can your Government take, working in
partnership with local authorities, universities and other partners, to improve the situation
so that RWE can deliver for the local communities in Pembrokeshire, particularly for the highly
skilled end of the market? Carwyn Jones: We have, of course, schemes
such as Jobs Growth Wales and Pathways to Apprenticeships, but our further education
colleges have a good record of supporting industry locally, wherever they are in Wales,
and we would want to work with the college and, indeed, with Pembroke power station,
to increase the number of potential candidates for the year-in-industry internship in the
future. If the Member would write to me, expressing the difficulties that are felt to be there,
then we will, of course, look to see how those difficulties can be addressed.
Ann Jones: 4. How is the Welsh Government ensuring that the heritage of the Welsh language
is celebrated? OAQ(4)1398(FM) Carwyn Jones: We support many projects in
support of the heritage of the language. They include the National Eisteddfod, the Urdd
Eisteddfod, and the purchase of Caeír Gors, the home of Kate Roberts. We will be celebrating
150 years of ëy Wladfaí in Patagonia, and we had the recent WOMEX festival, in which
Welsh music played a significant part. Ann Jones: Thank you very much for that, First
Minister, and may I say thank you for meeting the town clerk and Gwynn Matthews, who delivered
a lecture on the four-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the translation of ëThe Book
of Common Prayerí into Welsh? That was an Act steered through by the then MP Humphrey
Lhuyd, and I think that it has been credited as one of the things that has kept the Welsh
language alive over all of those years. For me, that is an important example of how we
can actually celebrate our rich culture and our heritage. Would you provide an update
on what the next plans are that your Government is looking at to make sure that people understand
that those fights and those struggles to protect and keep the Welsh language are very much
still in the hearts of everybody across Wales, even those of us who desperately struggle
to continue to learn to speak the language? Carwyn Jones: Well, I think the major opportunity
arises with the one-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the sailing of the Mimosa from Liverpool
to what is now called Puerto Madryn in Patagonia and the establishment ofóI hesitate to use
the word ëcolonyí, with the connotations that it givesóa settlement where, to this
day, there are people who speak Welsh five generations on. It is a remarkable feat of
survival, and there still is tremendous interest there in the Welsh language. I think that
that will help us to raise awareness in Wales of what happened in 1865 and the reasoning
behind their leaving Wales. Carwyn Jones: The irony with regard to ëThe
Book of Common Prayerí is that, when the Bible was translated into Welsh, it was done
in order to move the Welsh people away from Catholicism by Elizabeth I. When ëThe Book
of Common Prayerí was translated, the idea was that it was to move people away from the
Welsh language. The idea behind it originally, when it was presented in Parliament, was that
people could look at the Welsh version, look at the English version, and then understand
English better as a result, although I suspect that the reality was that most people could
not read in either language. Nevertheless, that was the irony of the translation of ëThe
Book of Common Prayerí. Suzy Davies: The heritage of the Welsh language
is clearly part of the heritage of Wales, but it is also part of the heritage of the
UK. Have you spoken to any representatives of the other Governments in the UK about how
better to inform their nations about the Welsh language, promoting its importance here in
Wales as a living language, but also as part of their stories?
Carwyn Jones: There is the work that we do with the British Council, for example. It
has a role in terms of promoting Welsh heritage and the Welsh language, although the primary
role is, of course, ours. Nevertheless, we always seek to promote the Welsh language,
both within the UK and outside. Bethan Jenkins: First Minister, this week
the ëBook of Aneiriní was put online by the National Library of Wales, a book which
includes one of the oldest poems, ëY Gododdiní, that exists in Wales. It is good to see that
this has been digitised so that more peopleóyoung people, for exampleócan read part of what
is part of Welsh language heritage. Do you have any ideas as to how to expand upon this
work, perhaps by providing more apps so that people can access Welsh heritage, and how
that can be expanded among the population in general?
Carwyn Jones: I know that the Welsh Books Council and the national library, for example,
are always seeking ways of expanding the knowledge of Welsh language heritage, and I am sure
that they would want to consider every way of ensuring that more people know about ëY
Gododdiní and where it was written about the poem ëThe Gododdiní and about where
it was written in the first place and the fact that it is one of the first things to
be written in Welsh. What is exceptionally interesting, of course, is that although centuries
have passed since ëY Gododdiní was written, it is possible, with a little bit of work,
to understand what it has to say. Keith Davies: 5. Will the First Minister provide
an update on the Welsh Governmentís work with the National Eisteddfod? OAQ(4)1402(FM)
Carwyn Jones: Following the publication of the report undertaken by the task and finish
group, I met with the chief executive on 5 December to discuss the reportís recommendations.
The Eisteddfod is an important partner, and I will be publishing the Welsh Governmentís
response to the task and finish groupís report soon.
Keith Davies: Thank you for the response. The Carmarthenshire Eisteddfod in 2014 will
be the first to be held with its planning process taking full account of that work.
One of the themes of the recommendations is to reflect local culture. Do you agree that
holding the Eisteddfod in Llanelli will give us a good opportunity to demonstrate what
we have available locally and that holding events throughout that week, such as the very
successful ëGraví show by Ysgol y Strade, is an excellent way of doing that?
Carwyn Jones: That will, of course, be exceptionally important. The fact that the Eisteddfod will
be taking place in a field in Carmarthenshire is important to the language in Carmarthenshire.
In addition, it is important for people to understand the heritage of Llanelli as a town.
The town itself has lost its Welsh for decades, despite the heritage around the town, particularly
to the north. It is therefore important that people understand the heritage of the town
of Llanelli in terms of the Welsh language. That is important so that people can understand
how strong the Welsh language was in the town at one time.
Angela Burns: Minister, I was delighted to hear your comments to Keith there, because
the Welsh language and Welsh culture belong to everybody, including non-Welsh speakers.
What more do you think could be done by the National Eisteddfod to encourage more non-Welsh-speaking
Welsh people to come along to enjoy that rich cultural event?
Carwyn Jones: I think that the Eisteddfod has done a great deal thus far. There is always
more that could be done, but I think that the mould was very much broken in 1998 when
the Eisteddfod was held in Newport. There had to be a change of tack in terms of promoting
the Eisteddfod in an area of Wales where Welsh was, at that time, spoken by 2% of the population.
Times have moved on, for example there was a time when if an organisation put up signs
on the ëmaesí in English, their stands would be ërearrangedí, if I could put it that
way. I am sure that maybe some in this building were at one time part of that ërearrangementí,
but I will go no further than that. Things have changed immensely. The fact that there
is translation there now and the fact that the Eisteddfod has reached out to those who
are non-Welsh speakers is an immense improvement and certainly a great improvement from the
way things were, particularly in the 1970s. We will continue to work with the Eisteddfod
to improve its appeal to those who are not Welsh speakers.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: With the recommendation in the Roy Noble report to increase the funding
for the Eisteddfod, do you see any scope to bring in funding from other budgets other
than the main culture budget, such as the economy and tourism budget, in order to promote
the role of the Eisteddfod in terms of its ability to bring economic benefits to Wales
during the summer months? Carwyn Jones: That is important because the
tendency is to consider the Eisteddfod as something solely cultural, but there are opportunities
to create jobs on the Eisteddfod field, perhaps, when it goes to a particular area. I discussed
with the chief executive the ways that we can look at other sources of funding to fund
the Eisteddfod, not only from the public sector but outside of that sector as well, in order
to strengthen the funding foundation of the Eisteddfod itself.
Antoinette Sandbach: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the avoidance of ënever
eventsí in hospitals? OAQ(4)1395(FM) Carwyn Jones: All NHS organisations must have
effective systems in place to ensure that all practical steps are taken to prevent ënever
events.í When these rare events happen, I expect them to be reported immediately, investigated
thoroughly and for corrective actions to be taken.
Antoinette Sandbach: First Minister, as you have already identified, ënever eventsí
are unacceptable and avoidable events in healthcare. They include, for example, wrongly prepared
high-risk injections, wrong-route administration of chemotherapy, and 23 other specific events.
Twelve ënever eventsí have occurred within the Betsi Cadwaladr health board since March.
Can you tell me how many ënever eventsí have been reported to the Welsh Government
in the last three years? Given that they should not be occurring at all, what action has been
taken to improve the leadership and management of ënever eventsí?
Carwyn Jones: Well, I do not know whether the figure of 12 counts as ënever eventsí;
I think that nine ënever eventsí were reported in 2012-13, and seven in the first six months
of this current year. I suspect that what is happening is that some events that are
not technically ënever eventsí are treated as such because of their seriousness, and
where those events are identified, even though they are not technically ënever eventsí,
I will expect them to be investigated thoroughly and for steps to be taken to correct the situation.
Lindsay Whittle: First Minister, you are quite right that these events are indeed devastating
for the individuals, but I believe that we need to know the root causes of such serious
events so that they never happen again. Is it poor communication among staff, inadequate
staffing levels, or overworked surgeries? What do you think, First Minister?
Carwyn Jones: I do not think that there is ever one particular reason for a ënever eventí.
There tend to be different reasons in different parts of Wales. They are sometimes to do with
human error. They are sometimes to do with organisation, and sometimes there will be
other reasons as well. What is important, of course, is that where ënever eventsí
do occur, they are fully investigated and that steps are taken to ensure that they do
not happen again. Looking at the list of ënever eventsí that have taken place in Wales, we
see that many of them seem to be to do with human error. Some are to do with record-keeping,
I would suggest, and I suppose that I am guessing at this point. Some of them may be to do with
organisation, but it is probably fair to say that each event is, although rare, an event
in itself in terms of circumstances. That is why it is so important, of course, that
the circumstances are investigated thoroughly, because, first, they are rare, and, secondly,
they tend not to be linked to each other. Kirsty Williams: When I raised this issue
of ënever eventsí earlier in the year, the Welsh Government said that there was guidance
in place to prevent them from happening. Could you demonstrate to me what steps your Government
takes to ensure that that guidance is acted upon and followed?
Carwyn Jones: The National Patient Safety Agency developed a number of patient safety
solutions, some of which aid the prevention of ënever eventsí. All those solutions are
monitored on a quarterly basis by us, and the results are published on the Patient Safety
Wales website. The NHS delivery unit supports organisations as well to implement outstanding
actions and to share best practice. Some of those solutions have been implemented on a
national basis. For example, the World Health Organization surgical safety checklist patient
safety alert has been implemented through the 1000 Lives Plus programme.
Andrew R.T. Davies: 7. Will the First Minister make a statement on Welsh Government performance
targets? OAQ(4)1407(FM) Carwyn Jones: The programme for government
annual report shows that, despite the challenging financial environment, progress is being made
in many areas of public service delivery. Andrew R.T. Davies: Thank you, First Minister,
for that answer. We are in the last week of the autumn term. The Minister for business
and enterprise confirmed, in answer to my written questions, that the key performance
indicators for the enterprise zones would be made available before the end of the year.
Are these figures still on target? Would you agree that it is regrettable that those figures
have not been made available to Members while the Assembly is sitting, given that for the
next two weeks, obviously, we will be in recess? Carwyn Jones: Those figures are imminent,
in terms of their release. Members will be made aware of them as quickly as possible,
and I am sure there will be the opportunity to scrutinise Ministers and myself on those
figures when the Assembly returns. Mick Antoniw: Will the First Minister outline
any progress that has been made to improve Welsh ambulance performance results in the
Rhondda Cynon Taf area and in Wales as a whole? Carwyn Jones: There has been an improvement
in ambulance performance in RCT, although it is still short of the target; that much
has to be accepted. I can say that 46 additional paramedics have been recruited and are now
operational, since September, with 22 more staff in post by the end of January. This
is across Wales, I should add. These additional staff will improve service delivery and support
the hard work of existing staff. Jocelyn Davies: First Minister, you have a
number of targets around economic development. When do you predict that Wales will have a
buoyant economy? Carwyn Jones: A vibrant economy?
Jocelyn Davies: A buoyant economy. Carwyn Jones: Define ëbuoyantí. I think
that it will be some time before we are in the position that we were pre-2008. I think
that that is inevitable. I think that the UK will be a long time before it is in that
position. There are so many factors that are difficult to predict. The Welsh economy is
moving in the right direction, but it is moving very slowly in the right direction. What troubles
me is what will fuel recovery in the future. What is needed is for people to see a real
increase in their wage packets. Unless they see that, they will not be able to spend and,
therefore, demand will be depressed and the economy will not be sustained. So, first,
we can do what we can as a Government, from our point of view, but, secondly, it is important
that the UK Government sends out a message that people do need to see real increases
in their salaries and wages in order to get the economy going.
Carwyn Jones: In terms of when that might happen, some of the worldís economists are
saying the end of this decade. Wales cannot be divorced from the economy of the UK or
Europe in general, but we need to see all levels of Government working together in order
to deliver a faster recovery than has been seen in the UK thus far.
David Rees: 8. Will the First Minister make a statement on the delivery of services by
Walesís fire authorities? OAQ(4)1394(FM) Carwyn Jones: Fire and rescue authorities
are autonomous, independent bodies and it is for them to determine the risks and required
provision of services in their geographical area.
David Rees: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue
Service is currently proposing changes to front-line services, including changing the
shift patterns of full-time firefighters to continental-style eight-hour shift patterns,
which I understand are not used by any other brigade in the UK, changing from 24-hour full-time
cover to daytime-only and evening and night-time on call and closing some stations, including
in Cymmer in my constituency. Such changes will undoubtedly result in increased response
times and may put lives at risk. Will the Welsh Government look at these proposals by
the fire authority to ensure that no additional risk to the public will result from any proposals
being put forward to address budgetary constraints? Do you agree that any consultation with the
public should include full details of the proposals and should be held across the area?
Carwyn Jones: I understand that the fire and rescue authority has said that there will
be no station closures at this time, so I can give the Member that assurance, which
I am sure will be welcomed by him and his constituents. It is the for fire and rescue
authorities themselves to determine the risks and required provision of services in their
geographical area. In doing so, they must, of course, undertake robust risk assessments
to enable them to consider the impact of their decisions on the safety of the public. I would
expect them to be as open as possible with the public in terms of any changes they might
propose. William Graham: Statistics show that, unfortunately,
firefighters have come under attack on over 150 occasions in the past three years. More
worryingly, of those 87 serious attacks, only three have led to prosecutions. What can your
Government do to raise awareness of this and to show that these attacks are wrong and must
stop? Carwyn Jones: It is difficult to know what
the state of the evidence was with some of these cases, but three is very low compared
with the number of attacks that there have been. Let me make it absolutely clear, on
behalf of the Government, that when fire officers in the fire serviceóand this is true of all
peopleóare attacked, particularly in the course of their duty, I would expect to see
the police take action, I would expect to see prosecutions and I would expect to see
convictions. The fact that they are fire officers is neither here nor there. I take the same
view with regard to NHS staff. There is no excuse whatsoever. I do not care what condition
people are in, particularly if they have had too much to drink or if they are in some way
distressed, because there is no excuse for attacking people who are going about their
business of saving lives. I expect to see prosecutions where fire officers and others
who are working to help people are concerned. Rhodri Glyn Thomas: First Minister, the fire
and rescue services throughout Wales are facing an exceptionally difficult situation. They
have to make difficult decisions in the context of the cutbacks in the funding that they receive
from the Welsh Government. Will you, as a Government, take responsibility and work with
the fire and rescue services and local authorities to ensure that the basic services that save
lives in our communities are not affected? It is not just a matter for the fire and rescue
services; you as a Government have a responsibility to collaborate with them to ensure that those
services are defended. Carwyn Jones: The Minister is to visit each
and every fire and rescue authority over the next few weeks to discuss what challenges
they face in their area. Then, we can work with them as a Government.
Peter Black: First Minister, although the mid and west Wales fire authority has ruled
out station closures for now, I understand that there is still the possibility of a merger
between Gorseinon and Pontarddulais fire stations, which will leave both areas with a slower
response from just one fire engine. What oversight does your Government have in terms of ensuring
that when fire authorities make these sorts of changes, the safety of local people and
their property remains paramount? Carwyn Jones: First of all, we expect fire
and rescue authorities, of course, to have plans in place to ensure peopleís safety.
Where there is a suggestion that that safety is being compromised, the Minister would of
course look at the scenario in order to see whether that is, in fact, the case.
Aled Roberts: 9. What outcome reports does the First Minister receive in order to assess
the staging of publicly-funded major events in Wales? OAQ(4)1403(FM)
Carwyn Jones: All events receiving grant funding under our major events strategy are required
to submit post-event reports detailing progress against agreed targets.
Aled Roberts: Thank you for that. The Wales Rally recently was a great success, but I
have received a letter about access for disabled people. Were there any conditions on the grant
given to the body organising this event? The individual who has written to me says in his
letter that no facilities were available for disabled people in Chirk castle or on Deeside,
and that he felt worse than he has felt as a disabled person for some three to five years.
Carwyn Jones: Generally, of course, I would expect any body that organises such an event
to ensure access for disabled people. On the question of whether this was one of contract
conditions, I will have to write to the Member in order to provide a detailed response.
William Graham: Many world leaders are set to meet in Newport in September of next year,
when the NATO summit takes place. What lessons has the First Minister and his Government
learned from the legacy of the Ryder Cup, and how can these be put into practice?
Carwyn Jones: The NATO summit, of course, is not something that the Welsh Government
is involved with in terms of organising. The Prime Minister has indicated, and we are grateful
for this, that we will be able to arrange a welcome eventóbe it a receptionóaround
the summit itself. However, the organisational details are very much a matter for the UK
Government, as the body responsible. Carwyn Jones: However, that said, we are of
course fortunate to have the Celtic Manor, which successfully hosted the Ryder Cup, despite
the weather, as we know, on one day in particular. We are fortunate that we are seen as having
a venue that is able to host one of the worldís biggest summits. That is something that we
very much welcome, as a way to put Wales on the map, and, particularly, to showcase Wales
among NATO leaders. Llyr Gruffydd: Attracting major sporting events,
particularly in the case of some sports, depends upon having appropriate stadia. North Wales
recently played a part in the staging of the rugby league world cup, of course. What assessment
has the Government made of sport stadia in north Wales and of the potential to investónot
perhaps directly from Governmentóin order to develop the infrastructure so that we can
attract more major events to north Wales? Carwyn Jones: We have considered this, because,
at present, there are two stadia, namely Parc Eirias and the Racecourse. The problem with
the Racecourse, of course, is the fact that it has so many terraces, and many sport governing
bodies are not prepared to use a venue that is not an all-seater stadium. That is an issue
in the case of rugby union, but not in the case of rugby league. Large amounts of money
have been invested in Parc Eirias in terms of its facilities, pitch and stadium, and
it is now home to the Wales under-20 team, which plays there regularly. We have been
considering how we can improve standardsóof the seats in some of the north Wales stadia,
for exampleóand this is something that we will be considering in the future.