Diolch yn fawr iawn. The Welsh Government has sought comprehensive assurances from Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Local Health Board on safeguarding arrangements and health visiting capacity during the industrial action. The health board provided evidence of safeguarding oversight, risk assessment, multi-agency working and recovery planning. This evidence demonstrated appropriate governance and action to protect children and families. As recovery progresses, ongoing monitoring remains important to identify any emerging needs and ensure safeguarding continues to be prioritised.
This Government, of course, has been transparent throughout, and I should emphasise also that the review was commissioned because of the exceptional duration of the dispute, not because there was evidence of safeguarding failures. And where services experience prolonged disruption, it is of course entirely right that Ministers seek additional assurance and challenge, and that is precisely the action that we took as a Government. Our responsibility is to be satisfied that appropriate safeguards remain in place, that risks are being identified, and that those risks are being managed effectively, and that is exactly what the review was designed to do. I welcome the assurance provided by the health board, while recognising, of course, the need for continued vigilance. And this has all been done, as I say, in a transparent manner.
Rydw i, wrth gwrs, yn rhannu’r pryder yna am yr effaith mae’r anghydfod hir yma yn ei chael ar blant ac ar deuluoedd. A dyna pam rydyn ni wedi, fel roeddwn i’n dweud yn gynharach, gofyn am sicrwydd, mewn manylder, gan Fwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Cwm Taf Morgannwg ynglŷn â’r camau diogelu oedd mewn lle. Rydyn ni’n cario ymlaen i gadw llygad gofalus ar y trefniadau hynny, ac mi fyddwn ni’n dal y bwrdd iechyd, wrth gwrs, i gyfrif, i sicrhau bod plant a theuluoedd yn cael eu gwarchod.
Mae’r Llywodraeth yma wedi ymwneud yn weithredol, ym mhob ffordd y gallwn ni, efo’r bwrdd iechyd ac efo cynrychiolwyr yr undebau llafur er mwyn ceisio annog datrysiad buan i’r anghydfod yma. Mi ydyn ni eisiau ei weld o'n cael ei ddatrys mor fuan â phosib, ac mi fyddwn ni'n cario ymlaen i wneud popeth priodol y gallwn ni er mwyn sicrhau bod datrysiad yn cael ei ganfod.
Official English translation
I, of course, share that concern about the impact that this long-running dispute is having on children and on families. And that's why, as I said earlier, we have asked for assurances in some detail from Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Local Health Board on the safeguarding arrangements that were in place. We continue to keep a very close eye on those arrangements, and we will, of course, hold the health board to account in order to ensure that children and families are protected.
This Government has engaged actively in every way that we can with the health board and with representatives of trade unions in order to try and encourage early resolution of this dispute. We do want to see it resolved as soon as possible, and we will continue to do everything that we appropriately can in order to ensure that a resolution is found.
We are, Llywydd, currently considering the implications of the autumn budget announcements for Wales. The Welsh Government remains focused on prioritising permanent support for the small businesses that are the heart of our vibrant town centres and high streets. We have made significant early progress on delivery of that commitment, with the permanent 30 per cent reduction in business rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure premises from April next year.
It's not so much looking at what's happening in England as deciding what best we can do and how far we can push the support that we give businesses here in Wales. We showed a real declaration of intent, I think, by taking that permanent measure from April next year with the 30 per cent relief. So, I think we have shown our determination to find every way we can of supporting businesses. We will look at all opportunities, moving forward, including any that might emerge as a result of a budget that still leaves Wales with less money to spend in real terms next year.
I'm pleased to hear that businesses in the Member's constituency welcome our early action to rebalance the business rates system. This permanent reduction will apply to 20,000 or so retail, hospitality and leisure properties across Wales. It's a significant number. It will provide a total benefit worth over £30 million to eligible businesses from April next year. We are using the levers available for us to support businesses in the sector, using our devolved powers. VAT isn't one of those, of course. Whilst those calls on the UK Government to take action are on one side of the balance, we also look at what we can do within our powers now, and that, as I say, is what we will continue to do, moving forward, looking at every opportunity to make sure that we target those businesses that are most in need of our help. Helping those leisure, retail and hospitality businesses in Wales, we thought, was a very, very important step to take.
Again, I make the case that it's not a matter of us following what happens in England, where the UK Government is able to take action using reserved powers. That is one thing. We must always look at the way in which we can use our powers in the most effective way. We have limited funding. The fact that public spending is going down next year in real terms as a result of the budget doesn't make things easier, but it's a matter then of targeting those specific areas that we believe can benefit most from the help that we can put in place. If we have a focus on the kinds of high streets that we want to build, and the way that the help that we put in there, including through the work of the taskforce, helps to create those vibrant high streets, I think that is the way that this new Plaid Cymru Government shows that we are serious about supporting towns and city centres the length and breadth of Wales.
Let me wish the Wolfscastle hotel a happy fiftieth birthday and hope it remains a thriving local business for many, many years to come. I agree with the Member that this is a budget that fails to deliver for Wales in a number of different ways. But, again, I make the case that we haven't waited for just the results of the UK budget; the announcement that was made by the finance Minister and I—she even pulled a pint for me while making that announcement—was a clear declaration that we wanted to act as quickly as we could. Having said that, we will always look for opportunities to see how we can use the powers that we have to identify those businesses that are most in need of support. We have identified this as a sector that is important to us in terms of the economy, in terms of the vibrancy of our high streets and our communities. We will always look for different ways, more ways, and push the boundaries of what we can do as a Government within the limitations that we all know arise from that budget, which did indeed let Wales down.
This Government is doing exactly what we said. Just as we said we would introduce the most generous childcare offer anywhere in the UK, we're pressing ahead with it; prioritising the NHS, we're pushing ahead with it; supporting farmers, we're pushing ahead with that. On the COVID issue, we were very, very clear in the manifesto, and for some time before the manifesto, that what we wanted was a means to find the answers that we need to give people assurances that, when another pandemic happens—I hope it's not for a very, very long time, but when it happens—we have learnt the lessons from it. We have an ability now—and we will get more detail this afternoon from this Government—and we have now a mechanism that helps us, yes, to learn from what has happened, but, in doing so, looking forward to giving the people of Wales what they deserve, which is the answers about that future response to COVID. That, surely, is what we're looking for as a nation now.
Again, I'd make the case that we are delivering exactly what it said in our manifesto we would deliver, which is to provide answers in order to prepare us for the eventuality of another pandemic in future. I've been here for a few years longer than her, and most of those years—
—were spent as health spokesman for my party. And the Member is right that we were the first, back in probably April or May 2020, to call for a COVID inquiry for Wales. There was no talk of a COVID inquiry at all. The reason we wanted that was not that we wanted a particular model of inquiry, but that we wanted answers to whatever it was that was emerging around us in those early days of COVID. We knew that this was of such a serious nature that we would want to make sure that we were prepared to face a pandemic in future, learning lessons.
Now, standing here, I'm not interested in a witch hunt, I'm not interested in particular models, I'm interested in the answers. And in the election and for a long time before the election, it is this model that I totally believe—. She may disagree with me, but I am totally convinced, and have been for some time, that this is the best way to provide the answers that we owe the people of Wales and the victims and their families.
So, just as this Government did exactly as we promised we would on finding answers following the COVID pandemic, we are delivering exactly as we said we would on Betsi Cadwaladr—a troubled health board that all of us want to see desperately turning a corner. We are in the privileged position of being able to try to help it to turn that corner. It's why my health Minister pressed on in the early days of this new Government to find what those steps are that need to be taken. Measures were announced in June, commissioning an independent review of leadership, governance and culture at the health board, which is expected to be submitted to the Welsh Government imminently so that we can move forward.
When it comes to operational decisions by health boards, we all know, of course, that those are decisions for the health board itself, and this has to be put, though, in the context of the sustainable GP services that we all want to see in place. There is an expectation by this Government that health boards engage openly and transparently with patients, with staff, with communities about proposals that they have, and my understanding is that no decision has been taken by the health board on this matter. But we also, of course, as a Welsh Government, expect very, very clearly that health boards, wherever they are, deliver sustainable, accessible GP services, and that is our expectation for Betsi Cadwaladr, as for the rest of Wales's health boards.
All those, with respect, are nonsense, of course, because, on council tax, whereas the previous administration kicked it to one side and did nothing, we are determined that we need to find a more progressive solution to council tax as it is. On school milk, a consultation is happening because a contract came to an end, and milk continues to be delivered in schools as part of free breakfasts. We're looking at a Government here that made a set of promises, and I know it's a new concept, but it's a Government that's sticking to those promises in making sure that we are delivering the free childcare; that we are delivering those free school meals, with further announcements this week on expansion; that we are delivering help for families with the cost-of-living crisis. That is what people are seeing in this Government: a Government of action.
So, we remember, don't we, Labour going into the recent election with £9 million for additional learning needs. We didn't think that was enough. And I'm pleased that we now have come to an agreement where we're able to, hopefully, release some £60 million as a first step towards strengthening additional learning needs, which is something that the Member and I want to see happening. This is about using our position here, and working constructively with other parties, to make sure that we do deliver on additional learning needs.
We have now a position where an opposition Member here in the Senedd, after last week's budget, seems to be hanging out the bunting, celebrating great wins for Wales, despite the truth being that we are now receiving a real-terms decrease in the public spending that we have in order to spend on matters such as additional learning needs. When we have a Labour Party that, on paper, says it has £14 billion for rail, but the Labour leader here was again hanging out the bunting, celebrating £30 million, one five hundredth of what the Labour Party in Government say they will offer Wales.
Let's be realistic about the need for us to all work together, recognising the pressures that we are under and finding the ways that we can work together, such as on ALN, to make a difference to people's lives, and it comes from co-operation.
Listening is at the heart of everything that we do. I'm a firm believer that we as politicians are conveners of the ideas that we need to bring together to sort out the many issues that we have as a nation and to make the most of the opportunities that we have, and that absolutely includes learning from lived experiences. It's why I want bereaved families to take part and to contribute towards the review that we are putting in place, to learn lessons for the future following the COVID pandemic. And the same is true in this case. If Emily wants to speak with Government Ministers to share her lived experience, why would I not want to engage with that?
I will repeat what I've said before, because there's nothing more important than making sure that people are safe, that people feel safe, that they trust authority to look after them, and goodness knows people have plenty of reason to mistrust authority. I have said previously that I will always be open to considering what are the best means to find answers on these issues. It could be on a whole raft of issues.
We've returned again to the COVID issue. I believe we're doing the right thing on that. I believe we're doing the right thing in engaging with the UK inquiry on grooming gangs, especially given the engagement that we had as a Government with that inquiry, wanting that inquiry to be as intensely involved in looking at what was happening in Wales as possible. And now that we have that assurance that work specifically is being done to learn the experience of Wales as a part of that inquiry, that gives me confidence that this is an inquiry that is very relevant to our situation in Wales and that will help us find answers. We'll wait and see what comes out of that, and if we feel that that is woefully inadequate and has failed to get to grips with some of the issues that we face here, let's look again. I am satisfied that the measures being taken now have, at their core, the interests of women, young people and vulnerable people in Wales who need answers about whether authority can be trusted to look after them.
We want to put community pharmacy at the heart of a stronger primary care service. We will be investing to enable pharmacies to provide more clinical care closer to home. We want to build on current arrangements, working in partnership with the community pharmacy network, to make sure that it is sustainable for the future and build on the clearly vital role pharmacies already play in communities across Wales.
Again, I can only emphasise how important it is that we have a sustainable community pharmacy network. We talk about primary care, and all too often we can think that we're only talking about GP surgeries. GP surgeries are very important, but we're talking about the whole raft of providers of primary care. I think positive steps have been taken in recent years around the expansion of the minor ailments scheme to emphasise the fact that a community pharmacy really is a first contact point for more and more people, but we have to make sure that the support is there for them. Our manifesto committed to putting the NHS on a new and sustainable footing, with greater emphasis on prevention, keeping people well and shifting focus and resources towards day-to-day health services. The role of community pharmacy in that clearly is vital. A strong, sustainable community pharmacy network is absolutely essential to our ambition to shift towards prevention and deliver more care closer to home. In our deliberations about how we make sure that we get money to the front line in the context of falling funds as a result of the UK Government, we will absolutely have a focus on how we can work as positively as we possibly can to make the most of our community pharmacy network.
Public awareness is very important, and, just as we were mentioning earlier, making sure that more and more people know about what they can get out of visiting their community pharmacy first is very important. We can all play a part in that. In terms of sustainability, yes, I use that word a lot, but it's not just freezing what we have. We want to expand clinical services, don't we? And expanding those clinical services is key to the sustainability of community pharmacy in Wales. The more people know about the services that they can offer, the more that they are able to offer. They're at the business end of health within our communities. They are the ones who are there, able to nip problems in the bud, their doors open to the communities that they serve. Through the Help Us Help You campaign, for example, we provide pharmacies and health boards with national communications materials to promote services locally, to ensure more people understand what their pharmacy can do. Creating that momentum behind the growth of the sector is key to its sustainability in the long term.
I think we should always have a view to looking at how we can expand the services that are provided by community pharmacy. We have learnt, through the minor ailments scheme and people's engagement with it, that there's a lot more that a community pharmacy can offer than most people think. It would be a mistake by any government not to work very closely with community pharmacy to see what can be expanded, how that would work. Of course, we have now more direct prescribers within community pharmacy. That is the direction of travel that we want to continue on.
The answer to that last question is the sustainability of the sector as a whole, and making sure the contracts that are in place allow those businesses to be viable. We need them to be viable. When deciding on how contracts work between Government and pharmacies, that's at the core of it. The Member mentioned some statistics; here are some more: 0.5 million consultations have been delivered through the common ailments scheme. I think it was 200,000 independent prescribing consultations in community pharmacies last year. That is significant, as the Member says, in terms of the pressure that it takes off general practice. I also make the case—. We often have questions here, as we have had today, on the vibrancy of high streets. The pharmacy plays a key role in terms of footfall on our high streets. It's very important that we maintain and support pharmacies as a beating heart of town centres.
Co-operation takes many forms, of course. In recent weeks, for example, I proposed an economic partnership to make sure that the Welsh Government and the UK Government work better together in delivering prosperity to people in Wales. It's an issue I was able to discuss with the Prime Minister at the National Economic Council last week. That partnership, which must be based on respect, has to also sit alongside changes to our devolution settlement, so that we have the tools we need to improve delivery of Welsh public services.
He's still shuddering at the idea of three First Ministers meeting to talk about how we can work together in the interests of the people that we serve. Let me go back to his opening remarks. It might come as a surprise to him—I'm not sure why it should, given what I've said over the years—that I also believe in close collaboration between us as nations within these islands, and I also appreciate and think we should make the most of the deep, long-held links between us in these islands. The difference between he and I is that I don't believe the way that we work together in these islands works particularly well when all the cards are held by a UK Government that cares very, very little about the well-being of the people of Wales. I say let us have the powers in our own hands and use those powers to build those very close, collaborative links that make the most of the deep, long-held links between us in these islands. That's the difference between us: I don't think things as they are now work as well as they could for Wales.
We are within the United Kingdom now, which is why I engaged with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues in Glasgow last week in a positive spirit, and why I was pleased to leave with genuine gains for Wales, with a significant step forward on fiscal flexibility and on borrowing powers, so that we can use our tools as a Parliament and as a Government in the interest of the people of Wales. We now have an assurance that the Prime Minister personally will look at how he can invest more politically in understanding the injustice of rail underfunding for Wales. That's an important step forward. We have agreement that the proposal I put on the table for a partnership of growth will be looked at in detail now, between Welsh Government and UK Government officials, so that we can find that common ground to create prosperity in all parts of Wales, which is what I've always wanted, and what I'm reading that Andy Burnham wants too. This is positive. I believe in positive collaboration. Don't be scared.
Dwi'n cytuno yn gryf. Dwi'n ddiolchgar am y cwestiwn yna i allu adeiladu ar y sylwadau y gwnes i funud neu ddau yn ôl. Dwi yn cytuno bod galwadau adeiladol y Llywodraeth yma wedi arwain at sylwadau cadarnhaol gan y Prif Weinidog ar hyblygrwydd cyllidol i Gymru, fel y dywedais i. Mi ges i gyfle, fel y dywedais i, nodi nifer o feysydd eraill efo'r Prif Weinidog—ar reilffyrdd, ar bartneriaeth twf—lle dwi'n meddwl bod yna enillion go iawn i gael eu gwneud. Ond, mae'n glir iawn nad ydy'r ddadl ar ddatganoli plismona a chyfiawnder yn symud ar y cyflymder y byddai Llywodraeth Cymru yn ei ddymuno. Felly, mi fyddwn ni yn cryfhau eto, ac yn atgyfnerthu’r ffordd rydyn ni'n mynd â’r ddadl honno i argyhoeddi Gweinidogion yn San Steffan fod yr achos dros ddatganoli heddlu a chyfiawnder yn gryfach nag erioed. Mae pob tystiolaeth yn pwyntio at hynny fel cam fyddai'n elwa pobl Cymru. Yn yr un modd, rydyn ni'n dal yn aros i'r Trysorlys symud er mwyn galluogi Llywodraeth Cymru i fwrw ymlaen efo'r peilot taliad plant Cynnal, ac mi fyddwn ni yn annog y Llywodraeth i beidio ffrwyno ymdrechion Llywodraeth Cymru i fynd i'r afael â thlodi plant. Felly, mae yna gamau breision rydyn ni angen gweld yn cael eu cymryd gan Lywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig.
Official English translation
I strongly agree. I'm grateful for that question, to be able to build on the comments that I made just a few moments ago. I agree that the constructive calls made by this Government have led to positive comments from the Prime Minister on fiscal flexibility for Wales, as I said. I had an opportunity, as I said, to set out a number of other areas with the Prime Minister—on the growth partnership and the railways—where there are real gains to be made, I think. But it's very clear that the argument on the devolution of justice and policing isn't moving at the pace that the Welsh Government would want to see. So we will, again, strengthen and reinforce how we take that argument to convince Ministers in Westminster that the case for the devolution of justice and policing is stronger than ever. All of the evidence points to that as a step that would benefit the people of Wales. Likewise, we are still waiting for the Treasury to move to allow the Welsh Government to proceed with the Cynnal child payment pilot, and we would encourage the Government not to hamper the Welsh Government's efforts to deal with child poverty. So there are great steps needed to be made by the UK Government.
On alcohol pricing, Members might laugh, but this is a serious health issue. The question of cross-border trade is one that was taken very seriously on a serious issue by the committee that looked at this and in the previous Government, when it introduced this legislation. These are serious issues. As is the question of cross-border health provision, with people travelling both directions, of course, for healthcare across the border, as is normal. Making sure that those agreements are solid and in place to provide for patients in Wales when they go across the border is something that my health Minister works on with his team, to strengthen and to make sure those arrangements are as resilient as possible. And, of course, on cancer services in particular, we will become the first Welsh Government to have a long-term cancer plan, because we recognise that this is something that the people of Wales deserve.
Welsh Government has been working constructively with the UK Government on the sanitary and phytosanitary issue. I was able to discuss with the UK Prime Minister last week the question of our relationship with the European Union. I am pleased that we have warmer words from a Labour Prime Minister. I encouraged him, though, to be braver. I encouraged him to go further and to talk about now getting back into the customs union and back into the single market. That is where we want to see an alliance being built of people who are genuinely pro a close relationship with the European Union. Plaid Cymru is clear that that is the relationship that we want to have. I invite the Member to join me in calling on the UK Prime Minister to act in the same way.
We are making good progress towards our programme for government commitment for a compassionate Welsh welfare system. As an initial priority, we are improving the administration of existing Welsh benefits, helping more people receive the support they are entitled to. We will continue to press for additional welfare powers to deliver made-in-Wales support schemes that reflect our values and meet the needs of communities across Wales.
This is a crucial issue. We're still awaiting confirmation from the UK Government on the treatment of Cynnal payments for tax and reserved benefits. We continue to press for the assurance needed to maximise support for families. Ministers and officials have consistently raised these issues with UK Government counterparts and stressed the importance of resolving how the payments are treated in relation to tax and benefits. I should report that there's still positivity around this. We hold the UK Government to account over it because we remain committed to delivering the Cynnal pilot as intended, to ensuring that eligible families receive the full benefit of the support available, as we make the case for the devolution of broader welfare powers. So, we'll continue to engage closely with UK Government on this and press for the decisions needed to remove those barriers to implementation.
The Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health keeps me and Government routinely updated on the implementation of the strategy. That includes how the work to develop the open access model for mental health services will support our children and young people.
I'm not sure if it is one issue. Whether it's child and adolescent mental health or adult mental health, it will always be a range of measures that we need to make sure are robust. So, on children and young people, we can look at the broad range from school-based counselling to the open access support that I mentioned, and, of course, there's the CAMHS in-reach itself. The in-reach to schools teams focus on early intervention rather than waiting for problems to escalate. That's the key thing, and they do that by providing expert consultation, liaison advice and training. What we want to do as a Government is to make sure that that suite of measures that young people are able to access, depending on the nature of the issues that they face, are there for them where they want to access them, and that we genuinely have a no-wrong-door approach to the delivery of mental health services.
As the Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport said in Plenary here on 14 October, Sport Wales is right now working with governing bodies, local authorities and other partners to develop, for the first time, a national picture of sports facilities across Wales. This initial phase of the work will identify gaps in the evidence that we have on what provision is in place and then establish how that information can be maintained, creating a stronger evidence base to support policy and future strategic capital investment.
Government is determined to look at all the options that are for us. The Member mentions swimming lessons; of course, we have a programme that is rolling out swimming lessons to children throughout Wales. We've identified that as something that's important for health, for safety and so on. But the truth of the matter is we don't have a sense of the scale of the problem that we face. The Member references a number of estimates that have been brought forward by local authorities, and I've no reason to doubt those figures at all, but the totals that we're looking at in terms of the gaps in provision are going to be greater than that, aren't they? So, the answers that we need to be putting in place are long-term. The truth is, though, that we need to understand the scale of the problem. There are examples of investments going on right now. Bro Dysynni in Towyn, new all-weather hockey and football pitch, supported by £360,000 of partnership investment between Welsh Government, Sports Wales and partners. Again, in that part of Wales, Byw'n Iach facilities across Gwynedd, seeing investment in improved leisure, fitness and wellbeing facilities, supporting that sort of broader agenda of local participation across all age groups.
But on rurality in particular, I'd include this in the work that we're doing on rural proofing. So, when we make decisions as a Government on investment in improving our estates for sports and leisure, that we remember, as the Member says, those specific requirements of rural areas where rurality and distances make access to provision more challenging than it does in many urban areas.
The Welsh Government makes a significant investment, of course, in further education in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr and across Wales. We recognise the vitally important role of further education in supporting economic growth and skills development too, with some £466 million being provided for mainstream further education provision via Medr in this financial year.
Again, I'll take this opportunity to say that I'm pleased that we were able to deliver on this joint determination of ours to deal with the pressures on ALN, and as I have maintained, an element of it has been about agreeing on a quantum of money, but it's about how we can use that and how that's rolled out. So, it's not just that we've been able to talk about a sum of money, it's that we've been able to sit around the table and decide between us how we spend that money, and I think that's very positive co-operation between us, and I'm very pleased that within that is the £2.5 million that's specifically around ALN in further education.
Now, the Member knows full well, as a former tertiary education Minister, that we have seen increasing pressures on FE in recent years, and we inherited from her, from the last Government, a significant set of pressures. That's something now that we deal with, but that we look to building partnerships to make sure that we are as able as we can to build an FE sector that really is fit for the future. We have such great strengths within FE, and that represents opportunities for our young people. That is the key thing; our job as a Government, and we're always looking for partners to work with on that, is to unlock those opportunities.