, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
We have already commissioned work on this. So, this was something that those category 1 responders raised, that we needed a central repository where everyone could access the information that they needed. And therefore, we have commissioned the UK Resilience…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
Can I ask Sioned to come in there?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
Well, we certainly did in Wales. We incorporated social care challenges, as I say, and we did have consideration for the care sector workforce, resilience, management of care homes, whilst we responded to and engaged with these issues during the exercise, for…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
I think, in terms of things happening concurrently, we have had examples of that. If you remember, before the pandemic, we'd just had major flooding. We were still dealing with the impacts of those. We were still dealing with Brexit. Those things were…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
Can I ask Sioned to come in?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
Andy.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
This exercise was a very realistic one, and as someone who participated in it, and, indeed, everyone in the Cabinet became a part of it, it was actually quite triggering. We were back in that situation that we were in during COVID. We saw people's response…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
I did have a chat with John Swinney about it, and I think they recognise that they've got a huge amount of additional work that they need to do now. You know, you'll have to ask John Swinney how he feels about the situation.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
It is absolutely the same position. I just want to make it clear that, as a Government, we could not have put more effort into responding to the UK inquiry. What has come out absolutely clearly, particularly from the module 2 report, is that, actually, the…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
Thanks. I think it's really important to clarify the situation in relation to one of the recommendations of the inquiry. Neither the Welsh Government nor the UK Government or other devolved Governments accepted the proposal for an independent statutory body…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
I do accept that, but you're asking for proof, and I'm telling you that 31 times—. You probably clocked it on a few occasions, on the really big storms and things, but, actually, a huge amount of this work is being done under the radar, quietly. It did get to…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
So, I think the assessment of our crisis management structures is demonstrated by, more than anything, how we respond now to incidents and what support we give to those multi-agency responses. It can be proved in real time. The fact that we have seen that in…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
I think it's worth actually bearing in mind that, pre pandemic, none of us were meeting online in the way that we do today. So, part of what we have to do is to be constantly updating the mechanisms and systems to respond to the technological advances, to…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
That's part of the risk management. We've made it clear that there is a very comprehensive list in terms of risk management, and cyber attacks are obviously a part of that. That's why it's important not only to have a situation where you can gather online…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
That's a slightly different thing. Andy, can you—?
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
Well, no, it's a place; it's not a thing.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
The centre is a location, but the operation was stepped up 31 times.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
Thirty-one.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
I think there's probably a misunderstanding of what the emergency co-ordination centre is. It is a location; it's not a programme. This is in CP2 in Cathays Park. The point of this is that it provides a facility to allow co-location if you are in a…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
I think that's a really interesting question. I bumped into people in Dolgellau recently at the fire service. It was just fascinating talking to them, because a lot of them are retained firefighters. There's a very different response in different areas. Their…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
So, we recognise that, actually, when you have this kind of situation, a crisis situation that involves the entire nation, this is going to get quite complicated and a lot of people are going to be involved. So, that's why it makes sense for us to try and…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
We've got a very comprehensive 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan', and part of that is collection of data. So, we've got workforce data now being collected across health and social care. What we're trying to do is to make sure that we collate that information…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
I think it's important to set out before we start this committee the fact that the Welsh Government wants to express our deepest sympathy to those people who suffered during COVID-19. It was an extremely difficult time for the whole nation, but in particular…
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
Thank you very much, and thank you for the opportunity to come and speak to you today.
, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee
COVID-19: evidence session with the Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS, First Minister of Wales
I'm Eluned Morgan, First Minister of Wales.
