, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, the Member is absolutely right that we want to protect essential services, and most of us at one time or another have been involved in various campaigns around particular services in different places. I think the principles that we need to bear in…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Improving health outcomes, ensuring timely access to care, supporting sustainable NHS services for communities across Ceredigion Penfro are clearly major priorities for this new Government. As part of our vision to strengthen healthcare in rural and coastal…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I think that I've been as open as I can be about the choice that we have to make as a Government now. And that choice is to assess what the best use is for, yes, public money but also the best way of attracting private investment in. And the problem with the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
The Member again points to that original concept around rail. A lot has happened in rail since those times, not least the changes in direction around HS2 and so on. We need to understand where we are now, rather than where we were. We need to understand the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Again, perfectly appropriate questions to ask. It is not just about making it a credible commercial proposition, it's making sure that the public money that has gone into it has been put to good use, and, as we consider the future, that we look at that…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, the Member makes very important points. Significant amounts of public funding have gone into the site already. I'm not going to criticise the concept that came from the current leader of the Labour Party, but we have to understand what has happened…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
The question does indeed come at an opportune time. A review has been commissioned, looking at how to deliver the best outcome at the Nant Helen site. We are keen now to develop a clear direction of travel with GCRE Ltd.
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Yes, I was very grateful to a number of the graziers on the land above Blaenavon for making time to speak with me. It was good that we were able to speak as Welsh Government, and with Senedd Members there too, about the stresses that had been placed on them…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Thank you. I'm also deeply concerned about copycat arson attacks, potentially. Just speaking here with my Minister for culture who is willing to take this forward as a question with UK Ministers in a meeting soon, because we do need to be looking at these…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Thank you. It's a really important point, because everybody needs to be a part of the solution, but neither can they literally be a part of a summit. And whilst I clearly can't say that there will be representatives of every community affected at one summit…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Thank you very much for the question. The Minister will have heard the question too. There are a whole host of considerations that we will need to look at when it comes to our resilience, and water supply, absolutely, is one of those. The water supply…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Thank you very much for those questions. The Member is right: we thank the whole team in fire and rescue, and it is those behind the scenes, those control staff and support teams. He's also right in pointing to the cumulative nature of the threat that we…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
'Absolutely' is the short answer. I forget the name of the summit—it was held in London last week—where representatives of 70 nations were there specifically looking at wildfires and how Governments and the public services and fire and rescue services should…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Diolch yn fawr iawn, and I'm glad you recognise that by me making the statement that we hold this at the very highest level of importance in Government. I can assure you that I was very much at the heart of the Government response alongside other Ministers…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Thank you very much for that. The Member makes the case that this isn't something that we can now view as something happening over there, you know, in another part of the world. And we all watched in—. It was frightening seeing what was happening in Bordeaux…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Diolch yn fawr iawn. The Member speaks of her experience in her community. Thanks to all Senedd Members of all parties who responded to concerns in their own communities. We are there. We are able to share information and provide support in all sorts of…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
I agree on not having identified this enough as a risk. One of the elements of the work that I have engaged with very, very positively since coming into this role is the resilience work. I've tried to make sure that I am kept very, very well briefed on the…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Thank you for that series of really constructive questions, I think. Yes, our thanks to the emergency services made again very, very clearly, and I hope they genuinely do hear that, because I know there were some very exhausted women and men out there through…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
I certainly associate myself, as I echoed in my opening remarks, with that deep sense of thanks to everybody that was involved in the response through what was a very difficult summer that was challenging in a host of different ways. The health impact…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Thank you very much for those comments and questions.
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Llywydd, I'm not sure where to begin, to be honest with you. We are responding to challenges that we've faced in many parts of our nation and the multitude of agencies that came together to tackle those, in very difficult circumstances, and the role that the…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
On 22 October, I will convene the Wales climate change and resilience summit, focusing on wildfires. It must be focused on practical action. It will provide an opportunity to learn from the recent wildfires, examine the role of land management and consider…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Individual responsibility is only part of the answer, and we must consider land management, infrastructure resilience, public services preparedness and the support available to communities before, during and after extreme weather events. That is why climate…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
In an emergency, Government must act quickly, must act calmly and decisively, and that is what we did. But responding to an emergency is only part of our responsibility. We must also learn and strengthen our readiness for the future. The Cabinet Minister for…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Weather, wildfires, drought and resilience
Understandably, there has been considerable interest in the use of helicopters and wider aerial support, and aerial support can be valuable in particular circumstances, but it forms only one part of a wider response. It is not a panacea. Its use depends on…
