����ý

The twenty-second FMQs of 2023 comes to a close.

Thanks for following - join us again after the summer recess in September.

The Senedd will once again be lit tonight in the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine’s flag as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine and its people.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Mark Drakeford confirms that free school meals will not be extended across the school holidays.

It comes after Caerphilly Council announced it will use its reserves to feed the most vulnerable children over the summer break.

The first minister was responding to a question by Caerphilly MS Hefin David who called for other councils to consider following the local authority's example. He also asked whether the Welsh government would consider funding the scheme across Wales, like it did last year.

Mr Drakeford replies there were many schemes available to help children over the holidays, which provided food and play opportunities, including by faith groups, the Urdd and the WRU.

The first minister said "while we have not been able to do more than we originally promised to do, in relation to free school meals during school holidays, that does not mean that there is not support there for young people who need it".

The Welsh government were able to extend the free school meals scheme into the summer holidays previously, because of an "underspend" in the budget, "which is part of the co-operation agreement" with Plaid Cymru, according to Mr Drakeford.

He said that while "there are no underspends left in that budget to deploy for that purpose", the government were "always involved in discussions" with Plaid Cymru to find the best way of using their available budget.

Image source, Getty Images

Conservative Tom Giffard claims NHS staff are "routinely let down by the Welsh government".

He says the NHS in Wales is a "national scandal".

He elaborates, "We have more than 31,000 people in Wales spending over two years on NHS waiting lists, whereas in England they've been effectively eliminated. One in 289 people that arrive in A&E end up waiting more than 12 hours. In England, that's one in 1,278. And whilst the Welsh government is given £1.20 for every £1 spent in England to fund the NHS, the Welsh government chooses to short change our health service by giving it £1.05. On nearly every metric, the NHS in Wales under this Labour government consistently underperforms compared to the rest of Britain".

The first minister angrily replies that the Conservatives only have one message - "if it's Wales it's worse".

Mr Drakeford continues, "what a colonial mentality lies behind that way of thinking. Here we are, some sort of client state of his idea of the United Kingdom. No wonder the Conservative party is in the mess that it is in. In that last opinion poll that you.gov carried out, do you remember what percentage of people under 45 intend to vote for your party at the next election? Do you remember that? It was 7 per cent."

Image source, Getty Images

Plaid Cymru's Sioned Williams refers to problems that some people with learning disabilities have had with having their bus passes renewed.

The first minister replies, "I too have heard accounts of people who say that practice has changed in the way the bus passes have been issued. Let me be very clear with the member: the policy has not changed; the policy of the Welsh government remains as it always has been".

He says he has asked officials to have further discussions with Transport for Wales to ensure "they are administering the scheme in the way that we would like it to see administered, in line with the Welsh government policy and with no moves that appear to make it more difficult for people with learning disabilities to obtain the rights to which they are entitled".

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says the Welsh government has repeatedly showed a "lack of engagement" with companies such as Zimmer Biomet to look out for "warning signs" that they might close sites in Wales.

He says, "I do think it's quite clear that the Welsh government's finger isn't on the pulse in terms of a company and an employer that was so very important. And it happens too often. Literally - from Anglesey to Monmouthshire, from the 2 Sisters to Avara Food, and now Zimmer Biomet - we see major employers withdrawing and leaving economic scars, and the unemployment figures confirm a very worrying pattern".

Mr Drakeford says the Welsh government had no prior notice from Zimmer Biomet of its decision.

He says, "the company made its decision to announce its intentions without a single word to the Welsh government, to its own employees, to the UK government. There's no finger on any pulse that is going to detect an announcement that a company is determined to make on its own terms and without informing anybody else.

"And to suggest that, somehow, there was intelligence there to be collected if only someone was alert to it - it simply does not reflect at all what happened in this case.

"Of course, the Welsh government has, through its regional economic arrangements, people in every part of Wales who talk every single day to companies throughout Wales, sometimes about the difficulties that they are experiencing, sometimes about the expansion plans that they have."

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, refers to the former health minister Vaughan Gething's admission to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that he had not read documents, guidance and plans looking at civil emergencies and pandemic flu until he prepared for the inquiry.

First Minister Mark Drakeford replies that he will not give a running commentary on the inquiry but he decides to answer the question in a more general way:

"All ministers, when they become responsible for a new portfolio, receive an enormous amount of information from their civil servants. It summarises a huge amount of what they will need to know. It indicates to them where they will need to do further and more in-depth reading, and ministers follow that advice. Any suggestion that a minister could embark upon a back-catalogue of documents produced over a period of 15 years, and at the same time discharge their everyday responsibilities, it simply does not reflect the way in which government is conducted in Wales or in any other part of the United Kingdom".

As Mr Gething is now economy minister, Mr Davies says "today, we've had the unemployment numbers come out. The Minister for the Economy is responsible, obviously, for making key decisions in that portfolio that will affect the economic prospects and the employment prospects of people the length and breadth of Wales. If he's shown in other portfolios he is not across his brief, how can we have confidence that he is going to be able to deal with the economic picture that's unfolding here in Wales?"

The first minister replies, "what we learn from the economy of the United Kingdom and every part of it is that the Tories have crashed the economy and that people in every part of the United Kingdom face a future in which the Bank of England has decided to induce a recession in order to deal with the inflationary pressures that his government has allowed to gather inside the UK economy."

The first minister says there is a "delicate balance" to be struck between developing renewable energy while protecting habitats and increasing biodiversity.

He elaborates, "there is no bigger threat to species of all sorts than climate change itself, and here is a difficult balancing act.

"We have to create a renewable energy future here in Wales because that is the way that we make our greatest contribution to tackling the risks that climate change brings to all species, including humankind.

"What we aim to do here in Wales is to strike that balance in the most careful way."

The Llywydd conducts a ballot to determine the names of members who may table questions to the first minister and Welsh ministers. Each member may enter their name into a ballot.

Labour MS Huw Irranca-Davies asks "what representations will the first minister make to the UK government to support the case for retaining Zimmer Biomet jobs in Bridgend?"

The American medical manufacturing firm has announced it's consulting on plans to close its plant in south Wales, putting 540 jobs at risk.

First Minister Mark Drakeford replies that a meeting is being arranged between economy minister Vaughan Gething and his counterpart at the Department for Business and Trade.

He says the Welsh government's priority is to "safeguard as many jobs as possible".

He adds, "our focus for the immediate future is on direct conversations with the company, better understanding of their position, and then the effort to move things in a different direction."

Last week, when the Trefnydd Lesley Griffiths stood in for First Minister Mark Drakeford, the Llywydd Elin Jones commented “I'm not used to such short answers in this session”.

That followed a previous session when the Trefnydd stood in, that led the Llywydd to suggest that Lesley Griffiths gives the Cabinet “a tutorial on how to give succinct answers in oral questions”.

Will the first minister take the hint?

Image source, Thinkstock/����ý

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the twenty-second session of First Minister's Questions in 2023, and the last before the summer recess.

The meeting is held in a hybrid format, with some members in the Siambr (Senedd chamber) and others joining by video-conference.

You can click on the play button above to watch the proceedings.