Eluned Morgan’s twenty-fourth session as first minister comes to a close.

Tomorrow the Siambr will close for renovations until March 2026, as work starts on altering the chamber to accommodate the 96 Members who will be chosen in the next Senedd election in May 2026.

From Tuesday 29 April, following the Easter recess, the MSs will meet in Siambr Hywel, the original debating chamber that housed the then National Assembly for Wales from 1999 to 2006.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Image source, Reuters

Plaid Cymru MS Llŷr Gruffydd seeks "an update on the government’s position on the devolution of powers over the Crown Estate to Wales".

Eluned Morgan insists she is continuing to lobby the UK government to give Wales powers over the Crown Estate, with an "open and constructive dialogue".

Llŷr Gruffydd says "it is about time for your fellow Labour members in Westminster to start listening, to read the room and to put the people of Wales first".

In February, the UK Labour government rejected Plaid Cymru's calls for control over the Crown Estate to be given to ministers in Wales.

Owned by the monarch, and helping to fund the Royal Family, the Crown Estate owns more than £603m of land in Wales, including 65% of the seabed around the Welsh coastline.

Powers over revenue and management of Crown Estate resources in Scotland were handed to the Scottish government in 2017, so surplus money raised from the Crown Estate stays in the country, with the estate's assets managed by a body responsible to the Scottish government.

It is Welsh government policy for the estate to be devolved like in Scotland.

The number of councils that back the devolution of Crown Estate assets to Wales now stands at 19.

Only three of the 22 local authorities have yet to back the move – Newport, Torfaen and Pembrokeshire.

What is the Crown Estate?

The Crown Estate owns more £603m of land in Wales.

That includes:

• 65% of Wales' coast and riverbeds
• The seabed up to 12 miles out to sea
• 50,000 acres of land
• 250,000 acres of mineral deposits
• Any gold and silver

Profits of the Crown Estate - a property business owned by the monarch but run independently - go to the Treasury. The level of profit is used as a benchmark to calculate the funding given by the government to the Royal Family in the Sovereign Grant.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Image source, Getty Images

Conservative Natasha Asghar shares an "horrific experience" from one of her constituents.

"My constituent's mother had a nasty fall at home and sustained some injuries. The family called for an ambulance and was told there would be a 14-hour wait. Following advice from 111, the family were told to move her onto the settee and keep an eye on her condition whilst they waited for a doctor to arrive. The following day, after spending a night on the sofa, the doctor phoned to say he wouldn't be visiting, as a shift had finished, and instead, told my constituent to take his mother to the Royal Gwent. As it was impossible for my constituent to lift his 98-year-old mother and carry her to the car, she remained on the settee.

"Two days later, my constituent's mother's condition deteriorated and an ambulance arrived to take the patient to the Grange hospital where she faced a nine-and-a-half-hour wait in an ambulance before being admitted. She was then transferred to the Royal Gwent, and one afternoon, as my constituent was parking his car at the hospital, the doctor called him to tell him to make his way to the hospital as soon as possible as his mother did not have long to live. After entering the hospital, he was told, in fact, that his mother had died two hours prior."

The first minister replies "it sounds like an absolutely dreadful experience, and that is not good enough. That is absolutely not good enough. What I can tell you is that additional funding has been given to the health board to try and tackle some of these issues. I know that the health secretary is undertaking a review of the amber category in relation to the Welsh ambulance service at the moment. Also, as a government, there has been £14 million additional capital investment to improve and support the expansion of the Grange emergency department, and that will double the current wait capacity. But that is simply not good enough."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Labour's Carolyn Thomas says she is "surprised and disheartened" at the number of wildfires in north Wales recently.

The first minister replies "I think we're all concerned to see the large number of grassland fires - several significant ones in north Wales. At this time of year, the risk is particularly high if the weather is dry, as was the case for most of March, and what happens is that the upland vegetation is highly combustible just before it's replaced by the new season growth from about May onwards."

Firefighters across south, mid and north Wales have tackled many grass fires over recent weeks.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service have said a wildfire late yesterday, involving gorse and bracken, covered some 3,000 square metres at Llanfairfechan.

In 2024 fire services across Wales attended 977 grass fire incidents - this was a decrease of 47% on the previous year with deliberate grass fires decreasing by 576 (44%) to 713.

Image source, Myfyr Tomos

Image source, AbersApp Abersoch

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says "we still haven't had a satisfactory answer from the first minister on her views of the recently announced welfare cuts or on the question of when she will release details of the UK government's response to her question about the assessment of the impact of those welfare cuts on Wales".

He adds "she's exposing this Labour government's absolute lack of fight on behalf of the people of Wales".

The first minister replies "I don't have a problem with that letter [from Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall] being published".

She adds, "there are people in this country who are suffering, who need us to stand by their sides. We will be making it clear that we will be expressing our Welsh communities' concerns plainly and unambiguously in the evidence that we will present in response to the welfare reform Green Paper. I'm going to be listening to the concerns of people currently on benefits. I'm also going to be listening to the concerns of people who are trapped in a system that makes it difficult for them to work."

A Department for Work and Pensions assessment found 3.2m families across England and Wales would be worse off as a result of the changes, with 250,000 more people pushed into relative poverty.

The welfare reforms come as Chancellor Rachel Reeves looks to boost defence funding and tries to meet her own self-imposed fiscal rules, including not borrowing to pay for day-to-day spending.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, lists a number of issues in which he says the Welsh government has demonstrated a lack of transparency.

He says, "so far, you've refused to publish any correspondence about the operation of grooming gangs in Wales, you've refused to allow the Senedd's Wales Covid-19 Inquiry Special Purpose Committee to interview witnesses under oath, and now you have refused to publish a letter that you have received from the UK government that highlights how the welfare cuts in Wales will impact vulnerable people the length and breadth of this country. It looks like you've got something to hide. What is it?"

Eluned Morgan replies "I've been one of the people who have been up to my neck in the Covid inquiry, and I can tell you there's nothing more transparent than the system we've just been through. We've spent millions of pounds, taken hours of lawyers' time making sure that we give answers to those people who suffered during the pandemic. So, I don't think that there's a lack of transparency in relation to Covid."

She adds she has "no problem at all in Liz Kendall [Secretary of State for Work and Pensions] publishing that letter, and I hope she'll do so this afternoon".

On Friday, the first minister refused to back the welfare reforms until she knew more.

Last week the chancellor confirmed a tightening of eligibility for personal independence payments and a freeze on some Universal Credit payments.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru MS Cefin Campbell asks "what assessment has the Welsh government made of the impact of cuts to welfare benefits on residents in mid and west Wales?"

He says it's a "policy that's going to hit the most vulnerable in our society and push thousands more into poverty".

The first minister replies "I have written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [Liz Kendall] asking whether it is possible to share any analysis that has been undertaken by her department on the relevant impact on Wales of changes to the benefits system."

She elaborates, "there are tens of thousands of people who are really worried about the impact that proposed reforms could have, but they don't know to what extent it will happen, they don't know when it will happen. I am determined to make sure that Welsh voices are heard when it comes to welfare reform. I think it's also important to make it clear that reform of the system definitely needs to happen; I think trapping people in a welfare poverty trap is also cruel."

In her Spring Statement last week, Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a number of benefit changes, including tightening qualification rules for Personal Independence Payments (Pips) - the main disability benefit - claimed by more than 250,000 working aged people in Wales.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Llywydd Elin Jones conducts a ballot to determine the names of members who may table questions to the first minister.

Conservative Samuel Kurtz, following a meeting with AMP Clean Energy, says the company is "looking to invest £45 million in 150 small-scale battery box projects across Wales".

However, he says "a key challenge is the inconsistency in how Wales’s 22 local authorities handle lease agreements and planning applications. While some councils manage these efficiently, others do not, leading to delays and possible loss of investment."

First Minister Eluned Morgan replies "I’m absolutely determined as a Labour government that we increase the amount of energy we produce from renewable resources. And I think there’s real opportunities, in particular off our coasts. But the fact is: very often, the wind blows or the sun shines at a time when you don’t need it. And you do need, therefore, to develop battery technology, and it’s great to see AMP, and other organisations, have the appetite to explore what more we can do in this area."

In relation to planning, she says "it’s one of the things that I’ve focused on since I’ve become first minister. We’ve had a consultation promoting a resilient and high-performing planning service, and that was issued by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning last November. So, there’s the opportunity for us to get that more consistent approach that you’re interested in developing."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Eluned Morgan’s twenty-fourth session of First Minister's Questions.

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 from 1.30pm.