Eluned Morgan’s eleventh session as first minister comes to a close.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru MS Siân Gwenllian seeks "an update on remedial work on the defective work under the Arbed scheme in Arfon".

The first minister says her officials are "exploring reasonable options within our resource constraints" after undertaking reviews over the summer.

She adds, "advice will be sent to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government for consideration on how best to proceed to resolve the issue for affected home owners".

The Welsh government scheme called Arbed (Cymraeg for save) was aimed at saving people money on their heating bills.

Work was carried out between 2014-15 in Deiniolen, Carmel, Y Fron and Dinorwig and included new windows, boilers and sealing exterior walls for free.

But "green slimy" marks appeared on the outsides of homes fitted with external wall insulation as part of the scheme.

Siân Gwenllian says "dozens of people... have been let down. Their homes are in a worse condition now than they were before they joined the Arbed scheme some years ago now."

The first minister says 57 of the 393 homes that took part in the Arbed scheme in Arfon "have the potential for problems".

Conservative Samuel Kurtz highlights the need to reduce ambulance waiting times in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire.

He says "since 2015, amber response times have gone from 11 minutes to over 113 minutes - a damning indictment of the Labour government's failure and its mishandling of the health services here in Wales. Now, because you can't meet your targets, you're looking to move the goalposts and change the targets in the new year. So, will you just admit it, Prif Weinidog - the Welsh Labour government haven't got a clue how to improve health services in Wales?"

The first minister replies, "it's really important to recognise, once again, this is also about increased demand from the public - a massive increase in demand just in the Hywel Dda region. October saw the joint second-highest number of red calls on record ever. So, let me just be clear that also what's really significant is that despite that massive increase, they reported the best ambulance performance in Wales for response to red calls within eight minutes in October."

She also says the Welsh government has launched a 50-day challenge "to help more people safely return home from hospital and to ease winter pressures on our health and care system".

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Replying to Conservative Janet Finch-Saunders, the first minister says "all NHS organisations are struggling to meet rising demand for cancer investigation and treatment. Cancer performance at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is not where it needs to be, and we're working closely with the health board to recover and sustain an improvement in its performance."

Janet Finch-Saunders says "as the previous health minister, you will be aware just how bad things are when it does come to the patient treatment in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. In September, only 51 per cent of patients at this board began their first definitive cancer treatment within 62 days of initial suspicion - a deeply concerning figure when you consider, in England, the figure is 67 per cent."

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says gas and electricity prises will rise in the new year and points to a tweet by Eluned Morgan in August 2020, when the Conservatives were in government, in which she said:

"As the energy price cap rises again, we need an emergency budget now, to freeze energy prices, and to tax oil and gas giants."

He asks whether she stands by that "or has she changed her mind so as not to embarrass her party boss, Sir Keir Starmer?"

The first minister replies, "we know that electricity and gas prices have increased significantly since then, where the war on Ukraine has put huge pressure on us, and much of that increase is now baked in, which is causing a lot of difficulties for people in paying their bills. Look, we've all got to understand that there are compromises to be made here as well".

Between 1 January and 31 March 2025,gas prices will be capped at 6.34p per kilowatt hour (kWh), and electricity at 24.86 per kWh, external, external.

This means the annual bill for a dual-fuel direct debit household using a typical amount of energy will go up to £1,738 per year, an increase of £21 from the previous cap.

Rhun ap Iorwerth points out that the Scottish government has announced a new winter fuel benefit for Scottish pensioners from late 2025.

The existing payment was cancelled by the UK government this winter, except for those already in receipt of Pension Credit.

The first minister says that "tough choices" had to be made and she is focussing on health, education and the economy.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

"There is nothing like a good cheer on a Tuesday" says Andrew RT Davies as MSs react when he gets to his feet.

This morning he said he will resign as leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, once a successor is elected, after only narrowly surviving a vote of confidence.

BBC Wales understands the Senedd Tory group was split, with nine voting for him versus seven against.

He talks about the "privilege" of facing first ministers in the Siambr. He names three first ministers, but there is no mention of Vaughan Gething.

He says, "I have found it a huge privilege to stand here as leader of the opposition and, in some small way, make a difference to Welsh democracy and build a stronger Welsh democracy, which we have today, than when I took over in 2011."

The first minister says "I’d like to start by paying tribute to you and for the service you’ve given in this chamber over a long period of time as the leader. I know that you have passionately held beliefs and you’ve argued your cause here in the Senedd. We’ve always had political differences, but I’ve always appreciated the way that you’ve read the room, in particular on those big occasions. So, I’d like to thank you for the way that you’ve conducted yourself, on the whole, with me in the Senedd."

Referring to the assisted dying Bill that passed its first stage in the House of Commons on Friday, Mr Davies asks "what actions are the Welsh government taking to move the health service, move social care, move local councils and the education system to a place where people can genuinely feel that there is a choice in the final weeks and months of their lives, rather than services that maybe aren’t able to provide that good death and ultimately people use the law to take an early death?"

The first minister replies, "the vote last week has significant implications for us as well. It’s the first stage of a Bill, there’s a long way to go with this. There’ll be a lot of detailed work that has to be done. We will need to undertake our own assessment to establish whether we need to proceed with a legislative consent motion on this issue. The focus that we have tried to make in the past few years is to really focus on quality end-of-life care, and we have put significant resources into that. And I do think that that’s got to be the first stage of whatever comes next."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru's Llyr Gruffydd asks when will the Welsh government "stop the flow of dentists out of the NHS, and subsequently leaving so many communities across Wales high and dry when it comes to accessing basic dental services".

He refers to the British Dental Association's criticism of the assertion by some Labour politicians that Welsh dentistry is an example to England.

The first minister replies that the new NHS dentistry contract has delivered 400,000 new dental appointments.

She adds, "dentists have an option. They choose to work for the NHS or for the private sector, and the fact is that many of them choose to work for the private sector. Now, the fact is that we have to make sure that there's enough money in the system to deliver what we're able to. Now, there is a real shortage in terms of supply of dentists—this is not a Welsh-only issue, which is why what we do is to make sure that we try and increase the support around the dentists, make sure we train more dental hygienists, dental therapists, and we're really pleased to have seen that that's been done particularly in north 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.

Plaid Cymru MS Adam Price asks "is the Welsh government open to establishing a visual impact fund, similar to the scheme introduced by Ofgem in 2014, but focused on supporting the process of undergrounding new electricity cables?"

He says with such a fund, "we could then underground 100 per cent, which is the Welsh government’s policy, put Wales in the vanguard in terms of this undergrounding technology, and get the support of communities to these decarbonisation plans, rather than the opposition that exists at the moment because of concerns about pylons."

First Minister Eluned Morgan replies, "Wales must be prepared to make significant changes to energy infrastructure, to ensure our homes and businesses are sustainable for the future. The mechanisms for paying for new infrastructure are a reserved matter to the UK government, but the Welsh government is investing resources in strategic network planning, which will help to reduce overall impact."

She adds, "our policy is one that requires undergrounding where that’s possible. But I think we do all have to accept that is very expensive".

There has been a campaign in Carmarthenshire against proposals for 60 miles of pylons over the countryside.

Bute Energy wants to connect a proposed windfarm at Nant Mithil, Powys, across the Towy Valley to the energy network near Carmarthen.

The company said the plan could see energy produced for 200,000 homes.

The Welsh government is aiming for Wales to meet a net zero target by 2050 - meaning as much energy as possible will come from green or renewable sources.

Image source, Bute Energy

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Eluned Morgan’s eleventh 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.