Eluned Morgan’s thirty-fifth session as first minister comes to a close.

She will next face questions in Siambr Hywel on 16 September.

Image source, Eluned Morgan

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru MS Delyth Jewell asks "what discussions has the first minister had with the cabinet secretary for health and social care about targets to reduce baby deaths?"

Eluned Morgan replies, "we know that every baby lost is a heartbreak, and reducing baby deaths is an absolute priority. We've already seen a long-term decline in rates of stillbirth and neonatal mortality, but we are demanding further change, and that's why we've published a new national quality statement and we have invested in the maternity-and-neonatal-safety support programme."

Delyth Jewell raises concerns about the support available for bereaved parents.

She says, "every year, thousands of parents will face pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. The charity Sands has found that only one in six bereaved parents gain access to psychological support from the NHS. I've been contacted by constituents who've gone through this horrific ordeal who, to their credit, are campaigning to make sure other parents do not have to face what they've had to go through, either alone or without all of the support that they could have benefited from. Now, bereaved parents are more likely to experience family strain, financial difficulties because of sick leave, and they also face an increased risk to their lives. I know no words of comfort can make that right, but surely having specialist pathways for psychological support would lessen the burden on them. There are many things that need to change, including baby-loss certificates, but this emotional support is of urgent importance."

The Welsh government announced today that a national assessment of all maternity and neonatal services in Wales will begin this month.

Repeated failures in the quality of maternity care and governance at Swansea Bay health board have been highlighted in an independent report.

The review was commissioned after complaints by families, as well as concerns about the number of deaths of babies and mothers between 2018 and 2023.

Image source, Getty Images

Conservative Altaf Hussain - previously a consultant orthopaedic surgeon - asks "what is the Welsh government doing to address shortfalls in the anaesthetist workforce?"

Eluned Morgan replies the Welsh government is "spending more than £294 million this year to train the NHS workforce of the future. Record numbers of people are employed in the NHS, including doctors, and since 2020, we've increased anaesthetics training places at all levels."

Altaf Hussain says "according to the Royal College of Anaesthetists, Wales has 17 per cent fewer anaesthetists than needed to meet demand. First minister, we need to increase the number of training places if we are to have any hope of addressing the shortfalls of 90,000 operations and procedures each year."

The Royal College of Anaesthetists' State of the Nation 2024 report, external says a shortage of anaesthetists is "limiting the ability of the NHS to reduce patient waiting lists, as the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in anaesthetic staffing levels".

It says with 14 anaesthetists per 100,000 people, the UK ranks 26th in Europe, far below comparable countries like Germany, where the equivalent figure is 37, Italy (25) and even some lower income countries like Moldova (16), and that the shortage of anaesthetists prevents around 1.4 million operations and procedures from taking place each year.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

The first minister says the Welsh government is holding a review of its offices , externalbecause of the number of people working from home since the Covid pandemic.

She says, "we are having a review at the moment, partly because of the change in the way that people work. We can't justify continuing to hold offices open if people don't turn up. It is important that we encourage people to come into work; we are encouraging them to come in. But, clearly, there will come a point where you have to say, 'If you don't turn up, we cannot justify keeping this particular office open'. So, it is incumbent on those people to understand that if they don't go into the offices, there is a danger that we will be in a situation where it'll be difficult for us to continue, if they don't turn up."

The Welsh government has staff working across 20 different sites.

Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds says it is "shameful" that "we are currently at the rate still of 29 per cent, rising to 30 per cent, sadly, of our children here in Wales living in poverty".

Targets are needed from the Welsh government in order to tackle child poverty, she says.

The Welsh government had targeted eradicating child poverty by 2020, but this was scrapped in 2016.

Eluned Morgan says "we take our responsibility to reduce child poverty very seriously, but it is also something that the UK government has to step in with. I am really pleased that, when it comes to the UK government's 10-year health plan, one of the things they have done is they have increased the amount of money that is provided through Healthy Start. So, pregnant women and children aged one or older but under four are now going to be receiving £4.65 a week, and children under one will receive £9.30 every week. So there’s an increasing amount of money that is going in via the UK government. Since 2019, we as the Welsh government have provided over £27 million, including more than £2 million this financial year, to tackle food insecurity, and that clearly goes to help many families with children as well."

Children are defined as living in poverty when in households where the income is 60% below the UK average.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth raises the issues of fair funding for Wales, independence and the Parliamentary Labour Party’s "disdainful" attitude towards Wales.

He says, "is Wales a nation that could thrive running its own affairs like so many other similar nations? If you believe in the potential of Wales and its people as I do, the answer is an obvious 'yes'. Surely, it's a question to which every first minister should answer 'yes'. How can any first minister not believe in their nation's potential? Now, the last first minister but one, now secretary for finance [Mark Drakeford], agreed it was perfectly viable for Wales to be independent, he just didn't think it was desirable—and I beg to differ with him on that. But, how disheartening and yet sadly predictable it was when the current first minister was asked the question on the News Agents podcast, 'could Wales manage?', and it was a 'no'. 'Wales would be extremely poor', she said."

He asks "why doesn't the first minister believe in Wales?"

Eluned Morgan replies "there's nobody who believes in Wales more than I do. I have got a red dragon running through every little blood vessel in my body. But what I will tell you is that we are dead serious about being positive about this country and about talking it up, and that's what we don't get from Plaid Cymru. It is interesting, isn't it, I thought that you were going to go on to say, 'And that's why we believe in independence, that's why we'll be looking to do that in the next term.' You're not saying that, are you? So, you've got such faith that it's possible and viable then you're not offering that. I think that it is important for us to recognise that a huge amount of money additionally comes from the UK government."

Rhun ap Iorwerth asks the first minister "what her next move will be on fair funding", to which Eluned Morgan replies "I'm at the table and I'm getting things done, and we have had additional support from the UK government, including £6 million—£5 million of additional funding that you and the Tories tried to block from coming in".

She pulls a face as Rhun ap Iorwerth accuses her of being "a first minister who believes that poverty is inevitable for Wales, and that's why she keeps on talking Wales down".

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, criticises the Labour Welsh government's revised Sustainable Farming Scheme for not including an economic impact assessment.

He says "by your own government's estimates, that previous scheme would have led to 5,500 job losses, a £200 million hit to the rural economy, a reduction of hundreds of thousands of livestock, and a ridiculous, unrealistic per-farm-tree-planting target. It is no wonder that that initial Labour and Plaid scheme resulted in the largest protest that this Senedd has ever seen."

He asks how many jobs will be lost as a result of the revised SFS.

Eluned Morgan replies she is "proud" of the scheme.

She says it's "a world-class scheme that is unique in the world. We've got a whole farm approach, it's the only one in Europe certainly, where we will see the balance between the needs to make sure that we have quality food, high animal welfare standards, making sure that we address the nature and climate emergency".

She adds that the government will make a "ready-reckoner tool available" over the next week so that individual businesses can work out the impact.

Darren Millar also criticises the scheme for having no mention of "food security" and the amount of farm land that will be "sacrificed" for trees.

He says "food security" is "not mentioned one single time, because you do not give a hoot about food security. In contrast, the word 'environment' is mentioned almost 80 times. Your scheme still wants to sacrifice an area half the size of the Vale of Glamorgan to tree planting. And recently, we saw the UK Climate Change Committee recommend a 19 per cent reduction in livestock numbers, something that my party rejects."

Eluned Morgan says "we're in this situation because we left the European Union, and there were many people, including you, who argued for that".

The protest-hit plan for greener farm subsidy payments has been seven years in the making.

The SFS will replace EU-era subsidies, which farmers had received for decades based largely on how much land they had.

Most rely on these payments - an average of 67% of Welsh farm income - came from subsidies in 2020-21.

Image source, Getty Images

Labour MS for Wrexham, Lesley Griffiths asks "how is the Welsh government working with the National Eisteddfod to ensure that this year's event in Wrexham is environmentally sustainable?"

Eluned Morgan replies that the Welsh government is "very proud to be backing" the Eisteddfod, "not just as a celebration of Welsh culture, but also as a model for a greener future".

She says the Welsh government has invested "in new trains; we've spent £800 million on a rail upgrade. We’re working closely with the Eisteddfod and local partners to make sure that they put on additional rail services, to promote greener travel."

Lesley Griffiths seeks an assurance that "discussions have taken place between the Welsh government and the Eisteddfod organisers to reduce waste, to source local and organic food, to choose sustainable and eco-friendly materials for their signage, to provide free water refill points, and to utilise renewable energy, amongst other initiatives."

Eluned Morgan says "we know that the Rhondda Cynon Taf Eisteddfod was the greenest Eisteddfod ever, and I know Wrexham have plans to build on that. Their long-term plan, in fact, by 2030, is to become the first net-zero festival in Wales."

Conservative Gareth Davies asks "how will the first minister ensure efforts for the National Eisteddfod to become environmentally sustainable are balanced with their other financial needs and don't come at the cost of other things, such as its core ambition of preserving and celebrating our Welsh heritage?"

The first minister says "I don't need to persuade the Eisteddfod to do this—they are very keen to do it as an ambition for themselves. What we do as a government is to make sure that we put support in place, and that includes £1.25 million to the National Eisteddfod. We've seen this year an increase, a £250,000 increase, on the last financial year, and the great news here is that £200,000 of that will enable the Eisteddfod to provide free access to low-income families, and that's something we're particularly proud of in the Welsh Labour government."

The Eisteddfod will be held in Wrexham from 2-9 August.

Wrexham last hosted the Eisteddfod in 2011.

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 Natasha Asghar asks "what steps is the Welsh government taking to improve the non-emergency patient transport service?"

First Minister Eluned Morgan replies "on top of the £22 million that we're spending on new vehicles to modernise the Welsh ambulance service's patient transport fleet, we're also putting £2.5 million into the non-emergency service, to help reinforce capacity during evenings and weekends, to help more people to get to their appointments on time."

Natasha Asghar says "I’ve been speaking to one care home in south Wales east about this service, which was absolutely essential for them. First Minister, in the last month alone, more than 60 per cent of journeys booked in advance by the care home have either been cancelled on the same day, not turned up at all, or have arrived late, resulting in residents missing their appointments. With the care home not having its own transport, they are unable to pick this up when they have indeed been let down."

Around 700,000 journeys are made every year in Wales by the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service, transporting people who are unable for medical reasons to make their own way to and from their medical appointments at clinics, hospitals and day centres. This includes:

• Outpatients appointments;
• Dialysis and oncology treatment;
• Day centre and psycho-geriatric clinics;
• Planned admissions and discharges including inter-hospitals transfers

You can check if you are eligible for NEPTS transport here, external.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Eluned Morgan’s thirty-fifth session of First Minister's Questions, and the last before the summer recess.

The Siambr (Senedd chamber) has closed for renovations until March 2026, as work is underway on altering it to accommodate the 96 Members who will be chosen in the next Senedd election in May 2026.

So the 60 MSs are meeting in Siambr Hywel, the original debating chamber that housed the then National Assembly for Wales from 1999 to 2006.

The meeting is held in a hybrid format, with some members in Siambr Hywel and others joining by video-conference.

You can click on the play button above to watch the proceedings from 1.30pm.