First Minister's Questions: As it happened on 10 October

1. Mark Drakeford takes questions from Members of the Senedd, on health and HS2 among other topics.

Hwyl fawr

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

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Because of the Israel-Gaza crisis, the lights in the Senedd will be dimmed each evening until the end of the week, as they were last night.

Llywydd Elin Jones said it is “to reflect the sentiment that such attacks represent another dark moment for humanity in the Middle East. It is a source of great sorrow for a democratic institution such as ours. As well as reflecting the sorrow, the darkness will also represent a statement of solidarity with all those suffering as a result of the attacks.”

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Mental health services in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

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Mark Drakeford

On world mental health day, Conservative Janet Finch-Saunders says a "lack of access to mental health services often leads those suffering to turn to drugs, alcohol, or both, to alleviate their symptoms".

She raises concerns about access to detoxification and rehabilitation beds, such as at Hafan Wen in Wrexham.

The first minister agrees with her that the call for mental health services has risen in the post-pandemic period.

He adds, "as far as Hafan Wen is concerned, and detoxification beds, the important thing is that these decisions are made by clinicians and practitioners in that field.

"Sometimes, they will refer people from the member's constituency and north Wales to specialist services on the other side of the border, and sometimes there will be people who reside in England for whom Hafan Wen will be the best available service."

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Janet Finch-Saunders

E-cigarette use

The first minister expresses regret that a public health bill which included a ban on e-cigarette use in some public places was rejected in the Senedd in 2016, when he was health minister.

He says "we've lost ground in the meantime. There are children addicted to nicotine today who would've been saved from that addiction had this Senedd taken the action that was available to it.

"But we can't put that piece of history right; we can make a difference in the future. The proposals that were made by the prime minister are ones that we will support, and we will align ourselves with the consultation that we expect the UK government to develop to make sure that we can now at last take the actions that will prevent our children falling victims to the deliberate attempt to ensnare them in nicotine addiction".

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HS2

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Rhun ap Iorwerth

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth highlights the fact that Labour has not committed to extra funding for Wales after the second leg of HS2 high speed rail line was scrapped.

It had been classified as an England and Wales project because north Wales was deemed to be served by a stop at Crewe station.

Due to devolution rules, Scotland and Northern Ireland got funds as a result of HS2, but not Wales - under the so-called Barnett formula that is estimated to be worth £2bn from the first leg of the project.

Mr Drakeford replies "Wales deserves our share of the funding that has been invested in HS2. That should have been the case from the beginning, had the Treasury not decided to interpret the rules in a way that no-one else is able to understand".

He adds, "an incoming Labour government, as I've explained many times on the floor of the Senedd, is going to inherit an economic set of circumstances that means that no responsible party is going, in the run-up to an election, to be offering to sign cheques for the very, very many causes that will be put to that government".

But he confirms that the Welsh government is considering legal action against the Conservative UK government over HS2.

He says the Welsh government is considering all options, “legal included”, to challenge the UK government's decision not to give Wales a share of funding for HS2.

Rishi Sunak announced last week that HS2 would not be built beyond Birmingham.

Rhun ap Iorwerth says "there's a real risk here that what we're seeing is that a Labour incoming government would do exactly the same thing as the Tories, in talking a good game, but not acting in the best interests of economic justice for Wales.

"Plaid Cymru will always stand up for fairness for Wales over HS2."

HS2

Blueprint for power?

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Andrew RT Davies

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, points out that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer declined in a BBC interview to repeat his previous claim that Welsh Labour was his "blueprint" for power.

Speaking ahead of the Labour Party conference, Sir Keir admitted that he "can't pretend" there are not challenges in his relationship with the Welsh Labour government.

First Minister Mark Drakeford replies, "I'm very proud of the fact that the leader of the Labour Party looks to Wales for examples of what Labour can achieve in power."

On the health service, Mr Davies says that in Wales "one in four people are on a waiting list, or 25 per cent of the population; in England it's 14 per cent. In England, there are just over 250 people waiting two years or more; in Wales there are 28,000 people waiting".

The first minister says "as far as the health service is concerned, I'm happy, any single day, to put our record in front of people in Wales and ask them who will they trust with the future of the health service. And I can tell you this at least: it won't be his party."

Mr Davies highlights the controversial Welsh government policy that has changed the default residential speed limit in Wales from 30mph to 20mph which, he says, "is a policy that actually will not drive down the casualty numbers here in Wales and will harm economic productivity".

The first minister replies "we'll see the benefit of it in the most important way; lives will be saved, accidents that otherwise would have taken place will be avoided, and the price we're asked to pay is a very small one of driving a little more slowly in those places where those accidents are most likely to happen".

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Impact of co-operatively owned businesses

The Llywydd Elin Jones 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.

Plaid Cymru’s Luke Fletcher asks what assessment has the Welsh government made of the impact of co-operatively owned businesses on the Welsh economy.

First Minister Mark Drakeford replies that latest figures show there are 520 co-operatively owned businesses in Wales.

Mr Fletcher says "recent research from Co-operatives UK shows that Welsh co-operatives have the lowest annual turnover in the UK, accounting for just 0.6 per cent of Welsh GDP" and he calls for more "proactive work from the government, with the finance to back it up".

The first minister says "we are very likely, now, to reach that initial target of doubling the number of co-operatively owned businesses. But, I agree with him, there is more that can and should be done".

A co-operative business can be split in many sub-categories:

• Worker co-operatives are owned and run by their workers
• Housing co-operatives are owned and run by their tenants
• Consumer co-operatives are owned and run by its customers
• Co-operative consortia are owned and run by other businesses using the services of the enterprise
• Multi-stakeholder co-operatives can be a mixture of any or all of the above.

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Luke Fletcher

Croeso

Hello and welcome to our live coverage 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.