Summary

  • Vaughan Gething takes questions in the Senedd for the second time as first minister.

  • Mr Gething is forced to defend £200,000 donations - from a company owned by a man previously convicted of illegally dumping waste - for a second week running in the Senedd.

  1. Hwyl fawrpublished at 14:30 British Summer Time 23 April

    Vaughan Gething’s second session as first minister comes to a close.

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  2. Centralised waiting list for NHS dentistrypublished at 14:26 British Summer Time 23 April

    Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds calls for "a centralised waiting list" for NHS dentistry, "that makes sure that you know what the demand is, you know what the need is and therefore you're able to respond".

    Mr Gething replies "that is where this Welsh government wants to get to".

    He adds, "the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care regularly talks to me about the need to ensure that we have more investment in our digital and data systems within the NHS so that they're fit for purpose, they can help both the professional practitioners but also the individual person to take part in their own treatment and care and to understand where those opportunities exist to do better".

    Jane Dodds
    Image caption,

    Jane Dodds

  3. Ongoing crisis in the Middle Eastpublished at 14:18 British Summer Time 23 April

    The first minister says he will consider what the Welsh government can do to help people directly affected by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

    He says "I know from my own experience in my own constituency that I have families directly affected on all sides of the conflict. So, this isn't just an issue that has taken place somewhere else. There is a real impact in communities right across our own country, which is why we do need to continue to take an interest; even as we're not decision-makers in the conflict, we have to deal with the consequence of what is happening and properly support our own citizens".

    Vaughan Gething
    Image caption,

    Vaughan Gething

  4. 'Independent investigation into donation needed'published at 14:02 British Summer Time 23 April

    Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says the row over Vaughan Gething's decision to take £200,000 from a controversial waste company has been intensified by the revelation that it owes the Welsh government-owned Development Bank of Wales £400,000.

    The DBW loaned Dauson-subsidiary Neal Soil Suppliers £400,000 in February 2023 for the purchase of a solar farm.

    Rhun ap Iorwerth calls for an independent investigation into the donation provided by Dauson Environmental Group to Mr Gething for his successful campaign to become Welsh Labour leader.

    He asks Mr Gething if he had queried where the money had come from.

    “Did the first minister ask who it was from, was told about the donor’s criminal past and said it doesn't matter - I'll take the money anyway - in which case that raises fundamental questions of judgments.

    “Or was it that despite the scale of this donation, he didn't think to ask for proper due diligence. That would again be very poor judgement.”

    Mr Gething says “all of the due diligence were undertaken about whether this was a permissible donor that money could be accepted from.”

    He says there were processes in place to ensure that candidates in the leadership election cannot make choices about donors' businesses.

    Mr ap Iorwerth says Mr Gething had talked about wanting to lead a country “full of hope, ambition and unity”.

    “He can’t even unite his own party on whether he was right or not.”

    Mr Gething says the Welsh Labour executive committee – the party officials which agreed the review by former first minister Carwyn Jones – “has been very united”.

    Asked by the Plaid Cymru leader if he would commit to making the findings public, Mr Gething said he had “no doubt at all” the Carwyn Jones review “will be in the public domain”.

    Rhun ap Iorwerth
    Image caption,

    Rhun ap Iorwerth

  5. The £200,000 donationpublished at 13:53 British Summer Time 23 April

    Andrew RT Davies
    Image caption,

    Andrew RT Davies

    Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, refers to Welsh government economy minister Jeremy Miles saying he "would not have accepted" a £200,000 donation given to Vaughan Gething during their rival bids to become first minister.

    Mr Davies asks if there was a difference in principle between him and Jeremy Miles.

    “I don't think there's a difference in principle at all,” Mr Gething told the Welsh Conservative Senedd leader.

    He said all donations had been registered and recorded, and said the Welsh Labour executive had a “very harmonious and positive meeting” when they agreed an interview review of leadership campaign rules.

    Mr Davies said a “reasonable person… would say there is a potential conflict interest there”.

    But Mr Gething said a “reasonable person will be interested in the facts”, and that the Department Bank of Wales takes decisions “wholly independent of Welsh government”.

    Mr Davies went on to say the matter was having a “real corrosive effect on the government as the silence of your own benches is showing here before everyone today”.

    But Mr Gething replies there was “no reason to undertake an individual independent investigation simply on the basis of an opposition press release”.

    Mr Gething has announcement that former first minister Carwyn Jones will chair a review of leadership campaigns including campaign finances.

    Mr Gething accepted £200,000 for his leadership campaign from a company run by a man who was convicted twice for environmental offences.

    David Neal was given a suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste on a conservation site.

    Four years later he was prosecuted again for not removing it.

    Large piles of unregulated waste were found on David Neal's former farmland on the Gwent LevelsImage source, NATURAL RESOURCES WALES
    Image caption,

    Large piles of unregulated waste were found on David Neal's former farmland on the Gwent Levels

  6. Welsh families affected by the situation in Gazapublished at 13:44 British Summer Time 23 April

    Plaid Cymru's Peredur Owen Griffiths asks "what is the government doing to support Welsh families affected by the situation in Gaza?"

    The first minister reiterates calls for an immediate ceasefire.

    He says "ministers and cabinet colleagues have met with both Jewish and Muslim leaders and community members since the start of the Israel-Gaza war. We continue to offer our condolences to all those people affected by the current crisis. A number of families and community groups are directly affected, in communities across Wales. And we will continue to support any hate crime victims through our Wales Hate Support Centre".

    Peredur Owen Griffiths says "last week at a Senedd event, we heard from Mr and Mrs Brisley from Bridgend, whose daughter and granddaughters were killed by Hamas on 7 October. They said that they hadn't heard from anyone from the Welsh government since the loss of their loved ones. I'd like to know if the same is true for all Welsh citizens who have lost relatives in the region during the last six and a half months of bloody conflict. I'd also like to know if any support has been given to Welsh citizens who have done everything they could, financially and emotionally, to get their relatives out of the danger zone in Gaza."

    The first minister replies, "we're really talking about practical and emotional support for families. This is an area where we don't have responsibility for dealing with both refugees and returns policies and family reunion. The Welsh government has been clear though that we want a more generous approach to people seeking asylum, people fleeing war zones, and for a proper family reunion service".

  7. Fracture liaison servicespublished at 13:32 British Summer Time 23 April

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

    Conservative Natasha Asghar seeks a statement on the provision of fracture liaison services across health boards in Wales.

    In early 2022, Welsh government officials surveyed the provision of fracture liaison services, which the government acknowledged showed "significant variation and room for improvement".

    In February 2023, health minister Eluned Morgan made a "commitment to achieving 100% coverage for all health boards by fracture liaison services and to strengthen the mandate to support the development of services in this area. I expect health boards to achieve 100% by September 2024."

    First Minister Vaughan Gething says "good progress is being made" on meeting that commitment, but Natasha Asghar says "it looks increasingly unlikely the target will be met".

    A fracture liaison service ensures that patients aged 50 and over with a broken bone after a fall have their bone health and falls risk checked and managed to lower their risk of a subsequent fracture.

    Natasha Asghar
    Image caption,

    Natasha Asghar

  8. Croesopublished at 13:03 British Summer Time 23 April

    Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Vaughan Gething’s second 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.