91Èȱ¬

The second FMQs of 2024 comes to a close.

Thanks for following - join us again next week.

Plaid Cymru's Mabon ap Gwynfor raises the issue of the junior doctors’ strike action over pay.

He says "I've spoken to a number of doctors outside this Senedd today, and yesterday in Wrexham Maelor, for example, and an increasing number are saying that they're going to follow their friends to work in Australia, New Zealand or elsewhere. When you as a government say that you can't afford to pay more, can the NHS and Wales afford to lose more doctors?"

First Minister Mark Drakeford replies "of course we want to see public servants in Wales paid properly for the work that they do, but the offer that we have made is right at the limit of the funding that we have for this purpose".

The three-day walkout began on Monday morning following a pay dispute with the Welsh government, with hundreds of operations and thousands of appointments postponed.

The Welsh government's pay rise offer of 5% was rejected by the British Medical Association (BMA).

In England, junior doctors have already been given an 8.8% pay increase, but have rejected an additional offer worth 3% on average.

In Scotland, an improved offer of 12.4% has been accepted, while in Northern Ireland a ballot is planned.

The first minister says the Horizon "scandal illustrates wider factors in access to justice".

He adds, "we have a sense of the scale in that we know that in every single part of Wales - from Haverfordwest in the south right to the north - there have been individuals badly affected by this scandal. We don't have definitive numbers because we know that part of the scandal has been that there have been people who were innocent of any wrongdoing who felt obliged to plead guilty to an offence."

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 Post Office sub-postmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted for theft and false accounting after money appeared to be missing from their branches, but the prosecutions were based on evidence from faulty Horizon software.

Some sub-postmasters wrongfully went to prison, many were financially ruined. Some have since died.

Image source, ITV

Conservative Gareth Davies says the new 20mph default speed limit in built-up areas in Wales is already leading to bus services being scrapped and he criticises inconsistency between local authorities in implementing exemptions.

The first minister replies that "in addition to reduced deaths and injuries, we can expect increases in cycling and walking, and improvements in public health".

He adds the Welsh government will work with local authorities to ensure the guidance is clear.

Image source, Getty Images

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth calls on the Welsh government to rethink .

"Wales needs a government that supports business in order to create economic prosperity and social fairness, and our communities need a vibrant high street," he says.

Mr Drakeford replies it is "a temporary relief scheme; it's now in its fifth year. It has given more than £1 billion in additional rate relief to the sector to which the leader of Plaid Cymru refers, and in Wales, that relief will continue, not at 75 per cent, but at a level that we think will allow the sector to go on having the benefit of further public investment, on a path, as inevitably it has to be, to the day when this temporary scheme comes to an end".

Pressed further by Rhun ap Iorwerth, the first minister says "we will not be reconsidering that decision unless Plaid Cymru can tell me where the money that has been diverted from business rate relief to support many other programmes, including many of the other programmes that, week after week, Plaid Cymru members will tell me we have to find more money for - if he will tell me where that money is to come from."

In the draft budget in December, as well as announcing plans to slash business rate relief from 75% to 40%, the Welsh government said business rates would rise 5%.

In England rate relief will remain 75%.

UK Hospitality has said a typical Welsh pub or restaurant could now pay an average £6,800 more than similar businesses in England.

Asked by Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, about the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales annual report and winter pressures in the NHS, the first minister says "the Welsh NHS has shown that, in some key metrics, things have been better this year, despite the fact that demand is significantly higher. So, ambulance waits outside hospitals are lower this year than they were last year, performance in our emergency departments has been better in the last figures that were published than the same time last year".

Mr Davies asks, "how will you meet the challenge to make sure that Health Inspectorate Wales is resourced appropriately so that it can undertake its work - its critical work - in supporting health boards and primary healthcare in particular to deliver the range of services across the whole of Wales, and ultimately respond to concerns that people have when they find shortcomings in that service provision?"

The first minister replies, "the budget laid in front of the Senedd is the most difficult budget we've ever had to set, and there's a choice to be made, and here you can see the choice in front of you. The Conservatives, through their leader, say that they would invest more in inspectorate services. We have decided to invest more in the services themselves."

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.

Asked by his Labour colleague Jayne Bryant about the impact of Brexit, First Minister Mark Drakeford replies that "leaving the single market has worsened trading conditions with Europe, to the detriment of businesses and consumers across Wales".

He also criticises "the UK government’s failure to replace more than £1 billion of Wales's European Union funding, while Office for Budget Responsibility analysis concludes that leaving the European Union will shrink the UK economy by 4 per cent."

Conservative Laura Anne Jones replies that "the majority of people voted for Brexit in Wales" and "Brexit has delivered a myriad of trade deals".

In turn, the first minister replies "the myriad of trade deals to which the member refers, are, in the main, simply deals that were already available to us on better terms while we were inside the European Union".

Image source, Getty Images

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the second session of First Minister's Questions in 2024, and the second since Mark Drakeford announced he is quitting after five years in the job.

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.