Tag: Welsh Conservatives

The press release issued by Welsh Conservatives on 27 October 2022.

Teachers in Wales are being asked to vote on industrial action after being offered below-inflation pay rises. It could lead to strikes in the new year after unions rejected a 5% pay offer from the Labour government, here in Wales.

Commenting on the news, Shadow Education Minister, Laura Anne Jones MS said:

“The Education Minister, Jeremy Miles, has the levers, he has the money, to pay teachers more, if he wants to.

“Wales has seen a 10% fall in teacher numbers since 2011, which represents 4,000 fewer teachers despite there being 7,000 more students. Clearly, retention is an issue that the Labour Government need to get a hold of.

“Let’s see the Welsh Education Minister put his money where his mouth is, grapple with the unique issues faced by the Welsh education system and stop passing the buck.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 27 October 2022.

It has been revealed that the number of NHS beds has fallen again last year, despite the treatment backlog covering a fifth of the population, congested A&E departments, and record ambulance delays.

Official statistics released today show the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay oversaw a fall in NHS Wales beds from 10,340 to 10,275 in 2020/21.

During the devolution era, when Labour has led every government, the number of beds has been cut by 30%, down from 14,723 in 1999/00, falling year-on-year ever since.

The average daily number of occupied beds in 2021/22 was 8,342, an increase of 1,171.7 (16.3%) compared to the previous year. The percentage occupancy of NHS beds in last year was 81.2% – 11.8 percentage points more than 2020/21.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies MS said:

“It is astonishing that the Labour Government has chosen to cut the number of NHS beds just as demand on the NHS has sky-rocketed because ministers failed to prepare for post-lockdown recovery, with one saying it would be ‘foolish’ to publish a plan during the pandemic.

“While it could be argued that bed numbers are down as capacity is being redistributed closer to communities, it comes up against the brutal reality that A&E is busier than ever, ambulance response times are at record lows, and 1-in-5 people are on Britain’s longest waiting lists.

“This is a naïve and chaotic approach to running a health service under pressure like never before, but it is about to get much worse under Labour as nurses are to vote on striking this winter, just as we learn that NHS nurse vacancies have risen by a thousand in the last year alone.

“This is the cost of Labour – now they need to get a grip on the NHS and stop breaking all the wrong records.”

Last month saw Wales record it worst-ever ambulance response times for red calls. There have been significant delays in transferring patients from ambulances into hospital and stories of overwhelmed A&E departments since society and services re-opened after lockdowns.

Meanwhile, three-quarters of a million people are on an NHS treatment waiting list, with 1-in-4 of them waiting over a year, and 59,000 waiting over two years. Two year waits have virtually been eliminated in England and Scotland.

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

The Senedd has voted today to progress Sam Rowlands’ bill to guarantee an outdoor education residential visit to all Welsh pupils.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Local Government Minister, Sam Rowlands MS said:

“I am pleased that my colleagues have decided to back my calls to expand outdoor education provision to all young people in Wales. Over the coming months, I look forward to working with those in the sector and the relevant organisations in bringing this bill forward and making it a lasting success.

“As I have outlined, the long-lasting benefits of a residential visit are numerous, from improving mental and physical health to teaching children about the natural world.

“This bill is long overdue. No one should be denied these kinds of opportunities as a result of their postcode or family income.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

The Welsh Conservatives have warned how farmers will be forced to contravene the Welsh Government’s NVZ regulations, should they not be altered.

Samuel Kurtz MS, the Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, highlighted the fact that farmers under TB restrictions are unable to move cattle, which in turn, will cause an increase in stocking numbers. In this scenario, the Welsh Government’s 170kg per hectare will have to be broken.

Mr Kurtz stated that by obeying one set of Welsh Government rules, farmers will be forced to neglect another.

He questioned the Welsh Government’s position following the Minister’s failure to answer them during the Senedd’s NVZ committee report debate two weeks ago.

Speaking about the situation, Samuel Kurtz MS said:

“Welsh farmers are doing all they can to adhere to the letter of the Welsh Government’s regulations, be that bovine TB or NVZ regulations. However, the reality here is that by adhering to one set of regulations, farmers will end up contravening another.

“If your herd has a TB breakdown, then your stock number will inevitably increase. If this occurs, you’ll surpass the Welsh Government’s derogation limit and face substantial penalties.

“It is incredibly troubling that this enormous hole in policy has not been identified by the Welsh Government. We only have one chance to get these policies right, so it is of huge concern that these shortcomings have not been identified at an earlier stage.

“We need a clear indication which of these policies are set to be amended to give way for the other – the sooner this occurs, the sooner our farmers can adjust and prepare.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

Commenting on the news that Labour ministers have put the building of a new £120 million mainline train station on hold, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Transport, Natasha Asghar MS said:

“How long can this continue? Wales is crying out for better infrastructure only for the Labour government to hold our country back.

“The programme now rests on the recommendation of the planning inspector, which Labour ministers have been known to ignore when it suits them.

“Labour ministers must abandon their anti-growth policies and build a Welsh infrastructure system suitable for the 21st century.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

Commenting on the news that families may be forced to move to Scotland to receive social housing, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing, Janet Finch-Saunders MS said:

“It is a national disgrace that families are being forced to consider leaving Wales as a result of 25 years of Labour failings.

“With almost 90,000 households on a social housing waiting list, how can Labour ministers genuinely say that we are a nation of sanctuary?

“The simple truth is that hard working families are paying the price for Labour’s housing crisis while Labour ministers look to waste £100 million on more politicians in Cardiff Bay.

“Labour ministers must stop avoiding responsibility for over two decades of inaction, put an end to their vanity projects and focus on building the houses that the people of Wales desperately need.”

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

While Labour leader Keir Starmer says he won’t attend the competition due to Qatar’s human rights record, Ministers from the Welsh Labour Government, including the First Minister, will attend.

Davies said:

“It’s absolutely right that the First Minister of Wales should attend the Qatar World Cup and give his support to the Welsh team, who are heading to their first World Cup since the 50s.

“It’s pure hypocrisy for Keir Starmer to grandstand on this issue from opposition when his colleagues in Wales are rightly going to show their support for the Welsh squad.

“I hope that the First Minister will, with UK Government Ministers, withstand any pressure from the Labour leader to cancel their visit to the World Cup.”

The press release issued by Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

The Welsh Conservatives will call on the Senedd to end the system where strokes are not considered for the most urgent ambulances.

Should the Party be successful in its debate today, the Welsh Parliament will instruct the Health and Social Care Committee to review the categorisation of strokes as an “amber-call” level emergency as opposed to a “red-call”.

There is a Welsh Government target of reaching 65% of red-call patients within eight minutes, and are prioritised above other cases. It has not been reached for over two years and September saw the worst rate for this on record, with only 50% being reached in that time.

However, in 2015, the Labour Government downgraded suspected stroke ambulance response times to “amber”, with no target time for arrival at all. Last month, a staggering 64% of amber call patients – took over an hour to reach, with only 19% arriving within 30 minutes.

An estimated 7,400 people a year in Wales experience a stroke, the fourth leading cause of death in Wales. Strokes are a condition where the “golden hour” is vital – any later than 60 minutes to receive definitive treatment and the likelihood of serious or irreversible harm significantly increases.

England’s ambulance services, which has a specific category for suspected stroke patients, had a mean response time of 47 minutes and 59 seconds.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Mark Isherwood MS, who will lead the debate, said:

“Although the people of Wales are experiencing the longest treatment waiting lists, ambulance delays, and A&E waits in Britain, those suffering from a stroke have been left in turmoil for seven years as they have not been prioritised by the ambulance service.

“This is no fault whatsoever of hard-working and skilled ambulance technicians and paramedics, but the Labour Government who decided they would stand a better chance of hitting their targets if strokes were not included as a serious enough condition to be registered as a red-call.

“This situation cannot stand, which is why we want the Senedd to recognise that in keeping strokes as a downgraded emergency, the chances of surviving and recovering from one are severely undermined.

“Every day we wait to do this is one where someone having a stroke is put in danger and while we need Labour to get a grip on the NHS for the long term after failing staff and patients for so long, this is something that could be done sooner and provide reassurance for everyone now.”