First Minister Questions: No single person to blame for damning Cwm Taf maternity report

This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 2nd, 2019

The below is the another in our now regular summaries of this week’s First Minister Questions session from Cardiff Bay. First Minister Questions takes place every Tuesday when the Assembly is sitting and can be watched live via Senedd.tv

For those who have never ventured onto the Senedd site, you can view the session the below was taken from here, that displays a video of the meeting (along with creation of your own clips!) plus by clicking the ‘meeting information and papers’ link you are able to view all the supporting documentation, along with a link to the full transcript.

Wrexham did not appear to get a mention this week, with this weeks session was dominated by the announcement that maternity services at two Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board hospitals have been placed into special measures .

“Who’s to blame?”





Leader of the Opposition, Paul Davies AM (Con, Preseli Pembs.) asked straight up who was to blame for the Cwm Taf Morgannwg situation?

According to the First Minister, failures happened at several levels; it was impossible to select individuals to hold to account. To Paul, though, this raised further questions about the Welsh Government’s management of the NHS, with five of seven local health boards receiving some form of intervention:

“….let me remind you, this isn’t the first time we’ve raised this terrible situation. And the last time I questioned you in March, you told me that mothers and babies are no longer at risk under Cwm Taf. If that was the case, I for one have been left wondering why the Health Minister has ordered maternity services at the Royal Glamorgan and Prince Charles hospitals to be put into special measures.”

– Leader of the Opposition, Paul Davies AM

He added there was no lack of transparency on the Welsh Government’s part as they commissioned the report, though the accounts from affected families were “powerful and distressing”. The First Minister noted, “…we recognise that people across Wales need an assurance that what has been discovered at Cwm Taf is not characteristic of the service that they provide. That is why, in addition to the independent maternity oversight panel that the Minister has established, and in addition to the actions that are being taken to improve the effectiveness of board leadership and governance in that local health board, the Minister has also announced today in his statement that across the NHS in Wales, we will carry out an assurance exercise, led by the chief nursing officer and the chief medical officer, and there will be a review later this year by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales of maternity services across Wales.”

Climate Emergency = No Newport bypass?

Adam Price AM (Plaid, Carms. E. & Dinefwr) also asked about Cwm Taf Morgannwg noting some of the concerns date back to 2015 when Mark Drakeford was Health Minister. Mr Price asked about the current Health Minister, noting there have been some calls for his resignation; and would the First Minister act on that?

The First Minister didn’t agree with that assessment and the Health Minister, Vaughan Gething (Lab, Cardiff S. & Penarth), was going to meet affected families face-to-face.

Mr Price’s second question was on the Newport bypass.

“First Minister, yesterday, your government declared a climate emergency….which we hope the Senedd will endorse through our motion tomorrow. Most people will be of the view that yesterday’s announcement will be incompatible with any decision to plough ahead with the M4 black route. Can you confirm that the declaration of a climate emergency….is a change in policy that will be a new and materially relevant factor in your M4 decision making, and have you asked officials for additional advice on that basis?”

– Adam Price AM

The First Minister didn’t think it was a new policy; it’s merely to draw attention to climate change and the short timescales available to deal with it. The Welsh Government will look to see if there’s more they can do as part of their Low Carbon Action Plan. He also confirmed that due to European election purdah, his decision on the Newport bypass won’t be announced until the first week of June.

While the whole thing is becoming increasingly tiresome, there was a third brief question on Labour’s Brexit stance ahead of Labour finalising their European manifesto. The First Minister’s position hasn’t changed; his preference is “to go back to the people if the UK Parliament can’t agree on a way forward.”

Levelling the Playing Field for Local Leisure Services

Vikki Howells AM (Lab, Cynon Valley) raised the topical issue of funding for local authority leisure services. Leisure services operated by non-profit trusts are eligible for business rate relief, but local authority-run services aren’t – often leading to multi-million-pound bills. Could something be done?

David Melding AM (Con, South Wales Central) raised the plight of Cardiff Swimming Club, who’ face a £53,000 annual bill and loss of pool time following the transfer of Cardiff International Pool. Dr Dai Lloyd AM (Plaid, South Wales West) asked for additional funding due to leisure’s role in reducing loneliness and boosting physical activity.

The First Minister told the chamber business rates paid by councils were ultimately redistributed back to them, but the Finance Minister was meeting with councils to determine if there’s a problem. Due to the absence of a spending review at UK level, he has no idea how much money Wales is due to receive from April 2020.



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