Eluned Morgan’s fifty-third session as first minister comes to a close.

Image source, Senedd Commission

Image source, Senedd Commission

Labour MS Jenny Rathbone says "the information is there in plain sight that ultra-processed food is massively increasing the risk of heart attack, strokes, and a nearly 40 per cent to 50 per cent increase in diabetes, which we already know we're already spending an eye-watering amount of the NHS fund on trying to treat. And it also is increasing the risks of different types of cancers."

She asks, "what consideration has the Welsh government given to setting a date for banning ultra-processed food from public procurement?"

Eluned Morgan replies, "public sector food and nutrition standards to support the procurement of healthier food options are already guided by several frameworks and initiatives, and we'll review these for opportunities to further strengthen their implementation in Wales in public sector settings. You will be very aware that we did a huge amount of work when it came to the 'Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales' delivery plan, and we have committed to consult on options to improve the healthy food offer in public sector settings."

Ultra-processed foods are defined as containing more than five ingredients you would not find at home in your kitchen cupboard, such as emulsifiers, preservatives, additives, dyes and sweeteners.

Examples of UPFs include sausages, crisps, pastries, biscuits, instant soups, fizzy drinks, ice cream and supermarket bread.

Surveys indicate these industrially-manufactured foods are on the rise in diets around the world, worsening the quality of what we eat with too much sugar and unhealthy fats and a lack of fibre and protein.

Labour MS Carolyn Thomas seeks "an update regarding capital funding for investment in the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl".

Eluned Morgan says "the Welsh Labour government has confirmed £33 million for phase 1 of the Royal Alexandra Hospital - part of a £60 million investment in the site. It was a pleasure to be with you in Rhyl yesterday to mark that milestone. For families across Rhyl and north Wales, this means improved surroundings, expanded services and more care delivered closer to home. It also means better working conditions for the dedicated NHS staff, who serve their communities every day. This is what long-term investment in a publicly funded NHS looks like, strengthening care where people need it most."

It is hoped it will ease pressure on the emergency department at nearby Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, reduce waiting times and enable more people to go home sooner after treatment.

But opposition parties express concerns about delays to a project first approved more than a decade ago and the reduced scale of the latest proposals.

Conservative Mark Isherwood says, "in 2013, then health minister Mark Drakeford approved plans for a new hospital on the existing Royal Alexandra site, scheduled to be completed by 2016, including 30 in-patient beds and an additional 18 beds for older people with mental health problems and a minor injuries unit. Broken pre-election promises that the hospital would be delivered were then given in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021, as development costs ballooned from £22 million to around £80 million, promises made by your government despite you now saying you didn't have the money to pay for them."

Plaid Cymru MS Llyr Gruffydd says, "I'll welcome any additional investment in the health service, of course. We always want to be moving in that direction, but forgive me for being cynical, because, as we've heard, we had exactly the same kind of announcement in 2013 and a pledge that there'd be a new hospital in some years, and now, 10 weeks before an election, we get the same pledge again, that there is additional funding available and that there will be a hospital in the coming years. Now, I do have mixed feelings here, because this was pledged 13 years ago, and we are still, to all intents and purposes, waiting, despite pledges that are similar to ones that we've had in the past."

The new development, due to be completed next year, will also include a 14-bed ready-to-go-home reablement unit, bringing NHS and social care teams together to support patients returning home after medical and surgical treatment in hospital.

Radiology services will be expanded, and four new dental suites built with increased training opportunities for dental nurses.

It is the first phase of a wider £60m investment in the hospital. A business case for the second phase, which would redevelop and improve the existing hospital buildings, is expected to be submitted by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

Plans to develop a new hospital on the Royal Alexandra site were first approved in 2013 but by 2018 estimated costs had doubled and the plans were halted during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has said rising costs meant the original proposal was no longer affordable.

Image source, Welsh government

Image source, Senedd Commission

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth questions a Welsh government claim that they have reached their target of 100,000 apprenticeships during this Senedd term (since the 2021 election).

He claims the Welsh government has changed the measure used for apprenticeship numbers so that they now include those who dropped off their course before the 8 week mark. He says Medr (the body responsible for post-16 education) announced the actual figure was around 91,000 when using the more rigorous measure which excludes those who dropped out so early.

Eluned Morgan replies, "we've had the delivery unit, who have come in from outside Wales, to make sure that we deliver in a way that is transparent, that is clear, and in a way that everybody's done this consistently across Wales. Let me be clear that we are very proud of the fact that we've managed to deliver 100,000 apprenticeships across Wales - it was a real pleasure for me to meet some of them in north Wales just yesterday - transforming their lives. And the fact is that we've managed to do that despite the fact that European funding was withdrawn, which made it far more difficult. Thanks to Brexit, it has been more difficult, but we've still managed to deliver 100,000 apprenticeships in Wales, and that's something we're very proud of."

Rhun ap Iorwerth says "Labour's legacy, all too often, is one of missing targets and then moving the goalposts to hide their own failures. They've done it with two-year waits in the NHS with waiting times in A&E, and now, they're doing it again with apprenticeships. But the people of Wales won't be fooled, and more importantly, the workforce of the future deserves better. And the massaging of figures - I'll remind you - comes at a time when only last year, Wales saw the lowest ever recorded number of apprenticeship starts."

Eluned Morgan replies, "I don't accept that we've failed to deliver; I think we should be really proud of what we've managed to achieve over five years of Labour government. I have focused on making sure that we grow the economy; making sure that we deliver those targets of 100,000 apprenticeships; making sure that we deliver on 20,000 homes."

Image source, Senedd Commission

Following the sacking in January by Conservative group leader Darren Millar of his shadow health secretary James Evans for talking to Reform - a party he has since joined - the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru have 13 members each in the Senedd.

So the two parties now take turns to ask the first leader's questions to the first minister.

The Conservatives go first today.

Darren Millar criticises Hywel Dda health board's decision to make changes to a number of its services, including a reduction in the number of specialist stroke units in its hospitals from four to one.

He says, "it's a kick in the teeth to the people of Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, and it will result in patients having to travel much further in life-threatening situations, delaying access to the care and treatment that they need and leading to patient harm and, unfortunately, deaths. Now, people in rural Wales are fed up of being treated like second-class citizens when it comes to accessing healthcare services, so tell us, first minister, do you accept that your centralisation agenda with the NHS in Wales is failing communities in rural parts of this country, and will you now intervene to prevent the implementation of these dangerous hospital downgrades?"

Eluned Morgan replies, "I know there's a lot of concern in communities across the Hywel Dda area and across other health boards in relation to reconfiguration of services. People in Pembrokeshire and across the whole of Wales want reassurances. I don't think what they want to see is political point-scoring. Safe services are absolutely critical. This government will put patient safety above anything else. We've been clear that we want to see services delivered as locally as possible, but only where safety, quality and a sustainable workforce will allow. This is the standard we apply to all health boards, including Hywel Dda. It is up to the health board to put forward proposals and for them to justify it to the public. So it's right that they explain the reasons for any reconfiguration."

There are currently stroke units in Carmarthen, Llanelli, Aberystwyth and Haverfordwest.

If the plans agreed last week are put in place following a consultation, in future there will be only one located at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen, while a "treat and transfer service" will be available at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth, as well as in Llanelli and Haverfordwest.

Darren Millar adds, "it's not just people in West Wales that are being let down when it comes to NHS services, because we have the same problem in my own backyard up in north Wales, and the situation is absolutely scandalous. The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board just posted its worst emergency department performance figures on record. Almost 70% of patients spend more than four hours in the accident-and-emergency department, and a third of people who turn up at the hospital's front door spend more than 12 hours in that emergency department without being admitted - while they're waiting to be admitted for a bed or before being discharged. That is totally unacceptable."

Eluned Morgan replies, "I think we all recognise there's more work to be done in Betsi Cadwaladr. I'm really pleased to see that there are 63 per cent fewer patients waiting for over two years, so that is coming down, and that is going in the right direction. There's still a significant amount of work to be done."

Image source, Senedd Commission

Conservative Andrew RT Davies asks whether any of the Welsh government's "programme for government" commitments will be unfulfilled by the end of this Senedd term next month.

The "programme for government" was first published in June 2021 and updated in December that year to reflect the co-operation agreement between Labour and Plaid Cymru, external. Plaid Cymru ended the co-operation deal in May 2024.

Eluned Morgan says the government is "on track to deliver the vast majority" of the targets.

Andrew RT Davies criticises a lack of progress in transforming the former Nant Helen coal drift mine in Onllwyn in the Dulais Valley into a Global Centre of Railway Excellence (GCRE).

He says, "the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee visited this site back in the autumn term. We saw a vast brownfield site that will require a huge amount of investment. So far, the nearly £70 million that the UK government and the Welsh government have put in has unfortunately not managed to move that project very far forward. In the submission of the business case to the Department for Transport at the UK government, the civil servants and the secretary of state went back to your government and said that this case needed to be strengthened. The incoming government in May will inherit a requirement of finding £330 million to make that project viable. How is this government going to make sure that that regeneration project will not go the same way as the Circuit of Wales project, where there were fine words but little substance in delivering what one would hope would be an exciting redevelopment project in mid Wales?"

Eluned Morgan replies, "we're very proud of what we've done in relation to rail in Wales. The fact is that we've delivered £1 billion-worth of investment to upgrade the Valleys lines and £800 million on new trains. And yes, we have ambitions to develop the GCRE, a major strategic opportunity for the Dulais valley. There is strong industry interest. We have committed significant amounts of Welsh money to this project, and so has the UK government. The final investment decision will, of course, be for the next government to determine. It is one of the projects that we promoted at the investment summit, and we're very keen to make sure that we get private sector investment for this project."

The complex would allow trains to be tested on special tracks - laid out on 4.5 mile (7.3km) and two mile (3.1km) ovals - at speeds of up to 100mph (160kph).

Image source, Senedd Commission

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

Labour MS Julie Morgan asks "what is the Welsh government doing to recognise Welsh military personnel and victims of war?"

First Minister Eluned Morgan replies, "we value the vital contribution of serving personnel, veterans and their families through upholding the armed forces covenant. Through our nation of sanctuary, we work with partners across Wales to support people who have escaped conflicts in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, ensuring they can rebuild their lives safely, with dignity and appropriate support."

Julie Morgan says, "my constituent, Bethan Chedzey, has brought to my attention the case of her uncle, Neville James Alfred Lawes. In 1943, a Japanese passenger and cargo steamship was sunk by the USS Bonefish submarine, while carrying 548 allied prisoners of war. Many prisoners drowned, while others were shot. Despite dozens of first-hand accounts and sworn statements being produced after the tragedy, the UK government ordered that no war crimes trial be held and the families of the prisoners of war not be told what had happened to their loved ones. To date, the UK government has never apologised for refusing to bring the known war criminals to justice. Forty-one of the men on board that ship were Welsh, and one of them was Neville Lawes. Their families have lived with the knowledge of the terrible circumstances of their deaths ever since, and they are campaigning for justice. Will you, prif weinidog, have a conversation with the UK government about an apology for the families of those tragically killed that day?"

Eluned Morgan says "thank you for reminding us of this terrible event, the Suez Maru, where a Japanese ship, as you say, carrying those 450 passengers who were prisoners of war - as you say, 41 of them from Wales - were torpedoed by a US submarine, and there was a terrible loss of life. What was particularly dreadful, as you say, was that Japanese soldiers returned and they shot the survivors while they were in the water. It was a terrible incident, and I can absolutely understand how descendants feel. There is controversy associated with this, as the UK government, as you mentioned, at the time carried out an investigation, but then they shelved plans to try some of the people for war crimes. I know you've been looking for a response on this. It's an issue that we as a Welsh government have raised with the UK government, and we've shared the response with you. Our understanding is, on the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, this will not apply retrospectively."

Image source, Senedd Commission

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Eluned Morgan’s fifty-third session of First Minister's Questions.

The Siambr (Senedd chamber) has reopened today after the completion of work on altering it to accommodate the 96 members to be chosen in the Senedd election in May.

For the past year, Members have met in the debating chamber in the Tŷ Hywel building behind the Senedd. With work now complete, that space will return to the Senedd’s education and visitor programme, to host sessions for schools and community groups.

The return to the expanded Siambr comes 20 years since the building first opened.

The Senedd Commission, which runs the organisation from day to day, says the Siambr expansion has involved:

• Reusing Welsh oak from original Members’ desks;
• Refurbishing and reusing existing oak doors;
• Using slate from the same Welsh quarry as the 2006 construction - Cwt-y-Bugail in Blaenau Ffestiniog;
• Commissioning primarily Welsh-based contractors.

The meeting is held in a hybrid format, with some members in the Siambr and others joining by video-conference.

You can click on the play button above to watch the proceedings from 1.30pm.

Image source, Senedd Commission