03/28/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

Welsh Government ministerial response ‘​slower than a trip to Mars’ says Rhun ap Iorwerth

DELAYS by Welsh Government ministers in answering Senedd members correspondence is an “affront to scrutiny”, Plaid Cymru Health and Social Care spokesperson Rhun ap Iorwerth has said.

A letter sent by Mr ap Iorwerth to the previous Health Minister in September 2020 has only now been answered by his successor, a nine-month delay.

Citing other similar examples, Plaid Cymru’s deputy leader said that the pandemic had made the process of holding the government to account “even more important but twice as difficult.”

Having received two delayed responses in July, Mr ap Iorwerth said:

“In September 2020 I wrote to the Health Minister about a Public Health Wales data breach. To receive a response nine months later is clearly unacceptable. And this is far from being an isolated incident. Last December I wrote to the minister at the time on the issue of vaccinating health care workers. The response I have only now received is of little value.

“This ‘better late than never’ approach to answering correspondence is an affront to scrutiny. Holding the government and ministers to account during the pandemic is more important than ever, but twice as difficult.

“We’ve had two national lockdowns, a Welsh general election and a new Health Minister in the time it’s taken to respond to this letter and that simply isn’t good enough.

“Getting a Ministerial response shouldn’t take longer than a trip to Mars.”

 

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