Extract from Welsh Parliament: Questions to the First Minister - Jan 27

Suzy Davies MS: Mike Hedges has been raising this in our weekly meetings with the local health board for as long as I can remember, so I'm glad that we're having the opportunity to discuss it today. It's not the only big operation in South Wales West that's been dealing with big figures, though; we have had some difficult news from Tata and from Amazon as well, which have also seen a rise in cases. I've had correspondence very similar to Dai Lloyd with questions about what should be going on at the site, but I've also had correspondence saying that DVLA managers are overzealous in imposing and insisting upon enforcement. So, I think the picture is a bit mixed there, but nevertheless we are in a sitaution where the figures have been poor. First Minister, have you had any direct representation from workers at the DVLA, or indeed the other two businesses I've heard from? And have you considered any changes to the guidance as a result of those representations? I'm sure they'd be of interest to any big site operators in any part of Wales. Thank you.

Mark Drakeford MS (First Minister of Wales): I do indeed get direct representation from workers in many settings across Wales. In the case of the DVLA, for example, by some strange route, a member of staff at the DVLA phoned me at home. Now, I was here in work and my wife ended up speaking to a lady, as my wife thought, in her fifties and living alone who was acutely distressed at what she believed to be the conditions under which she was required to work at the DVLA. And, of course, those concerns were relayed to me and followed up. So, yes, indeed, I do hear directly and, as Suzy Davies said, the DVLA is not the only workplace where workers have concerns. And it's as a result of that direct, ground-floor evidence, fed through to us, and discussed at the new national health and safety forum that we have here in Wales, attended by trade unions, employers and regulators, that we made the decision to strengthen the law here in Wales so that workers' voices are heard, individually and collectively, by the Welsh Government, and, where necessary, we act on their concerns.