Commenting on the release of new statistics that show that only 58.5% of emergency ambulance calls were responded to within the eight minute target, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister Peter Black said:

“It is disappointing to see yet another fall in performance on the part of the ambulance trust. Patients are continuing to be let down by the failure to respond to emergency calls within the target times and lives are being put at risk.

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Commenting on the news that the troubled North-South Air link has suffered a further set back after no operators made suitable bids for the latest tender, Welsh Lib Dem Shadow Transport Minister, Jenny Randerson AM said:

“It is astounding that even at the shockingly high level of public subsidy, Ieuan Wyn Jones is offering operators, not one has come forward with a suitable bid.

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Speaking after the Second Reading of the Grocery Market Ombudsman Bill, Ceredigion’s Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams has hit out at Plaid Cymru after none of their MPs attended the debate.

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The Welsh Liberal Democrats will use their party debate time on Wednesday to set out why the Labour-Plaid government’s Green Jobs Strategy for Wales is just a tick in the box exercise for the One Wales delivery programme. They will also make clear why Wales needs to be promoting a green economy and building a sustainable future.

The Green Jobs Strategy - ‘Capturing the Potential’- was launched in2009 after much dithering, with no baseline figures against which to measure progress and no set of indicators of how to measure growth and development. In addition, the Deputy First Minister’s recent change indirection for Wales’ economic development makes light the importance of creating a green, sustainable economy.

One of the four main priorities for the Liberal Democrats these coming months will be to build a fair and sustainable economy that creates jobs.

Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats said:

“The Green Jobs Strategy is just a box ticking exercise for theLabour-Plaid government.

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Statistics released by the Welsh Assembly Government today show that one in twenty patients attending major accident and emergency departments in Wales had to wait longer than eight hours for treatment, and 17% had to wait longer than four hours during January of this year.

The statistic show that in January this year 5.2% of those who attendeda Major A&E Department waited more than eight hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged, and that 16.8% had to wait more than four hours. Government targets state that 95% of patients should be seen within four hours and 99% within eight hours. No Health Board in Wales met either of these targets.

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Bill Brereton, former deputy North Wales Chief Constable and Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Delyn has hit out against Policing minister, local M.P. David Hanson, for the cuts in the number of police officers in North Wales.

Home Office statistics show that from March 2005 to March 2009, the strength of police officers in North Wales has dropped by 5% (81officers) and the predicted cut of 20% in the Home Office grant to police authorities could see further reductions in the number ofofficers on the streets.

This month, the Liberal Democrats announced their General Election plans to put 3,000 more police out on the beat to cut crime which would mean an extra 32 police officers on the beat in North Wales.

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The Welsh Liberal Democrats have said that the Government can do more to help Doctors and Nurses tackle repeat alcohol-related hospital admissions, which currently represent 45% of such admissions.

The statistics, revealed by the Minister for Health in a written question by Peter Black AM, show that 45.7% of hospital admissions in 2008/09 were from someone who had been admitted to hospital with an alcohol related diagnosis within the previous twelve months. Alcohol is estimated to cost the Welsh NHS between £70 million and £85 million each year and is responsible for an estimated 15% of hospital admissions.

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The Welsh Boiler Scrappage scheme is too little, spread too thinly, and would be better targeted to help those living in fuel poverty, according to Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Sustainability, Mike German AM.

The Welsh Assembly Government has allocated £2.5million for the Wales boiler scrappage scheme which will be launched on April 1^{st and is expected to benefit up to 5,000 Welsh households. The scheme will be non-means tested, available to those over 60 with £500 to replace an inefficient (G rated) boiler.}

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The Welsh Liberal Democrats will use their opposition debate today to highlight the limited provision of specialist treatment for sufferers of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Wales.

Almost a third of people exposed to a stressful event or situation will go on to develop PTSD. In the Welsh Lib Dem Autumn Conference, the party voted unanimously in favour of calling for an urgent review into PTSD services in Wales.

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