The BBC Wales Senedd election debate fact-checked
Summary
Leaders of six major Welsh political parties debated key issues such as the National Health Service (NHS), immigration, and Welsh independence ahead of the Senedd election. A fact-check by BBC Verify confirmed mixed accuracy in several claims related to NHS waiting times, government funding, child poverty, and hospital care delays in Wales.Key Facts
- Welsh Labour leader Eluned Morgan said NHS waiting lists had fallen for nine months in a row, which is true, but the total waits remain higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The waiting list for NHS services in Wales was nearly 688,000 in February 2024, compared to about 463,000 before the pandemic.
- Green party leader Anthony Slaughter claimed Wales should get more money from the UK government due to the HS2 rail project; while HS2 does not have planned track in Wales, it is still counted as an England and Wales project.
- The UK government says Welsh railways are integrated with England’s, and thus HS2 spending factors into Wales funding under the Barnett formula.
- Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth stated nearly one-third of children in Wales live in poverty, which matches official Welsh government data showing 31% of children live in relative income poverty.
- Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Jane Dodds said 1,400 people were stuck in Welsh hospitals who did not need to be there; official figures showed 1,351 people waiting in March 2024 due to lack of available care or accommodation.
- The hospital delay figure is a snapshot of a single day and does not represent the total number of delays during the month.
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