Rebecca Evans: So, the Minister for environment's been here to hear your concerns on behalf of your constituents this afternoon, and I know that she'd be very happy to meet with you within the next week to discuss the concerns that you've raised in more detail.
Rebecca Evans: I thank Mohammad Asghar for raising that, and good standards of animal welfare is something that the Welsh Government is particularly passionate about. I know that the Minister for environment and rural affairs has this very, very high on her agenda. Obviously, we'll be looking at UK Government consultations in this area to see what we can learn from the responses that come forward to that,...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that invitation that I'm certain that I can't say 'no' to. The importance of communities taking over local assets is very much recognised by Welsh Government, so I was really pleased, just last week, to publish an updated community asset transfer guide, which gives local authorities and others with interest in this area some concrete examples of community asset...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Leanne Wood for raising this serious issue with us this afternoon. I will speak directly with the Minister for international relations to explore what's the best way in which we can make the UK Government aware of the concerns that you've raised this afternoon, but I know they're concerns that are shared by many Members in this Chamber.
Rebecca Evans: I thank Darren Millar for raising the issue. The health Minister is aware of the issue at Glan Clwyd and the park-and-ride facility in particular. I know that it's been raised with him by the local Member, Ann Jones, and the health Minister has agreed that he will write to all Members providing an update.FootnoteLink FootnoteLink
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. There are no changes to this week's business. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Rebecca Evans: On the first issue, which was incineration, I did say that the health Minister will ask Public Health Wales to look at the evidence on incineration to ensure that Members are best informed in terms of any impacts there might be on public health. On the second issue, the Minister was advising me that he spoke to the Secretary of State for Transport just two weeks ago on this particular issue...
Rebecca Evans: We'll be certainly looking at the first issue on incineration, and I know that the health Minister is keen to ask Public Health Wales to publish the most recent evidence and advice in terms of incineration. Of course, it's not really appropriate for discussion within the business statement on particular local planning issues, because obviously we're unable to comment on those. And there were...
Rebecca Evans: On the first issue, relating to the devolution of criminal justice, I think that we are at one in terms of our ambitions there, and I think that Welsh Government has set that out clearly on a number of occasions and it does remain an active area of interest for us. But obviously I'll make the Minister with responsibility for this area aware of your concerns, and I'm sure that you would have...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Alun Davies for those requests for statements. And I can confirm that the Minister for Housing and Local Government will be making a statement on homelessness next Tuesday. And the Minister for Health and Social Services is currently coming to the end of his considerations and consultation on the new substance misuse delivery plan, and he will be keen also to provide an update to...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, we can be really proud of the public health legislation that we've already introduced here in Wales. And I know that the Minister for Health and Social Services will provide an update on the minimum unit pricing legislation.
Rebecca Evans: I'll ask Mohammad Asghar, in the first instance, to write to the Minister for Economy and Transport to seek that additional information, and I'm sure that he will be able to provide an explanation as to any delay.
Rebecca Evans: I'm grateful to Joyce Watson for raising this in the Chamber, and obviously we share her sense of horror, but also her anger at what she has seen happening here in Wales, where we're supposed to be a nation of animal lovers, but then we see things like this happening. I know that the Minister for Environment and Rural Affairs has written—or intends to very shortly—to veterinary bodies,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much. In the first instance, regarding complaints procedures, perhaps it's most appropriate if I ask the Deputy Minister for social services to write to you with some more information on those procedures, and then there might be specific cases that you would wish to draw to her attention.FootnoteLink On the second issue of flooding, I know that the Minister has said that she...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising the issues that you have this afternoon. In terms of autism services, I know that the Minister had received reports on two independent reviews on autism—one that related to children and young people's neurodevelopmental services, and then a second that looked at the integrated autism service. He accepted those recommendations and set out how he would move forward on...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. There are no changes to this week's business. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Rebecca Evans: I thank Rhianon Passmore for raising this issue. Of course, 1,107 children in Caerphilly alone are accessing the childcare offer. It has been really important that we listen to parents in terms of our evaluation of the scheme. When we evaluated it at the first year of implementation, the majority of parents reported a real increase in their disposable income because of the offer. A typical...
Rebecca Evans: Yes. Families in Islwyn benefit from a number of Welsh Government programmes supporting childcare and early education, including Flying Start, the childcare offer, which is now available across Wales, and the universal entitlement to nursery education for three and four-year-olds.
Rebecca Evans: This is a genuine consultation, and I know that the Minister for Housing and Local Government is really keen to hear all views and from everybody who has an interest in this. We've been proactive in terms of holding consultation events, so there was one in Newtown on 17 September, and there were between 30 and 40 people attending there. I know that a briefing session was held on the NDF on 19...
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government's aware of the issues in terms of our ability to recruit orthodontists, and it's certainly an issue that the health Minister's very alive to, and I know that he'll have more to say on this tomorrow, when he replies to a debate on this subject.
