The next item is the business statement and announcement, and I call on Jane Hutt.

Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. Just to say I’ve no changes to make to today’s agenda. Business Committee has reduced the time allocated to tomorrow’s questions to the Assembly Commission, and has also agreed that the debate on the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee’s report on the Wales Bill will take place as the final item of business before voting tomorrow, with the agenda adjusted accordingly. Business for the next three weeks is as shown on the business statement, which can be found among the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

Could we have a statement from the planning Minister, leader of the house, in relation to local authorities’ use of section 106s, and in particular their use when considering self-build or small residential developments? Section 106s can be a very useful tool in commercial developments, attracting moneys in for education and for other community facilities, but surely they cannot be a tool that can be used to leverage money out of self-build or small developments of three or four houses. That could have a detrimental impact on small-scale builders, which, especially in rural areas, can have an enormous economic impact if those builders are allowed to progress, but section 106 used in the wrong way can actually prohibit those developments from going forward. There has been a recent court case that found in favour of the arrangements that apply to other parts of the United Kingdom, which do exempt small-scale developments from the use of 106s.

Well, the Member does raise an important point in relation to section 106, which is indeed a very important provision in planning law, and the Cabinet Secretary will issue a written statement accordingly to clarify that point.

Last week, the Minister covering social services said:

‘The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 will transform the way that we meet the needs of all people with care and support needs, including people with autism and their carers.’

Can I therefore ask for a Government statement on the social services Act and how it is working?

Well, clearly, implementation of the social services and well-being Act, which came into force on 6 April, is now up for scrutiny and consideration in terms of outcomes, and I think the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport clearly laid out a three-year framework for the evaluation of the Act, and we’ll be reporting on that as appropriate. But I think also it’s important for you to know, as a Member, that the first meeting of the stakeholder group indicated that the process—. Chaired by the Minister for Social Services and Public Health, Rebecca Evans, it has already met to discuss the progress in implementation of the Act, and they will be monitoring it very closely. But, also, all regions have regional boards in place that take ownership of the change agenda and pushing forward the delivery of the Act.

Leader of the house, can I call for two statements today, please? One is from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on the EU regional social progress index—a study found that Wales ranked at the bottom of the UK home nations in terms of access to basic knowledge, and, of course, that’s given rise to significant concerns amongst parents in particular, and knocked their confidence in our education system once again. I wondered whether the Cabinet Secretary for Education might like to respond to that particular study and give some confidence back to people in Wales regarding our education system.

And, secondly, as the species champion for the red squirrel, I was very concerned to hear of the death of a number of red squirrels on Anglesey today, possibly as a result of a virus. I wonder whether we can have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs on what the Welsh Government is doing to support red squirrel populations elsewhere in Wales and to monitor their potential vulnerability to such viruses, particularly in places like the Clocaenog Forest in my own constituency? Thank you.

In response to your first question, Darren Millar, I’m sure you are aware that the information regarding the EU regional social progress index study was published in February of this year, and, just recently, the same information has been republished as a league table by a think tank. Since the original data were gathered, the Welsh Government has published provisional verified GCSE results. In addition, the Cabinet Secretary will be making a statement to the Assembly on the official Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Programme for International Student Assessment figures as soon as they’re published later this year.

On your second point, yes, of course, the red squirrel is very fortunate to have you as its species champion, I would say. But I would also say that, having brought this to our attention today, I’m sure that the Cabinet Secretary will look into this and report accordingly.

Minister, can I ask for two statements from the Welsh Government? Can I have the first statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs? Prior to the Assembly elections in 2016, we had a commitment from the Welsh Government on a moratorium on fracking. It would be interesting to see that commitment reaffirmed by the Cabinet Secretary to ensure that fracking here in Wales remains off the table for any investor, so we know clearly where we stand. The second one is in light of the work that’s been done by community groups in the Afan Valley, particularly the Afan Valley Community Leisure activity, which was led by Brian Gibbons, my predecessor. As a consequence of his work, we will see the Cymmer swimming pool opened this Saturday because of the hard work of a committee of local residents. Can I have a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to actually talk about the support such community groups can have when establishing and taking over community facilities and offering public services, such as leisure and swimming pools?

Thank you, David Rees, for those questions. I’m glad you’ve given us the opportunity, again, as a Welsh Government, to make it very clear that the Welsh Government remains opposed to fracking. The planning notification directions we’ve issued prevent local planning authorities from granting permission for unconventional gas development for underground coal gasification, and this does, of course, follow through in terms of current national planning policy, identifying the environmental impacts that must be addressed in terms of any proposed development that does not impact on environment, communities or wider society. But, I think, also, the policy clarification that the former Minister, and now current Minister, of course, in terms of Cabinet Secretary responsibility—. That was issued in July 2014, and it draws attention and reiterates these considerations.

On your second point, we’ve already touched on this this afternoon in response to questions to the First Minister. And, clearly, this is a very good example, isn’t it, of the community being able to work together? It’s good to hear that Dr Brian Gibbons has been involved in that—a former Member of this Assembly—and that that swimming pool in Cymmer is now going to be able to be used by the local community. There are ways in which local government and Welsh Government can advise, and, of course, it is about ensuring that the most appropriate responses, not just in terms of grant aid, but accountability to local government, to other public bodies, are ensured.

Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health and social services into how the Welsh Government can support Wales’s biggest medical school in light of its recent 20-place fall in ‘The Complete University Guide’, and the impact that this could have on Welsh Government’s manifesto commitment to deliver more doctors training in Wales? And I would also like to ask if the Cabinet Secretary could also issue a complementary statement on the cuts at Cardiff Medical School in a number of significant areas of research, such as cardiology, neurology, and complex spinal care, and what effect he foresees this action having on our ability to grow our own specialists within Wales. This is obviously particularly key when you take into account the effect on public health of conditions such as heart disease in this country.

Well, of course, the money and the support that we give to the Cardiff Medical School, part of Cardiff University, is clearly delivering outcomes, and is well supported by the Welsh Government. I know that there’s been a recent visit to the medical school, which I believe was very interesting, in terms of the discussions with those who are responsible for the medical school. But, of course, medical education is at the forefront of not only our commitments, priorities, but also ambitions, in terms of ensuring that we have an appropriate healthcare workforce in Wales.

On the weekend, I was very pleased to meet the founder of Recovery Mummy, which is an organisation set up to campaign for and support women who suffer from postnatal depression and other perinatal mental health problems. It was a very emotional, very difficult discussion. I think it’s difficult enough being a new parent and looking after a baby for the first time, as well as having to deal with mental health problems. So I wondered if it would be possible to have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport to lay out what we are able to do to help women in this position.

Well, Julie Morgan brings to our attention a very important new development. You describe a Cardiff mum actually getting involved and taking this forward, offering support for women with postnatal depression, perinatal psychosis, and other mental health issues. In fact, I know this was addressed in the Cabinet Secretary’s statement last week on ‘Together for Mental Health’—a recognition about mental health needs in terms of perinatal issues and that all-important point for the mother and baby. So, I think the new perinatal mental health services that were set up last year across Wales are developing well, with new specialist staff being recruited, backed by £1.5 million of new investment. But this example, I think, shows how much we must listen to those who need and use those services; how much we should listen to them and support them in that way.

Can I call for two statements, please? Firstly, on community safety in Wales, following the Auditor General for Wales’s report of that name, launched today. This says, rightly:

‘Community safety relates to people’s sense of personal security and their feelings of safety in relation to where they live, work and spend their leisure time.’

But it goes on to say:

‘The Welsh Government has no single strategy for community safety and has focussed its activity on delivering the Programme for Government. Whilst all local authorities and the four Police and Crime Commissioners have plans, these are not consistently aligned to ensure the best use of resources and maximise impact and there are no areas where national, regional and local bodies have the same priority. Disjointed planning and poor co-ordination can create a risk of organisations either duplicating activity or no one focussing on the most important issues.’

And they recommend that you, with the police and crime commissioners and local authorities,

‘improve strategic partnership working by formally creating effective community-safety boards’ to replace the current mechanism. This is clearly important. It’s received, rightly, widespread attention today and it does merit a Welsh Government response to this Assembly before we hear a more detailed response outside it.

Secondly, on a theme we’ve heard much about today, I call for a Welsh Government statement on its proposals, as we look ahead, for autism legislation. I’ve had, since the vote last week, some distressing reports to me of people who have self-harmed. There is a letter to the Senedd from the Autistic Women’s Empowerment Project, which says:

‘This week the Welsh Assembly, a beautiful, swoopy glass building, voted against an Autism Act for Wales. 24 to 27. So close. So few minds to change to change my world, but change they did not. Why oh why would we need such a thing? An act just for autism? An act of autism? An enactment of autisming? Because of me. Because of people like me. Because of my autistic community, my people and their families and carers. Because it matters.’

She concludes:

‘Wales, I love you. I adore you. Your people, your greenness, your mountains, your valleys. Only you know my hiraeth when I’m not here. Nowhere undulates like you. Nowhere is warmer and kinder. But you’ve let me down. You’re letting me down every day. And we need you.’

Well, we heard earlier from the First Minister that the agreement with Plaid Cymru included a statutory underpinning for the other legislative and procedural changes the Welsh Government is implementing. The Minister said that the people he spoke to in the autism community said they didn’t know what legislation would do, but that’s not what the overwhelming number of people in north, south and mid Wales have been telling us for years, and as recently as last Friday night in Wrexham, as recently as last Sunday in Towyn and Kinmel Bay. We know what it’s about. We know the Welsh Government said it’s going to monitor the implementation of its refreshed strategy and national plan and legislation but people on the autism spectrum need certainty. So, when will you be carrying out the initial reviews? How will you be reporting that, and how will you ensure that that legislation and that statutory underpinning will be brought forward at the earliest opportunity?

On your first point, of course, community safety in Wales is of paramount importance and the Cabinet Secretary will respond and he will update as appropriate on the current arrangements in terms of Safer Communities, which, of course, have served us well in terms of local partnerships. You did hear extensively from the First Minister this afternoon about our approach and our commitment and indeed the ways in which we—. In fact, you heard also from the Minister for health and social services about the way in which she is working with the National Autistic Society, working with actually a date in the diary again to look at their proposals and to look at where we are delivering in terms of a range of services to support people, families, children and young people and adults with autism. I think, again, it might be helpful if I just, again, read an extract from the First Minister’s Plenary statement on the legislative programme on 28 June. In fact, that was in response to a question that was put to the First Minister by Simon Thomas, and he said:

‘To start with autism, this is something, of course, that is being considered at present by the liaison committee’— we heard about that this afternoon—

‘in terms of seeing in what way we can develop legislation on autism, and particularly whether we can ensure that the action plan can be strengthened through being placed on a statutory basis ultimately. That is being dealt with in that process.’

So, I think we have, this afternoon, responded to those points and I’m sure, across this Chamber, are meeting, as we do, with our constituents and with those local groups who are raising these issues.

I thank the Minister.