The next item on our agenda is the business statement and announcement, and I call on the leader of the house, Jane Hutt, to make the statement.

Diolch, Llywydd. I have two changes to report to the timing of business this week. I’ve reduced the length of today’s debate on Stage 3 of the Public Health (Wales) Bill to 120 minutes. Likewise, Counsel General questions tomorrow have been reduced to 30 minutes. Business for the next three weeks is as shown on the business statement and announcement found among meeting papers available to Members electronically.

Leader of the house, I’m sure you’ll join with me in congratulating the many local councillors who’ve been elected across the length and breadth of Wales, but in particular the ones who have been elected in the Vale of Glamorgan, and in particular from the Conservatives, who now make us the biggest group on that particular council, and, hopefully, looking forward to an exciting five years in the Vale of Glamorgan. One of the issues that you—[Interruption.] One of the issues—. I hear the Member for Blaenau Gwent chuntering away there. I don’t think he had a particularly good night on Thursday. One of the big issues, as you’ll be aware as the constituency Member for the Vale of Glamorgan, was the Barry incinerator. This, time and time again, came up in the local elections on the doorstep in Barry, and there was widespread concern, in particular, around the need for an environmental impact assessment, which wasn’t undertaken at the time—and that was allowed through by the council—and also the ability for Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board to do a full assessment of the health implications. Given that Barry, as a town, has a higher than average national incidence of asthma within the community there, would you commit to issuing a statement on behalf of the Welsh Government, because I think you’re undertaking the duties of the planning Minister at the moment, as to exactly what measures the Welsh Government is taking to address some of these concerns that are raised time and time again by constituents in the Vale of Glamorgan around the lack of an environmental impact assessment and, in particular, an assessment by Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board into high incidences of asthma and the potential effect that an incinerator might have within the locality, and, above all, the role that Natural Resources Wales are now playing in assessing the licensing of the plant, where many people do call into question the ability and the robustness of that system to actually meet and address local concerns? I would further ask for a statement in relation to how the Welsh Government is going to engage with the new Vale council to deliver a Dinas Powys bypass. In fairness to the economy Minister, he has indicated in previous correspondence to myself last year that he was up for working with the council to make resources available to address the chronic traffic problems that exist in the Dinas Powys area that saw the removal of four Plaid Cymru councillors and their replacement by four Conservative councillors who will work night and day to make sure that these issues are addressed.

I think the first question you ask, Andrew R.T. Davies, on the Barry incinerator—. I’m very glad, in fact—and, indeed, it is in my Assembly Member capacity—to report on the fact that I chaired a meeting last night, a meeting that was attended by a delegation from the Docks Incinerator Action Group, with senior officials from Natural Resources Wales, and I put out a statement today, which was agreed by all there last night. This was a very constructive meeting in order to make sure—the First Minister came to Barry, as you know, and had a very robust exchange with members of the public at his Carwyn Connect meeting where, as a result, we were able to then move forward in getting an extension on the consultation of the environmental permit, and, of course, that extension has been agreed by Natural Resources Wales.

What is very important and was discussed last night—and the points put to Natural Resources—is that they will, and agreed to, and, indeed, it is their duty to, fully consider the impact of proposals on public health and the environment. Indeed, of course, there will be further opportunities for consultation on that, as they now, later in the week, issue a schedule 5—we saw a draft of it last night—that asks further questions to the company, Biomass 2, in terms of the concerns not only that the public have raised during this consultation period, but also Natural Resources Wales themselves. So, I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to give that very constructive update on that very constructive meeting last night. And we, indeed, agreed to meet again, and I’m sure you will hear that from the Docks Incinerator Action Group.

On your second point, of course, yes, the Vale council, the new Vale council, will have many challenges to face ahead of them in terms of difficult decisions. I’m very proud of the fact that a Labour-led Vale council for the last five years actually was deemed to be the best performing local authority in Wales, and very proud of the councillors, the new Labour councillors, who were also elected on Thursday. But, clearly, the priorities lie ahead, and the challenges, for the new Vale council.

I’m sure many Members saw the Conservative party’s targeting of key regional publications all over the UK last Friday, including newspapers in north Wales and the ‘South Wales Echo’, with paid-for front page advertising wraps that gave a misleading impression of political bias to the readers. So, could the leader of the house arrange for a debate on electoral coverage in the print media and the need for balance and fairness in reflecting Welsh politics?

I think that many of us have had to suffer these wraparounds that have appeared in many of our constituencies across Wales. I will make some very factual points about the fact that political advertising isn’t covered by the Advertising Standards Authority. It’s not permitted, as Members will be aware, on television under the Communications Act 2003, but is allowed in print. It was covered by the ASA until 1999, when the Committee of Advertising Practice decided to exclude it. Also, the Human Rights Act 1998 did lead to concerns about controls on freedom of political expression. But I think the crucial point as well that has to be made is that costs of advertising must be declared in central party election returns to the Electoral Commission. So, that is an important point for public scrutiny. But none of those factual points mean that there shouldn’t be a debate on this issue, of course, and, if there was widespread support for that from across the Chamber, I think we would want to move forward. Because, clearly, the need for balance and fairness in reflecting Welsh politics is what we all seek to achieve.

Leader of the house, last week, we had a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children highlighting the statistics regarding grass fires across Wales and the reduction we saw. That was very welcome news, but two days later there was a huge grass fire within my constituency, which damaged a lot of the Mynydd Dinas areas. Can you also join me in thanking the firefighters for the work that they did? The efforts they put in made sure that that fire was controlled and maintained, and that no property was damaged. But can we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary perhaps on discussions that he has had with the fire and rescue services as to the strategies they’re putting in place to ensure we keep that down to a minimum, and, when one occurs, how we’ll respond to it to ensure that minimal or no damage is done?

On a second point, this morning we actually received a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport regarding nurse training here in Wales. I very much welcome the announcement of an additional year of nurse bursaries to support the development of nurses here in Wales, compared to what’s happening in England, but can we actually have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary perhaps to look at the other areas that we need to look at, which is the specialist nurses in paediatrics, mental health and neonatal, and what the Government is going to do to support them in those areas? Perhaps he can actually add on whether he will then further support the bursaries for the nurses, because he's only made it for one year, and it would be nice to see it actually committed for the remainder of this Assembly term.

And, on a final point, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, could we have a statement from him on steel? Now, last week, we had the news that IG Metall, the trade union in Germany, was very concerned about the possible merger between Thyssenkrupp and Tata and, as such, that merger might fail. Can we have a statement as to what discussions he’s having with Tata to look at the implications for steelmaking here in Wales and what’ll happen to our Welsh steel plants?

Three important questions from David Rees, and, in response to your first question, yes, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children did issue a statement last week following a number of very serious grass fires, and I think we need to firstly start by thanking the firefighters for their courage and bravery particularly, and not just in terms of the most recent fire that, unfortunately, occurred, but across Wales, affecting so many of our constituencies. It is a difficult one in terms of fire and rescue services—fully engaged, as you could see from the statement by the Cabinet Secretary, in addressing the way forward in terms of prevention as well as control.

I think your second point is very important in terms of part of the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport of a major new recruitment campaign, launched to increase the number of nurses in the Welsh NHS, which everyone would welcome, I'm sure, across this Chamber. But, of course, this is a recruitment campaign led by this Welsh Government. And, of course, that will have to seek the recruitment of nurses across the board in terms of general, specialist, and also, I would say, primary care as well, because we have to recognise the increasingly important role played by the practice nurse and the nurse specialists that we see at primary as well as secondary and specialist level. But also the most important announcement of the arrangements for the NHS bursary scheme—. He made it clear that Wales is open to business, and we are supporting our nurses, we're interested in how we can support their education and training programmes in Wales, and also looking at how they can ensure that those arrangements that are now put in place for the coming financial year—and then, as his statement says, looking towards further considering longer-term arrangements in light of the outcomes of the Diamond review, with full consultation. A very good news story for our nurses and for those young people and mature students who are considering going into nursing.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

Your third point: yes, I'm sure that the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure will want to update on progress in terms of Tata and the steelworks, which, of course, particularly affect your constituency.

I wonder if we can find time for a debate, ideally in the next couple of weeks, on the Welsh Government's role in community safety. We all know, as Assembly Members within this house of all parties, the importance of community safety, particularly in terms of a uniformed presence on the front line, and I was fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to spend 13 weeks on the Home Office Bill that introduced the police community safety officers, which the Welsh Government—I looked from a distance at the time—invested heavily in the year after year, consistently. And even though I do recall on that committee they were argued against vociferously by Conservatives at the time, they now seem to be universally welcomed, so it's a good step forward. But, such a debate, if we had it in the next couple of weeks, would also allow us to discuss, then, investment not just in PCSOs, but also in front-line police officers and the commitment that UK Labour has made to introduce 800 more on our streets—800 more bobbies on the beat—if we were to win the general election.

Well, I think the fact that we have, against stark financial challenges as a result of Tory UK Government cuts and austerity—against all of that, we have chosen as a priority, this Welsh Labour Government, to continue to support our 500 community support officers. And what is very clear is that those community support officers play an important role in supporting the police forces across Wales, and they play such a visible role in our communities, engaging in the very point you made about addressing and safeguarding community safety, particularly in the areas where, in fact, people are experiencing that disadvantage, that difficulty, in terms of the need for community safety. We do, of course, see this as a real priority, and it just shows again what our value base is to our communities as a Welsh Labour Government.

Thank you very much, leader of the house.