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

Diolch, Llywydd. I have three changes to report to this week’s business. The Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children will make a statement shortly to update the Chamber on developments in Wales following the Grenfell Tower fire. I’ve also re-ordered two of today’s oral statements, and the Business Committee has agreed to reduce the time allocated to tomorrow’s questions to the Assembly Commission. Business for the next three weeks is shown on the business statement and announcement found among the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

Leader of the house, is it possible to have a statement, please, and I think I have asked for this before, and there was an indication that one would be forthcoming but wasn’t made available, on the northern access road—you’ll be familiar with it—around the St Athan enterprise zone? You’d also be very familiar with Llantwit Major Town Council’s and Llanmaes Community Council’s very strong observations and objections to this new road that is proposed for the St Athan area. The planning application’s gone in from the Welsh Government and, to me, certainly, there doesn’t seem to have been a coherent case put forward as to why Welsh Government are very keen to spend £15 million on this piece of road when the existing infrastructure, with a modest investment, could quite easily accommodate the revised traffic levels that potentially could arise from investment in the enterprise zone area. I do believe that it would greatly inform local people if this statement could come forward and, in particular, the community council of Llanmaes and the town council of Llantwit would benefit from a clear and objective view as to why the Welsh Government have sanctioned £15 million of expenditure on a piece of road that, locally, no-one I find in support of.

Well, as the Member says, this is—. Andrew R.T. Davies, as you quite clearly state, it’s now in a stage of a detailed planning application to the Vale council to build what is known as the northern access road. I do recall—and I think it was last year—when there was an exhibition about the proposals for this road in St Athan, and I said it should be also in Llanmaes and in Llantwit Major as well, so that the local people—. Obviously, I’m speaking as Assembly Member here in respect of this proposed development. What is very important is that the local community have to be engaged, as, indeed, the town and community councils are. Obviously, then we await the full consideration in terms of the planning application before the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

Leader of the house, following the latest £9.3 million Circuit of Wales debacle, inherited from a former Minister, I’m looking for a statement from you on the following: Kancoat, £3.4 million wasted on a company with a weak business plan; Oysterworld, £1.4 million lost; Kukd, £1 million on a company now being investigated. We had the Lisvane land deal in Cardiff North, where land was sold for £2 million when it was worth £41 million, a £39 million loss; the Rhoose land deal, £7 million; two shops in Pontypridd, losing £1 million without a valuation. Who sells anything without a valuation? The Welsh Government. The chief executive of Natural Resources Wales unexpectedly retires after a £39 million contract was signed without a business case. Leader of the house, I have no individual view on any of those things mentioned, but do you think that there is a whiff of corruption around this Labour administration, or does it just stink of rank incompetence?

Once again, the Member uses his, I would say, role as a member of the Public Accounts Committee in such a way to list out a number of issues that are properly, and have properly been, scrutinised by that committee.

I welcome the response of the First Minister in First Minister’s questions to the leader of Plaid Cymru about the issue of access to free abortions for women from Northern Ireland in Wales. I wanted to applaud the efforts of Labour backbencher Stella Creasy, whose campaigning and actions resulted in the Westminster Government making this decision in England. I call for a detailed statement from the Welsh Government, from the health and social services Cabinet Secretary, about how this will be implemented in Wales. I understand that, last year, 724 women from Northern Ireland accessed abortions in England and Wales. So, could we have a statement to clarify the Welsh numbers? The funding—I note the funding from Westminster will be from the UK Government’s equality office. And, obviously, what about the issue of travel and expense costs? Because a Supreme Court case earlier this year was brought by a pregnant 15-year-old and her mother, who travelled from Northern Ireland to Manchester, and the cost was £900. Obviously, this sort of payment adds to the stress and stigma attached to such a distressing occasion.

Well, I’m glad Julie Morgan, the Member for Cardiff North, has also chosen to raise this again this afternoon, obviously following a question to the First Minister. I want to again repeat what the First Minister said, that we strongly support women’s right to choose to have an abortion. We are looking into the provision of abortions in Wales to women from Northern Ireland. We believe that a woman from Northern Ireland in Wales should be able to access an abortion for free, on the same basis as women in Wales, and we are exploring how that can be achieved. Of course, that does include, as the First Minister said, not just travel costs, expenses costs, but also support for that person, for that woman, who may come to Wales and use that opportunity. Obviously, this is something where—. The Cabinet Secretary for health and well-being is looking at this very carefully and will be able to update in further detail in due course.

But I would also like to join the Member in congratulating Labour’s Stella Creasy MP. I think that what was very important about the approach that she took was to engage a number of MPs cross-party in Westminster. It was a Labour-led core but it was co-ordinated—. And, of course, you could see, across the Chamber in the House, that support coming from all benches, and, indeed, of course, that did result in the response from the UK Government. Now, yesterday, Justine Greening, who’s the Minister for Women and Equalities, issued a letter to all MPs in relation to abortions performed in England for women from Northern Ireland. She said in that letter that payments would be funded through the Government’s equalities office, allowing the Department of Health to commission abortion services in England for those from Northern Ireland. So, it is quite clear that we now need to ensure that this can also, and will, apply to Wales.

Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy on benefits delivered by enterprise zones in Wales? Last week, the Cabinet Secretary announced that a new automotive park would be created in Ebbw Vale and promised to keep this Assembly updated on progress in this regard. In November 2015, Welsh Government figures revealed a mixed picture in relation to jobs created in our enterprise zones. In the previous year, more than 1,000 jobs were created in the Cardiff and Deeside enterprise zones. This compared with just seven jobs created at both Ebbw Vale and St Athan. Could we please have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary with an update on the present position of enterprise zones and their development in the light of Brexit, please? Thank you.

I thank the Member for that question. In fact, the Cabinet Secretary met with the chair of the enterprise zone for Ebbw Vale only this morning and was able then to impress on him the importance in terms of the opportunities that are now presented as a result of his announcement and allocation of funding last week. And it is all-important that we look to this in terms of the jobs created, and I know the Cabinet Secretary would like to update Members with a statement not just in terms of the enterprise zone in Ebbw Vale, but across the whole of Wales in terms of all the enterprise zones.

Leader of the house, you’ll no doubt be aware that the ARCH project and the Swansea bay city deal look to develop Swansea and south-west Wales as a regional centre of excellence in health, building on the success of the postgraduate medical school. Now, current discussions around a major trauma centre for south Wales will potentially undermine all that. Reports last week suggested that Cardiff is set to be recommended as south Wales's major trauma centre, with Morriston Hospital in Swansea set to be designated as a major trauma unit as part of a wider network. Now, there's history here, of course, of centralisation of services in Cardiff. The leader of the house and I were, both significantly younger, involved in past battles in terms of trying to protect paediatric neurosurgery, lost from Morriston to Cardiff, and, later on, trying to protect adult neurosurgery, lost from Morriston to Cardiff. People in Swansea and south-west Wales are therefore concerned at what appears to be potentially yet more centralisation of key health services in Cardiff. Strong arguments have been made that Morriston is better located to become a major trauma centre, with a greater proportion of the south Wales population living within an hour's travelling time, and with mid and west Wales being Swansea's natural hinterland. Also, Morriston has a well-established burns and plastic surgery unit, which serves Wales and the south-west of England and is a leading unit nationwide. Given the concerns in Swansea, and competing views, I would be grateful if the Cabinet Secretary for health would bring forward a statement on this topic. Diolch yn fawr.

Yes, I do recall, of course, those discussions from way past, and the work in collaboration that was achieved, how that was moved forward. I'm very interested also in your comment about the importance of the ARCH proposal, which I believe and understand—because there was very much a cross-government, Welsh Government support for that—is also contributing to the Swansea bay city region deal in terms of the opportunities, very pioneering and innovative and cross-cutting aims and objectives, in terms of health and well-being as part of the economic development of Swansea bay and the city deal.

I think it is important just to recognise, in terms of the trauma centre proposals, that progress is being made in developing plans for a major trauma network for south Wales, but no decision on the location of the major trauma centre has been made as yet.

Leader of the house, can I ask for a statement to update us on the success of the Year of Legends tourism strategy to date? I know many Members here have been active in the Year of Legends campaign, including in my own constituency, where I have been campaigning to bring the gold cape back to the town where it was first discovered in 1833. And I'm grateful to the First Minister for his words of support in this Chamber, and to the Cabinet Secretary for economy for all he's doing on that.

As we head towards peak tourism season and the school summer holidays, it would be timely to assess where we are in terms of the Year of Legends and the wider tourism offer we have, given that it's so key to the north Wales economy and, indeed, the Welsh economy as a whole.

Thank you to Hannah Blythyn for that question. It's very timely, I think, at this stage of the year, to be asking for an update from the Cabinet Secretary, who is here beside me, on the Year of Legends campaign, and also the opportunity to tie this in to the gold cape. Now, just to enhance the opportunities here, I understand the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure has asked his officials to take this forward. Tourism officials have received an application from Flintshire County Borough Council for funds to host the original gold cape at Theatr Clwyd. The fund is very competitive, oversubscribed, as the Member will know, but officials are writing shortly to those organisations who will be successful at the first stage, inviting them to submit a full application. I understand that this is very much part of an ongoing research programme, and I welcome the question.

Could I ask for an update on two matters? First of all, there’s been a briefing today by the Public and Commercial Services Union for members in their offices regarding the Department for Work and Pension’s estates programme in Wales. Since the election of the new Government, I’ve written to the Westminster Government, urging them to re-examine the case for closing the DWP offices in Llanelli, and also the case in Ystradgynlais as well, for different reasons. However, I understand from what I’ve been told today that there’s a likelihood of imminent announcements regarding these offices in Wales, and the decision being taken by the Department for Work and Pensions. So, if that is the case, can I have an undertaking from the business manager that the Government will make an immediate statement in response to that, setting out how it may respond in places like Llanelli to that announcement, particularly in terms of assisting people who may actually be left in a position where they cannot move and take up jobs due to home commitments, work commitments, care commitments and travel distance and cost? I think some of the burden of a DWP decision may possibly fall on the Welsh Government, so I’d welcome the commitment to respond to that.

The second issue I’d like to raise is that of the decision announced over the weekend—not actually announced in Parliament until Monday—by Michael Gove, to withdraw the United Kingdom from the London’s Fishery Convention, which was signed in 1964, and which has probably been overwritten several times by the common fisheries policy. So, it’s a kind of a rhetorical signal of a Brexiteer, rather than a reality in political and legal terms. However, it does raise two questions. One is: what discussions were had with the Welsh Government regarding this, as fisheries are a devolved matter? Welsh fishermen and women may be quite relaxed about this, in that we mainly have an inshore fleet and a shellfish industry, but I think there are some trawlers coming out of Milford Haven that may travel to waters that are affected, at least by the principle of this withdrawal, and of course it does raise the question of access to each other’s maritime limits after we withdraw from the common fisheries policy. So, can we have a statement from the Government, setting out what discussions have been around the London Fisheries Convention, or indeed, the common fisheries policy; how that has been discussed with the Welsh Government; what discussions have happened with the Welsh fishing industry around these; and whether there’s any intention of the Welsh Government to make any public announcement on this, as the Scottish Government, I note, has in fact welcomed it?

Thank you, Simon Thomas, for those two questions. Indeed, I recall that you raised the issue of the proposed closures of the DWP offices, and of course those concerns are not only shared by the Welsh Government, but by other Assembly Members and their constituents. And, again, it is important and timely that you raise this, for us to re-examine where we are on this in terms of our representations, and also with an impending announcement.

On your second point, in terms of Michael Gove, one can question, with the way things are going at the moment, under whose authority, and what authority, he made that statement in terms of the fisheries convention. But, I think, my understanding—. It’s only in the last week, I think, that you might have asked the question to the Cabinet Secretary about Michael Gove appearing to ignore the devolved administrations. In any case, I understand that a meeting might be in the offing with the Cabinet Secretary, but quadrilateral meetings with the Scottish Minister and Welsh Cabinet Secretary have been postponed. And, clearly, as far as I understand, the Cabinet Secretary, the Welsh Government, certainly was not consulted before this was announced at the weekend. And it is very important that you, again, draw this to the wider public attention, in terms of the way that we are being treated and disregarded.

Can I support the calls for an update on the Year of Legends strategy? I really appreciate the fact that there’s a fellow colleague in north Wales seeking to get some of our treasures back into the region. One of the other treasures that is associated both with the Delyn and Clwyd West constituencies is the finger bone of St Winefride, of St Winefride’s holy well fame, who, of course, was originally interred in Gwytherin, in my own constituency, and whose bones were, frankly, pinched by the monks of Shrewsbury abbey in order to encourage people to visit that town. And I wonder whether we could have a message from the Welsh Government on the importance of that relic to north Wales, and whether there might be an arrangement and an opportunity to host a visit by that relic, in conjunction with the Roman Catholic Church, to both Gwytherin, and indeed to Holywell, at some point in the future?

Can I also call for a Welsh Government statement on the Ministry of Defence estate review? This is something that I know many colleagues across the Chamber have expressed concerns about in the past. I appreciate that defence matters are not devolved to this National Assembly, but the estate review will have a significant impact across Wales—in north Wales, in Prestatyn and Wrexham, and in places like Chepstow, Brecon, and elsewhere. And I think it’s very important that the Welsh Government has a clear position on this, and that the Assembly—on a cross-party basis—can come together around a common message, in terms of the importance of the footprint of the defence estate here in Wales, given the contribution that we make to the armed forces personnel more generally. So, I would appreciate a statement on the Welsh Government’s position on that, and any discussions that you might be having with the UK Government, and the Ministry of Defence.

Thank you, Darren Millar. On your first question, the Cabinet Secretary, as I’ve already stated, is going to do an update on the Year of Legends. And, clearly, you have identified one possible missing legend, which should be considered—those relics, more than one, I think—but, particularly, you referred to St Winefride at the holy well in Holywell. And I think this is very important that these are charted and tracked, and that they’re recognised. So, I know the Cabinet Secretary will want to respond on that particular local issue for you, in your region—constituency, sorry.

Second point: I think many Members are very concerned about the MOD estate review. I certainly am as a Vale of Glamorgan Assembly Member, as far as St Athan is concerned. It has an impact on many constituencies, and I will ask the Cabinet Secretary to follow this up, for an update from the MOD.

I thank the leader of the house.