The next item, therefore, is the business statement and announcement. I call on the leader of the house to make the statement—Julie James.

Diolch, Llywydd. There's one change to this week's business. The Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport will make an oral statement on the future of Cadw immediately after this business statement. Business for the next three weeks is shown in the business statement and announcement found amongst the meeting papers, which are available to Members electronically.

I call for a single statement on the number of pupils being taken out of school to be taught at home who are on the autism spectrum or with other additional learning needs. You might be aware that, last Friday, BBC Wales reported research showing that the number of pupils being taken out of school to be taught at home had doubled in the previous four years, with many of those pupils believed to be on the autistic spectrum. This follows previous revelations that the number of pupils in the school action and school action plus categories being excluded from school on short-term exclusions had doubled, whilst falling for the general school population.

We've heard concern in this context from the Children's Commissioner for Wales, who expressed a concern that some parents had told her they'd been encouraged to home educate because their child might be affecting the school or local authority performance data. We heard from the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales that families with autistic children lodged more appeals about the lack of support their child was receiving in school than those with other learning needs. And we heard from the National Autistic Society Cymru that a lot of parents are finding themselves in positions where they have no option, and the only thing they can do to help their children is to educate them at home, even though they might not feel fully equipped to do that or want to.

Now, I know you're going to tell me, or you might have been going to tell me, that the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill, to be debated later, will be addressing this and overhauling the system for supporting learners, but the National Autistic Society Cymru has called for mandatory training in autism awareness in schools, recognising that the very same people in schools who are currently getting it so wrong with these children are likely to be the people who will have a major influence on their individual development plans in the future. I do therefore hope that you will find time for the Welsh Government to provide a statement on this very important piece of work by BBC Wales.

Thank you for that question. I actually saw the programme, which was very interesting indeed, and I've had the chance to speak to a number of groups myself about it. The Cabinet Secretary for Education is in the Chamber, listening to your remarks as well. I will take the opportunity, of course, to say that our very ambitious additional learning needs Bill will, if passed this afternoon, completely overhaul the system for supporting any learner with additional learning needs and introduce duties to secure additional learning provision in schools. Obviously, we continue to be absolutely committed to creating an inclusive education system that works for all our learners, and we're always very open to additional evidence or commentary that shows that some part of the system needs another look at it. But the Cabinet Secretary for Education has heard your remarks and I'm sure she'll take them on board, and, if we do identify any such trends or patterns, or evidence is available, I'm sure she'll be taking those into account in due course.

Last week, a written statement was published by the local government Secretary on the 'Our Valleys, Our Future' implementation plan. That was, of course, due to be an earlier oral statement but, for very proper and understandable reasons, that couldn't take place. But the implementation plan is of such importance, and there are real implications for the Assembly budget and for the economic prospects of the Valleys communities themselves, and I know that many members of the public and many Members here, myself included, have great concerns about the implementation plans. So, I wonder whether you can commit to a debate or an oral statement at the earliest possible opportunity in Government time on the implementation plan.

We all are aware of the really sad circumstances, which are still affecting Government business, and I know the Member has, as have all Members, been very understanding as we've tried to cope with those. Obviously, there are opportunities to question the new Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, who remains in charge of the Valleys brief. I understand the Member's point, but I think there will be opportunities in questions and at other times, and, in fact, during the budget debate, to answer any of the concerns. Of course, the Member can always put those concerns in writing if he continues to have them.

Leader of the house, I chaired a meeting last week attended by the Docks Incinerator Action Group, which has been set up in Barry. At that meeting also was the chair of Natural Resources Wales, Diane McCrea, and her senior officers. At the meeting, the Natural Resources Wales officers said that they were minded to take a draft decision to grant an environmental permit with conditions for the biomass No. 2 incinerator in the heart of Barry, which has met with widespread opposition from the community, cross-party elected representatives, including myself, and statutory bodies. I've called for an extended consultation period of at least eight weeks for the consultation period on this draft decision. Will the Welsh Government provide an update on NRW's decision on this matter?

Thank you for that very important question, Jane Hutt. You always take concerns in your constituency of the Vale of Glamorgan very seriously, and I see that you haven't changed in any regard with regard to this very important decision. We’re not, obviously, going to comment on the application in detail, as it could be something that the Welsh Ministers end up having to make some appeal determination on, but I understand that Natural Resources Wales has made an announcement, as you said, that they’re minded to issue an environmental permit. Before it grants any such licence it must consult on the draft decision document and the draft permit conditions, which would explain the rationale for the determination.

The consultation runs for a minimum of four weeks from late November, and this is another opportunity for people to bring forward any new information that has not been previously considered and to provide further comment on the draft decision. I think that’s the opportunity for constituents and yourself to make those further comments, if necessary.

In addition, the new Minister who’s in charge of NRW is in the Chamber listening, and I’m sure she’s taking account of your remarks.

Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement on the alarming increase in fly-tipping in parts of south-east Wales? Last year, a 6 per cent increase in fly-tipping across Wales—however, the increase in Merthyr Tydfil was 15 per cent, and in Newport there were 3,258 incidents of fly-tipping, an increase of 44 per cent. What a staggering figure, Minister, and, worryingly, incidents of asbestos fly-tipping have hit a 10-year high, with Merthyr Tydfil having the highest rate in Wales. That is a real health hazard. May I ask for a statement on this matter urgently, please, which has potentially serious implications for public health in Wales?

Thank you very much for those very important remarks. I do think that fly-tipping is a very important matter. It’s something that local government associations and, indeed, environment Ministers have discussed over some time. There is very good practice across Wales, and I think the way forward is to encourage local government colleagues to share that good practice and spread out that good practice across the piece so that some councils that are experiencing difficulty can learn from that good practice and take it into account when formulating their own policies.

Is it possible to have a statement from the Welsh Government around the research done by University College London that was published in The BMJ last week on relating avoidable deaths with austerity policies? That research was England-based, but looked at the correlation between expenditure and austerity and early deaths. It saw that, in England, whereas early deaths had been falling up until 2010, they have since then completely reversed the position. It demonstrated that, for every £10 drop in spend per head on social care, there were an associated five extra care home deaths per 100,000 of population in England, and altogether they estimate the cost of austerity policies to be 120,000 early deaths. This is a public health crisis, therefore. Austerity is creating a public health crisis on the basis of these England-only figures.

It would be, I think, illuminating for the Assembly to have a Welsh interpretation of these—to have Public Health Wales or the Cabinet Secretary give his take on what these figures mean for the Welsh context, and also the implications for our policy-making decisions here in Wales.

Well, Simon Thomas makes a series of extremely important points. I think in our own constituency work most of us have seen an increase in people who are really seriously struggling with austerity and the related benefits and other polices that have been brought forward by the UK Government. In particular, I remain very concerned about the delays in payment of universal credit and what that will do to people’s ability to feed themselves and heat themselves and so on. I remain very concerned indeed, as I’m sure my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for health, who’s listening to your points, is as well. I think it would be an excellent idea to be able to see what the exact position in Wales is. The Cabinet Secretary’s nodding as I’m saying this, so I’m sure we’ll be able to look into that and report back to the Assembly in due course.

Can I take this first formal chance to congratulate the Leader of the House in her new role and wish her well in her work? Can I please request that the Cabinet Secretary for Education bring forward a statement to update the Assembly on the important issue of asbestos in school buildings? We know from representations to the Petitions Committee and also from some related correspondence that the Welsh Government has now formed a working group on the issue and I hope you would agree that we would all now benefit from hearing more about this work as part of our Plenary business.

The cross-party group on asbestos, which I chair, is also keen to ensure that the working group is based upon the principles of social partnership that’s reflected in the work of this Welsh Government, so can I ask that the statement also addresses the membership of the working group, the terms of reference, and the forward work programme?

The Member has taken a keen interest in this—and thank you very much for your kind remarks at the beginning there. My understanding is that the asbestos management in schools working group has decided that a consultation should take place early in 2018 on the revised asbestos management in schools guidance for Wales, and at the end of the consultation period a meeting will be convened with all the key stakeholders, including the union representatives. I'm sure that the Member will be able to take part in that. And I'm sure that once that's happened, the Cabinet Secretary will be very pleased to update the Assembly on the position once the working group and the consultation has had the opportunity to go forward. 

Leader of the Chamber, I'd like to congratulate you as well, to start off.

I'd like a statement about International Men's Day and what the Government in Wales did to recognise it. 

The second point is the legal opinion given to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, published in the Western Mail today, which found that men are being discriminated against in the field of domestic abuse in Wales. I wondered how that is going to inform Government policy, and how you would recognise the discrimination. For example, men are automatically treated as perpetrators when they present as victims. This is found to be discriminatory and unlawful now, and it's happening in Cardiff. I could name organisations here, but I won't at this stage. So, what is the Government going to do about this discrimination that men face in the area of domestic abuse? Thirty five per cent of all victims are male nowadays. 

Thank you for those kind remarks at the beginning. Actually, I've taken over responsibility for the equalities brief. Members will understand that a number of matters have occurred recently that meant I haven't been able to get to grips with that as fast as possible. As soon as I have, I will, of course, be answering questions on the floor of the house, and I will be bringing forward my own take on some of the issues the Member raises. 

Leader of the house, can I call for a statement from the Minister for lifelong learning on celebrating success in the Welsh colleges sector? No doubt everybody in the Chamber will want to extend their congratulations to students and staff at Coleg Cambria, who last week won awards in the WorldSkills UK awards. Many of them have also represented the UK overseas in Abu Dhabi at last month's world finals—Ethan Davies and Joe Massey were successful in picking up awards there. Just this college alone in Wales has managed to secure 10 medals and amassed the second highest overall provider score in the UK for the third successive year on the trot, and 13 of their learners have been selected in the long squad to compete at WorldSkills 2019 in Kazan in Russia. Not only that, but Rona Griffiths, one of the members of staff at the college, also beat off 77 other competitors to win the WorldSkills UK hero award for 2017. This is tremendous success, but not everybody's aware of it, and we ought to mark this sort of success and celebrate it more prominently here in the National Assembly and elsewhere. So, it would be good to have a round-up, if you like, on at least an annual basis, of this sort of success in the Welsh further education sector so that we can mark it more prominently as an Assembly. 

The Member makes a series of extremely good points. He will know that in my previous position, I was always very keen to celebrate Wales's success, and a little bit frustrated at our inability to get the prominence in the media and so on that I thought our incredible success in skills shows and in skills performance merited. The new Minister is sitting listening to you; I'm sure she'll be as enthusiastic as I am to ensure that we have the right levels of celebration. The college you mention has done extremely well. Other colleges across Wales have also done extremely well. In my previous role, I had the privilege and pleasure to meet many of the competitors in skills competitions and a finer set of young women and men you wouldn't care to meet anywhere. And it was with a little pang that I left that part of my old portfolio behind because it was a pleasure and a privilege to have been able to witness some of the skills competitions in action, and, indeed, to see some of the splendid work done in the FE colleges. So, the new Minister has listened to your remarks. I'm sure she'll want to take a celebratory event forward, and we look forward to hearing what it is in due course. 

On Friday, I visited the new research base for the British Heart Foundation funded research in Swansea University medical school, which I know the leader of the house knows very well. Sadly, it moved from Cardiff University, but it's obviously doing extremely well in Swansea University. And I learnt that what they are doing there is actually groundbreaking research, and the only place in the world that is actually doing it—looking into early-onset heart arrhythmia suffered by children, and looking generally at the huge problem of heart disease that there is in the population in Wales as a whole. So, when can we have a statement, or a debate—something to catalogue the outstanding scientific achievements that there are in Wales, and especially what is happening in Swansea medical school?

Well, thank you very much for that question. It gives me the opportunity to say, of course, that I'm delighted that the centre is doing so well in Swansea University, which, Llywydd, I should say is in the heart of my own constituency, in case Members aren't aware. Research across Wales, actually, is punching well above its weight, and we should be very proud of the significant work done in this particular area, by both the British Heart Foundation and by the cardiovascular research team at Swansea University. I think maintaining such partnerships, and our investment in research delivery in health settings, is a really important factor in Wales's ability to punch well above its weight in this regard. Again, in my previous role, myself and the Cabinet Secretary for health had numerous discussions about how we might optimise the results of research findings into actual treatments, and into advances in Wales in particular areas, including cardiovascular heart disease. There are a whole series of specialities that arise from some of the cutting-edge research that you saw, which I would urge other Members to go and have a look at if they haven't had a chance, because it is extremely impressive. I think, once the new ministerial portfolios have bedded in, there will be an opportunity to have some sort of debate or statement on the floor of this house around research and its inter-relationship with health. And I'll be sure to make sure that both Ministers take forward this research and visit the facility as soon as possible.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary—the leader of the house.