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

Diolch, Llywydd. After this business statement, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport will make a statement on the economic action plan. Otherwise, business for the first three weeks of the new term is shown on the business statement and announcement found amongst the meeting papers, which are available to Members electronically.

Health is more than hospitals and emergencies; it involves lifestyle choices. In trials, half the people who had type 2 diabetes for fewer than six years were cured by diet alone. We know how harmful smoking is and how important diet and exercise are. Working with GPs, we can improve health. I would like to ask for a statement on Government action to improve public health, including the role of primary care.

Thanks for those very important remarks. Actually, it's very important, of course, that people understand how they can best help themselves in these matters. The health Secretary was here listening to you, and I know he takes these issues very seriously. I'm sure he'll update the Senedd in due course. 

Cabinet Secretary, may I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health on the provision of dementia services in south-east Wales, please? Proposals by the Aneurin Bevan university health board to close the dementia ward at Chepstow Community Hospital are causing considerable concern among the community in the area. If this ward closes, patients would have to travel to Ebbw Vale or Newport for treatment, which would cause huge difficulties in a rural county where public transport is infrequent, expensive and slow. It is reported that this proposal is the result of staffing problems in older adults' mental health care. That is the department where the real problem is, and they're going to close it down. So, can I ask for a statement on this damaging reorganisation, please? Thank you.

I know that the health Secretary has been working very hard with the dementia community to put together the new dementia strategy for Wales, and indeed this came up in a business statement only a couple of weeks ago, when he confirmed that the strategy would be published in the new year. I'm sure he'll take into account the matters that you've raised in regard to this important service when he does so.

The health Secretary announced last week a £68 million plan for health and care hubs, including 11 new hubs and GP centres, as well as the refurbishment of existing clinics and health centres, which is all very welcome. But there are towns in various parts of Wales that feel they haven't had a fair share of health service resources. As far as Montgomeryshire's concerned, last week's announcement will lead to a redevelopment of facilities in Machynlleth and a new primary healthcare centre in Llanfair Caereinion, but Newtown feels very much neglected and always seems to be forgotten about. There's been a massive hospital redevelopment project in Llandrindod Wells to the south of Newtown, so there are what we might call cinderella towns in Wales. Blaenau Ffestiniog is another that I've raised many times in this Chamber. I wonder if we can have a debate upon the subject of these cinderella towns that feel they've not got their fair share of resources from the NHS.

I don't share the Member's definition of any town in Wales as a cinderella town. I'm sure all the towns in Wales are equally important, both to Wales as a whole, all of its communities and to the people who live therein. I don't see any reason why we should allow the Member to continue with such a description.

I've got two questions for you, leader of the house. Part of the commitment to the 'Code of Practice: Ethical Employment in Supply Chains' is for employers to progress towards becoming real living wage employers. Do you welcome Barry Town Council's commitment to become the first real living wage town in Wales? What support is being given to the real living wage campaign in Wales led by Citizens Cymru Wales and Cynnal Cymru?

My second question is: will you also welcome Patrick Oketcho from Tororo in Eastern Uganda, a student at Atlantic College who is here with us today, supported by Ugandan NGO Tocida and the Vale for Africa charity, of which I am a trustee? Patrick was able to join me at a meeting of the cross-party group today, which focused on international development, chaired by Rhun ap Iorwerth. Will the Welsh Government give a statement to update the Assembly on the Wales for Africa programme, supporting initiatives of mutual benefit to Wales and Africa?

Yes, in terms of the Wales for Africa thing, I very much welcome Patrick. Patrick is the fourth Ugandan student to benefit from a two-year scholarship at Atlantic College under this great scheme, funded by the volunteers at Vale for Africa. Indeed, we were both at a reception for Atlantic College quite recently in the Senedd, and it was great to meet some of the parents and students and some of the teachers there as well.

Vale for Africa is one of more than 350 community groups across Wales with a link to sub-Saharan Africa and we're very proud of the programme and all of the benefits it brings, not only to the people of Africa, but actually to the people of Wales as well, in terms of the cultural exchange between them. We encourage more people in Wales to get involved in international development projects and help those projects make a real difference, as I say, both here and in Africa. 

In the last three years, a total of £640,000 has been distributed by way of 131 grants to 89 Welsh organisations to support the partnership working in sub-Saharan Africa by Hub Cymru Africa, funded through the Wales for Africa programme. Actually, last year I opened the Wales international development summit in Swansea, attended by over 200 people, for Wales for Africa as well. So, it's a hugely important programme, both to us here in Wales and to the people of Africa. I very much congratulate Patrick for being here with us today. Maybe I'll get the chance to meet him—that would be great.

In terms of the real living wage, I very much do congratulate Barry Town Council for that. Actually, the Cabinet Secretary will shortly be launching his economic action plan, saying something in that about the need to recognise fair work across Wales. Our public sector is clearly going to lead the way in that, and it's very nice to see that Barry Town Council has signed up to that commitment in that way. Of course, the First Minister launched the new real living wage recently here at the Senedd, and indeed universities in Wales have recently announced that they too will all be paying the real living wage, and I very much welcome that development as well. So, it's an excellent development and they are very much to be congratulated.

It's been 15 months since the issue of woodchip fires and illegal dumping of woodchip was raised in the Chamber, so I'd be very grateful if we could have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary, or possibly from the environment Minister now, updating us on progress: on the areas of regulation that need reform, the evidence that's underpinned the decisions that they've come to, and what progress has been made on drafts of improved regulations that will help these serious incidents from occurring again. I did ask for the statement back in June and, as far as I can see, there's been no indication that that's forthcoming. So, if you could move that along, I'd be very grateful.

The environment Minister, who I think is responsible, is new in post and I'm sure she'll be bringing that statement forward as soon as she's able to in her portfolio. I'll certainly remind her of that.

Next year, we celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the national health service—one of the great civilising institutions that's ever been established by a Government. It is obviously very sad to see the way the NHS is being undermined and privatised across the border in England, but in Wales we've maintained the ethos and the principles of the national health service. I wonder if you could outline what the Welsh Government's intentions are to celebrate this major achievement and to celebrate this institution and its future.

Absolutely, I'm very much looking forward to celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the NHS at events in Tredegar, of course—the home of the NHS for the whole of the United Kingdom—and indeed celebrations right across Wales. The year 2018 provides us with an excellent opportunity to celebrate the people's decision to make a national health service for all of the people, and indeed to celebrate our decision to hold to the founding principles and ethos of the NHS here in Wales. We're very much working with organisations and groups across Wales to plan and co-ordinate the celebrations, and also to take the opportunity to look at the future of the NHS and how we can make it a more integrated and sustainable NHS to deliver our 'Healthy and Active' commitment outlined in 'Taking Wales Forward'.

I'm looking for a Government statement on Roath brook. I welcome the proposed work being put on hold on by Natural Resources Wales, but if it goes ahead then people in this part of Penylan will lose half their park and a large number of mature trees will go. The reason given is flood prevention, but there's been no flood in this particular park for certainly more than 70 years, if ever, and the modelling undertaken by Natural Resources Wales looked at the whole area and the data circulated with the consultation was wrong—it was very badly wrong. So, I'm wondering if there's a Government policy on redoing consultations that are flawed and whether or not the people of Penylan in this Roath brook area will be listened to.

Well, the consultation is a matter for NRW. I'm sure that flood prevention is very important in every area of Wales. It causes real catastrophic damage, and as we approach winter we need to be really prepared for winter preparedness. It's actually really important to take it very seriously indeed. If the Member has specific problems with the consultation, I suggest he writes to the consultation sponsors and points out the specific issues.

Can I call for two statements? Firstly, on the impact of winter weather on transport after the weekend of disruption that we've had. Yesterday, along with thousands of others, it took me seven and a half hours, with multiple train changes, to travel from Wrexham to Cardiff. The staff, I have to say, on the train were fantastic, offering free coffee and goodness knows what else. They can't be responsible for snow and they can't be responsible for trees falling. There were signal failures as well with trains going backwards as well as forwards. The context of understanding how this could have happened in the way it did; the extent to which it was beyond anybody's control; and the extent to which we can plan better should there be any further recurrence of this sort of temperature, snowfall and ice as the winter progresses.

Secondly and finally, mesh implants. I know, last week, Neil McEvoy called on you for a Welsh Government statement on mesh implants and you replied that the health Secretary had already made a commitment to bring forward a statement on mesh implants, and you were sure he would be doing so very soon. Thus far, his statement, including written responses to me on behalf of constituents, have stated that he still believed that the benefits outweigh the risks. I'd therefore be grateful if you could ensure that the statement takes account of recent developments in this context. In Australia, their regulatory body in the department of health, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, has concluded that the benefits of using transvaginal mesh products in the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse do not outweigh the risks these products pose to patients. They also consider that there's a lack of adequate scientific evidence before them to be satisfied that the risk to patients associated with the use of mesh products, such as single-incision mini slings for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence, are outweighed by their benefits, and Australia is removing these products from their register of therapeutic goods. And, in the UK, it's reported that the health watchdog, NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, has stated that vaginal mesh operations should be banned, and that, in the documents to be published after consultation this month, they say there are serious but well-recognised safety concerns. And, of course, use of the implants to treat both organ prolapse and urinary incontinence has already been suspended in Scotland. I'd therefore be grateful, when the promised statement is brought forward, that these developments could be brought into consideration. Thank you.

In terms of your first request for a statement, I know the Cabinet Secretary himself experienced some considerable difficulty getting down from north Wales, as did a large number of other Members in the Chamber, and he's indicated his willingness to bring forward a statement about what can be done in the terms the Member outlined—what couldn't have been avoided, what might be avoided in the future and so on. He's indicated his willingness to do so. 

In terms of vaginal mesh implants, the Cabinet Secretary heard what you had to say. There are obviously very serious issues to take into account here on both sides of that argument, and I'm sure he'll take those into account when he brings forward his statement in due course. 

Finally, David Rees.

Diolch, Llywydd. Leader of the house, you may be aware—you should be aware—of the concerns over the British Steel pension scheme and the actual advice being received by steelworkers, and the fact that some steelworkers may have lost money because of poor advice. Now, one of the firms that's been identified is Celtic Wealth Management, which was given Welsh Government money. Can we get a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for economy and infrastructure to discuss how they're ensuring that the money they invest in companies such as this is being used wisely, and therefore steelworkers, who have spent many years building up their pension pots, are not losing out because of bad advice coming from either companies supported by the Welsh Government or companies they're passing on as a consequence? 

I share the Member's concern about the steelworkers' pensions, and I was actually very alarmed at some of the stories. I've no idea of the—. I haven't had any chance to corroborate some of the stories, but I also have constituents affected. I'd be very happy to broker a meeting between you, the Cabinet Secretary, and any other Members with a constituency interest in this, to take the matter forward. 

Thank you, leader of the house.