2. Business Statement and Announcement

– in the Senedd at 2:41 pm on 16 January 2018.

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Photo of Elin Jones Elin Jones Plaid Cymru 2:41, 16 January 2018

(Translated)

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

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:42, 16 January 2018

Diolch, Llywydd. There are no changes to this week's business. Business for the next three weeks is shown on the business statement and announcement found amongst the meeting papers that are available to Members electronically.

Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative

Thank you, leader of the house. Could I ask for two things today, please? Last week, I raised with you the issue around residents who were facing traffic blight in their area around the northern access road in St Athan, and you kindly indicated that the Cabinet Secretary would be in touch with my office and also engage with the residents locally. I'd be grateful if you could get me a timeline for when that engagement might start, because this is a pressing issue for the residents in particular, who have grave concerns about the access to their site. Regrettably, following on from business statement last week, I haven't had any communication yet from the Cabinet Secretary. I appreciate that there is the goodwill there to do that—I make that as an observation—and it would be beneficial if I could have some idea of the timeline.

Secondly, I received a written answer back from Rebecca Evans, the Minister, in relation to the regeneration investment fund for Wales and the ongoing investigations around the RIFW sale. She indicates that she'll be making a statement shortly on the progress around the legal action that the Welsh Government has taken. I'd be grateful—as leader of the house, are you aware when that statement might be coming forward, as there is considerable public interest around this particular issue? It has been some considerable time, now, since various committees of this Assembly looked into this particular matter, and certainly an update position, as the Minister has indicated she's prepared to give, would be most welcome, but a timeline as to when that might come forward would better inform our ability to scrutinise progress on retrieving money to the Welsh taxpayer from this sale, if that money can be retrieved, and also the legal actions that the Welsh Government is undertaking in this particular case.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:43, 16 January 2018

Thank you for both of those. On the first one, absolutely, I will speak with the Cabinet Secretary and make sure that he contacts you and gives you a timeline for that. The Minister is here to hear your remarks and I'm sure she'll be able to let you know as soon as possible when she is going to bring that statement forward. It's not in the business timetable for the next three weeks.

Photo of Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed Plaid Cymru 2:44, 16 January 2018

I wondered whether we could have a statement with regard to the childcare offer. I've had communication—from not constituents; in my capacity as portfolio holder—that the Welsh Government funding guidelines relating to the childcare offer have now changed to mirror those in England, meaning that registered child minders will no longer be able to offer funded childcare places to a relative. Previous regulations stated that, as long as care for those under 12 was carried out mainly or wholly outside the home, a relative, as a child minder, could provide that childcare. It's meant that families with long-term private childcare arrangements with child carers are having to make different arrangements, potentially at a significant cost and disruption to continuity of care. The ban on related children in Wales is unique to child minders. Individuals working in or owning a nursery are still allowed to claim the entitlement for related children, as are those in receipt of child benefit. So, if I could have a statement from the Minister on that, that would be great.

The second request that I have is in relation to a response that the First Minister gave to David Rees with regard to the letter from the MOJ in relation to Baglan prison. The First Minister said he'd written to the MOJ and, because of not having a satisfactory response, the Welsh Government was not currently minded to sell the land at this time. I was wondering whether the Welsh Government could release that letter to all AMs so that we could all see it and understand the rationale for the First Minister saying that.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:45, 16 January 2018

Thank you for both of those important points. On the first one, the Minister was here listening to your remarks. I think if you wrote to the Minister and asked him those specific points, I'm sure he'd be able to answer those queries, and perhaps you could indicate in that letter whether there's a wider interest across, other than in the instances you're speaking about. 

In terms of the FMQ response, again, I'd be asking you to write to the First Minister asking him to release that letter. I don't think that's a matter for a statement, but I'm sure if he is minded to do so, he'd let you know.

Photo of Julie Morgan Julie Morgan Labour 2:46, 16 January 2018

I call for two statements. Firstly, would it be possible to have a statement from the relevant Cabinet Secretary about how the Hunting Act 2004 is being enforced in Wales? I think it's almost 13 years since this Act came into force, and I'm really glad that the Prime Minister has now, finally, dropped plans to repeal it. However, foxes do continue to be killed on a regular basis on so-called trail hunts, and hunt hounds are often out of control in public, sometimes on major roads and railways. Does the Cabinet Secretary support calls from the League Against Cruel Sports and others for a more rigorous enforcement of the ban? That was the first statement.

On the second statement, I refer back again to the victims of the contaminated blood scandal. Would it be possible to ask the health Minister to make a statement on whether he's had any more information at all from the department of health in Westminster, because victims of the scandal were promised an inquiry in July by Theresa May and were promised that a chair would be appointed by Christmas? We still haven't heard who this chair will be and, in the meantime, those affected continue to wait and, of course, some of them are dying.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:47, 16 January 2018

Well, thank you very much for raising both of those very important points. The Member will be very aware that the Hunting Act is not a devolved matter, and the enforcement of it is a matter for the police. However, I completely concur with her that the vast majority of people find foxhunting both abhorrent and extremely cruel. We do hope the UK Government will take account of that in its enforcement. But I think the correct course of action is to ensure that the local police commissioner makes sure that it's a top priority for the police force in enforcing the current Act, and I'd be more than happy to facilitate the Member speaking to the Cabinet Secretary about engagement with the police commissioners on that important point.

In terms of the contaminated blood matter, my understanding is that the chair is not yet appointed. The Cabinet Secretary will reaffirm his expectations for the inquiry to the chair as soon as that chair is appointed. I'm sure that the Cabinet Secretary, if the chair isn't appointed in the very near future, will be making his displeasure about the tardiness of that appointment very plain indeed.

Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 2:45, 16 January 2018

Can I call for two statements? The first is an update on Welsh Government proposals for Gypsy/Travellers in the light of two outstanding consultations, the first being the consultation on the draft circular for the planning of Gypsy/Traveller and show-people sites, which closed, I believe, on 23 May, almost eight months ago; and secondly, the draft circular on enabling Gypsies, Roma and Travellers, which closed on 22 December, just before Christmas. The Gypsies and their supporters and friends I met in Conwy last Friday had been told by Welsh Government that the first of those consultations would see the final report being published before Christmas 2017. They told me that unless a local authority has planning approval for a specific site, it can't apply for grant funding, but that no north Wales local authority is presently in a place of preparedness and planning approval to submit grant funding applications. They further told me that when they met Welsh Government representatives in Llandudno Junction, they were grappling with what action the Cabinet Secretary could take against a local authority that failed to submit planning approvals and grant applications for sites and that they judged currently that the purchase on local authorities for Welsh Government was fairly modest. Therefore, I would be grateful if you could, or Welsh Government could, make a statement reflecting those two consultations and the concerns being expressed, certainly to me last Friday, by members of the community in north Wales.

Secondly and finally, can I call for a statement on local bus services? This follows the announcement on 16 December, Saturday, that Acrefair-based bus company D. Jones and Son were ceasing trading, two months after being the subject of scrutiny by the Traffic Commissioner for Wales public inquiry. No doubt like others, I received concerns from affected residents who had lost local bus services, asking for help in replacement of bus links. I submitted a written question to the Cabinet Secretary two days later, on the following Monday. I'm still waiting for a reply to that. I also contacted Wrexham council's lead member for environment and transport, who told me that officers were continuing to look at options; that this is difficult, as a number of operators have ceased across the region; that despite the Cabinet Secretary's bus summit, they'd seen no tangible actions coming forward; and having attended two of the three bus workshops, this was most certainly a wider issue across Wales. The Cabinet Secretary held his bus summit a year ago, in January 2017, stating that this was to halt the demise of the industry, following the collapse of Ruabon-based GHA coaches the previous summer. So, given the concerns being raised not only by affected residents, who often are on commercial rather than on commissioned routes, and given concerns being expressed that, still, no tangible actions are coming forward from the bus summit and subsequent workshops, I would welcome a statement to reflect their concerns and hopefully give them some assurance that they're being listened to.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:52, 16 January 2018

Thank you for both of those. On the first one, I'm the Cabinet Secretary responsible for the Gypsy/Traveller sites, and I am planning to bring a statement before the Easter recess to the Senedd in order to update people on where I am since I took over the portfolio on a number of issues. However, the Member did mention some very specific issues around particular sites that he has an interest in and I'd be more than happy to meet with the Member to go through some of those very specific issues. I have made arrangements to visit some of the sites in question as well, so it would be good if the Member made an arrangement to speak to me about the very specific issues. But, on the more general points, I will be bringing forward a statement in the near future.

In terms of the local bus services point, he raises a very important point. He did say he was awaiting an answer to his written questions, and I would suggest that the Member waits to see what the answer to the written question is, and if there is a more general point that he then wishes to raise with the Cabinet Secretary that would be of interest to the entire Senedd, I'm sure that the Cabinet Secretary will be prepared to look at that, since it is a year since the bus summit took place.

Photo of Adam Price Adam Price Plaid Cymru 2:53, 16 January 2018

Can we have a debate in Government time on Government policy on opposition motion debates? I probably need not remind the leader of the house that, last week, the Government lost a vote for the first time in this Assembly. Now, in response to that, a Welsh Government spokesperson said, and I quote, 

'Opposition day votes are... meaningless. They aren't binding and don't have any bearing on government policy or delivery.'

Now, when the Westminster Government made similarly arrogant remarks recently, the shadow Labour leader of the house at Westminster said that those comments made a mockery of Parliament. Now, doesn't she agree that the comments made by the Welsh Government last week make a mockery of this Parliament? They're demeaning to this institution. They're disrespectful to all those who have fought so hard to create a Welsh democracy where, in contrast to the days of the Welsh Office, the Government has to submit itself to the accountability of an elected parliament, no matter how undoubtedly inconvenient that sometimes may feel.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:54, 16 January 2018

Well, thank you for raising that very important point. I don't think it's a suitable thing to bring forward a Government debate in Government time on at all. I do think that it's a real shame that the consensual way in which this place has always operated, including allowing Government pairing, for example, to have important Government business conducted, has broken down, and I do think that there are obvious consequences for the way that we conduct the Government as a result. It's an important matter that needs careful consideration, and the Government is currently giving it careful consideration.

Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 2:55, 16 January 2018

Could I ask for a statement on the impact of Tory police cuts on crime in our communities? Since last year, we've seen an 18 per cent increase in violent crime, a 14 per cent increase in knife crime in south Wales, but a 25 per cent increase in knife crime across the whole of Wales, an increase to 84,000 crimes unsolved, which was an increase on the previous two years, and, since 2010, Wales has lost 682 police officers. Now, policing may not be devolved yet, but certainly the consequence of those police cuts on our communities is significant, and it seems to me that it would be appropriate for the Government, in its own time, to have a debate on the impact of these Tory police cuts.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:56, 16 January 2018

Well, thank you for raising that very important point. Community safety is, of course, a top priority for the Government. The Member is obviously aware that policing itself isn't devolved, despite the various representations that have been made to Westminster on that point.

The Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services announced the provisional police settlement on 19 December 2017, and, as in recent years, the Home Office has again decided to overlay its needs-based formula with a floor mechanism. This ensures that all police forces in England and Wales can expect to receive a cash-flat settlement for 2018-19 when compared on a like-for-like basis with 2017-18. The total support for police forces in Wales will be £349.9 million. Within this, the Welsh Government's contribution to police funding for 2018-19 is £140.9 million.

We've also agreed to protect the budget for the 500 additional community support officers for 2018-19. That's £16.8 million earmarked in the budget for next year for the continued delivery of that important commitment.

The Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services is very committed to working with the police and crime commissioners and the chief constables to ensure that the reductions are managed in ways that minimise the impact on community safety in Wales. He, along with his officials, will be very happy to meet with all of the policing bodies to discuss finance and other matters to ensure that the important issues around community safety are properly covered off.

It's been very difficult to have some of these decisions, with pressures on budgets. I've seen some very good things, in my brief time in this portfolio, around some of the multi-agency work that the police have done in order to maximise the resource they have on the ground, But the Member is right that it is a most important matter, and I'm sure we can have a debate in the very near future about the importance of that matter to Wales.

Photo of Mohammad Asghar Mohammad Asghar Conservative 2:58, 16 January 2018

Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health on payments by Welsh NHS trusts in damages and legal fees for medical negligence? According to research, in the last five years, four of the seven local health boards paid out over £200 million. It's a striking figure here, Minister, and, basically, this could be used to eradicate child poverty, homelessness and food banks in Wales. Aneurin Bevan Local Health Board paid out the highest amount, of £67 million, over the period, although £2 million was for the historical mistakes relating to incidents before 1997. Can I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary on what action he intends to take to address these huge sums for medical negligence in Wales, please?

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 2:59, 16 January 2018

Well, that's a very important issue indeed, and because it's so important, the Cabinet Secretary does report annually on those figures. I'm sure he's heard your remarks today and will take those into account in his next report on the subject.

Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru

(Translated)

The leader of the house was very generous last week in responding to requests from me, and I'm hoping she will be as generous this week too. May I start by welcoming the fact that there's been a written statement this morning from the First Minister on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, stating that unless something happens by the end of the month, it's the Government's intention to introduce their own continuity Bill? I welcome that, but I would ask the leader of the house just to go two steps further today if possible. My colleague, Steffan Lewis, will be here tomorrow to propose his own continuity Bill in the slot that he has as a backbench Member. Will the leader of the house, as Chief Whip, state that the Government will support, in principle, Steffan Lewis's proposal tomorrow? I'm sure he'd like to hear that today. Secondly, will there now be a positive step in publishing the Bill in draft form, so that it's possible for us all to see what the Government has in mind? Not to be tabled formally, but in draft form, so that we can see that and use that as a means of encapsulating the need for the amendments that the Government wishes to see in the House of Lords.

The second thing I'd specifically like to hear is whether it would be possible to have a statement from the Minister for Environment explaining the situation in Cardiff, and in particular Roath brook and Roath park. It's not in my region, but many people have been in touch with me over the past few weeks, very concerned about the way in which the consultation took place in the Roath park area and the work that is now progressing in that area. I'm concerned that some of the figures used in the consultation were inaccurate, and I'd also like to ask whether there are any lessons to be learned here at a national level. I think it would be good to have a statement explaining what happened there, what the work done by NRW was and the advice received by Government, and why the work proceeded in the way that it did. It has certainly caused distress to many people in that area.

Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru 3:01, 16 January 2018

The final thing, if I may—and I don't even know if this is really for the business manager, perhaps possibly for the Presiding Officer, perhaps possibly for us all as an Assembly, but I think it's important to raise it. As Chair of the Finance Committee, I have for the second year in a row tried to get the Secretary of State for Wales to come to the Finance Committee to give, in open, public session, his account of how the devolution of tax powers is happening in Wales. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance was there last week, we've had the Welsh Treasury there, we'll have the revenue authority there this week, and I think that, as the joint holders of tax devolution set out in the Wales Act—it's clearly defined that it's for the Wales Office and the Welsh Government to produce annual reports on how tax devolution is undertaken, and therefore, they are joint stakeholders and holders of this devolution process—I would like to see the Secretary of State give his time to a committee of this Assembly to explain how this is happening. He has pleaded, on two occasions now, diary commitments. Last week—because social media is a wonderful thing—as we were meeting, I saw that the Secretary of State had to pass us in order to go to Swansea to do his engagements. We would have made every arrangement, as I'm sure you are aware, business manager, to accommodate him on his way to Swansea. So, I think there is a message here that we would like to see, when appropriate and when constitutionally responsible for these actions, the Secretary of State making himself available to a committee of this Assembly.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 3:03, 16 January 2018

Well, thank you for those three very important points. On the continuity Bill, we are very much looking forward to Steffan Lewis's debate tomorrow. The Government is supporting it and there's a free vote for the backbenchers. We are very much of the view that it would be better if the UK Government put the right position in its own Bill and made the right amendments and carried out the right set of actions, but, in the absence of that, we are making it very plain—and I'm sure this will come out of the debate tomorrow—that we are prepared to do it in their stead and to co-ordinate with other devolved administrations in so doing. So, I'm very happy to say that we are exactly in the same space and we're very much looking forward to that debate tomorrow.

On the Roath park matter, this is a matter that's been raised with a large number of people over the course of the flood prevention scheme. The Minister will be answering questions as part of the Cabinet Secretary's question time tomorrow, and I'm sure the Member will take every advantage of that. And if he has very specific detailed things he'd like to put to her, perhaps he'd be so good as to write with some of those very specific things. She's here, listening to some of his concerns at the moment.

In terms of the Secretary of State, I completely concur with the Member's analysis of it. I don't think it is a matter for me, actually, but it's clearly the case that the Finance Committee needs to get the very best possible evidence and completely understand both sides of the devolution settlement. So, for what it's worth, I agree that it would be very good indeed if the Secretary of State would be kind enough to give us the benefit of his presence here. And I can't resist—I'm sure, Llywydd, you will forgive me for doing this—but the next time he's in Swansea, perhaps he'd be so good as to announce the underpinning of the tidal lagoon at the same time.

Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 3:04, 16 January 2018

Can I call for two statements from the Cabinet Secretary for Education, please? It was reported widely in the media yesterday that, last year, teachers from 16 of the 22 local authorities had reported incidents of racism. I'm sure you would be very concerned about that, leader of the house. Also, there's been quite a spike, of course, in religious hate crime that has been recorded in Wales. I think lots of schools are trying to do a good job in educating young people about different ethnic groups and religions, but of course, clearly we're not tackling the problem as effectively as we could be. I know there are some trial lessons that are being conducted in Cardiff, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot schools, which I think is a very positive thing, and I just wonder what assessment the Cabinet Secretary for Education has made of the shape of the new curriculum to come, and whether that is being properly informed about these latest trends so that we can make the changes that might be necessary to that. So, I would appreciate a statement from the Cabinet Secretary on that particular issue.

Can I also request a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on online resilience and the support that's being given to young people in schools? There was quite an alarming report from the children's commissioner in England that was published in the new year, which showed that young people are using social media that is designed for older children and adults, and as a result of that, many, particularly when they get to high school, are jumping from a transition where they're primarily playing games on their devices to suddenly being immersed in quite an intense social atmosphere on social media, where they're looking for social validation through likes and responses to some of their posts in an unhealthy way, and they can often have an unhealthy image of the world, particularly if they're following lots of celebrities trying to keep up appearances. It's quite clear to me that this trend is growing, it's becoming an ever-increasing problem in our schools, and we heard in the Children, Young People and Education Committee that self-harm, anxiety and mental health problems—lots of them have their roots in some of the social media that young people are engaging with. So, I think it would be helpful to have an update on some of the work that the Cabinet Secretary for Education has been doing across Wales in encouraging schools to get this online resilience situation sorted so that our children and young people can be protected from these potential harms.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 3:07, 16 January 2018

The Member raises two extremely important points, both of which, as it happens, overlap with my own portfolio, and on which I'm working very closely with the Cabinet Secretary for Education. So, on the first one, in terms of reporting racist hate crimes, faith hate crimes and so on, I think actually it's me who'll be bringing forward a statement in due course on that. I don't have a timetable for that at the moment, but we are in the process of talking, the Cabinet Secretary and I, about some of the major issues around that, and when we've got something to report back on this very important topic—. I think it will be me, I'm not absolutely certain, but one of us will be bringing forward a statement to say where we've got with that. That will include a number of things, not just the curriculum and teachers' issues, but the wider issue in Wales, which is very important. And, of course, the educational sector sits within that wider sector and is very influential in it. So we'll be looking at both of those.

In terms of online resilience, the Member also raises a very important point there. The Welsh Government has done an enormous amount of work in primary schools, actually, with the internet rangers, I think they're called, in some schools. There are internet guardians—there was one primary school I visited where they were called the internet guardians. Basically, they're primary school-aged children supporting each other to understand what the effect will be, particularly in year 6 and in the transition into secondary school. Because the Member's absolutely right; he identifies the change in tone and so on there, and I know that's very much part of the new curriculum roll-out, and very much part of the Hwb resources that we've put in place as well. Again, the Cabinet Secretary and I are working very closely together in terms of how we do that as we go forward into the digital age as part of my portfolio: how we make sure that, again, not only schoolchildren—although it's very important for schoolchildren—but actually also things like small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs, people who are running small rural businesses and so on, absolutely themselves stay safe online, make the best of the internet opportunities, but actually do things like protect their intellectual property properly, have the right resilience, cyber security resilience, and so on. It's all part of the same picture as we move forward. So, the Member I hope will be reassured that we are in discussions about that, and again, in due course, when we've got something to report back about where we are, we will be doing so.

Photo of Llyr Gruffydd Llyr Gruffydd Plaid Cymru 3:10, 16 January 2018

(Translated)

May I ask for a statement from the health Secretary on the impact that cuts to the all-Wales school liaison core programme, or SchoolBeat, will have on the important work that that programme delivers? I know that in north Wales, it employs 16 officials who visit all schools and convey important messages to the children, from the youngest at age four up to those at age 16, on issues such as learning about the dangers of the misuse of drugs and substances, safety online, sexting, domestic abuse and so on and so forth. Cutting that budget, as far as I understand it, would mean that that service could be left with only eight officials in north Wales, which would mean that they would only visit secondary schools. Now, given the emphasis of the Government and many of us here on the need to tackle adverse childhood experiences, wouldn't cutting this service be a retrograde step in terms of tackling some of those problems? Of course, it would undermine an important means of conveying very important messages directly to the young people who could be impacted by them. So, I would appreciate a statement on that.

I would also ask for antoher statement. May I be one of the first to welcome the written statement released within the last hour and a bit on additional capital funding from the Government, particularly, of course, the additional element in terms of twenty-first century schools? We as a party have been eager to see a specific element for encouraging Welsh-medium education, and I recognise the fact that the Government has allocated £30 million this year and £30 million for ensuing years, and has stated in that statement that that is a priority that you share with us in Plaid Cymru. So, given that, can we have an early statement from the Minister for Welsh language to outline the criteria that she will use for distributing that additional funding? And also to endorse the fact that we shouldn't see that additional £30 million as the provision for Welsh-medium education, but that there is a clear emphasis in terms of twenty-first century schools in its entirety, still having to operate proactively to promote Welsh-medium education, and that that £30 million is additional and offers additionality to that too. I think it's important that that message isn't lost.    

(Translated)

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

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 3:12, 16 January 2018

Well, thank you very much for that. That's very important. In terms of the first one, we have a large number of very difficult decisions to make in terms of resourcing and so on, but one of the things that's really good about where we are in schools' resilience is the fact that we have now got Hwb out to every single school and pupil across Wales. And although it's not quite the same as hearing somebody in person, we can now get a lot of those resources onto Hwb and make sure that, actually, all schools have access to some of that material. I'm sure the Cabinet Secretary's looking very carefully at that, and if Llyr would like to write to the Cabinet Secretary and outline some of the very specific concerns, I'm sure she can address that in the light of some of the developments that we've had. I've been having some discussions with her where it overlaps my own portfolio about how we can use those resources in just that way to make sure that all schools benefit from some of the things where it's not possible to get individually around all of them.

In terms of the Welsh language additional funding, I'm told that it frees up the additional £13 million for future years, so the Member should be reassured about that. And, again, in terms of the very specific issues, I think the Minister is taking those into account, and she is due to come forward with a statement. I'm not quite sure what the timescale for that is, but I know she is due to come forward with a statement on where she is with some of the revisions for the Welsh language policy, and I'm sure she'll take that into account when that statement does come forward in due course.

Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 3:14, 16 January 2018

Leader of the house, I was very pleased to host the exhibition in the Pierhead this afternoon to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act 1967, but I think Assembly Members present were all somewhat shocked to hear just how little progress has been made in this last half-century in dealing with the inequalities of abortion access in Wales. Because we seem to be in a much worse position than in other parts of Britain, and, as a result, women are having their access to abortion artificially delayed by being forced to see their GP before they can access the gynae services that they require, and many of those who are being referred to the voluntary sector are having to pay £600 themselves because of these delays, and also having to have surgical abortions because it's too late for them to have a medical abortion, which obviously is much less invasive. So, I wondered if we could have the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on how he would be able to address this. I think there is an outlier, Gwent, which is very good at referring people who they can't accommodate themselves to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, but other health boards do not have a good record. I think, across the Chamber, there should be alarm about this and we need to know how we're going to deal with this in the future.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 3:15, 16 January 2018

Well, thank you for raising that extremely important matter. The Cabinet Secretary for health is here listening to your concerns and I think he's indicating that he'd very much welcome a meeting with you to discuss those concerns further and see what we can do to take them forward.

Photo of Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay Conservative

Leader of the house, I'm delighted to announce to the Chamber that the Freshwater Habitats Trust have appointed me as the Assembly's new species champion for the freshwater pearl mussel as part of their #ShowTheLove campaign, a role that I am going to relish, I'm sure. I'll be raising many questions on protecting that species with the Cabinet Secretary when I bed into the role—on the sea bed. [Laughter.]

In the meantime, on the broader issue of the marine environment, in the news at the moment is, of course, the problem of plastic pollution. We know that the UK Government and the Scottish Government as well—. Supermarkets such as Iceland, in particular, have said that they plan to eliminate plastic packaging from all of their brands by 2023, I think it is. I wonder if we could have a statement from the Welsh Government, or a debate even, on how you intend to support moves such as this.

I think that supermarkets such as Iceland, in making these bold moves, do deserve support. I think it would be good if we could encourage behaviour like this across the board so that our marine environment can be cleaned up from this awful plastic pollution as soon as possible, so that wider species than the freshwater pearl mussel can appreciate the clean oceans and clean seas and aquatic environment they deserve.

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 3:17, 16 January 2018

The Member raises an extremely important point, and I cannot resist taking the opportunity to say that I'm the species champion for the native oyster, as it happens. I see he and I have a very similar view about delicious species in order to be their champion. Swansea bay has recently been reseeded with the native oyster, so the issue about plastic pollution in our marine environment is extremely important.

Of course, Wales has done extremely well in its recycling. We're second only to Germany. I'm sure that the Cabinet Secretary has the ambition to be top as well. We have done extremely well—that's not to say that more can't be done. It's a very important point that the Cabinet Secretary takes extremely seriously. I think the Member has done very well to raise it. But we can be proud here in Wales of the recycling that we've already done and of how encouraged we are by the individual action both by Welsh companies like Iceland and also by Welsh individuals who take very seriously their personal responsibility for trying to limit the number of single-use plastics and so on.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I'm sorry to ask for this indulgence, but if I could just recommend to Members that they all look into using bamboo toothbrushes and not having plastic straws in their drinks, then I for one would think that this business statement had a very good outcome.