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

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

Leader of the house, could we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for rural affairs in relation to the horrendous story that's running today about badger baiting here in Wales? I appreciate it's cross-agency and cross-sector, and some of the responsibilities are in Westminster, some of those responsibilities around animal health and welfare are here in the Assembly. But wherever that responsibility lies, it is an horrendous story of animal abuse that should not be tolerated in any civilised country, and we need to act on this evidence that has been brought forward by the BBC today. In particular, it does indicate—and I appreciate the individual who's indicated and said that he does not participate in any of this—that an individual has an order against him about owning dogs for breeding purposes, and yet the evidence points to the fact that he is breeding dogs.

We as a country need to show a lead on this, and I would hope that the Cabinet Secretary would bring forward a statement on how she, with her officials, could bring the agencies together that can look at this, and, wherever it is happening across Wales, make sure that it is stamped out and stopped here and now.

I think we all share your concerns; we've all heard the trailers and so on for the programme, which I believe is going out tonight in its entirety. We will be very carefully looking at that and looking at the evidence, and the Cabinet Secretary's indicating to me that, of course, she shares your concerns and we will be responding appropriately to that, because I think we were all appalled by some of the stories of cruelty, both to the badgers and to the dogs involved, actually.

I've got three requests for statements, if that's okay; I'll try and be brief. I've been told by residents and councillors in Bridgend that they've been unable to access the council's planning portal for a number of months now, and it's been on and offline in a very ad hoc fashion. I'm raising it here because the constituents are coming to me saying that they want to look at current planning applications—to have views on them or to appeal against them—and they can't seem to do that. So, I was wondering whether we could have a statement from the Welsh Government to councils generally about guidance as to how those planning portals should operate, because these constituents of mine may miss opportunities to put views forward on planning applications if the current situation is maintained.

The second request for a statement is with regard to the touring circus of wild animals that is currently taking place. There's a tour in south Wales and in north Wales—it was in Porthcawl last week. I had a meeting with RSPCA Cymru this week, and they said to me that the reason why it's in Porthcawl is the fact that there's a lease with Bridgend council of events that then ties them into a long-term contract with this particular exhibitor. I'm wondering if you can give us a statement on what research you've done of other councils, and this particular council, who are in similar situations, because if they're in these long-term leases, and if there is a move to ban wild animals in circuses—a move I hope we will get a statement on soon—then we need to be aware that these long-term leases may impinge on that particular process.

My third request is with regard to a statement—the UK Government's report last week—on cladding as a result of Grenfell. I know that the UK Government has said that they're going to consult on banning inflammable cladding, and on a UK level, the Labour UK group has said, 'Don't consult on it, ban it', and here the Minister has said that she's going to take some time to consider the options. I would like to have a statement sooner rather than later to understand what is going to be the Welsh line, because, of course, people are coming to me as housing spokesperson to ask us what is happening in Wales. So, I'd appreciate a statement to that end.

Thank you for those three very important issues. On the first, the planning portal, it would be really helpful, if you haven't already, to write in and say what the specifics are. There is guidance already in existence for the running of the planning portals, so it will be interesting to see whether there's some particular issue of not complying with that guidance. So, I'm not sure if you're written already—if you haven't, then I would suggest you do so. And then if there is a general issue with the guidance, we can have a look at that.

In terms of the circuses and animals, as you said, we're in the process of considering what to do. There's a consensus view in here that wild animals in circuses is not a good thing to see. I'm certain that part of the legislation that comes forward will deal with existing leasehold arrangements and the protection for people who might be caught in such a situation. But it's worth while to have brought it forward, and I know the Minister was listening carefully to you as you mentioned it. There will be other peripheral issues as well—that we need to make sure that any ban has complete effect, and that we make the legislation appropriate to that, which is what the Minister is considering.

And then, in terms of Grenfell, and the Minister is nodding vigorously behind me, we will be looking carefully at what's happening and bringing a statement forward as soon as we're in a position to do so, because that's—. Obviously, we've all been reminded of the appalling tragedy of Grenfell over the last few days, and I don't know about you, but some of the reports in the media yesterday had me in floods of tears all over again. So, clearly, we need to do something to make sure that no such tragedy can ever happen again.

I would like to ask for two statements—the first statement on Welsh Government action to improve electrical safety, following electrical fires in Mid and West Wales in the last two years. There have been 121 due to faulty equipment or appliances, 119 due to faulty electric supply, 15 from faulty leads and 52 from overheating. Those are serious problems. I'd like to have a Welsh Government statement on that.

I don't make any apologies for going back to the job losses in Virgin, yet again, for the second statement I'm going to ask for, because, as you know, it's a matter of grave concern in our part of the world. We met with representatives of the workforce last week, who came along, and they were concerned about when they would, firstly, start having people going in to talk to them and to see them, and, secondly, a number of firms, including Admiral—who have gone public on it—have offered to speak to them and to see if their skills meet Admiral's skills shortage. But if they're leaving because they're about to be made redundant, they believe they ought to get their redundancy pay, because they're declared redundant, rather than having to wait until the last day. The third one is that some of them would want to use their redundancy pay in order to support additional training, of which only a certain proportion would be paid for by ReAct, in order to upskill themselves. If they have their redundancy pay, the courses might start before the end of the closure. So, really, any updates would be really appreciated by the—sorry, why am I telling you? You know this. [Laughter.] Any updates would be really appreciated by the people working there.

Absolutely. Thank you for both of those important issues. On electrical fire safety, as I'm sure we all remember, Carl Sargeant said to the Assembly last year that we had real concerns about the growth in domestic fires originating in the electrical supply, and he commissioned in-depth research into the problem, which is now complete. It examines the extent and possible cause of the trend in detail and recommends further action by the fire service and others. The Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services is about to publish that research, and then we'll be able to react appropriately to the research and put the appropriate measures in place. I know the Member has had a long-standing concern about such matters.

In terms of the Virgin Media situation, indeed, obviously, we share a number of concerns on this, as do all of the AMs in the region. We've all attended a number of meetings. We have now given assistance to the staff association there to come up with a possible alternative bid, as discussed at the meeting we were at. We've also put the taskforce in place, so that funding will be available as soon as the taskforce is allowed entry, and my understanding is that that will be as soon as the consultation process is finished, which is any minute now—at the end of this week, I think, but I'll check on the exact date on that. My understanding is that, in line with all the other events that we've, unfortunately, had to deal with, the taskforce will then go in, once that consultation is complete. If something changes on that, or there's some difficulty with the company in allowing access to those funds, I will certainly report back to the Senedd, because it's a matter of huge concern to us that the workers are treated fairly and appropriately during this really very unsettling process, and that the Welsh Government can give them as much assistance as we possibly can.

May I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on schools admission policy in Wales? Assembly Members will be aware that compulsory school age is the beginning of the term following a child's fifth birthday. However, this puts children born between 1 April and 31 August, known as summer-born children, at a disadvantage. Parents of four-year-old children who have not reached emotional, social or academic maturity and readiness for school are being forced to enrol their child a whole year earlier or to have the child's education entitlement reduced by one year with obligatory entrance to year 1. I have been contacted by a parent in Newport who, in spite of evidence from professionals confirming her child will suffer if forced to start school this year, or year 1 next year, is still being denied a reception start in 2019. In England, the UK Government has indicated its intention to give summer-born children the right to start in reception at the age of five. Can I ask for a statement on what action the Cabinet Secretary for Education will take to end this injustice forced upon summer-born children in Wales please?

Well, of course, a large number of children are covered by the foundation phase in Welsh schools, which takes away some of those difficulties. But if the Member has a specific problem with a particular child, I suggest he writes directly to the Cabinet Secretary with that specific problem because I don't see any reason why that child wouldn't be normally covered by the foundation phase arrangements, which smooth out the specific problem that he mentioned for most children in Wales. 

Could I ask for two statements or actions from the Government? Fist of all, can we start with the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill? Since we passed the legislative consent motion as an Assembly, the Lords has amended the Bill. As it happened, it placed the environmental principles on the face of the Bill, something I support, but we weren't consulted about, so we see what this process leads us to. Professor Tim Lang yesterday told an Assembly committee that Wales was now steamrollerable on agricultural policy due to our acquiescence on the Bill. Michael Gove told a policy exchange think tank yesterday that, in fact, the work had not ended on deciding which areas were going where when they returned from the European Union, potentially adding to the 26 that are already set out in the inter-governmental agreement. And, ironically, after we passed our LCM, the House of Commons has decided that it's not going to deal with the EU Bill for some weeks now, rather underlining the point I was making that you had plenty of time to do a better deal.

So, what now? Can we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, who's responsible for this, setting out exactly how the Assembly will now be kept informed as regards the changes to the Bill? We have no further control over this; we've passed the LCM. But amendments will be made. Timing will happen. Things will have happened at a different stage in the House of Commons, and there's a potential for ping-pong back and forth between the Lords and the Commons on this. I think it's important for us to understand how we will now be kept informed of that. The spirit of informing the Assembly is in the inter-governmental agreement and you've signed up to that. So, can we have a statement setting out how this will be taken step by step and whether perhaps, if necessary, we will have some further debates in Government time on some principles that might emerge over the forthcoming weeks, because we don't think the work is finished on what the Government thinks it's going to do on these areas yet? So, that's one area. 

The second I'd like a statement on from the Government, if possible—or perhaps a letter to Members would be appropriate in this regard as well—is, of course, regarding the referendum in the Republic of Ireland on Friday—a referendum called 'Repeal the 8th'. This is nothing to do with the Welsh Assembly, of course, nothing to do with us, except that, in a way, it is, because many Irish citizens live in Wales and are able to vote in this referendum. Many colleges, I read elsewhere, have been helping students to return home to vote in the referendum, and I'd be interested to understand whether that process has been followed here in Wales. If Repeal the 8th is not successful, then we can assume that Irish women will continue to travel to Wales and the rest of the UK in order to have abortions. This is the kind of strange situation that the Republic's in at the moment, that it tolerates abortion as long as it doesn't happen within the Republic of Ireland, of course. So, there is an interest here, and I'd be interested to know whether the Welsh Government has had any interventions with Irish citizens, with the Irish Embassy, supporting the ability for Irish citizens to return to vote in the Irish referendum. And perhaps all of us can say 'Tá' to Repeal the 8th. 

On that one, I'm afraid I just don't know the answer to that, so I'll make sure that all Members are written to to say what the situation is. Obviously, many of us have been following the situation there with keen attention, (a) because it impacts on our services, as the Member has pointed out, but, actually, (b) because we have a long-standing commitment to proper services for women and the situation in the Republic of Ireland is outwith a large number of liberal democracies and all of the values that we stand for. So, we've all been following it with some interest, but I'm afraid I don't know the specifics about citizens returning home, so I'll make sure that a letter is given to all Assembly Members saying whether we've done anything. I'm not aware if we have or not. 

In terms of the EU withdrawal Bill, yes, there's a certain amount of disarray, I think it's fair to say, in what's happened with the Lords and so on. We're obviously keeping a keen eye on that. I disagree with the statements made by both of the Ministers that you quote for reasons that I won't spend 25 minutes expanding on or the Llywydd will be cross. But of course the Cabinet Secretary will be updating the Senedd very frequently as the situation changes, and indeed it's very possible that some of the amendments will be lifted out and put into the next Bill, for example, and a number of other things are now on the cards. So, it's extremely important that this Senedd is kept completely up to date with where we are. And, obviously, as the Cabinet Secretary said during the LCM process actually, if the situation changes in any material way, then of course we would have to reconsider it. So, absolutely, the Member raises a very important point, and the situation is—I think the standard phrase is—'fluid' and 'interesting', and, Llywydd, I think we all now live inside the Chinese proverb of 'living in interesting times'.

Formerly known as Dementia Awareness Week, 21-27 May is Dementia Action Week 2018, and I call for a Welsh Government statement accordingly. As most Members are fully aware, there are 45,000 people in Wales estimated to have dementia. This is expected to rise 35 per cent over the next couple of decades, yet only around half of individuals in Wales with dementia have a diagnosis. Four years ago, I became a dementia friend. Three months ago, my father, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, died after a fall. My eldest son is having his hair shaved on 1 June to raise money for Alzheimer's Society. He says, 'I can't change what has happened, but I can help to find a solution.' If any Members feel able to go on to Just Giving, even with £1, that would be much appreciated.

On Wednesday, BBC One are showing a programme, The Toddlers who Took on Dementia, following a recent experiment conducted by Bangor University in Old Colwyn's dementia care home, Llys Elian, with a group of young toddlers sharing three days with older residents, to see whether spending time with them may help fight the effects of dementia. Again, I've been asked to commend that programme to this Assembly, and to others, hopefully, outside who are hearing this.

In May 2016, Alzheimer's Society hosted many AMs at their event in the Wales Millennium Centre, about their work on creating dementia-friendly communities in Wales. In February, Alzheimer's Society and Ageing Well in Wales held a 'What next for dementia-friendly communities in north Wales?' event.

We know that the Older People's Commissioner for Wales's 'Dementia: more than just memory loss' report in 2016 identified a continuing lack of knowledge and understanding of dementia. We also know, at that stage, Alzheimer's Society were calling for the then proposed Welsh Government dementia strategy to set out clear targets for increased dementia diagnosis rates, currently then the lowest in any UK nation. In February 2018, the Welsh Government launched its dementia action plan, but delivery, I think as the Minister said in his foreword, will be the measure of its success. So, the dementia challenge we all share is the one that we must all rise up to. And I therefore call for a Welsh Government statement in Dementia Action Week 2018 accordingly.

The Member makes a series of very important points about dementia. It's a horrendous illness, syndrome, to have to live with, and we've all been, I hope, supporting dementia-friendly week; I'm sporting the badge myself. Also, I'm a dementia friend, and my whole office did the training; anybody who hasn't done it, I would highly recommend they do. Of course, we have just put out the action plan. I'm delighted to say that a large number of people living with dementia, and groups supporting or representing people living with dementia, were very much part of that process. And one of my own constituents took a very prominent role in it, and I've had the opportunity to discuss that with the Cabinet Secretary on a number of occasions. So, it's a very important matter that the Member raises, and I'm delighted to see both that we have an event here in the Senedd today highlighting it, and that the Member has been able to do so.

Leader of the house, as members of the cross-party group on vision, we hear some pretty distressing stories of eye care patients suffering horrendous delays to their treatment, and delays to follow-up care is a major issue across Wales. Last week, I asked Welsh Government to release data around the extent of the follow-up care problem in Wales, by health board, as these figures are not reported publicly. The data is shocking, and shows that, of the 114,000 patients waiting for a follow-up appointment in Wales at the end of March this year, 54,000 of them have waited in excess of their clinically agreed review date. Why is that important? Well, clinical audits have shown that around 90 per cent of patients on ophthalmology follow-up lists suffer from conditions such as wet age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy—conditions which if not treated within the clinically agreed follow-up interval mean that patients are at risk of irreversible harm or blindness. The situation is scandalous and there is a clear mismatch in terms of capacity and demand within the system, a situation that has been going on for years. In light of these shocking figures, will the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services agree to bring forward a statement to this Chamber that will outline how he is going to tackle these scandalous waits for eye care patients? 

Yes, it's a very important matter. Actually, Llywydd, can I just declare a personal interest? My husband is actually waiting for a vision appointment just at the moment, and I know various Members are aware of that. So, I just want to put that on record. 

I know that there's a national pilot out at the moment. The Cabinet Secretary is indicating to me that once the national pilot has reported, and in light of the matters raised by Dai Lloyd, that he's more than happy to update the Assembly at that point. 

You mentioned the dementia friendly event upstairs at lunchtime, leader of the house. Next door was the event—. You probably can't see, unless you have got super-duper vision, my badge there for the occupational therapists who were in the room next door. It was great meeting occupational therapists from across Wales, including from Neath Port Talbot Hospital, who enlightened me as to how much work they do dealing with mental health issues as well. So, it occurs to me that occupational therapy isn't just about managing the traditional areas, it's also very important in taking strain off other areas of the health service in terms of dealing with those people, so I wonder if we could have a statement from the health Secretary on support being given to occupational therapists in Wales. 

Secondly, and finally, we've got the summer recess in the not-too-far-distant future now. I wonder if we could have an update from the Cabinet Secretary for infrastructure on the Heads of the Valleys road. I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services was visiting that scheme recently. I have visited as well; it's a fantastic scheme. I'm very impressed with the design and the people working on the scheme, but we do know it's had problems with being over budget and over time, and not just the normal type of slippage times but by a considerable amount of time, and local people have expressed concerns about that. So, could we have an update from the Cabinet Secretary as to when we envisage that phase of the project being complete, and also how we intend to capitalise on that scheme in the long run, so that the Member for Blaenau Gwent and I, as the Member for Monmouthshire, can say to our local populations that the Welsh Government really is going to hit the ground running once that development is complete and we can build the economic growth in that area? 

Yes, I think there must have been a procession of visits, because I've also been. It's very impressive indeed. Both Cabinet Secretaries are nodding happily at me and saying that there'll be an update before the summer recess on that matter. 

In terms of the occupational health, absolutely, it's a very important element in some of the mental health arrangements that we have and the Cabinet Secretary is reminding me that, of course, we've increased the amount of training and recognition that we give to occupational health practitioners and that they are, of course, a very important part of the structure of clinicians across Wales. 

Many of us will have been shocked by the statistics published last week that over 77,000 work days had been lost in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board because of stress and anxiety amongst staff. Now, not only has that cost almost £5.5 million to the board, but it represents an increase of 17 per cent in absences in just six years. This board, as I mentioned earlier, is under the direct management of this Government. I note in the business statement that the Cabinet Secretary will give an update on the situation at the Betsi Cadwaladr health board next week. Can I, therefore, ask you to ensure that there will be a direct response to the situation that I’ve just referred to, because, to me, that is one of the fundamental problems? It reflects the failure of your Government to tackle ensuring that there is sufficient workforce in place and that is having the impact that I’ve just described.

Yes, the Cabinet Secretary is indicating that he is going to do exactly that when he updates the Senedd next week. 

I rise, once again, with regret, to raise concerns about governance at Caerphilly County Borough Council, increasingly the wild west of Welsh local government. A freedom of information request by Plaid Cymru has revealed that nine former members of staff have been re-employed after receiving early retirement, severance or redundancy. This is, of course, contrary to the council's own policy and raises real concerns that pay-offs could have been received by individuals who were consequently re-employed by the council. Can we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for local government on whether or not he deems that the local authority has acted appropriately on these occasions? Indeed, can we have a broader statement from the Cabinet Secretary on governance in Caerphilly council more generally?

Yes, there is, of course, as I'm sure Steffan Lewis knows, a very serious set of rules and regulations around what can be received by way of payments once you're in receipt of a local government pension. The scheme is very rigid in that regard and there are a very serious set of rules around that. So, if you have details of those, I'm sure, if you write in to the Cabinet Secretary, he'll take very seriously looking at whether those schemes have been adhered to.

Thank you, leader of the house.