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

Diolch, Llywydd. There's just one change to report to today's business, which is to reduce the length of this afternoon's Stage 3 debate on the Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill. Business for the next three weeks is shown on the business statement and announcement found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

May I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for local government on the level of fees that local authorities in Wales are able to charge for their services? I have been contacted by a constituent in Newport who is involved in a dispute over the height of trees in a neighbouring property. He has now approached Newport City Council for help, but they're charging £320 before they will even consider the complaint. Could we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary on whether he believes that the scale of these fees is appropriate, and whether he will lower the cap to ensure that they're not used to boost the income of local authorities by fleecing local residents?

Yes, I think that's the sort of issue that the Member should raise as a constituency issue with the Cabinet Secretary by way of correspondence.

Could I raise two issues with the leader of the house? First of all, could I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services regarding the interoperability of the performers list in Wales and England? This is, as I understand it, the list that allows GPs to come from England to practice in Wales and, I suppose, vice versa. It's been raised with me several times by GPs in my region. I have got a particular issue at the moment in the Dyfi valley, where, for example, a practice has tried to get three locums recently. One locum took six months to get onto the performers list in Wales. Another one took two months to get onto the performers list in Wales, even though he was actually working in Bristol checking blood tests, but because the blood tests were from Wales, he had to be on the performers list in Wales. Two months' delay to do that is, I think, inordinate, when you think about it.

I don't understand the full background as to why we can't have a completely interoperable list here. Of course I support the devolution of health services in Wales, but I want us to share commonality with England in that regard. It is what's stopping many GP practices successfully using locums in the most appropriate and effective way. They are engaging with them, paying some initial costs for them, and then they are not actually working for them for several months. This is what's holding back many GP practices, actually, not their willingness or otherwise to answer the phones in the morning. That's just a way of rationing services, and let's be honest about it; we may as well face that fact. So, can we have a statement or a letter to AMs about how this works, why there are problems, and why I'm receiving GPs contacting me with months' delays in simply getting fully qualified GPs, who are on the list in England and can work as GPs in England? To my mind, they should simply cross the border with a tick-box and we should have a way of doing that.

The second issue I'd like to raise with you isn't for a statement, but it is very much around the business of the Assembly for the next couple of days. We've had a little bit of a ding-dong around whether the First Minister does involve himself in Westminster politics or not. I think we concluded that he does, and I think that we all have an interest in what's happening in Westminster today. We have the debates and the amendments on the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill from the House of Lords, and we have one and a half hours to discuss the whole bunch of amendments around devolution, around the operation of both Wales and Scotland, which I think is a disgrace—that so little time has been allowed for that debate. But, within that set of devolution amendments, we have amendments that potentially affect our legislative competence here.

We have an amendment from your party—from Jeremy Corbyn himself, with Keir Starmer as the seconder—that changes the five-year rule that we have at the moment, around regulations carrying on for five years post the operation of the EU withdrawal Bill, to three years. That itself is different to your inter-governmental agreement. The inter-governmental agreement allows for five plus two. Your own Labour leader is saying it should be three plus two. So, straight away, something that we voted on—Plaid Cymru certainly didn't support it, but we voted on it as an Assembly several weeks ago—could be changed today in the House of Commons with a different set of amendments.

This does underline, I think, just how chaotic Westminster is in dealing with devolution and, I have to say, to be frank, it underlines a lack of coherence in your own party in the way that you are addressing this. I won't rehearse the old arguments we've put forward that you did this inter-governmental agreement too early and you did it in haste and maybe you are now repenting at leisure, but can you tell the Assembly how you will deal with these issues as you receive reports from the House of Commons? As we see any impact on the devolution settlement, how do you intend to give us that information, and how do you intend that the Assembly, over the next few days, should respond to some of those amendments that might now change the EU withdrawal Bill?        

Yes, well, on that second one, we're confident that the amendments are unlikely to have an effect on the LCM. The LCM was drafted in such a way as to be quite resilient in that regard, but obviously we will be keeping an eye on what's happening in Westminster. If anything happens that does affect that—and we think that's very unlikely—then, obviously, discussions with the Llywydd about how to deal with that will take place. But, I emphasise that we think that's unlikely at the moment. We always did say that we thought the position could be improved, but that we were happy with where it had got to, and that remains the situation. But, we are obviously keeping a weather eye on what's going on and, indeed, it has been the subject of some discussion between the Llywydd and ourselves, about keeping that weather eye on it. We'll be doing that this week, and many of us will be taking a very large interest in what happens this week, for obvious reasons, as you said.

In terms of the other matter, I will discuss with the Cabinet Secretary for health the best way of making sure that Members have all the information necessary to understand the system. I think that's probably likely to be by letter to AMs, but I'll have a discussion with him to make sure that Members are in possession of all the information that they need in order to be able to understand how that system operates.

Last week, we had the very bad news that House of Fraser is closing stores in south Wales. In Cardiff, it's in the iconic Howells building, and of course House of Fraser in Cwmbran, too, is closing, and that will mean the loss of 438 jobs in total. I know some of my constituents work in Howells in Cardiff, which is in Jenny Rathbone's constituency in the centre of Cardiff. So, this is a real, terrible blow. Certainly in Cardiff, Howells store opened in 1865, and most people in Cardiff know somebody who worked there or did something there, including my auntie, who worked there, and everywhere you go, Howells has been such an iconic store. Of course, it is an awful blow as well because I understand that that store was actually making a profit, although it's part of the rescue deal for the House of Fraser as a whole. So, could we have a statement about what help can be given to the members of staff, the affected staff, and also can we have a debate about the future of the high street, because I think this closure and other recent closures mean that we really have to look at these threats to our high streets?

Yes, the Member raises a very important point, and these big-store closures are a real worry. The Cabinet Secretary is saying that he is very happy to write to Members and set out exactly what we're doing, but it's a combination of our usual—I'm afraid to say 'usual'; unfortunately, we have some experience of large redundancy situations in Wales. So, we have a response to that, which includes our ReAct 3 programme, providing a compressive package of support to people who do find themselves in this situation. The aim of the programme is very much to help people facing redundancy, or people who are actually redundant workers in Wales, to be able to reuse their skills in the local economy as much as humanly possible. We will support and work with House of Fraser and any company making those sorts of announcements to see what can be done. There's a range of advice available via Business Wales, and, of course, retail is identified as a priority sector in the economic action plan. But the Cabinet Secretary is indicating his willingness to write to all Members and say exactly what the situation with this announcement actually is.

I wonder whether we could have a statement on how the Welsh Government is promoting the arts in international festivals worldwide. I ask because I've had representation from a poet currently living in Brittany, originally from Wales, who is interested in the promotion of Wales at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany. Seventy thousand people go to that festival. In 2006, it was the year of Wales, and there was much promotion around it, but she said that since 2006, and I quote,

'a stand with a plate of Welsh cakes, some uninspiring leaflets and a cask of Felinfoel is all that's been an offer.'

I'm sure people enjoyed the Felinfoel, but it doesn't seem to be as wide an offer as we would be able to give of Wales in international festivals. She's very passionate about Wales, living there, coming from Wales, and I was wondering if you could update us on what you're doing to promote this festival and others, so that people can enjoy the Welsh culture abroad.

My second question is: we saw, did we not, how Scotland beat England in the cricket recently? We've had a debate here, via the Petitions Committee, about the creation of a Welsh cricket team. People said, 'Well, they'd only be playing Scotland, so that's not a very good thing to aspire to', but now we've seen Scotland beating England and we want to have a cricket team for our nation, so that we can celebrate, as Scotland is currently celebrating. So, I was wondering if we could have an update from the Welsh Government on their views on this. I know there has been a clash of views, but will they reconsider in light of what has happened in Scotland?

I have to admire the Member's optimism that the creation of a team immediately brings a celebratory reason. As somebody from Swansea, I have to tell you that that isn't always the case. I'm tempted to say, 'Be careful for what you wish sometimes', but the Cabinet Secretary is here, listening to that, and I'm sure he took it on board. I'm sure there are lots of good cricket players across Wales who'd be able to put a team together, but, as somebody from Swansea, I'm a little hesitant at the moment about talking about the endless celebration of teams, as we're still in mourning, obviously, about the situation of the Swans.

In terms of the arts worldwide, I had the real pleasure of being on the Welsh stall at the research and innovation conference in London last week, launching Graeme Reid's report on research and innovation in Wales. It was great to be able to celebrate a very large range of Welsh contributions to arts, culture and intellectual endeavour across the world. So, I take your point, and I'm happy to discuss with the Cabinet Secretary where we are at the moment. I was able to go to several festivals during the year of Wales, and it was great to be able to see that. So, I'll have a discussion with the Cabinet Secretary about what's currently happening and what we can do to make sure that Members are aware.

Leader of the house, you will be aware of the Scottish Government's decision to hold an inquiry into the policing of the miners' strike, and you'll be aware that this is a result of the UK Government's refusal, on a number of occasions—the Home Secretaries, Amber Rudd, and then Teresa May, whom I met with on the occasions, refusing to hold such an inquiry, despite considerable amounts of new evidence and documentation coming. And the reason it's important is not only the number of Welsh miners who were arrested, charged and then successfully prosecuted—took action against—the police for malicious prosecution, but it's the fabrication of evidence and the abuse of power that occurred, and where the orders for that abuse came from. Its relevance, of course, being that that conduct was, of course, then repeated subsequently at Hillsborough and then at the Rotherham inquiries. And that is why that conduct's important. Now, Scotland can have the inquiry because the situation with policing there is devolved, and we can't. Can I ask then that what the Welsh Government will do is that it will formally support the actions of the Scottish Government in holding its own inquiry there, but it will also make further representations to the new Home Secretary that it's about time the UK Government now held that inquiry, disclosed the documentation that is available? Because there are real questions to answer about abuse of power, where the orders actually came from, and one can only ask the question: what has the Tory Government got to hide?

Yes, I think the Member makes a series of excellent points. It's long overdue that such an inquiry takes place. The Cabinet Secretary is indicating his extreme willingness to do both of those things: both support the Scottish Government, and to write to the new Home Secretary—we haven't written to this Home Secretary, so to write to this Home Secretary and urge that such an inquiry takes place to cover the situation in England and Wales.

Could we have a statement from the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Care on the future of the Child Minding and Day Care Exceptions (Wales) Order 2010? Members will be aware that this is the instrument that excludes registered childminders from Government funding if they are caring for the children of relatives. I think perhaps it's a good time to look again at those exceptions in light of the disappointing uptake in the Government's childcare scheme—now might be a good time to reconsider the exceptions to see whether that scheme can be expanded and that uptake can be enhanced. So, could we have an update and a statement from that Minister on this issue as soon as possible, please?

The Minister's indicated that he's looking at the situation with regard to looking after relatives' children and what can be done to ensure both that the safeguarding laws are interpreted properly, but also that we facilitate it in various—I mean, there are any amount of scenarios to be looked at. But he's already indicated his willingness to do that, and I'll make sure that he indicates the timescale for that to all Members as well.

Can I welcome, leader of the house, the fact that Stella Creasy MP secured cross-party support for the emergency debate on the Northern Ireland abortion law last week? The debate didn't hit the headlines, but it was Anna Soubry who reminded the DUP that 724 women come to the UK every year to have an abortion, as MPs last week called for urgent action to reform the law in Northern Ireland. Does the leader of the house agree that Stella Creasy has identified an opportunity for Northern Ireland and devolved nations to consider a new legislative framework to decriminalise abortions up to 24 weeks by amending the 1861 Act, which in fact was amended by the Abortion Act 1967? And can we ask the Welsh Government to consider this legislative prospect?

I was very pleased to see that Stella Creasy got that debate. I know the health Secretary is very keen on looking to see what we can do to assist. And I'm sure that he'll be very happy to consider what we can do, if we can, to help people who are stuck in that situation, which is something that is—well, it's beyond contemplation what somebody goes through if they're put into that position. So, I know that he'll be very happy to look at that.  

Leader of the house, this lunchtime, I was pleased to attend an event hosted by Julie Morgan for Breast Cancer Care at the Pierhead, and I know that other Members—Siân Gwenllian, Jenny Rathbone, I think, as well, and Hannah Blythyn—attended. It was an excellent, very moving event actually hearing the first-hand experiences of sufferers from breast cancer. The organisation seeks to provide better all-round care following medical treatment for breast cancer. So, I wonder, in light of that event and some of the very interesting issues raised, whether we can have a statement from the Welsh Government on how you intend to support organisations like this so that people who have had breast cancer surgery don't feel that they're all at sea after that, but they feel that they do have that all-round care and support that they need to make a full and lasting recovery. 

Yes, I'm sure the health Secretary will be more than happy to update Members on what the post breast cancer care is. The Member will be aware that I myself am a survivor of breast cancer, and I have to say I was extremely grateful for all the support that I received. It is essential that you have that support in order to put your life back in order. I know the health Secretary shares those views. 

On Sunday, I took part in a litter pick on Llandanwg beach, and within one square metre of that shoreline we collected this rubbish. As you can see, this is considerable rubbish, and remember it's one square metre's worth on the tideline. What you will see is that 99 per cent of it is plastic, but large volumes of it are the very small plastic straws from the drinks that most children have. So, the question that I want to ask, leader of the house, is whether the Welsh Government would consider looking at stopping or indeed reducing the supply of those types of straws through its public procurement policy. In 2015, your predecessor made this statement: 

'The recent passing of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act (2015) gives us a new opportunity to advance the principles of public procurement in Wales, building on the good work since 2012. Putting this into practice in the public service means we must continue to look toward our future generations and deliver more sustainable outcomes from our procurements so that our expenditure can help achieve the seven well-being goals'  of that Act. I would ask that, through our public procurement, we seriously look at widening ethical procurement to include looking after the environment, and particularly to look at whether our services that we procure are not adding to more litter on the shoreline, with one square metre producing that amount of debris. 

Yes, and I think the Member makes a very good point, and it's a point that all of us who walk the shoreline would want to reinforce. We've all been written to, I'm sure, by several schools in our own constituencies and regions asking us what on earth we're doing to reduce this and giving specific examples. Certainly, schools in my constituency have written to me asking what we're doing. We have got Value Wales and the National Procurement Service working closely with the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales's office and WRAP to develop and deliver several pilots in conjunction with local authorities and partners across Wales to demonstrate new approaches in procurement that fully embrace the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and one of those pilots covers the plastic straws issue. Officials are looking to see what we can do to develop a range of measures to identify trends and implement actions to reduce or eliminate the use of plastics, including food packaging and straws, in our contracts in the future. We're also consulting on those measures with suppliers in June—just right now, June 2018—and will monitor the outcomes as part of the formal contract management of those suppliers moving forward.

We've got a range of other things that we're looking into, and one of the pilots, for example—the Llywydd will be particularly interested to know—is with supporting Ceredigion County Council with their collaborative catering disposables framework, which fully embeds the well-being of future generations Act and looks at sustainable alternatives to plastics across the county. So, we're looking at a range of pilots in Joyce Watson's region that she'll be very interested in, and what we're looking to see is how fast we can roll those out across Wales so that we can eliminate the scourge of plastic in our oceans, which I know Members will have seen programmes on the television about—the penetration of microplastics right across the Arctic, in particular, which is horrendous to look at. So, the sooner we act, the better.

I'm aware that many Members take part in community rubbish collections and community plastic collections on beaches. I don't want it to be set as a precedent that you bring your collections in with you as props to this Chamber. I allowed it on that point, to make your case effectively. If I could also make the point that the Member sitting next to Joyce Watson took a photograph at that point. We're not elected into this Chamber to take photographs of each other. So, if I can just remind Members of that point as well. But the points are important ones, and I didn't want to interrupt or demean the points that were being made. Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Yesterday, I drove from my constituency, in Anglesey, to Cardiff in a twenty-first century car, which was electrically powered—a Renault ZOE. Unfortunately, the charging infrastructure for Wales comes from the last century. I failed to travel straight down and had to come through England in order to charge. That’s clearly not acceptable now. Plaid Cymru has succeeded in getting £2 million from the Government through the budget agreement to work on a plan to expand charging points. Can I get an update from the Government on how that is being spent and how it will mean that we will very soon have charging points somewhere between Anglesey and Cardiff?

Yes, Aberystywth.

The Member makes— 

Not Aberystywth. [Laughter.]

The Member makes an excellent point and it's one that the Government fully supports. I'm very pleased that we've got the arrangement in place. I will certainly speak to the Cabinet Secretary about where we are with the updates. I too would love to have an electric vehicle that I take longer journeys in, and I'm sure a large number of us share that ambition. So, it's something that we all share the ambition for and I will certainly speak to my Cabinet Secretary colleague about exactly where we are in that plan.

Leader of the house, I'd like to ask for two statements. Last week, the Riverfront in Newport hosted the world premiere of the Welsh National Opera's production of Rhondda Rips it Up!, an opera telling the life story of Newport suffragette, activist and entrepreneur Margaret Mackworth or Lady Rhondda. It's touring still now for those of you who haven't seen it. But John Frost School pupils from my constituency performed a special collaboration, Deeds not Words, immediately before the wonderful performance, and the project gave students an opportunity to work with top-class performers from the Welsh National Opera and, along with the rest of the audience, I was really blown away by their performance. Most importantly, the project has shown how giving young people the chance to have their voices heard through performance has a significant, positive impact on their mental well-being. Leader of the house, can we have a statement on the benefit of creative arts on the mental well-being of young people?

And my second request is: could we have a debate or statement on women and girls in sport? Tonight, Wales take on Russia at Newport Stadium in Spytty Park for the FIFA Women's World Cup qualifiers and, following the growth of girls' football, it would be good to hear how Welsh Government can support more participation of women and girls in sports such as football.

On the first matter, I haven't had the chance to see it. I do hope I will have the chance to see it. I've heard very good things about the performance. We do have the Welsh Government vision statement 'Light Springs through the Dark', which is our statement on culture and creative activity, and that absolutely acknowledges the positive impact on health and well-being, supplementing medicines and core well-being, that participation in culture and the arts can have. It's a well-known fact that participation, in the widest sense of the word, in arts and cultural activity increases personal confidence, individual confidence. It also increases community cohesion, community pride. Bethan Sayed's remarks about the international festivals and the pride that people take in the cultural activities of their nation is a very good example of how it improves both individual and mental health. The young people who are taking part in that activity I know will have grown in confidence and in partnership and in cohesion as a result of that. So, we very much acknowledge that as part of our culture and creative statement, but we also acknowledge it as part of the mental health statement and it's a very important thing to emphasise in this Chamber.

In terms of women and girls in sport, Llywydd, I hope you will indulge me in a very short anecdote, because I recently attended a fundraising quiz. We were asked to play jokers on a round that we thought we'd do best on. Many people played their joker on the sport round and every question was about Welsh women's sportspeople, and it was amazing how many people couldn't name, for example, three Welsh women Olympians or any member of the Welsh football team or Welsh rugby team, and so on. It underlined to me the real need to highlight the participation of women in sport, so that they can be the role models—they are the role models—but that more people can understand the role of a role model in sport, and actually how incredibly well they always do and how we should be proud of them. So, I'll certainly be taking that up with the Minister and making sure that we can highlight all of their endeavours.

Thank you, leader of the house.