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 two changes to this week's business: today's statement on the findings of the independent and accelerated programme for amber review has been postponed and, instead, a statement on 'An Update on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis—our Approach in Wales' has been added. Draft business for the next few weeks is set out in the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on the current pay offer made by ColegauCymru to lecturers, please? Welsh Government publications have recognised that further education provides opportunities for individuals to build and fulfil their ambitions. The better people's skills, the better their chances of getting fair, secure and rewarding employment and the stronger the skills base is in Wales, the more chances we have of attracting new businesses and growing existing ones to improve prosperity. A constituent of mine claims that concerns about pay levels have led to many leaving their jobs for more lucrative employment, and shortages in applicants for positions requiring specific skills such as engineering and construction. Sorry—I think that is it. I haven't got the second side. So, basically, I need a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on the current pay offer to lecturers, please.

Yes. I think there is a real issue here about the amount of money available to the Welsh Government to pay the terms and conditions that we'd like to, however, this Government has, of course, guaranteed parity for the FE lecturers with teachers and I know that the Cabinet Secretary has made that point very clearly in this Chamber on a number of occasions. I don't think she needs to do so again in a statement.

Leader of the house, we know that international visitors will be crucially important to the success of Welsh tourism in future, but there are a number of key areas that we need to develop further if we are to deliver the sustained and intensive growth that we all wish to see. International marketing by Visit Wales, and how we target people, particularly in the key markets, is one important element and, of course, the direct air links that are available from Wales, particularly from Cardiff Airport.

Recently, we have seen that the number of travellers on the Cardiff to Qatar route is increasing, and this will hopefully give confidence to other providers and strengthen the case for having direct routes to other key destinations. Recently, too, Cardiff Airport has revealed its master plan for the next 20 years, and earlier this year, the chief executive, Willie Walsh, talked about his hope of developing a transatlantic service from Cardiff Airport. 

So, with much to be discussed in this area, would the Government agree to bring forward a statement that would focus on the work of Visit Wales in key markets, and also the work that is ongoing, and the further plans for developing air links directly from Wales? Thank you. 

Yes, this is an increasingly important area, particularly in the light of the difficulties we have over negotiating sensible arrangements for Brexit purposes. It's very important to this Government that we continue to make sure that Wales is very much open for business across the member states of the European Union, and across the world. The Minister is indicating to me that he's more than happy to bring a statement forward to that effect.

I was contacted a few days ago by a constituent from Rhiwbina, in my constituency of Cardiff North, about her four-year-old daughter, who has just been diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy. She was told initially that there were no junior EpiPens available at any pharmacies. So, she phoned every pharmacy in Cardiff and couldn't get one, but has since identified two in Swansea. So it's obviously a hugely concerning situation, and I believe the advice is to use an out-of-date EpiPen if you can't get one, but, of course, she has recently just been diagnosed, so she hasn't got any out-of-date EpiPens, and she needs a number of them to be at all the different places she goes. It is a very worrying situation, so she's asked me to raise it with the Welsh Government and to ask whether there could be an urgent statement to say what is to happen in this situation, with the shortage of stock.

And then the second issue I wanted to raise was: I went this morning to a celebration organised by the Hindu Council of Wales at the Gandhi statue, to mark the first anniversary of the statue being erected and also to mark the International Day of Peace. I wondered if it would be possible to have a statement about the importance of making school pupils, in particular, aware of the history of figures like Gandhi and what they've actually done, what contributions they've made, so that these statues can become alive to people, and particularly young people, in Cardiff.

Yes, well, on the very important matter of the EpiPens, we are aware of the current limited availability of EpiPen products in the UK. It's a global issue, and one we're working with the UK Government and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to address. Whilst the availability of EpiPen products is indeed currently limited, alternative adrenaline auto-injectors continue to be available, and the manufacturers are working with the supply chains to increase UK supplies. Last Friday, the MHRA issued detailed guidance to healthcare professionals on actions to be taken to ensure there are adequate supplies of adrenaline auto-injectors in the UK to meet current demand. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services will make a written statement in the coming days, setting out the detail of the mitigating actions being put in place, in light of the importance placed on it, and the Member raising it today in the business statement. But any patient unable to obtain supplies of an EpiPen should speak to their clinician without delay about using an alternative adrenaline auto-injector device, to ensure that they are safely covered—especially in the light of the tragic case that has been in the news recently.

In terms of the statement around the statue and the celebration, yes, I'm very happy to work with the Cabinet Secretary for Education to make sure that we can, either one of us, bring something forward about the importance of historic peace figures, especially in the light of the end of the first world war celebrations, and a number of other things, to make sure that the statues are interactive. The Member will know that I am very keen on having QR codes and so on put on statues, so that they come to life as we go around, and we can certainly look into that.

Can I call for a single statement on the roll-out of smart meters in Wales? Tomorrow, I'm actually hosting an event with Smart Energy GB, a drop-in event between 11.00 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. in Dining Room 1, and I encourage Members to go along to celebrate International Coffee Day, but also to find out how many cups of coffee your constituents could make through their energy saving, but also, more seriously, to update Members on the smart meter roll-out and share specific constituency and regional smart meter installation figures.

We know that during the summer there was some adverse media coverage of smart meters, and claims that they will only save consumers £11 a year on average. Of course, that's only a 2020 saving; the anticipatory savings are much greater. The UK Government's cost-benefit analysis says that, taking all costs into account, the net benefit of the roll-out is around £6 billion, and households will save both by using energy more efficiently, and as a result of a smart energy system that is cheaper to run. The provision of in-home displays will enable people to measure their expenditure in pounds and pence, and therefore save in their domestic use, and the alternative, of course, is a more expensive analogue grid. Finally, of course, they allow greater flexibility in the utilisation of renewable energy. Given those points, I therefore hope that the Welsh Government will continue to be supportive and provide a statement on their involvement with and a position on the roll-out of smart meters in Wales, as they go forward.

Well, I think the Member's done an extremely good job himself of setting out the value of smart meters, and of advertising his event tomorrow. The Member will also know that I am very keen on knowing how much energy I spend making coffee, as I am rather fond of it, so I'll be sure to make sure to pop along to his event tomorrow, to ensure that we have good attendance there.

Is it possible to have a statement on the situation on medical education in Bangor—an update, that is? Constituents are contacting me asking whether it is possible to apply for an undergraduate course in medicine in Bangor University from 2019 onwards. Of course, this is in the light of the announcement earlier this year about the partnership between Bangor and Cardiff universities to deliver medical education. A number of local students are very eager to find out whether they can undertake some of their training in Bangor from 2019 onwards. That isn’t clear at present, although that was the pledge that was made. So, a statement to clear that up would be most useful. Thank you very much.

Also, may I ask for a statement, or some information, from the Government on the Wales planning policy? When are you likely to announce this or publish this? And also, can we have an update on TAN 20, as regards the Welsh language? Over the summer, it was said that this Government could be facing a legal challenge on this. Has the Government had a change of view on TAN 20?

And finally, a few months ago, the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs stated that she was willing to review the need for a separate planning inspectorate for Wales, and that we would be discussing this further. Please can we have a statement as regards the Government's stance on the creation of a planning inspectorate for Wales? Thank you.

Thank you for those three important issues. The Cabinet Secretary is indicating to me that both of the updates you're talking about will be available by the end of this year, and she'll be bringing them forward once they are available.

In terms of the medical education in Bangor, I'm not sure which of us it should be, but I'll make sure that somebody writes to you with an update on that, and that can be made available to all Members.

Leader of the house, I'd like to ask for two statements. Last week, I sponsored a briefing on Mind Cymru's big mental health survey. The survey gathered the experiences of over 500 people across Wales who accessed primary care in the past 12 months. It raised some important trends, and Mind Cymru are looking to collate further evidence and data this year. Separate research published by Mind found that mental health now accounts for 40 per cent of all general practitioner appointments in Wales. So, further to this research, can we have a statement on mental health and primary care services in Wales?

Secondly, some Members may have seen the item on ITV Wales news last week that they did on a football team run by Newport County Association Football Club for people living with mental health conditions. Playing football and being part of the team has transformed the lives of those taking part, and I'm delighted that my colleagues Jack Sargeant and John Griffiths will be joining me tonight to watch County play, to find out more about the work that they do to support people in the local community. So, leader of the house, can we have a statement on how Welsh Government can work with organisations like sports clubs and how they can help people with mental health conditions?

Thank you for that. We absolutely agree that sport and physical activity has a very positive impact on mental health and well-being, and it's why prevention is a key theme in our 'Together for Mental Health' strategy, which was published in 2012. That absolutely does include a focus on non-clinical support. We're very keen to maximise opportunities to support people with a vast array of non-clinical community services that offer real health and well-being benefits, including participation in sport and physical activity. Indeed, I had the opportunity to visit a project, Down to Earth, in Rebecca Evans's constituency only last week, which focuses on building sustainable homes to improve mental health. There are some really startling clinical results associated with it.

The healthy and active fund, launched in July by the Cabinet Secretary and the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport, aims to support initiatives that improve both physical and mental health. It's a partnership between Welsh Government, Sport Wales and Public Health Wales and delivers in an integrated way the Welsh Government commitments to introduce a well-being bond and a challenge fund for sport. Phase 1 of the HAF was to support projects that strengthen and develop community assets, with a £5 million fund available to invest over three years. The fund opens for expressions of interest this month with a view to successful projects starting delivery in April of next year. And on 1 October we announced the mental health social prescribing pilot. Mind Cymru and the British Red Cross have been awarded a total of £1.351 million—I think that says; sorry, Llywydd, my eyesight is not what it should be, and I haven't got my glasses with me, but a large amount of millions of pounds—to deliver projects across Wales. [Laughter.] The types of interventions that are delivered could include provision of community-based well-being activities, such as walking groups, arts and crafts et cetera.

I commend the Member on her interest in sport. I'm pleased to say that in Swansea we've had a little bit of an uplift in our sporting outlook as well. And I know myself that even just going to watch can have a beneficial impact on mental health. So, I commend the Member for her interest in the activity. 

Leader of the house, I'd like to ask for two statements today. Firstly, I'd welcome an update from Welsh Government on discussions around the banning of the third-party sale of dogs and cats. There's a large body of evidence and public opinion in favour of introducing the so-called Lucy's law, due to concerns around health and well-being. With changes proposed in England that would bring in a partial ban, there is an opportunity for us to go beyond this and introduce a really rigorous humane law that would stop third-party sales altogether. 

Secondly, I'd like to place on record my congratulations to South Wales Fire and Rescue Service for holding on to their UK title for extrication at the United Kingdom Rescue Organisation Challenge 2018, held in Roald Dahl Plass, the weekend just gone. I and my colleague Jenny Rathbone had the pleasure of watching them prepare for that a few weeks ago, during the summer recess, and it really was a sight to behold. I'm sure you would join with me also in wishing them all the very best for the world challenge in a few weeks' time. The challenges our fire and rescue personnel have to meet in order to ensure public safety and well-being are ever-changing. So, will there be an opportunity to debate in Government time how we can ensure they receive the support they need to carry on their excellent work? 

Yes, I was privileged to have a quick chat with some of the personnel involved in setting up the exhibition last week. I was offered the opportunity to be rescued from a vehicle, but unfortunately my diary wouldn't permit me to do it. I was a bit disappointed by it, but anyway—. [Laughter.] I'm extremely happy to wish them all the best for the world challenge in a few weeks' time. It's a fun way to demonstrate the excellence of the service and some of the challenges that they meet. I'm absolutely happy to congratulate them on hosting such a prestigious event and pay tribute to everyone involved. It was a great performance by south Wales, as Vikki Howells has said. They won the overall awards for casualty extrication and for rope rescue and were placed third in water rescue—by far the best performance all round. I absolutely want to wish them the very best of luck at the forthcoming world challenge in South Africa. 

Unlike other public sector organisations, they set their own budgets here in Wales. They're unique in that respect. We don't directly fund and control the level of funding they levy from the constituent local authorities. But they do such a great job, and I think, all joking aside, it is an excellent way to showcase and to allow the personnel of the fire and rescue service to showcase how really very good they are. This isn't just excellence in a competition, this is actually excellence on the side of the road when they're helping people, and the speed with which they perform saves lives. So, I'm very, very happy to commend them.

In terms of the animal welfare regulations that Vikki Howells raised, the Cabinet Secretary made an oral statement back in June, and has committed to an investigation of third-party sellers in Wales. Work is ongoing with stakeholders to gather information on the issues and we will be looking at options for the way forward in due course. But it is worth remembering that we've already introduced a number of animal welfare measures well before England, which include the Animal Welfare (Breeding of Dogs) Wales Regulations 2014, the Microchipping of Dogs (Wales) Regulations 2015 and the Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (Wales) Regulations 2010, and the Cabinet Secretary is working hard with stakeholders to see what we can do to build on that.

I would like a statement as to when the Welsh Government were aware of the accidents in the cooling ponds involving weapons-grade plutonium at Hinkley Point A in the 1960s. When was the Government aware of this?

I think the Member needs to write in to the Cabinet Secretary for an answer to that.

Thank you, leader of the house.