We now move on to item 3 on the agenda, which is the business statement and announcement, and I call on the leader of the house, Julie James.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. There are no changes to this week's business. Draft business for the next three 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, could I seek two statements, or clarification at the very least? The first one is a letter received from the First Minister in relation to the environmental impact assessment that was promised on the Barry incinerator by the Minister for Environment back in February of this year. I received this letter on 21 November from the First Minister, and he says in this letter that the decision will be made by the end of November 2018. That decision has not been forthcoming. When I looked at the calendar, the date of the end of November was Friday of last week. I've had numerous residents contact me wondering why there's no decision in the public domain at the moment. So, in the first instance, could I have clarification whether the decision has been taken? And, in the second instance, could I understand when that decision will be relayed to Members and to constituents? I'll happily share the letter with the Minister, because I see she's indicating that she's had no sight of this letter, but this letter was sent to me by the First Minister on 21 November, which is only two weeks ago, and he was quite categorical that, at the end of November, that would be in the public domain—that decision would be made. So, some clarification on that would be gratefully received.

The second point I would like to understand is the interaction between senior civil servants and special advisers within the Welsh Government. Last week, at the inquest that was held in north Wales, there was a point of evidence given that the head of the Cabinet division took instruction from the senior special adviser—Jo Kiernan, at the time—to look at Carl Sargeant's diaries. I have that here as well, and it's part of the record that was in the inquest. It was my understanding that special advisers were not in the position to instruct civil servants to undertake work on their behalf, and that civil servants worked exclusively to Ministers or Cabinet Secretaries. Could I seek a point of clarification as to exactly what role special advisers have in instructing civil servants to undertake specific pieces of work? Because I do believe that's a breach of the civil service code.

On the first one, the Minister's indicating to me that the decision hasn't been taken, and that she's proposing to take it as soon as possible. I'm sure it was said to you in good faith; it turns out not to have been accurate. As soon as the Minister knows when she'll take the decision, I'll make sure that that information is conveyed as rapidly as possible.

On the second one, Deputy Presiding Officer, I have no intention whatsoever of commenting on any of the processes going on at the inquest, since it's adjourned and not completed.

Leader of the house, you'll be aware—.

Sorry, I got tangled up.

You'll be aware that the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services last week published a written statement on the role of town and community councils in Wales in future. Clearly, when considering local government provision and any reforms in Wales, this sector, which is the level of government closest to the people, is vital. Many would argue that the sector has been ignored over the first 20 years of devolution in Wales, with scant focus given to it and scant changes made in it. Now, the independent review panel has proposed a set of recommendations, some of which are potentially far reaching, particularly with regard to powers, engagement and accountability. I believe that we need a further debate on these proposals in this place. With that in mind, would the Cabinet Secretary for local government make an oral statement on this issue, which would allow us time to discuss and develop a way forward?

Thank you for that. I think that will be part of any piece of legislation that goes forward on local government, and is not going to be the subject of a separate oral statement.

It's an unfortunate reality that over the past near-decade of UK austerity, a shrink in local government budgets has resulted in a cutback to non-statutory services provided by councils across the UK. I therefore would like to request a statement from the Welsh Government on the status and health of music support services across Wales. As Members will be aware, this is an issue very close to my heart, and I do not envy the tough choices that our councils are forced to make, but I do firmly believe that access to music should be a right for our youth, not just a privilege for those who can afford it, and it is right that Wales considers as a national priority the development of a national strategy or plan in funding music support services. Therefore, I would request a statement that also includes an assessment of schools that are currently unable to access music support services and on the equality of access for our very poorest students to access music performance education in Wales.

I commend the Member for her constant passionate support for music services in Wales. She will know that we share the ambition to provide high-quality universal access to music education for learners in Wales. She said in her remarks that she knows that local government has a direct responsibility for this, not the Welsh Government. I know she's aware that the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee inquiry on funding for and access to music education, 'Hitting the Right Note', set out 16 recommendations focused on improving music service provision across Wales. We're currently taking forward work to address the recommendations made in the report, 'Hitting the Right Note'. That includes undertaking work to identify and assess options for delivery of music services and to ensure any future plan is sustainable. Officials have met with key stakeholders very recently and are currently evaluating the feedback to plan the next steps.

We recognise current pressures facing music services, as she's acknowledged, and the need to take action as soon as possible. That's why the Cabinet Secretary for Education has made additional funding of £3 million over 2018-19 and 2019-20 available for music provision across Wales. The grant for this year is due to be released, and that announcement will be made very shortly.

May I ask for a statement, leader of the house, from the Welsh Government on what it is doing to promote the use of electric vehicles by public sector bodies? Last week the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee heard complaints that Welsh Ministers had not given clear signals on that issue, and that leadership was desperately needed. The view is reinforced when you consider that all 72 vehicles owned by the Welsh Government, including 12 ministerial cars, all use diesel. The committee was told targets needed to be set by Welsh Government for public bodies to adopt electric vehicles to cut emissions. Please can we have a statement on this important issue?

Yes. The Welsh Government has been looking very carefully at accessibility for electric and hybrid cars in Wales, including across the public estate. We are already investing £2 million in electronic vehicle charging points to supplement existing capacity, but the Member will know that there are issues around range and sustainability for electric vehicles.

We are looking to invest further in the electric vehicle charging network. It's not helped by the fact that there is no common standard as yet for electric cars and their charging arrangements. It would be very helpful, were we to stay in the European Union, for example, to have a European-wide ability to solve that problem, Clearly, investing in the wrong network would result in a wasted investment. So, we are looking carefully to see what the best way forward for that is. The Member makes a fair point, but I think we're not yet at the point where the technology supports his argument.

I heard what you said to Andrew R.T. Davies earlier, but, of course, last week, we did have the inquest into the death of Carl Sergeant and it was well publicised for good reason. We heard details—some of them hard to hear—regarding the events leading up to Carl's tragic and too early death. Given the strong public interest in this case and the clear question marks that have been raised again recently, will your Government now, finally, publish the report from the leak inquiry in full, as we have requested previously, so that we can assess it and we can know exactly what that particular inquiry said?

My second request is—we know that the Welsh Government has committed to Healthcare Inspectorate Wales investigating the Kris Wade scandal here in Wales. Healthcare Inspectorate Wales has been conducting a report over the last year into what happened, talking to key stakeholders. They did promise that this would be able to be released before the end of this term. But what I wanted to raise here today was to ensure that we get access to that report before the end of term, by which I mean by Tuesday or Wednesday next week, so that we can actually scrutinise the health Secretary, instead of him putting something out on a Friday. I don't doubt that he may have reasons to do so, but we would want to have access to that report before the end of term so that we can scrutinise him here because of the severity of the situation. What I don't want is an opportunity missed for Assembly Members to be able to hold the Welsh Government and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales to account by virtue of not having had access to that report. So, that's my request to the Welsh Government.

Well, I'm not willing to comment on the inquest, other than to say that everybody in the Assembly and its estate has been affected by the issues raised. Carl was a good friend and colleague of all of us, and we all share the sorrow and the opening wounds from the inquest, but I'm not going to comment on any of the processes there, since the inquest stands adjourned and is not yet complete, nor on any of the other peripheral points until the inquest reaches its proper legal conclusion.

On the other matter, the Welsh Government welcomes scrutiny of that sort. I'm afraid I don't know, Deputy Presiding Officer, whether that report can be released in the very short timescale now available to us. If it can, I will make sure that it is. If not, then there will be opportunities to question whoever the Cabinet Secretary for health is in the next term about any content of the report, should it be released over the Christmas period.

I would like to make two requests for Welsh Government statements. The first is one that the leader of the house is quite used to me asking about, but I make no apologies for continuing to do so because it's hugely important to my and her constituents, and that is an update on Virgin Media job losses and the Welsh Government support for those who are losing their jobs, and it's getting very close now to the time when everybody will be losing their jobs.

The second is a Welsh Government statement on the Planning Inspectorate, including planning inspectors giving permission for houses in multiple occupation against the wishes of the council and local people. I'm sure that's something that the leader of the house knows a great deal about. And if I say Brynmill, well, St Thomas and Port Tennant have now become the new Brynmill. As you know, I do not believe that there's a role for the planning inspector in a democracy. Councils should decide, and an unhappy applicant should go to judicial review. Someone coming in who knows nothing about the area, making decisions that have catastrophic affects upon the lives of individuals, I think, is anti-democratic, and it certainly causes huge problems in my area and, as I know in the past, it has in yours.

Indeed, yes. On that one, obviously, we don't have any direct control over the Planning Inspectorate, which is a separate organisation to the Welsh Government acting on its behalf. However, we do, from time to time, issue guidance and policy documents around understanding the issues, and I've had conversations with the Cabinet Secretary about whether, for university towns, it's beneficial to do that. I certainly share his concern in that regard and the enforceability of any density policy that any local authority would want to put up and what effect that might have on subsequent appeals. 

In terms of Virgin Media, the first tranche of redundant staff left the company in November, as I know he's well aware. There are two phases planned for next year as well. Our placement support team has taken on responsibility for providing staff with onsite access to key partners of the taskforce, including Careers Wales,  the Department for Work and Pensions and local employers. The Welsh contact centre forum is a key partner in our taskforce and has arranged job fairs in October at the Virgin Media site and brought recruiting employers to the site as well as providing careers advice for those staff seeking alternative employment. It's too early for me to provide specific details of those who have been successful in securing alternative employment as a result of the job fairs, but we are holding further job fairs to coincide with the additional tranches of staff leaving the company next year. So, our involvement continues in order to make sure that all of the staff who are affected by this have the best possible outcome.

Leader of the house, can I ask for a statement from the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs on woodland and forestry management in Wales? As I understand it, felling licences can be issued in Wales but cannot be refused on wildlife protection grounds. I understand that that is also the situation in England. In Scotland, they've recently changed the law so that considerations in respect of wildlife can be considered prior to felling licences being issued. Of course, this is adding to the protections of a variety of species, including the red squirrel, which I'm the species champion for. So, I wonder if we could have a statement on whether the Welsh Government has any plans to improve protections for wildlife in that regard.

Can I also ask for clarification from either the Counsel General or an appropriate Government Minister in respect of the extent of legal indemnity for Ministers and indeed former Ministers of the Welsh Government? I've had some recent questions that have emerged in my inbox in recent days regarding the extent of legal indemnity that is afforded to Ministers. I would be very grateful for a statement clarifying the situation, and particularly whether that indemnity applies to former Ministers. Thank you.

On that last one, I think you need to write in with the details of that. Legal indemnity is a very wide-ranging piece and has lots of different, very specific ramifications, so we would need to understand the exact circumstances in which you're making the inquiry. So, if you want to write in to the Counsel General, we'll make sure that that gets an appropriate response.

In terms of the woodland wildlife protection, Darren Millar makes a very good point. I don't actually know what the situation is at the moment. I will take that up with the Cabinet Secretary and come back to him. 

I'd like to pick up on the issue of mental health, which is something that the leader of the house will rightly know that I've raised on many occasions since being elected earlier this year. Last month, business leaders across the UK urged the UK Government to make provision for mental health first aiders mandatory in the workplace. I completely agree with campaigner Natasha Devon, behind the letter to the UK Government when she says employers have a duty of care to staff. She quite rightly highlights that success will also ensure that all employees everywhere can access a trained member of staff to receive initial support and guidance if they are dealing with mental health issues at work.

So, firstly, is this something the Welsh Government would consider for workplaces in Wales? And secondly, there has also been a lot of attention recently in the media on the role of the wider community in tackling the epidemic of mental ill health and the prevention of suicide. An example of this is the Cornwall-based Wave Project charity, and they provide surf therapy to young people suffering with mental health illness. A little closer to home, I recently was able to experience and visit Hounds the Barbershop with my colleague Jayne Bryant in Newport, and, just like that shop, my own barber Sam—from Sam's barbershop in Flintshire—is a brilliant example of a barber who helps those suffering with mental ill health, like myself. So, I praise people like Sam in Flintshire and Paul in Newport, those people have taken it upon themselves to provide pastoral care to those in need or simply those who are feeling blue, and, again, for reinforcing that message that it is okay not to be okay.

Finally, the second statement that I would like to know, is: would the leader of the house join me in paying tribute to those people and every single person out there who aren't counsellors, but believe that they are in a fantastic position of trust to look after others and one another throughout their difficulties in their daily lives?  

Jack Sargeant, as usual, makes a series of very good points. It does take a whole community to ensure that people feel supported enough within it, and we all know that having somebody to listen to us, whether they're a trained counsellor or not, can be very, very helpful in terms of our just general feeling of well-being and, obviously, mental health. 

We have reconfimed our commitment to providing mental health, generally, by positioning it as one of the six priority areas in the national strategy, 'Prosperity for All', and we take every opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues, even when they might seem at first to be tangenital. So, Members will have heard me, for example, talking about the This Is Me campaign, which is anti gender stereotyping. Unfortunately, sometimes, it's thought to be aimed at women but, actually, of course, it's aimed across the piece, because we know that men suffer very badly from having gender stereotyping, feeling that they have to live out the role of breadwinner or family support, or whatever, and they can find it very difficult when that isn't working well for them. So, I absolutely agree with Jack Sargeant that we need to have a holistic and whole-society approach to this, and it's something, Deputy Presiding Officer, that we all need to take account of in our everyday interactions with another, to make sure that we also listen to what other people are saying to us.  

Leader of the house, hopefully, you will have seen some of the current campaign work being undertaken by Housing Women Cymru to highlight the need for the end of sex for rent. As we know, any arrangement involving sex for rent is illegal—no grey areas. We now know that that's been confirmed. Can I thank the housing Minister for her statement on the support for the campaign that was issued yesterday? But in light of the campaign, can I please ask that the Government bring forward a statement in the new year to update the Assembly regarding their actions on this issue, including any discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority, the police, the housing sector and other devolved Governments? 

Yes, I couldn't concur more with the campaign. I thought the housing Minister endorsed it in a very clear statement. Somebody asking for sex instead of rent is not a landlord—they are a criminal. It could not be any more straightforward than that. And, of course, we share yours and many other people's concern that vulnerable people are put into this position, driven there by some of the debt issues that I discussed earlier. And in the run-up to Christmas, people are particularly vulnerable to that. I think it is very important to send that very clear message: any landlord who thinks that that's okay is fooling themselves. It is not okay. It is a criminal act, and I think we cannot be any clearer than that. 

I know that we're working very hard to make sure that any advertisements are picked up, although that's not devolved to us. I know the housing Minister has this concern very much at the heart, and we certainly will be taking forward a range of measures to see what we can do to stamp out this really absolutely vile practice.   

Leader of the Chamber, I'm asking for a Government statement to support Safia Saleh and her family. Safia was unlawlfully abducted as a child, and is trying to get back to Wales. I know her mother, Jackie Saleh, would be very grateful for a statement. The public has been really generous in supporting the Crowdfunder to buy flights for the family, but the one roadblock is bureaucracy. Safia is a UK citizen, she has a birth certificate, but she does not have a UK passport, and nobody seems able to help with this. The Home Office is not devolved, but communities are devolved. The distress caused by a Welsh girl from Ely stuck abroad is a matter for everybody in this Assembly. Will the Welsh Government speak up for Safia and her family in here now, but also outside, making representations in the corridors of power? Safia Saleh needs a passport to get here, and she's fully entitled to one, so how can you help?     

I'm very happy to say that the Welsh Government supports family reunification where at all possible in all of the circumstances where families are divided. It's amongst the worst and most pernicious effects of some of our more draconian immigration rules. If Neil McEvoy wants to write to me with the details and the contact details of the family, I'm very happy to make representations to the immigration Minister on behalf of the family.

Thank you. And finally, Caroline Jones.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Leader of the house, could I ask that the Cabinet Secretary for Education makes an oral statement to the Siambr regarding your Government's plans to tackle bullying? I am aware that the Welsh Government is consulting on draft guidance on bullying, but I would question whether guidance is sufficient, and I am not the only one. The coroner in the Bradley John inquest has queried whether we need a specific law on bullying. We have seen such terrible incidents of bullying in recent weeks, such as the Syrian refugee waterboarded by school bullies or the incidents of racist bullying at a Cardiff primary school, which shocked Estyn inspectors.

In my own region, I'm currently dealing with a constituent who was knocked unconscious by school bullies. He is only 11, and he is now away from school and has ADHD. His mother has informed me that he does not sense any danger and he thinks that everyone is his friend. This little boy was beaten unconscious for reasons unknown, which causes anguish to all concerned, particularly his family. Thank you.

Yes. The Cabinet Secretary is very, very firm that bullying is not to be tolerated, of any sort, in our schools, but we are particularly concerned about racist bullying, especially with the rise of hate crimes across the UK. Actually, we've got a group called EAST working very hard on a set of guidelines for schools, and we're currently looking at putting a new project into schools exactly on that point. As soon those proposals are fit to be shared with Members then I or my successor in the equalities portfolio will bring forward a statement saying what we're doing.

Thank you very much, leader of the house.