We now move to item 5, which is the business statement and announcement, and I call on the leader of the house, Julie James.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. There were several changes to this week's business. The planned oral statements on update on care for the critically ill and reforming dental services will be issued as written statements. The Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services will make an oral statement on 'Towards a distinct approach to the penal system in Wales', as we've discussed earlier. Draft business for the first three weeks of the new term is set out in the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

In December last year, the Children, Young People and Education Committee recommended that the Education Workforce Council be given legislative powers to impose an interim suspension Order—or, more than one. Three months later, the education Secretary asked the EWC if they would do a consultation, and the consultation deadline for that is in 10 days' time, Now, I don't know why the delay has happened here, but we are talking about a year down the line. In view of that, I wonder whether it would be possible for Welsh Government to consider expediting its response to the consultation report when that's finally published in January. 

Secondly, the Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Act 2018. The Stage 4 proceedings were in June earlier this year and Royal Assent was given in August. I wonder, early in the new term, whether the new health Secretary could give us an update on progress on filling in the gaps in that Bill. Members may remember that I was very unhappy with the quality of that particular Bill, and I think some intelligence on how those regulations are now looking and the research being done would be very welcome. Thank you.

Yes, on the consultation, I'm not aware of what the delay was, I'm afraid. I'm certainly happy to look, to see, to recommend that the new Government expedites its response. I don't know how practical that is, but I'm happy to make that recommendation. On the minimum price for alcohol Bill, I know that the current health Secretary will be recommending to whoever his successor is, whether it's him or somebody else, that an early progress report is made, so I know that that's in the system already.

Leader of the house, on 14 February, earlier this year, I proposed an individual Member debate on the issue of unadopted roads. It was a debate that saw contributions from across the Chamber and was passed unanimously. One of the outcomes of the motion was to establish a taskforce, which was done under the remit of the Cabinet Secretary for transport. After a subsequent written question from myself in April this year, the Cabinet Secretary confirmed that he was expecting the taskforce to complete its work in early 2019. Given that the taskforce was supported by Members across the Chamber, many of us look forward to seeing the recommendations that will be put forward, but Members have heard very little in terms of any progress being made thus far. I wonder, therefore, whether the Cabinet Secretary would be prepared to provide a written statement to all Members to outline the projected completion date, and also detailing any consultation undertaken by the taskforce and an interim summary of where the taskforce has got with its work. Thank you.

I think that the Cabinet Secretary intends to keep the Senedd informed, Deputy Presiding Officer, once the taskforce has completed its work, which—. Dai Lloyd is actually slightly ahead of me, so I think it is early 2019, and I believe that the programme has an update at that point in it.

Leader of the house, may I ask for a statement from the Welsh Government on the decision of Newport City Council to withdraw its funding for Gwent sensory and communication? This is a service for children who have vision, hearing and communication problems, which is currently funded by five councils in south-east Wales. The decision of Newport City Council to withdraw its funding has caused considerable concern among the parents and the guardians of children who benefit from these services and could undermine the whole operation. Could we have a statement on what action the Welsh Government intends to take to protect services for these wonderful children in south-east Wales, please?

I know the Cabinet Secretary is in discussion with Newport council about the rationale for their withdrawal from the service, and I'm sure that she will report back to the Senedd once those discussions are complete.

I'd like to raise the issue of medicinal cannabis. The relaxation of the laws regarding the prescription of medicinal cannabis as a result of the changes to the misuse of drugs legislation this year has brought about little change. This is more than likely due to the restrictive interim guidance that has been published as a result of this legislation change. The Multiple Sclerosis Society say that nothing will change in the short term for the 10,000 people in the UK living with MS who could get relief from pain and muscle spasms by using medicinal cannabis. This was brought into sharp relief during the last week, with the case of 16-year-old Bailey Williams, who has severe epilepsy that can cause him to suffer hundreds of seizures in quick succession. His family say that the condition is deteriorating rapidly. They say that medicinal cannabis would greatly improve his symptoms. 

Now, Sativex may be available on the NHS in Wales, but this is only licensed for the treatment of spasticity, and then only available to a small group of people living with MS who meet the criteria. This is of no use for people like Bailey with severe epilepsy, or any other condition that might fall outside that narrow scope. I'd like to see this Government work towards ensuring that interim guidance on prescribing medicinal cannabis is reviewed and then relaxed, so that access to treatment is not so heavily restricted. We have an opportunity in Wales to take a progressive approach to the prescription of medicinal cannabis, and we should not let that opportunity fall. I've already written to the new leader of Labour, so will you ensure, as a matter of urgency, that the new First Minister takes action on this without delay, as the family cannot wait until Christmas?

I'd also like to raise the matter of an Assembly Member sharing a platform with a well-known islamophobic far-right bully in London over the weekend. Yaxley-Lennon is known to have made up news stories that have helped to spread hate against Muslims. He’s regularly incited hatred and has no place in mainstream politics. The Assembly Member in question has no shame, but his sharing of a platform with such a reprehensible and dangerous character brings shame on this Senedd and it brings shame on Wales. I suspect there will be no contrition from the Assembly Member in question, as that’s the kind of person that he is, but I would hope that action is taken to sanction him in some way for pandering to a far-right thug and his followers.

Can we have a statement from the Government condemning this action and explaining to everyone why associations of this kind aren't harmless, and also, can that statement also outline the Welsh Government’s strategy for tackling the rise of the far right in Wales?

I share the Member's outrage and concern about the sharing of a platform over the weekend of an Assembly Member. It's appalling to think that somebody amongst our midst thinks that sharing a platform with, effectively, a far-right extremist is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I think most of us in this Chamber share the outrage that somebody could be seen on a platform of that sort, and I will certainly be talking to the Llywydd and the Deputy Presiding Officer about what action is appropriate to take. But I certainly share the Member’s outrage. I think all of us share it.

There is a statement scheduled for whoever has the portfolio that I currently hold on far-right extremism early in the new year, and I'm sure that that will take into account any action that comes out of this, but I'm happy to express my extreme opprobrium of his behaviour in this regard. I thought it was shameful.

In terms of medical cannabis, the Member has said that she has already written to the new leader of Welsh Labour. I'll bring it to his attention as well. I know that the current health Secretary has had a number of conversations in this regard, and she has done a good job, as always, of publicising it, but I'm very happy to bring it up with him as well.

I wonder, leader of the house, if you will ask the next Cabinet Secretary for the environment to consider making a statement to this house on the potential of licensing systems for commercial shooting businesses in Wales. I'm not an opponent of field sports, but my colleague Councillor Bryn Davies in Pennant Melangell in north Montgomeryshire, is facing a situation where a particular business, where for decades they've shot for a couple of days a week in a way that’s perfectly acceptable to the local community, are now shooting four to five days a week for protracted lengths of time, and it seems that the powers available to the local authority are not sufficient for them to restrict this. This is obviously bringing the business itself into disrepute, it’s making things very, very difficult for the neighbours, and it’s actually having an impact on neighbouring farming businesses. So I'd be very grateful if whoever is the new Cabinet Secretary for the environment could take a look at the current system for regulating these businesses. And I should stress that this is a commercial business; this is not somebody who's doing a limited amount of shooting on their own land, obviously, or they wouldn't be shooting five days a week. And I really feel this is an area where we should be able to regulate effectively.

I’m not aware of the circumstances surrounding that. I wonder if Helen Mary Jones would be good enough to write a letter in, and then it will be sure to be on the top of the inbox of whoever the incoming Member is that has environment in their portfolio.

I would like to ask for two statements, if I may. First of all, I would like to request a statement on the financial crisis that is deepening, I'm afraid, in higher education in Wales, and I'd like an explanation of any plans that the Welsh Government has to review that financial situation. This week, staff at Bangor University, which has an important presence in my constituency as well, tell me that they have been receiving correspondence from the university outlining business cases for further cuts, including job losses. There are fears that up to 60 good jobs could be lost at the university. The situation clearly isn't sustainable. The quality of education and research is sure to suffer across our university sector ultimately, and I would like to hear from the Cabinet Secretary for Education how she intends to respond to that.

I would also wish to hear a statement from the new Cabinet Secretary for Finance on what should happen in the medium term in terms of the business rate relief scheme for our high streets. We have just received a statement extending that relief scheme for a further period, and I welcome that. My party has been enthusiastic, has come to agreements with Government on rate relief schemes and so on, but I'm not comfortable with the way these programmes are rolled on year to year. I've been having discussions with businesses in my constituency on the importance of business rate relief for our high streets particularly. Plaid Cymru in Arfon has been gathering a number of names on a petition and they are certainly pleased that those names on the petition have had an influence on Government. So, I wonder whether we could have a statement on what we can expect in the medium term, because year on year, despite how good any help is, isn't good enough for long-term planning.

On that one, I think the Cabinet Secretary answered that quite comprehensively in his questions last week. I'm sure that when the new Government has settled, whoever the new Minister with responsibility for business rate relief is will want to outline it. We're putting it into our final budget. On the assumption the final budget passes, I'm sure the new Minister will want to outline their plans to take that forward, but the Cabinet Secretary did answer a set of quite comprehensive questions on this only last week.

In terms of the HE issue, I know that Rhun ap Iorwerth already knows that all HE institutions are autonomous institutions and responsibility for staffing matters rests entirely with the university's governing body. The Cabinet Secretary for Education allocated the sector an additional £10 million to mitigate the impact of keeping tuition fees at £9,000, and that has been included in the budget. We know that there are significant increases in student numbers as a result of our new scheme, but it is not a matter for the Government to interfere in the individual staffing decisions of universities. They are autonomous bodies, non-profit institutions serving households, and it's entirely a matter for them.

Thank you very much, leader of the house.