The next item now is the business statement and announcement. I call on the Trefnydd to make the statement.

Diolch, Llywydd. There are several changes to this week's business. Later this afternoon, the Government will propose a suspension of Standing Orders to enable the Assembly to hold a debate on European Union withdrawal negotiations. In order to accommodate this, the statements on apprenticeships, investing in skills for the future, and flood and coastal erosion risk management have been postponed until next week. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

Trefnydd, can I call for two statements from the Welsh Government today, the first on funding for Welsh schools? I listened to the exchange earlier on during First Minister's questions regarding the situation in Conwy. But of course this is a Wales-wide problem, which has been the cause of concern for a number of unions, so much so that they issued a statement just yesterday saying that Welsh schools are at crisis point. I think that what people want to understand is why it is that, under the current fiscal framework, Wales receives £1.20 for every £1 spent on a child in England in a school, whereas, actually, we're spending less than is currently being spent per year on our pupils. People find that very difficult to understand, and I think that we need some clear transparency from the Welsh Government on what is happening in terms of our funding situation. It's quite clear that our pupils here have been falling behind—we had some of the worst GCSE results last year in a decade. Fewer of our children are getting into the best universities across the United Kingdom as well. And, of course, we've got this ambitious reform taking place in our education system at the time when the finances are in a fairly parlous state. So, I do think that we need to understand how the Welsh Government is going to deal with the crisis—and that's the word that has been used to describe it by the education unions—in order that we can get on top of the situation and make sure that our young people are getting the investment that they need.

Can I also call for a statement on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder services for adults here in Wales? You'll be aware that, as a result of the pressure that was brought to bear by my colleague, Paul Davies, with his autism Bill, the Minister for health has taken action to develop an integrated autism service—or certainly that's the Government's ambition. Now, I welcome that there's been a step in that direction. One of the reasons that that integrated service is required is because there are behaviour issues, emotional issues such as anxiety and anger, issues developing social and daily life skills, which are all problems not just for children with autism, but also for adults. Now, exactly the same situation applies to adults with ADHD as it does to children with ADHD, and yet there is no integrated ADHD service proposition in Wales. I do think that this is a gap that we need to address, and I'd be very grateful indeed if we could have a statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services on what he intends to do about it. 

Thank you very much for raising that, and I'm more than happy to provide the clarity on what is happening with our funding situation, because, of course, the UK Government's sustained austerity agenda has led to a cut of nearly £1 billion to Wales's overall budget. But, in spite of this, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has explicitly stated that school funding per pupil has fallen faster in England than it has in Wales, and we recognise that to continue to raise our standards our schools and teachers do need additional support. And that's why we recently announced the single biggest investment for teachers since devolution—a £24 million package of professional learning to support the new curriculum. We've also directed all of the £23.5 million to local authorities to fund the schoolteachers' pay award and also provided an additional £15 million on top of this. So, I hope that does provide the clarity that the Member is seeking. 

In terms of the question on ADHD, I do have to say that the integrated autism service long predates your colleague Paul Davies's introduction of his proposed Bill, but I will certainly ask the Minister to write to you with an update on ADHD services. 

Trefnydd, you will be aware of local concerns in Swansea over a planned consultation meeting by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which was due to take place next week on 12 March. The meeting was due to discuss the potential siting of a nuclear geological disposal facility. Such were the protests in Swansea that the meeting has now been cancelled—it appears online. But what has become clear over recent weeks is that the Welsh Government position on the potential siting of a geological disposal facility in Wales is unclear. Now, Labour-run Neath Port Talbot Council and Labour-run Swansea council are against siting such a radioactive dumping facility in their areas, but the Minister for the environment has previously stated that:

'The Welsh Government has not identified any potential sites or communities to host' a geological disposal facility in Wales, and that a geological disposal facility—AKA a nuclear dump—

'can only be sited in Wales if a community is willing to host it' and receive money for that pleasure. However, we find that another Government Minister, Vaughan Gething, is sponsoring a meeting with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority next week, here in the National Assembly for Wales. Now, at a packed public meeting a couple of weeks ago, people in Swansea were rightly asking, 'What is the Welsh Government's position on this?' There was disappointment that the Welsh Government has not taken a more robust line and followed the strong line propagated by Labour-run local authorities against siting such facilities in Wales. Now, in light of the concerns raised in south-west Wales, will the Welsh Government agree to bring forward a statement on geological disposal facilities in Wales? 

Thank you very much, and I am very happy to be very clear on this matter: the Welsh Government has no intention to bring forward any proposals for disposal sites in Wales. 

Can I return to job losses at Virgin Media in Swansea? In January, you said:

'The first tranche of those staff did leave in November, and there will be a further two phases planned for this year. Virgin Media's out-placement support team has taken on responsibility for providing staff with on-site access to key partners of our Welsh Government's taskforce, including Careers Wales, the DWP and local employers. The jobs fair in October took place on the Virgin Media site, and there are further jobs fairs planned to coincide with the additional tranches of staff who will be leaving. So, those further jobs fairs will be timed in relation to those further tranches, as I say, of people who will be leaving the company.'

Can I ask for a Government statement outlining the date of the next jobs fair, how many people have found alternative employment, how many people seeking employment have left without alternative employment? 

Can I also return to another issue I've raised before? I would like to ask for a statement on the increase in public sector employer pension contributions, and how it is going to be funded. There is concern amongst a number of public sector organisations, especially schools, regarding the effect of increased costs of the employer contributions for teachers' pensions. There have been warm words and a promise that the Welsh Government will pass the money on that they get, but the new financial year starts in April and budgets are having to be set. An indication that the money is going to be provided will save a lot of worry, and possibly job losses. 

Thank you very much for raising both of these points. With regard to Virgin Media, I can confirm that a jobs fair was held at the end of February to coincide with the March tranche of people leaving the company. The remaining company—the remaining workers, I should say, will be leaving the company in June of this year, and our partner the Welsh contact centre forum has been leading on those jobs fairs. We're currently gathering the information on the success or otherwise of the redundant staff in securing alternative employment, and this will very much inform the way forward. But when I do have a date for a further jobs fair, I'll be more than happy to share it with you. 

With regard to the public sector pensions, it's been extremely frustrating trying to get the information that we need from the UK Government on this. We were due a response back in November, I recall, but it's only very recently that the UK Treasury has provided details of the Barnett consequential for Wales as a result of additional funding for public sector pensions in England. It doesn't meet the full 100 per cent of that cost. We've sought some further detail from the Treasury about its calculations, working through now what it means for public sector bodies here in Wales, but I do hope to be able to make a statement very imminently on that. 

Organiser, can I seek two statements off you, please, one building on the answer that you've given to Mike Hedges around the pensions situation with public sector workers and, in particular, the lobby that was held this afternoon by the teaching unions? They were very clear that they believed a commitment had come in January to you as a Welsh Government about the money to meet the pension liabilities. And I appreciate you might have some fine balancing to do over numbers or some clarifications, but an assertion from you as finance secretary to indicate that that money, whatever the quantum of it will be, will be passed on would put a lot of peace of mind in place for headteachers in particular, because at the moment they have no assurance whatsoever that that money will be with them as of 1 April. I appreciate you might have a balancing act to do, but an assurance that whatever money comes will be passed to the front line, I think, would go a long way to alleviating some of the issues that they did face and, certainly, they amplified in the lobby that we all attended this afternoon. 

Could I also seek a statement from the Minister for sport in relation to the discussions that are ongoing about the reform of regional rugby here in Wales? I appreciate it's not a direct Government responsibility, but I find it hard to imagine that the Welsh Government a) don't have a view, b) have not been approached to seek some form of help and support, especially as, if the proposals are taken forward, there's the prospect of establishing a region in north Wales, and to have no comment on this very topical issue, I would suggest, would be somewhat alarming, because I would hope that the Welsh Government do have a position on what is going on. And I'd be grateful if you could confirm that a statement would be coming because, obviously, as I said, it's very topical at the moment.  

And if I could just on the rugby front update the Assembly, with your indulgence, Presiding Officer, the Assembly rugby team had a stonking win against the Houses of Commons and Lords two weeks ago—46-14 it was—which, in fairness, on tallies—that's the biggest victory we've had for some years; but also the charitable aims of the club as well, raising money for bowel cancer and other local charities; and just put on record my thanks to everyone who participated—spectators and players—and wish the team well for their Scottish excursion this weekend. Because, for the first time we'll be playing the Holyrood Parliament, which does seem to be an increasing feature of club activity, that the various Parliaments and Assemblies around the UK and, indeed, in France, are seeking fixtures with the Assembly, and that is something that I would hope all Members would agree is a positive step.    

Thank you very much for that, and for building on the issue raised by Mike Hedges regarding pensions. I can confirm that we only had the information regarding pensions just before the finance quadrilateral that took place in the middle of February, but I do intend to make a statement—hopefully, a written statement—tomorrow with the kind of clarity that the Member is looking for. 

With regard to regional rugby, I'm sure that there will be views in terms of the proposals. I know there are certainly strong views at both ends of my Gower constituency about those proposals. In terms of what's appropriate from a Welsh Government perspective, I think that any restructuring plans do need to be sustainable and to support the future development of rugby, and to continue to attract the support of the public across Wales.

I'm certainly pleased that it was a successful match—'a stonking win', as you call it—and I do wish the team well as they head to Scotland.

The state of our environment is the most pressing issue of our time. A United Nations report has found that climate change, pollution and changes in water and land management have combined to ensure that we are fast approaching irreversible collapse for biodiversity. And this would mean the irreversible collapse of food production too. The global grassroots organisation Slow Food said that

'Time is running out, we must turn things around within the next 10 years or risk a total and irreversible collapse.' 

It's timely, therefore, that Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow party members have unveiled a green new deal that would usher in huge reforms to dramatically reduce United States carbon emissions while adding millions of jobs and investing in infrastructure projects. Cortez and her colleagues have correctly identified that the time for tinkering has passed, we need fundamental change if we are to save this planet for future generations. Will this Government recognise the climate emergency that we face and introduce a radical plan to address this issue? We need a fundamental rethink of our economy. Is the Government prepared to act on that?

I'd like to raise the matter of the support that veterans receive when they return to civilian life. This is a matter I've raised before and there has previously been some exemplary campaigning work undertaken by my Plaid Cymru colleagues in Westminster on this. A constituent contacted me recently to share with me his experiences of accessing mental health services after leaving the army. Whilst in service, this man completed two tours of Iraq and three tours of Afghanistan. He subsequently suffered from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and extreme anxiety, as well as drink and drug problems. I'm pleased to say that he has come out on the other side, but he says that that was not as a result of the overstretched mental health services that he tried to access. In his own powerful words, he said,

'I feel the army and the Government completely leave veterans to crash and burn, especially in our area, once service has been terminated. I'm proof of this. The aftercare is pretty poor and therapy for me used to consist of questionnaires that would ask, ''On a scale of one to 10, how are you feeling today?''.'

When are we likely to see real change on the ground for Welsh veterans and are you confident that the 10-year strategy for our veterans, unveiled last year, will deliver for people like the man from the Rhondda who contacted me?

I want the Government to reconsider the threshold for free school meals. This is something that I've called for before and I will keep calling for it until we have parity with the north of Ireland, which has a threshold twice that of Wales's £7,000. Many of my constituents in the Rhondda are in work, yet they remain in poverty. They fall just outside the threshold for free school meals and they are the type of people who the children's commissioner, Sally Holland, identified in her report released this week. She said that children's basic needs in families like these aren't being met, with families struggling to afford school uniform, equipment and sanitary products. She also said that we need this Welsh Government to, and I quote,

'show real ambition and leadership in helping the thousands of families across Wales who are really struggling.'

Do you believe that that much needed ambition and leadership are forthcoming and can we please have a debate about the children's commissioner's findings in Government time as soon as possible?

Thank you for raising those issues. Certainly, the first that you mentioned related to the pressing environmental and climate change challenges that we are all more than aware of. Certainly, our Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 does compel us to not only think differently but very much act differently in terms of the decisions that we take as a Welsh Government, but also that the public bodies beyond the Welsh Government take. Of course, the Minister will be making a statement in due course on the 'Brexit and our land' consultation, which certainly looks at the important role that farming has to play in terms of protecting our natural resources here in Wales, and farming in a responsible way, because, of course, the question was about food production when you asked it.

In terms of veterans, I'm really pleased to hear that the Ministry of Defence has now begun to issue veterans with an ID card and that will certainly recognise the time that they have spent in the services and enable them to access some of the services that we have specifically for veterans. Veterans should be able to have priority access to health services if their condition is as a result of the service that they've given to our country, and that certainly applies to mental health services as well as meeting physical health needs. So, if there are particular issues in the case of the gentleman you describe that you would wish to raise with the Minister, then I'm sure that they would be keen to respond.

In terms of the free school meals issue, I know that we have consulted widely on proposals and provided significant additional funding to enable us to take the steps that we are with regard to the future of free school meals and the way that we address the needs of children in those families. The decisions we have taken will actually increase the number of children who are able to benefit from it. But of course, our concern is about those families and those children who are on the cusp of receiving services and support. So, I will ask the Minister to write to you with some further information on our approach there.

Trefnydd, I recently had the opportunity of discussing the potential of the financial transaction tax—the so-called 'Robin Hood tax'—with representatives from Unison Cymru Wales. We also heard from the Robin Hood tax campaign about the potential for such a tax to transform our public services. As we've had no evidence of austerity ending any time soon, I'm sure there'd be support in several parts of this Chamber for the opportunity to debate this issue, as it would raise significant funds for public services. In light of the First Minister's existing support for this tax, can I ask you if the Government would consider bringing forward a statement on its potential implications?

Thank you very much for raising that, and congratulations for holding a successful event here in the Assembly to raise awareness of and seek support for the Robin Hood tax. I can certainly confirm that the Welsh Government supports the principle of the tax that you describe. We recognise that this isn't within our devolved competence, and we would certainly encourage the UK Government to explore it further. We do recognise that a tax of this type would be most effective were it to be introduced globally, but certainly, if that were not possible, to do it within the tax jurisdictions of all leading economies, at a minimum, would be an excellent way forward.

Minister, may I ask for a statement from the Minister for Education on the continuing problems caused by Newport City Council regarding Gwent SenCom? The Minister may be aware that on 11 December last year I called for a statement on Newport City Council's decision to withdraw its funding from this service, which supports children who have vision, hearing and communication problems. In her reply, the then Minister said she was sure the Minister for Education would report back to the Senedd once her discussions were completed. The council subsequently put its plan to withdraw funding on hold until 2020. However, the continuing uncertainties over the future of the service is putting considerable pressure on staff, and plans have been already drawn to shed 16 jobs. Please, can we have now a statement from the Minister for Education on what actions she will take to intervene to remove this uncertainty and safeguard this vital service for children in Newport? Thank you.

Thank you very much. I know that the Minister has been very clear that she does welcome the decision to push back any final decision in terms of a way forward in order to be able to have some further discussions. I think that having this space now to find an appropriate way forward is certainly a positive move.

We're in the middle of lambing season, of course, and, at a time such as this, one becomes more aware of the problem of dogs attacking sheep and lambs. Indeed, research by NFU Mutual has shown that attacks like this cost £1.2 million for the livestock sector in the UK last year. What causes concern particularly for me is that these cases are reducing in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but are increasing here in Wales. It cost almost £300,000 to the sector as a result of losses last year, specifically in Wales, and that, of course, doesn't include the impact on the welfare of animals that are attacked, and the anxiety caused to those farmers affected by those attacks. It has become apparent now that the time has come to change, to review and reform the 1953 dogs Act, because it is dated.

The police can't take a dog following an attack if they know who the owner of that dog is. The police don't have the power to take a DNA sample from a dog suspected of carrying out an attack. The courts can't ban the owner of any dog that's attacked a sheep from taking ownership of another dog, even if that owner has been found guilty of a criminal act.

Now, North Wales Police are clear in their call for a need for reform of the legislation, the agricultural unions agree, as do I, and I call on the Welsh Government and the UK Government to amend this legislation. So, can we have a statement from the Government and from the relevant Minister on what the Welsh Government's intentions are in relation to this legislation? It's almost 70 years since the legislation was passed and it's clear to everyone now that it’s not fit for purpose and that the time has come to take action.

Thank you very much for raising that issue. Certainly, dog attacks on livestock are a real area of concern for Welsh Government. I know that work does go on with North Wales Police in particular, but also the police across Wales and with the farming unions, to explore how we can better promote responsible dog ownership in all kinds of areas, but with a particular focus on preventing attacks on livestock. I'll certainly ask the Minister to write to you with an update on her views as regards the reform of the 1953 dogs Act in the way that you've described.

Trefnydd, I was alarmed to hear a few days ago that women going through miscarriages at less than 20 weeks term are being accommodated in a ward at Singleton hospital where there are no en-suite facilities. Worse still, this is a mixed ward where women in the throes of miscarrying are expected to walk past men to get to the toilets and showers, which it is claimed—I'm not sure about this—are also shared by men. This is a serious claim being made by more than one constituent, and I think it deserves being raised in this Chamber rather than through a letter. So, I'd be grateful if you would ask the health Minister if he will investigate this urgently and report back to us in a statement confirming Government policy on this. 

Thank you. I'll certainly discuss with the health Minister in terms of the way in which he can explore this particular issue that you describe with the health board, and he will report back to you.

I was very pleased today to meet representatives from the miners' pension campaign. I know that many of you will know that they've been campaigning for many years because the UK Government has been taking half of their pension surplus from the fund, which they've been doing since 1994. Billions of pounds that should have gone to the miners has instead been pocketed by the Treasury, and that's truly appalling. Some of the miners who are affected by this have been getting by on as little as £84 a week.

The campaigners have now succeeded in getting the 100,000 signatures that they need for there to be a debate in Westminster and they're taking the petition to 10 Downing Street tomorrow. I would like to put on the record that none of this would have been possible without the tireless work of my predecessor Steffan Lewis, who campaigned side by side with the miners for many years on this issue and I know that they are incredibly grateful to him for that. 

On 15 January, Adam Price asked the First Minister to commit to supporting the endeavours of the former miners and to meet a delegation of them in order to offer the Welsh Government's full support. Mark Drakeford had said that he would do that. I therefore ask for the Welsh Government to give a statement please on an update on this and how it intends to support the campaign now that it's nearing the endgame. 

Thank you very much for raising this and for paying tribute to Steffan's work in this particular area. Of course, Welsh Government has also been a long-time supporter of our mineworkers here in Wales, and I know that the First Minister has met with the NUM in order to look at the progress that's been made with regard to this particular campaign and to discuss how we can best support the 22,000 people in Wales who are amongst the nearly 140,000 people who are affected by this. 

I know the First Minister has also written to the UK Government and to the scheme trustees to ask them to review the scheme and to consider revising the approach to the division of the surpluses that you describe—surpluses of over £2.5 billion, I understand—to agree a new and fairer distribution of those surpluses, and thus improve the pensioners' benefits and reflect the true level of risk, actually, that's involved in that particular pension scheme. We hope that the UK Government will respond to the issues raised in the report and undertake to work with the NUM to deliver a positive outcome for the scheme's dependents, and the First Minister will be making a written statement on this particular issue today. I think it's actually just arrived in everybody's inboxes.

I'd just like to return to the issue of the children's commissioner's report on protecting Welsh children from the impact of poverty. We know that this affects somewhere in the region of a third of all our children, so this is a really major challenge for all of us. I think that, on the one hand, in primary schools we know that many children who need that free school breakfast are not getting it, because the places are quickly filled by those who are using the school breakfast as free childcare, and that's a big challenge for headteachers—to ensure that the right people are getting priority for that. But in our secondary schools, the picture painted by the children's commissioner is very concerning, because there we have a cafeteria system of school meals where, frankly, the catering companies are endeavouring to maximise the income from children. This is impacting not just on those on free school meals, but those who are struggling financially because of low wages. I know, because I have seen it myself, that some schools actually do not provide tap water in the dining room and they are promoting these drinks in plastic bottles. I cannot understand how this has any place in the 'Appetite for Life' guidelines.

I would like to call for two responses immediately from the Government, prior to us debating this report. One is that I would like to ask if the Minister for local government could write to all local authorities and ask that they monitor exactly what's going on in each of their secondary schools. There are fewer than 20 schools in Cardiff, which is the largest local authority, so this is perfectly doable. Either they are ignorant or they are complicit in what is going on in terms of promoting products that will maximise income as opposed to what nourishes children.

Secondly, I'd like a statement from the education Minister to clarify exactly who is supposed to be monitoring the standard of school meals, which in my view does not meet the nutritional requirements for children. We are seeing children on free school meals who are simply using it to buy chips with curry sauce on a Friday, and that is not a nutritional meal.

Thank you very much for raising these issues relating to the children's commissioner's report. I can hardly believe I have to say that, yes, schools should be providing opportunities for children to drink free, fresh drinking water at any point during the school day, should they wish. Schools should be signposting water stations throughout the schools, providing younger children with a cup or glass of water, or allowing them to carry water bottles, and ensuring that dining room supervisors are encouraging children to drink available water at school times and promoting water right throughout the school—and certainly making the pupils aware also that things such as taps in the toilet areas aren’t an appropriate source of drinking water. These are all things that you could think would be basically understood by schools.

Certainly with regard to the standards, we have the Healthy Eating in Schools (Nutritional Standards and Requirements) (Wales) Regulations 2013, which apply to all food and drink served to pupils at breakfast, break times, lunchtimes, afternoon break or in after-school clubs. But I will certainly ask the education Minister to write to you with regard to the monitoring of those regulations and how we can be satisfied that those regulations are delivering healthy food and drink to children throughout the school day.FootnoteLink The Minister for local government has indicated that she would be happy also to write to local authorities regarding the quality of the food that is being presented to children in schools and how the local authorities themselves are satisfying themselves of that requirement for healthy food and drink.

Information further to Plenary

Trefnydd, yesterday I, Jenny Rathbone and, indeed, the day before,  Mohammad Asghar were part of the Public Accounts Committee trip to Wrexham in north Wales—a very useful meeting. And it was made possible by a very pleasant train journey there and back, courtesy of Transport for Wales. That journey went very well, but, as I'm sure many AMs are aware, that experience is not universal, and I've received a number of concerned e-mails from constituents who've had problems with that train service, one in particular from a constituent whose daughter travels to Hereford Sixth Form College on a regular basis to study. Her exams are coming up and she's concerned that a large proportion of services are either cancelled at short notice or are delayed by varying amounts and she can't plan her studies effectively. Now, I remember the Minister for transport telling us, I think a few weeks ago, that partly these issues are due to poor maintenance from the previous franchise and that we should bear that in mind, and I think that there is an argument there. However, that's not really relevant to my constituents or people using these train services at the moment. So, what assurance can we give to my constituents and other passengers on Transport for Wales that, whatever the reason for these current delays and problems with the service, these are being dealt with by the Welsh Government and normal service can resume as quickly as possible?

Thank you very much. As you indicated, we have very recently had a debate on railway services here in the Assembly Chamber, led by the Minister, Ken Skates. Certainly, Transport for Wales is working very hard to improve the situation and to deliver the kind of investments now that we have agreed with them. I'm sure that Ken Skates would be happy to bring forward another statement in due course so that Members will have the opportunity to reflect on their constituents' experiences of the new franchise and also to quiz the Minister on delivery. 

My constituent Hannah Evans has been diagnosed as having a rare hereditary genetic condition, Ehlers-Danlos type 3 syndrome—I hope I've said that right—and has developed secondary complications as a result of mast cell activation disease and systemic mastocytosis disorder. Hannah has to travel to London to see a private specialist as there is no specialist in Wales to meet her complex medical needs, and that's put a lot of pressure on the family because they've had to pay for this private treatment and they have been turned down by the specialist services here in Wales. So, they've asked me to raise this with Welsh Government, calling for a statement on how you could potentially look to fund these types of conditions in the future, given the fact that the cost of private treatment is so high and may push people out of being able to seek that treatment as a consequence. 

The second question I wanted to ask followed on from Andrew R.T. Davies's in relation to the situation with regard to rugby. The first question is: why are they doing this in the middle of the six nations, for one, because it's really distracting everybody when it should unite a nation? And the other question is: I heard your answer earlier, but I don't think it's as easy as Welsh Government looking from the sidelines. At the end of the day, the WRU will be applying to the Welsh Government for a new region in north Wales. A potential merger is one thing and, as you said, there are different opinions, but this will affect livelihoods, this will affect the job conditions of the rugby players and where they are settled at the moment, uprooting them from their communities. Can you tell us what discussions you are having with the Welsh Rugby Union and how you will be engaging with them to find a solution that will be sustainable and viable for the future, because we've seen this happen before in Pontypridd and we don't want to see the same mistakes repeated again? So, please give us reassurances. We would appreciate a statement. 

Thank you very much. You'll recall that the health Minister made a statement on the new treatment fund just a few weeks ago here in the Assembly, but certainly if you wanted to write to him with the details of your specific case, I know that he would be interested to explore the issues that you've raised in greater detail.

The question regarding rugby, on why, I think that's probably a question for the WRU, but I know that Welsh Government officials and the Minister—the Deputy Minister, I should say—will be having regular discussions with the WRU on a whole manner of aspects relating to the sport in Wales. And as soon as the Minister has some kind of update in terms of the Welsh Government's role in terms of the future of the sport in Wales, I know that he will bring it forward, but certainly today I think the response really is very much about ensuring that the future of the sport is sustainable across Wales, and we would be keen to work with the WRU to ensure that's the case.

Finally, Huw Irranca-Davies. 

Diolch, Llywydd. Could I say to Andrew R.T. Davies, and to Bethan Sayed, if there was a mood to take forward an individual Member's debate on the future of rugby in Wales, include grass-roots rugby as well? Because the importance of the regional structure is also not to just the Welsh team, but it's downwards to grass-roots rugby as well.

But could I ask for two debates, please? And I'm giving the Trefnydd plenty of time to consider this as well. In Westminster, we used to have an annual fisheries debate. Now, I'm not suggesting we should have that here, but we do have a proud story to talk about what we've done within the marine environment, but we also have to challenge what more we could do as well. Now, I'm very interested in the idea, based on what we've already done in Wales, and what more we have to do, on the idea of an annual marine or marine and fisheries debate—marine sustainability—because it doesn't get enough airtime here in the Chamber. There is more for us to do, and I think it would focus on what we've already achieved and show what more we could do. Now, as it happens, 28 July to 12 August is National Marine Week UK. It falls just outside, but, in the week leading up to that recess, that would be an ideal time, perhaps, for an annual debate of that type.

Could I also flag up the possibility, please, and a request, for a debate, now that we have a Government Minister with responsibility for co-operation and co-operative principles within Government—social enterprises, social economy and so on—on co-operation? Now, could I suggest, again giving time—? We have Co-operatives Fortnight on 24 June to 8 July. It would be an ideal time for Government to bring forward a debate on how they can embed co-operative principles, and I declare my interest as a Co-operative as well as Welsh Labour Member in that, and the chair of the Co-operative group of Assembly Members.

Finally, could we have a statement on the issue of through-ticketing, from grand themes to great detail? Through-ticketing is an important issue for my constituents. It would allow us, if there was a statement, to ask the Minister about Transport for Wales's approach to through-ticketing, when, for example, if you buy a Bridgend to London single advance ticket, it costs £25; if you buy that same ticket from Maesteg, which, as the Minister will know personally, is just up the line on that branch line going up to Maesteg, it is £50.60—it is 124 per cent more expensive—when, if you buy a single from Maesteg to Bridgend just to catch it, it's £2.60. What is going on? And this is just one example of many I have. So, if we could have a statement on through-ticketing and the approach, because there's clearly an inequity there and it's discouraging people from actually joining on our branch lines to join through-trains to London or Bristol or anywhere else when they have such a price premium.

Thank you very much for raising those issues. I can confirm that the Minister will be going out to consultation on 'Brexit and our seas' later this month, which will explore the future of our fisheries in Wales, and I know that there will be an opportunity in due course then to discuss the marine environment more widely with the Minister. I think that I recall that we tend to have an annual statement on marine and fisheries in the Assembly, and I think that we've been doing that over recent years.

With regard to co-operation and co-operative enterprises, of course, the Deputy Minister will have heard your call for a statement there.

And, with regard to through-ticketing and Transport for Wales, the particular journeys you've described do demonstrate very clearly the issue there, and I will ask the Minister to write to you in the first instance to describe Transport for Wales's plans in this particular area.

I thank the Trefnydd.