The business statement and announcement is the next item. I thank the First Minister for his responses. I call on the Trefnydd to make the statement. Rebecca Evans.

Diolch, Llywydd. There are no changes to this week's business. 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.

Minister, please, could we have a statement from the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism about the future of grass-roots rugby in Wales? The secretary of a junior rugby club was recently quoted as saying that grass-roots rugby is, in his words, 'dying on its feet' as amateur sides struggle to attract players. Around 30 per cent of teams in the amateur second and third divisions said that they had postponed games this season because of a lack of players. Eighty per cent—eight out of 10—have said that they had at least one fixture postponed because the opposition could not raise a team. Could we have a statement from the Deputy Minister on what discussion he has had with the Welsh Rugby Union about ensuring that grass-roots rugby has a viable future in Wales? And don't forget: I think rugby is Wales and Wales is rugby. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that, and I would certainly agree with you in terms of the importance that we attach in Wales to our national sport. I know that the Deputy Minister will be having regular meetings with both Sport Wales and with colleagues in the Welsh Rugby Union to discuss issues relating to grass-roots sport in the round, but particularly to support for grass-roots rugby, and I will ask him to write to you with an update on his most recent discussions.

Trefnydd, a report recently presented to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council's Cabinet has threatened to withdraw from the Swansea bay city deal if sufficient progress isn't made over the coming months. Members will see parallels here with a similar threat to the education consortium, ERW, from the very same authority. Nevertheless, the loss of a local authority from the city deal, with the resulting uncertainty and upheaval, would clearly be unwelcome, particularly given recent difficulties. The report, written by the council's chief executive, Steve Phillips, also talks about remodelling three of the four projects that it currently leads on as part of that city deal.

Personally, I fail to see why any local authority would wish to reject UK and Welsh Government funding that could help economic growth within their locality. Clearly, as a regional Assembly Member, I would want to see Neath Port Talbot capitalising on the city deal funding available, so that it can try and tackle the hugely challenging set of economic circumstances that it faces. With Neath Port Talbot due to make a final decision on their city deal membership by the end of this year, will the Minister or Deputy Minister provide an update in terms of the work that they are doing with Neath Port Talbot on this matter? I would also look to the Welsh Government to confirm that if Neath Port Talbot were to withdraw from the city deal, other local authorities within the region would then be able to access the funding that was due to benefit Neath Port Talbot.

Well, it is, of course, ultimately up to the leaders of the four local authorities to decide among themselves how they wish to strengthen the region's programme management office in response to the report that was published recently, and also to consider the roles of their committees and to prioritise the schemes and the programmes and the projects that they will bring forward. The Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport has recently reiterated his commitment to the Swansea bay city deal, and we stand ready, of course, to release funding to projects that demonstrate confidently that they are fit for purpose and can provide value for public money. But, may I suggest that you write to the Deputy Minister with your specific concerns, and when he is in a position to, he will respond regarding the specific actions that Neath Port Talbot may or may not take?    

On Thursday, Universities Wales will be publishing their report, 'Solving Future Skills Challenges in Wales', and it's going to be launched at the breakfast meeting on Thursday of the cross-party group on universities, which I chair, and to which all Members are invited, and attendance is expected. The report points out that our population here in Wales is generally older than in England and Scotland, as well as having lower levels of qualifications, and Members have talked a lot here about the potential impact of automation and the future of work in Wales, and how it would impact people's livelihoods in general, and their employability in particular.

A key question posed by the Universities Wales report is: how can we get more people of all ages higher up the skills ladder? That will be the subject of discussion in the cross-party group. Would the Trefnydd therefore be willing to commit to a debate on this subject in Welsh Government time, so that we can hear the views of the Minister for Education and the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, and have a detailed plan as to what they intend to do and how they intend to respond to that report?

Thank you very much, and I'm sure that colleagues in Government will be looking very carefully at the report that will be published on Thursday of this week, and I certainly expect good attendance for your event as well. In terms of the issues that you have raised, many of them are addressed through the approach that we are taking through the employability programme, which takes a different approach to the one that we've had before, which often has been about early intervention in ensuring that people have the best start in terms of their career. But, actually, we know that people will need support right throughout their career to upskill and move on to roles, and that people at all ages need the kind of support that the Welsh Government should be providing. I do think that that's encapsulated within the employability plan, but colleagues will have heard your request for a statement and the opportunity to debate it within the Chamber.  

Could I call for two statements? The first is on support for disabled people experiencing violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence in Wales. Last week, I chaired a joint meeting of the cross-party groups on disability and on violence against women and children, looking at the impact of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence on disabled women. We produced a report—or, more importantly, we launched a report—jointly produced by Disability Wales and Welsh Women's Aid on supporting disabled people in these areas. Because evidence continues to show that disabled people are more likely to experience violence, abuse and sexual violence in these areas, yet support and resources for them are still limited. A series of recommendations were made—I haven't got time now to list them all, but I would urge the Welsh Government to look at those recommendations and respond accordingly.

Secondly, and finally, could I call for a report on support for deaf people and people who are hard of hearing in Wales? Because this is Deaf Awareness Week—6 to 12 May. We know that, for instance, the Department for Work and Pensions's Disability Confident campaign is encouraging Disability Confident employers to boost deaf awareness by checking out Action on Hearing Loss's employers' hub. We know that Remploy Cymru's work and health programme Wales includes people who are deaf or with hearing loss who need support. I was contacted this weekend by COS, the Centre of Sign Sight Sound, based in Colwyn Bay, of which I'm patron, talking about their project on deaf awareness for children, and the many activities they're taking across north Wales this week. And we also know—a few weeks ago, we debated the Deffo!, the voice of deaf youth in Wales, petition, when they stated that in 2003 the UK Government and in 2004, this place, the Assembly recognised British Sign Language as a language in its own right. But 16 years later, we've made little progress in some areas, and our education as a whole, a generation later, is still failing our deaf young people. It has to stop, and we have to do something about it. Given all these areas, the progress achieved, the good news, the third sector working, but also the problems that continue to be highlighted, I call for a statement recognising Deaf Awareness Week accordingly.

Thank you for raising both of those issues. With regard to the violence against women, and particularly against disabled women, I would be very grateful if you would share a copy of the report that you referred to with me, and I'll be sure that the relevant Minister is able, then, to explore the report and look at the recommendations for Welsh Government that are within it. And the health Minister has indicated that he would be happy to write with an update on the support for people who are deaf and who are hard of hearing across the range of issues that you've outlined in your question today.

I, like many other people, am concerned about the treatment of homeless people in this country. I was horrified to see the Labour-run Cardiff Council forcibly evict homeless people from parkland in Museum Avenue. People might have seen one homeless man crying out as his belongings were tossed into the back of a flatbed van, heading for who knows where. 'They basically just took my world' was how we responded. Now, I know the Minister with responsibility for homelessness was not happy with the punitive approach her Labour Party colleagues on Cardiff Council took to tackling homelessness in the city centre. She, like me, was probably left wondering why they seemed to take the advice of a Tory councillor who said, 'Tear down the tents in the city centre'. So, will the Welsh Government join me in condemning the actions of Cardiff Council? And can we also have a statement from the Government outlining good and compassionate practice in terms of dealing with homeless people, who are amongst the most vulnerable in our society, and, of course, who are growing in number? And taking a compassionate approach to tackling homelessness would also involve repealing the Vagrancy Act of 1824. Because of their extra autonomy, Scotland and the north of Ireland have already repealed this archaic legislation, which specifically criminalises rough-sleeping and begging. We can't wait for Westminster to get rid of legislation that's been around for nearly 200 years. This is yet another reason why we need full devolution of our criminal justice system, so that we can develop workable, compassionate and evidence-based laws that tackle the problems that we have in society and not allow them to be added to.

We clearly recognise the complex and difficult balance that local authorities do have to strike between supporting individuals and also responding to wider community safety issues, and those are challenges that the police also have to face. But supporting rough-sleepers off the streets and into accommodation isn't always easy, but it is our expectation that local authorities and services, including the police, do take a trauma-informed approach to doing that, and ensuring that the individual is at the heart of any actions that are taken.

You mentioned having that compassionate approach, and Welsh Government has invested in psychologically informed training for front-line housing professionals, and we would expect local authorities also to take a trauma-informed approach to all service delivery. Front-line services will often be dealing with extremely vulnerable individuals, particularly rough-sleepers, and whether the issue being raised is one of anti-social behaviour or drug use, supporting that individual to get the help that they need has to be at the heart of any response. I know that the Minister for Housing and Local Government is taking a very strong interest in this and showing strong leadership on it. She's established a taskforce with Cardiff Council and the prison service, which will look to offer people accommodation who are in these very vulnerable situations, through the housing first model in Cardiff.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with the Go Girls, Go Brothers, Pobl, parents and Newport youth forum to discuss first-hand their experiences on universal credit. They spoke powerfully about the impact on their own lives. One key point that was discussed was that parents under the age of 25 are £66 a month worse off since the introduction of this scheme. Now, these families are not just statistics on a piece of paper, and it's painfully evident that this damaging and unfair policy from the Tory Government in Westminster is penalising and trapping these young people. Can we have a statement and update on what pressure the Welsh Government is putting on the UK Government to change this policy, and will you join me in commending the Go Girls, Go Brothers, Pobl, parents and Newport youth forum for their determined campaign? They certainly are a force to be reckoned with.

I will certainly join you in complimenting those organisations on the work that they're doing to share their own real-life experiences and the challenges that they face, and to talk so openly about those things with people who they hope they're able to make a difference for them. I know that the Minister with responsibility for our liaison with the UK Government on all matters with welfare reform frequently raises various concerns relating to universal credit. I'll be sure to ensure that the issues relating specifically to young people—and the fact that they are worse off now, and, as you say, find themselves that they are penalised and being trapped in their current situations—are issues that are raised with the UK Government, and I'll ask the Minister to let you know the most recent representations that have been made. 

Organiser, could I seek two statements, or certainly ministerial clarification? One is in relation to the environmental impact assessment that I've asked you and your predecessors about 101 times about Barry incinerator. We're in a new term, I live in hope—God loves a trier, he does—and I've tried long and hard in this Chamber to try and illicit some response from the Minister on this. Residents in Barry and beyond are very anxious to understand why the Minister has not carried out what she indicated was her favourite option, and instructed that an environmental impact assessment would be delivered for this particular site. I understand she was seeking legal clarification and legal advice. We are now 15 months—15 months—after that willingness from the Minister in ministerial questions back in February of last year was indicated. Surely the Government can come forward with a position on this after 15 months. 

And secondly, from the Cabinet Secretary for the environment and rural affairs, could I seek some form of timeline that she'll be responding to this—I think it was your own working group this year, Minister, tackling agricultural pollution? It was a very varied group of individuals and organisations that came together to bring recommendations forward to the Minister so that she could understand how agricultural pollution could be tackled without the need to revert to the nitrate vulnerable zones proposals that the Minister has brought forward at the moment. Those proposals are due to be enacted on 1 January 2020. It does seem slightly remarkable to me that there hasn't been a formal response, at least to the recommendations for the Government contained within this report. So, could I have an indication as to when the Minister might be responding to those recommendations? It seems that they enjoyed widespread support from all organisations that drew them up, where compromise was the order of the day from all parties, to come forward with a blueprint that wouldn't revert to legislation. So, if we could have an understanding of how that's progressing I'd be most grateful.

Thank you for raising both of these issues, and no-one would like more than me not to have to discuss the Barry incinerator with you in business statement week after week, but, unfortunately, we still don't have the legal clarification that we need to be able to bring a resolution there. 

On the issue of agricultural pollution, the Minister has indicated that she will bring forward a statement before the end of this term. 

I would like to ask for two statements. Many pupils are placed at a disadvantage because revision textbooks for some GCSE subjects aren’t available through the medium of Welsh, and that’s just weeks before the exams. I’m specifically talking about higher maths and business. Now, there’s no point whatsoever for them to arrive in time for the exam, as WJEC have stated today.

In the summer of last year, a report was published on this very topic by the children and young people committee, with a number of recommendations made that were far-reaching in order to put the situation right, but here we are once again discussing this very same problem. It would be very useful for Assembly Members to receive an update on what happened to those recommendations, and what action has been taken on them? Therefore, I would like to ask for a statement from the Government noting that, and also I’d like to ask what steps will now be taken by Government to ensure that we aren’t discussing this in this place again next year. It’s time that this was sorted out, and it’s time that young people in Wales had full fair play in whatever language they study.

In turning to another subject, nine local authorities in Wales are now of the view that the Government needs to address this anomaly that means that some owners of holiday homes don’t pay any taxes. And I congratulate these nine authorities that have stated that clearly last week. I will be meeting your officials to discuss this in due time, but we need the political leadership here. So, may I ask you for a statement on what steps your Government is considering in order to resolve this unfortunate situation and unsatisfactory situation? The £2 million lost to the coffers of Gwynedd Council as a result of this—that money could be used to meet the need for social housing in the area and to increase the housing stock for local people.

Thank you very much. On the first issue of the Welsh-medium resources to support WJEC qualifications, I am able to provide an update, which is that we are committed to ensuring that the relevant resources are available to Welsh-medium learners, and we invest over £2.7 million annually to ensure this provision. In 2018-19, a grant funding amount of £1.1 million was awarded to the WJEC to provide Welsh versions of textbooks, including revision materials that are published commercially by publishers in England, and we will be increasing this grant funding in 2019-20 to £1.25 million, and that will equate to a further 50 new titles. Positive steps were taken last year by the WJEC and the publishers to reduce the lead-in time between the production of English textbooks and the availability to schools of the Welsh-language versions, and under the new curriculum, Welsh Government is working with partners to establish a new infrastructure in Wales for the production of relevant resources in both languages at the same time in the future. 

On the issue of the homes that are moving from paying council tax to seeking to pay business rates, of course I did send quite a detailed letter to you in terms of the steps that Welsh Government is taking to address this issue, and I'm pleased that you're able to take up that offer to have a briefing with officials in terms of Welsh Government action in this area. We do recognise that there is potentially an issue and that there should be safeguards in place, in the sense that houses or homes have to be available to rent for a certain number of days a year. But if there are individuals who are working their way around those rules, then perhaps we are needing to look at ways in which to expand on tightening up those rules. 

Trefnydd, last week, I had the opportunity to visit a community pharmacy in Caergwlre in my constituency of Alyn and Deeside. And it's doing some fantastic work and is leading the way on the pilot scheme for a sore throat test and treat service in Wales. It's already delivered great results by radically reducing the amounts of medicine prescribed and reducing the pressure on local general practitioner services. Therefore, could the Minister for health bring forward a statement and update on this pilot scheme, because I actually think it would be a great benefit to Wales and our GP services to roll this out, to be well ahead of the game, ahead of this year's winter pressures that we will face?

Secondly, Llywydd, in Wales, as many people know, we are celebrating 20 years of devolution. And I truly am looking forward to both your and the First Minister's address to the Senedd Chamber later on. But, with your permission, can I pay a personal tribute to all those Assembly Members, including dad, who are no longer with us any more? It was 18 months ago today when we sadly lost dad, and I do know that he would love to be here with us. So, can I say 'thank you' to all those Assembly Members who are no longer here on behalf of Wales, to their families as well, for their commitment and hard work towards their communities and the people of Wales? [Applause.]

Thank you very much, Jack. On the issue of community pharmacies, I know the Minister does update regularly. I know there was a written statement just a short while ago relating to community pharmacy, but you'll certainly be watching that pilot scheme very closely, and I will ask the Minister to think about when the next appropriate moment will be to talk about that.FootnoteLink

And I would absolutely endorse everything that you've said, on behalf of the Welsh Government, in terms of celebrating the contribution and remembering the contribution of all those Members of the Assembly who are no longer here. 

Information further to Plenary

May I ask for a statement from the Welsh Government on the Government’s consultation processes, because many of us will have been quite shocked to understand recently that a petition presented to the Petitions Committee in this Assembly, despite having thousands of signatories, only 12 per cent of those names had addresses in Wales? That raises a question, which is a matter for the Petitions Committee, of course, but it encouraged me to think, ‘Well, what does the Welsh Government do with the responses that it receives to consultations, and how can we as Members here be assured that the Government is giving appropriate weighting to responses from Wales, because petitions will be presented as part of responses to consultations?' Responses provided online by certain pressure groups and lobbyists will also contribute to those consultations. So, in terms of transparency, will you as a Government consider publishing what percentage of all consultations—and not retrospectively, perhaps, but from here on in—that you publish what percentage of responses to consultations have responses coming from Wales so that we can be clear that the Government is giving full consideration to those responses coming from Welsh constituents?

I'll certainly give consideration to what you've said and write to you with a response in terms of our approach to the information we publish and how we consider that weighting in relative terms from the people who respond from Wales and from elsewhere. 

I wanted to thank the Welsh Government, and the Minister for International Affairs and Welsh Language in particular, for writing a letter at my request last week to Jeremy Hunt, asking him to intervene in the case of my constituent, Imam Sis. This was a truly welcome intervention and I am sincerely grateful for it. Members might be aware that Imam Sis is now critically ill. He's been on hunger strike for 142 days. His condition is very serious. Could I ask the Welsh Government please to give an update to Members on the floor of this house on recent developments and, also, to please write to the European committee for the prevention of torture highlighting the case of Abdullah Öcalan, as it was instructed to do by this place on 20 March?  

Thank you very much for raising what is an extremely important issue, which many people feel very, very passionately about, as we saw, I think, here in the debate that we had in the Assembly. As you say, the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language has written to Jeremy Hunt, and she enclosed a copy of the letter, where she set out very clearly the seriousness of the situation as it currently stands. She also included a link to the transcript of the debate that we had here in the Assembly so that all of the contributions to that debate could be considered. And she was very clear that, given the UK Government's strong tradition of opposing human rights abuses, she would be very grateful if the issues, which were specifically spoken about in the debate and in your correspondence, could be addressed by the UK Government. And I'm sure that she'll share a copy of the response as soon as she receives it. 

Trefnydd, I'm sure we’ll all be devastated by the report published yesterday by the 450 experts on their work on the state of the world’s nature and the fact that nearly a million species are at risk of extinction. We know that native species have disappeared from our land, our seas and our shorelines, and crops are at risk because of the decline in pollinators. And we know that the species at the bottom of the food chain, insects, is causing catastrophic declines in our bird life, and generally it is a call to action for all of us. So, I wondered if we could have a statement from the Welsh Government on how we are going to completely rethink our use of our land and our seas and, in particular, the way we produce our food, because, simply, inaction is not an option amidst this catastrophic climate and natural environmental catastrophe. I know that global targets will be set in China next year, but surely Wales must be in the lead in changing our behaviour to try and avoid the catastrophe that faces us all.

As you say, that report was extremely concerning, and I know that the Minister with responsibility for the environment has asked her officials to study it and to provide advice as to what more Welsh Government could be doing in this particular area. The Minister has also recently, I think, made a statement on ‘Brexit and our Seas’, or intends to do so—

It's going out to consultation.

It’s going out to consultation on that particular issue very shortly, and many of those issues, I think, will cut across into that consultation, and the way in which we seek to manage our marine areas post Brexit. But it's cetainly an issue, and the report is an issue that the Minister is very aware of and will be seeking to learn from.

I would like to request a debate on dentistry. There are a number of levels of our dental service that needs discussion and I think a debate would be a means of airing those. First of all, there are serious concerns about the UDA agreement—the units of dental activity—where I’m convinced there is a disincentive for dentists to deal with multiple problems, including problems suffered by children who can’t access treatment.

Secondly, we need to have a debate on the availability of NHS dental care. A surgery in my constituency, Bridge Street Dental Practice in Menai Bridge, announced recently the intention to close—it was a problem in getting hold of staff that was the cause of that. I wrote to Betsi Cadwaladr to ask what the patients are now supposed to do. The response I received was, ‘Tell them to phone around looking for a dental surgery that provides NHS services.’ I know that the opportunities for people to access NHS services are few and far between, and, on a recent list, Holyhead in my constituency was the place where people had to travel furthest to access dental services—59 miles there and back to the nearest surgery.

And thirdly, as I said, a failure to recruit new dentists was the problem in terms of Bridge Street Dental in Menai Bridge. Just as we succeeded with our campaign to provide medical training in Bangor, I think that this debate would also be a means of discussing the need for dental training too, to be developed on the back of the medical training that is due to commence there soon.

You’ll recall that the health Minister made a statement very recently on access to dental services, and within that statement there was a strong focus on tackling health inequalities, with regard to both outcomes and access. The Minister will have heard your request for a fuller debate on dentistry that encapsulates recruitment and so on, and I’m sure he’ll give it his consideration.FootnoteLink

Information further to Plenary

I’d like a statement from the Welsh Government on the proposed closure of two Welsh-medium schools in Pontypridd. Labour Rhondda Cynon Taf wants to close ysgol Pont Siôn Norton and ysgol Heol-y-Celyn to build a bigger Welsh-medium school miles away—miles away—from pupils. There are children as young as three years of age who will be expected to travel up to six miles to go to school. It's extremely difficult for parents getting the children to the school. I'm told by some it'll be an impossibility. So, what we have here, despite the target of a million speakers, is a Labour council putting up barriers to working-class communities accessing the Welsh language in their own communities. Schools are more than bricks and mortar; they're building blocks of communities, and what is happening here in Rhondda Cynon Taf is an absolute disgrace. So, I'd like to know what the Government has to say about it.

Can I encourage you to write to the education Minister with your concerns? Of course, it will be for the local authority to determine where it places its schools and where it invests in its schools within the local authority area, but I'm sure that you've shared your concerns with the local authority in terms of any impact it might have on access to Welsh-medium education, and I would encourage you to share those concerns with the education Minister.

Thank you, Trefnydd.