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

Thank you, Llywydd. There is one change to this week's business. The Business Committee has agreed to the withdrawal of tomorrow's statement by the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the papers available to Members electronically.

Can I call for two statements, please, firstly on prostate cancer diagnosis and management in Wales? Twelve days ago, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, or NICE, updated their guidelines for prostate cancer diagnosis and management in England and Wales, recommending, amongst other things, that active surveillance should be offered as a primary option for men with low-risk localised prostate cancer. And the changes in the updated guidelines included the statement that men should be offered multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, or mpMRI scans, before biopsy if they're suspected to have localised prostate cancer.

Prostate Cancer UK stated this breakthrough diagnostic technique should now be made available in all parts of Wales in the future, ending the current variation in access that has resulted in some men paying privately for scans. In March last year, NHS England announced it was launching a one-stop service using MRI techniques for timely diagnosis in England. Last December, NICE issued new draft guidance recommending pre-biopsy mpMRI for suspected prostate cancer. In January, the Welsh Government Minister for Health and Social Services, sitting to your right—Mr Gething—wrote to Assembly Members stating he'd asked all health boards to work with the Welsh Urology Board to ensure they have full implementation plans. In the same letter, he said that health boards confirmed that, at present, they deliver care in line with current guidance. However, when I had a meeting with Betsi Cadwaladr last December with a patient, they formally apologised for not having delivered care in accordance with NICE guidance for post-biopsy mpMRI and confirmed that they would be recompensing the men who had paid accordingly.

As Prostate Cancer states, mpMRI revolutionises prostate cancer diagnosis. The Welsh Government should therefore respond to their calls and those of others, including Tenovus Cancer Care, for the Welsh Government to ensure that mpMRI is now available across Wales. Although Mr Gething told the Assembly in March that when NICE recommends pre-biopsy mpMRI, he will expect all health boards in Wales to amend their pathways accordingly, he must therefore now go further and ensure that they do. I call for a statement accordingly on a matter that has occupied much time in this Chamber and generated a number of issues.

Yes, just as your request for it has occupied much time in this Chamber. Please can you come to the second one and do it as quickly as you can, because I have many, many speakers who also want to participate, including some from your own group?

Thank you for your perseverance. Secondly and finally, could I call for a statement on the Welsh Government's approach to justice for armed forces veterans who face prosecution and their engagement, if any, with the UK Government over this? This weekend, hundreds of protesters marched through Cardiff in support of veterans being prosecuted for historic offences in Northern Ireland, coinciding with protests by veterans across the UK. In 2014, it was discovered that Mr Blair's Government had done a secret deal as part of the Good Friday negotiations, in which letters were sent to known IRA members involved in terrorism, assuring them they would not face prosecution in the future. Last week, the defence Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, announced plans for legislation to provide stronger protection from repeated investigations into historical allegations for veterans in Iran and Afghanistan, but she also said, although this wouldn't apply in Northern Ireland, she intended to find a way they could be afforded similar protection—and I conclude here—saying that dealing with the treatment of Northern Ireland veterans was a personal priority for her. Has the Welsh Government taken a position on this, will it do so, given the protests in Cardiff and the impact on many people living in Wales, and what dialogue has it had, if any, with the UK Government? 

I'm happy to provide an update today with regard to your first question, relating to prostate cancer. Of course, patients should have access to investigations for cancer in line with national guidance, and this should be delivered consistently across Wales. Mark Isherwood outlined that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published updated guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer on 9 May. Health boards that do not currently provide care in line with this guidance are due to submit their implementation plans to the Welsh Government by 3 June, and then the Welsh Government will be meeting with health boards on 19 June to review these plans, and implementation timescales will depend on the content of those plans.

The issue relating to armed forces veterans is not an issue that is devolved to the Welsh Government, so I suggest that the Member takes it up with the relevant UK Government Minister.

Trefnydd, last Friday, I attended a public meeting in Cwmllynfell in Neath Port Talbot, along with other Members of this place, to discuss the closure of the medical surgery in the village—a decision that will ultimately be made by the Swansea Bay University Health Board. Although the surgery is located in Cwmllynfell, it’s part of the Amman Tawe partnership, which serves populations in Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot and Powys and encompasses three health boards, namely Hywel Dda, Swansea bay and Powys. Now, it’s clear that people in Cwmllynfell don’t want to lose their local surgery, with many concerned about the problems in accessing other locations using public transport, such as Ystalyfera and Pontardawe. Now, there’s a large population, of around 11,000 people, in this relatively rural area, from Cwmtwrch, Ystradowen, Cwmllynfell, Gwauncaegurwen and Brynaman, which are miles away from any urban centres. Although the Swansea bay health board will make the final decision, what has emerged is that the decision needs to have input from each of the three health boards involved. Would the Welsh Government therefore be willing to make a statement on this issue and review the process of deciding on the future of primary healthcare services when those services are provided across more than one health board, particularly where the location, as in this case, with a very high number of residents and a long way from everywhere else, crosses three health boards. Thank you.

Thank you very much for raising this issue, and I will ask the health Minister to write to you with regard to the Welsh Government's approach and the advice and guidance that we provide in terms of health provision that does cross boundaries, although you'll appreciate that, at this point, we wouldn't be able to comment on the specific example that you gave.FootnoteLink

Information further to Plenary

I would like to ask for two statements. Firstly, as the business manager knows, it was May 2018 when the closure of the Virgin Media centre in Swansea was announced. Last August, Virgin Media said that the Llansamlet site would close by July 2019. Virgin Media said at the time,

'We will be meeting with the Welsh Assembly Government taskforce in the near future, as well as other employers in the area, to identify other opportunities for people impacted by this decision.'

Can I ask for a Welsh Government update on the work of the taskforce and on the number of employees who have found alternative employment?

Secondly, can I ask regarding Dawnus? I'm asking for a Government statement outlining what support has been given to staff who lost their jobs following the closure of Dawnus, which affects your constituents as much as it affects mine. What further help will be provided and, also, how many of the former Dawnus employees have found alternative employment?

I thank Mike Hedges for raising this issue and the concern that he's shown for some time about the workers at both Virgin and Dawnus. With regard to Virgin, I can say that, since the announcement of the closure, the employees at Virgin Media have been supported by Careers Wales, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Welsh Contact Centre Forum and the ReAct programme. The support has included careers advice, retraining support and the job fairs to which Mike Hedges referred. To date, of 192 leavers, 92 per cent have successfully been redeployed as part of the outplacement programme, the majority of which have been through those job fairs, and seven individuals have transferred to other jobs within Virgin Media. In terms of ReAct, 44 vocational training grants have been awarded, and two companies have been awarded wage subsidies in respect of Virgin Media workers, and there will be another series of job fairs in the second week of June, just coming up.

With regard to Dawnus, working with the official receiver, the taskforce have identified 430 direct former employees of the business and those who have addresses in Wales. The Welsh staff affected have been provided with the relevant redundancy information, and they've also been provided with advice on how to access support from the Welsh Government's ReAct programme, Careers Wales and the DWP's Jobcentre Plus. So, the kind of support that's been made available ranges from practical advice and guidance around CV writing to vocational training subsidies and also wage subsidy support for employers recruiting displaced staff. And also the taskforce is working with the Construction Industry Training Board to ensure that apprentices affected are found new placements with employers, where appropriate, to complete their training and also to find long-term employment.

Organiser, could we have a statement from the transport Minister, please, in relation to the train network and the new roll-out of the service that Transport for Wales are undertaking across Wales? I appreciate that it was only in October that the franchise was taken over, but, in evidence to the transport and the economy committee, James Price, the chief executive of Transport for Wales, said that there were going to be many changes this May that passengers would start to enjoy. We know, this year, for example, that there are going to be 160 new carriages coming on the network, yet 89 are going to be taken off, and anyone who looks at social media this morning can see the crammed carriages that are still in existence on the network. I appreciate Transport for Wales are doing their best within difficult circumstances, but an understanding of a timeline of when these new introductions will come, especially in the next 12 months, would be most appreciated, certainly by this Member and I'm sure by other Members, so that we can correspond with our constituents. Just blindly saying that 2022 is the eureka moment, because that seems to be when a lot of new rolling stock will be arriving, really isn't going to buy a lot of credit with the travelling public at the moment. So, if we could have an update on the proposals that were brought before the transport and economy committee and where we are at with those proposals, I think that would be most welcome.

Thank you very much. I do recognise that there's huge interest in terms of Transport for Wales, and I will ask the Minister with responsibility for the economy and transport to consider when would be the best time to update Members. I would point to a statement that Ken Skates is making this afternoon, on the Global Centre of Rail Excellence in Wales, which will certainly give an opportunity for Members who do have an interest in this area to ask some questions specifically related at least to that part of the agenda.

In these fractious political times, achieving the goal of 1 million Welsh speakers is something that can unite almost every Assembly Member. Reaching this target will take a lot of effort and determination over a number of different areas, and Welsh courses for adults are a crucial component. Unfortunately, Welsh learning is not treated the same as English learning courses, because English courses are exempt from VAT, whereas Welsh courses are not. This is clearly something that's very unfair.

Now, I was pleased to see that this injustice garnered attention and support on social media from Tory and Labour Members of this Senedd, including the Minister. So, can we present a united front to lobby the UK Treasury, through the Minister, to correct this anomaly so that Welsh language courses can have the VAT exemption enjoyed by their English language counterparts?

I want to bring up the issue of bowel cancer. Recent research has been conducted over a decade and found a sharp rise in this type of cancer among younger people. We all know too well on the Plaid Cymru benches the devastating impact of this concerning trend. Experts are now calling for the screening age to be lowered to 45. Wales does not screen for bowel cancer until the age of 60. I know that there are plans to bring Wales in line with Scotland, where people are screened from the age of 50, but this is not going to happen until 2023. So, can this Government please bring that target forward and consider lowering the screening age to comply with the latest medical advice?

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

Thank you for raising both of these issues. Certainly, setting rates of VAT is not a matter for the Welsh Government, but we were as concerned as you were when it was brought to our attention that whilst there was a VAT exemption in place for English as a foreign language courses that are provided on a commercial basis, the same exemption is not available for Welsh language courses, and that's why I wrote to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury setting out that, as an official language of the UK, there should be a level playing field for the Welsh language, and the same VAT exemption should apply in relation to the Welsh language. Clearly, there is cross-party support for this; I think that is very welcome indeed.

On the matter of the screening ages for bowel cancer, I'll ask the Minister for health to write to you with the latest progress, certainly, in terms of the first instance, moving towards lowering that age to 50, but then with information about wider plans for the longer term in terms of what we're able to do to support the bowel cancer screening agenda, particularly with regard to increasing our capacity in order to undertake those tests.FootnoteLink

Information further to Plenary

The Open University is an example of what a Prime Minister can achieve if they pursue something with single-minded determination. It was Harold Wilson's Government that conceived the 'university of the air', and it was introduced in 1969, now approaching, this year, its fiftieth anniversary as the Open University. The Open University delivers distance learning to around 9,000 people in Wales, over 200,000 students in Wales have studied with the OU since 1969, and three quarters of students are working full or part time when they study. Almost 40 per cent of OU students begin studying without standard university entry criteria, and over 40 per cent come from widening access areas. The Diamond reforms that the Government has introduced to increase flexibility of provision have seen a surge of part-time students in Wales that hasn't occurred elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and I think it is therefore timely that we talk about where we go next. Therefore, would the Government, in Government time, have a debate on how part-time higher education can deliver more degree apprenticeships and address the skills shortages we will face in the future, with particular reference to that kind of part-time study that's supported by the university of the air, the Open University?

Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to compliment and thank the Open University for the work that it's undertaken over the last 50 years, and the important work that it's done in terms of opening up learning and qualification opportunities to people. The Minister for Education is here, so she will have heard your request in terms of an opportunity to debate the importance of part-time HE, particularly in terms of degrees for higher-level apprenticeships.

I'd like to call for two statements. Firstly, late last week we learned that the latest scientific thinking is that air pollution penetrates every single organ in our body, and the World Health Organization is calling this an air pollution emergency. I was very grateful to hear that the Conservative Party is supporting the call for a clean air zone in Cardiff, as well as in Wrexham, Newport and Swansea, and I will make sure that the leader of Cardiff council is aware of that. Pending the action that Cardiff council must take to protect its citizens, based on extensive UK Government research that shows that deterring polluting vehicles from city centres and towns is by far the most cost-effective way to cut nitrogen dioxide pollution, could we in the light of the latest scientific thinking on this matter have a statement from the Minister for health about what Public Health Wales is doing to promote the actions that public authorities must take to protect us all? For example, encouraging more walking and cycling for short journeys is one of the asks that the scientists are calling for.

Secondly, and in relation to this, Julie Morgan and I, amongst other elected representatives from Cardiff and Newport, went on a mystery bus tour on Friday on an electric bus, which was absolutely fantastic, with all the latest Wi-Fi, really comfortable—absolutely the opposite to the image that bus travel has. Cardiff is now exploring procuring large numbers of this particular bus, which is produced in Scarborough in partnership with BYD, which is based in China. It's very exciting, because they won this Welsh Government award to clean up their public transport—with £5.7 million from the Welsh Government. I wondered if we could have a statement from the Minister for Economy and Transport on how we're going to roll out electric buses across our cities in Wales, not just in Cardiff. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. I am pleased to confirm that there will be a statement on clean air before the summer recess. I know the Minister for the environment will be making that statement. I hear that your particular concern is in relation to what contribution Public Health Wales and the health agenda can make to that, so I'll be sure that the statement does, obviously, have full input from colleagues right across Government.

With regard to the issue of electric buses, I will certainly ask the Minister with responsibility for transport to provide you with an update there. But I can say that we have had some recent success with bids for UK ultra-low emission bus services. So, Cardiff city council had a grant of £5.6 million, Stagecoach South Wales had £2.8 million, and Newport Transport had £1 million to develop their services using electric buses.

Can I call for a statement from the Minister responsible for heritage on Welsh religious buildings? I read with dismay in the media over the weekend about the potential alternative use of the Norwegian church here in Cardiff Bay, which, of course, is a historic church, not just for the Norwegian community, but also internationally because it's the oldest Norwegian church actually outside of Norway, and it's a very prominent part of life in the Bay, as all Assembly Members will know. I understand that Cardiff council are seeking to make the venue more commercially viable, but I am concerned that that's got be done in a very sensitive way, in order to protect what is an incredibly important part of Christian heritage for Wales. I wonder if we could have a statement on what work the Welsh Government is doing with Cadw and others to make sure that buildings like this are listed—because I understand that the Norwegian church isn't yet a listed building, which I find astonishing—in order to make sure that we can protect these sorts of places for future generations to enjoy.

The Minister with responsibility for culture and heritage is here in the Chamber to hear your contribution, and you're absolutely right that the Norwegian church is a very central and important part of life here in Cardiff Bay. I'll ask the Minister to provide you with an update on Welsh Government and Cadw's approach to protecting buildings of particular Welsh religious heritage and interest.

Trefnydd, on many occasions, I've raised in this Chamber concerns of my constituents regarding the remedies and support they seek as a consequence of failing cavity insulation. That cavity insulation has been installed under Welsh Government grants very often, and has been underwritten by the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency. Very often, those constituents have contacted CIGA and have received responses that are challenging the actual assertion that the cavity insulation has failed, and putting the blame back on the owner of the property. Now, many of those individuals cannot afford the remedies that are required. As a consequence, this is clearly a question of what are CIGA going to be doing about this.

The last time I raised it, the chief executive wrote to me indicating he'll be happy to listen to concerns of constituents, and he'll be getting a few letters from me in that response. But they were Welsh Government projects, and they have been underwritten by CIGA, which I'm sure Welsh Government supported. So, I want a statement from the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to ask the question as to what Welsh Government will do for these individuals, because very often, these individuals shouldn't be in the position of coming to see me. The remedy should have been done by the underwriting guarantor. And if not them, perhaps the Welsh Government, who actually funded the initial work in the first place.

So, can we have a statement as to what the Welsh Government will be doing to help individuals who find themselves in this position? They end up in a battle with CIGA to say what's actually gone wrong. CIGA often say the wall has broken down and it's the fault of the cladding, and not the fault of the cavity insulation in the first place, when there's been a survey showing actually they're wrong, and that it is a fault with the cavity insulation. But, Welsh Government actually funded the project in the first place. Can we have a statement as to what Welsh Government will be doing to support those individuals to ensure that they get the remedies, they get the cavity wall insulation fixed and repaired, and that they don't have to find thousands of pounds, which they haven't got?

Again, the Minister for environment has been here to hear your contribution and the description of the challenges and the problems that your constituents and others have faced regarding cavity insulation work. Can I ask you to write directly to the Minister with information about particular cases you're concerned about? I'm sure that she will respond.

I received the Armed Forces Covenant annual report for Wales last week, and I do welcome that update. I've recently been working with Care After Combat. I had a meeting with them in my office. They have operations in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend, and they go into prisons and they actually do save millions of pounds to the Welsh Government and the UK Government for the work that they do with former veterans who are currently prisoners. So, I was a bit disappointed that there was no recognition in this particular annual report of any of the work that they do. I would like to request a statement from the Welsh Government on the work that they do with Care After Combat and whether the Welsh Government would be happy to meet with the charity, with the Minister responsible, to see how they can go about aiding them in their future work here in Wales.

My second question was with regard to whether we could have a statement on any specific actions the Welsh Government are taking in relation to street harassment experienced by girls. I know that the campaigners have asked for specific references as to how the Welsh Government are operating, but the Welsh Government has come back and said that the violence against women Act covers all elements of harassment. But that doesn't explain to us exactly what is happening in relation to street harassment. So, could we have a statement from Welsh Government, as this is a rising trend, sadly, on our streets here in Wales?

In relation to your first question, which sought Welsh Government recognition of the work that Care after Combat does with individuals who have served in the armed forces, I know Welsh Government has had a long-standing relationship with the organisation. I met with them in my previous role when I was responsible for housing, to talk about how we can best prevent people who have previously served our country from becoming homeless. I know that the Welsh Government has more recently also met with representatives of Care After Combat and there is an ongoing dialogue with that organisation. 

Moving on to the issue of street harassment, clearly it's something of concern to all of us. From the Welsh Government's perspective, part of the way in which we'll prevent this from happening, really, is about challenging those kinds of mindsets where people do think it's appropriate to harass—usually women—in the street. We're doing that through campaigns such as Don't Be a Bystander, and that demonstrates the positive impact of offering support to victims. Also there's the work we're doing through This is Me, which challenges gender stereotypes. And again, there's the work that we're doing in schools with children and young people to help them develop a strong sense of healthy relationships and a strong understanding of what is expected of them and what they should be able to expect from other people. 

Could I ask for one debate? I know we've recently had a debate on rugby, which mainly focused at the regional level, but I'd like to seek a debate at some point on community and grass-roots rugby, because it would allow us then to talk about the challenges, but also the successes, not least last weekend, when Maesteg 7777s, the Old Parish, of which I'm proud to be president, gained promotion into the next league above, and when Nantyffyllon on the same day gained promotion—my son was playing for them as well, I have to say—they gained promotion and won the Silver Ball competition of all the Welsh teams. These are two local Valleys teams with tremendous pedigree, real grass-roots champions. And the Valley Ravens, who do so much with mini and junior rugby in the Ogmore and Garw Valleys, where it was looking as if it was on its knees at one point, but they've really built it back up. And also to pay tribute to some of the longest serving champions of grass-roots community rugby as well—people like Mr Leighton Williams, the long-serving secretary of Ogmore Vale Rugby Club, who unfortunately passed away only very recently after years and years of service. 

Could I also ask for a statement on Government progress on the work streams that have flowed from the Valleys taskforce work? Because I think some of us would particularly like to speak up for the proposals there around a regional park. In fact, we'd probably like it to go further and to have some sort of national designation and look at what we can do in terms of—as we've just declared a climate emergency—biodiversity challenges and what that could contribute if we had real scale and ambition behind it. And also talk about, in the Valleys taskforce streams, how the wonderful pilot of the bus transport that is now looking at delivering people down out of their normal work hours by bus to Treforest and Llantrisant could be extended rapidly to other areas like Gilfach and the Garw and the Ogmore valleys as well. So, a statement on that and a debate on community grass-roots rugby would be very welcome indeed. 

Thank you very much for raising the issue of grass-roots rugby and, of course, the Minister with responsibility for community sport will have heard your request for that debate. I know that our colleague Jayne Bryant has a question specifically on the importance of community sport and active recreation in the Chamber tomorrow, and I know it's something that both of you champion very regularly. 

In relation to the Valleys taskforce, I can confirm that it is the intention of the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport to bring forward a statement to the Assembly on the Valleys taskforce, but, in the meantime, I can just provide a brief update on the Valleys regional park. The sites identified as discovery gateways for the Valleys regional park submitted bids for capital funding from the £7 million fund announced for 2019-20—so, £3.5 million and, in 2021, a further £3.5 million—on 10 May and officials are currently working through those grants and assessing the bids, and decisions for the investment will be hopefully made in June.

Trefnydd, I'd like to request three statements from the Welsh Government today. Firstly, I'd like to ask for a statement from you as Finance Minister on preparations to create a vacant land tax. This is something that I've welcomed, as it could be a key driver to tackle land banking, to promote regeneration and community well-being, so I wonder how plans for this are proceeding.

Secondly, I'd welcome a statement from the Minister for Housing and Local Government on the Welsh Government's response to the child poverty statistics that were released last week. It was no joy for me to see a ward in my constituency topping the list of areas with the highest child poverty. I'm meeting with the End Child Poverty coalition soon, and I note that, although there are lots of Welsh Government interventions taking place, the key levers that they have identified are not devolved. A statement or a debate in Government time could give the opportunity to take stock of this very important situation. 

Finally, I'd welcome a statement or a debate in Government time on the shared prosperity fund. We all know the promises that were made three years ago, that Wales would be not a penny worse off after Brexit, but there are many people who are very concerned about the future of the shared prosperity fund and how it will operate, especially considering that Wales has been a net beneficiary from the EU for all these years. The cross-party group on industrial communities has heard some particularly worrying evidence that we are no closer to seeing how any shared prosperity fund will operate. So, could we have a debate in Government time to discuss a response to this?

Thank you very much. Relating to your first query, which was on the status of the vacant land tax work, we are currently negotiating the devolution of competence with HM Treasury, and the timescales of this process are not entirely within the gift of the Welsh Government or the National Assembly. However, we do hope that powers will be devolved this year and a timetable agreed as part of the official discussions that are currently taking place. 

On the matter of child poverty, we are familiar with the End Child Poverty coalition's report and not surprised by what it includes, including the reported increase in levels of child poverty in Wales. Analysis by a range of respected organisations, including the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, have all predicted a significant rise in levels of poverty, including child poverty, in the coming years as a direct result of the UK Government's tax and welfare reforms. The impact of these is falling disproportionately on those vulnerable groups who are less able to manage the changes—this includes families with children and single-parent households. Of course, the two-child limit and the freeze in working-age benefits are particularly detrimental. So, as I say, we are aware of the report and it will certainly inform and challenge us, and will help us with our thinking in terms of how we respond or continue to respond to this challenge. I know that the Minister with responsibility for child poverty—the local government and housing Minister—is very aware of the report.

Your final request was for a debate in Government time on the shared prosperity fund. Our colleague David Rees made a similarly compelling case for it during the Plenary session last week, and I am more than happy to bring forward that debate in the coming weeks.

I can see we're pressed for time, so I'll jump straight into my request. Can I request a statement following a report from the Children's Commissioner for England, which has found that hundreds of children with autism and learning disabilities are admitted to mental health hospitals where they can suffer nightmarish failures of care? Albeit that that report is focused on England, we need to ensure that this doesn't happen in Wales to our future generations, like those who have just entered the gallery this afternoon.

That report found shocking evidence of poor and restrictive practices, such as sedation, segregation and the use of physical restraints. So, can I request an urgent statement, in oral or written form, from the Minister for health, updating Members on the services being provided, just to ensure peace of mind for all of us in here that our constituents—our future generations of Wales—are being treated effectively and well?

Thank you for raising this particular issue, which is, obviously, concerning. I will ask the Minister for health to write to you to provide the reassurances and the peace of mind that you are seeking in terms of the Welsh Government's approach to supporting children and the mental health of young people.

We do take a broad approach to improving the mental health of young people, from prevention and early intervention through to improving access to specialist services, and we've committed an additional £7.1 million this year to support this approach. Of course, we have our Healthy Child Wales programme and our investment in work on adverse childhood experiences, which forms part of the focus on our early years support. The Minister for health and the education Minister will be jointly giving evidence to the Children, Young People and Education Committee after recess, and that demonstrates, really, the whole-of-Government approach that we are taking here.

But, in relation to specialist child and adolescent mental health services, we do expect 80 per cent of children to be seen within the 28-days-of-referral target. To ensure that health boards are able to meet that target consistently, from March 2018 we've provided an additional £300,000 to improve access by running additional clinic sessions. Over the last two years, performance has improved significantly, with fewer young people waiting excessive times to access support, but, clearly, we all know there's much more to be done in this area.

With so many children using social media, gaming and messaging sites, children and young people are increasingly exposed to the threat of abuse or exploitation from both adults and their peers. Ofcom estimates that children and young people spend an average of 15 hours online per week, and 70 per cent of recorded offences of sexual communications with a child in Wales and England in 2017-18 took place on Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram. 

We know that groomers use social networks to target significant numbers of children, and new types of technology have provided opportunities for abusers to control and to coerce children into increasingly extreme forms of abuse. 

At last week's meeting of the cross-party group on preventing child sexual abuse, which I chair, we heard from a young person at first hand about their experiences of online grooming and the lasting effects it had. It's vital that young people have access to the support they need at the time and when they seek to deal with their experiences later on in life. 

I've tabled a statement of opinion on tackling online abuse and would urge Members to support this. I'd like to ask for a debate in Government time on what actions the Government can do to keep children and young people safer online.

Thank you for raising what is an incredibly important issue. The internet can be a wonderful place, but at the same time there are dark corners where serious dangers do lurk for children and young people. It's important that we work to protect children and young people online, but also help them to develop the kind of resilience that actually young people do need to face the kinds of challenges that we never faced when we were much younger people. But I will ask the Minister with responsibility for education to provide you with an update on the Welsh Government's work in what is an incredibly important area. 

I'd like a Welsh Government statement of congratulations for Jess Fishlock. She won a winner's medal in the UEFA Women's Champions League playing for Lyon against Barcelona. There are only five other footballers in Wales—she was born in Cardiff—but there are only five other footballers in Wales who have achieved such an honour at such an elite level. Speaking as a football fan, somebody who's played football from a very young age when I was younger, it's inspiring to see how well women are doing in football now in Wales—the national team. And seeing people like Jess Fishlock, it's great for her to encourage youngsters playing the game. And I'll put a plug in as well for Fairwater Junior Girls FC, who won the under-12s league as well locally. They're a great team and it would be great if you could formally congratulate Jess in this Chamber on behalf of everyone here. Diolch yn fawr. 

Thank you for raising this issue and, of course, I'd be more than delighted to congratulate Jess Fishlock on her significant achievements, and the role that she is carving out for herself in terms of being a real inspiration to young people, and young women and young girls particularly. Football is one of the fastest growing sports for young girls, and I think that's something really to be celebrated. Along with passing on our congratulations to Jess Fishlock, obviously we congratulate Fairwater girls for their under-12s win as well. I'm sure you'll pass on our congratulations.    

Thank you very much.