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

Diolch, Llywydd. There are a few changes to this week's business. The First Minister will make a statement shortly on the M4 corridor around Newport, after which the Counsel General and Brexit Minister will provide an update on Brexit. As a result, the statement providing an update on advancing equality and human rights in Wales has been postponed until next week. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out in the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

Can I call for a statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services in relation to hospice care for children here in Wales? The business manager may well be aware that there was a recent report by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales called 'How are healthcare services meeting the needs of young people?' and in that report it made a very clear recommendation that the Welsh Government need to assess any unmet demand for palliative care services to make sure that children and young people across Wales get the care that they need. I think it's very important that we understand the timescales for undertaking that piece of work to make sure that our constituents can get access to the very important palliative care that is sometimes unfortunately needed for children and young people. We have some excellent children's hospices here in Wales with Tŷ Gobaith children's hospices in the north and Tŷ Hafan here in the south. I think it's very, very important that we make sure that they have the capacity to deal with the children from Wales who need that sort of care and support. So, I would appreciate it if a statement could be brought forward.

Thank you very much for bringing forward that request for a statement today. I agree with you that we do have some excellent provision here in Wales. But it is important that we do understand whether or not there is unmet demand for palliative care for children and young people in Wales, so I will ask the health Minister, in the first instance, to explore that in the context of the report to which you referred and to write to you with an update.

Trefnydd, you may be aware of the controversy that has arisen within my South Wales West region with regards to Bridgend County Borough Council's decision to order the removal of a 'Cofiwch Dryweryn' mural in Bridgend. A huge amount of public interest has followed the decision of the council to take action against the property owner. I must say that I find the actions of the council to be unreasonable, given that dozens of replicas of the mural have been erected right across Wales over recent months in response to the shameful vandalism of the original 'Cofiwch Dryweryn' mural near Llanrhystud in Ceredigion. I'm sure that we would all acknowledge that the flooding of Capel Celyn in Gwynedd in 1965 was a key event in Wales's history. The murals that have been painted across the length and breadth of Wales over recent months simply reflect the strength of feeling that continues to exist.

What is noteworthy is that Bridgend County Borough Council seems to be the only local authority in Wales that is insisting on a planning application for a 'Cofiwch Dryweryn' mural. I believe that this is due to the fact that the council's interpretation of the legislation is simply wrong. I do not believe that the mural can be construed as an advert; it simply marks a historic event. The positions of other local authorities seem to support that view—that it marks a historic event and that it is not an advert. Indeed, only last year, the renowned artist Banksy famously painted on a garage wall in Port Talbot. I do not recall Neath Port Talbot council insisting that Banksy apply for planning permission. If he has, it's still awaiting—still pending a decision retrospectively. In light of the above, I have already written to Bridgend County Borough Council asking it to reconsider its position with regards to the mural. Would the Welsh Government join me in condemning this action by Bridgend council, and would you be prepared to make a statement to that effect?

Thank you for raising this issue. Of course, you remember that I was able to take the opportunity in a previous business statement to express regret at what was mindless and senseless vandalism to the original memorial. The Minister with responsibility for planning has indicated to me that she'd be grateful if you would write to her with details of this particular case so that she can explore the issue regarding the interpretation of legislation.

Minister, please could I have a statement from the Minister for Education on teacher recruitment in Wales? Last week, it was reported that Welsh Government had missed its own target for recruiting new secondary school trainee teachers by 40 per cent. The primary school trainee target was missed for the third year running. Also, the figures indicate that Wales is becoming a less attractive region for young graduates to train, with student numbers from England falling by over half in the last five years. Please could we have a statement on the escalating crisis in teacher recruiting in Wales?

For my second statement, Minister, I would like to ask the Minister for local government if he or she can make a statement regarding the bin collection timing. Because in Newport, the railway station is right in the middle of town and all the streets come towards there. In the morning, it's a real bad state when people want to come and the bin collectors are right in the middle and people are making a queue. Rather than in the side roads, it's in the main streets, so it takes a long time to go to either the station or to work. So, I'd like to have a statement from the Minister on that issue, please.

Thank you for your request for two statements. The first was about teacher recruitment and, of course, your leader did ask the First Minister several questions about teacher recruitment during the Plenary session earlier today. But the education Minister has also indicated that she'd be happy to have questions on that topic during her question time, which will be taking place tomorrow. 

There must be a sensible answer to the bin collection issue, but, in the first instance, I would suggest a discussion—. On the bin collection timing issue, a discussion perhaps with the council in the first instance might be the most appropriate way forward.

I want to raise the state of bus services in the Rhondda. I've received a number of representations from constituents about the deterioration in the frequency and quality of service. Many of the modern gold Stagecoach buses have been replaced by older and smaller models in many cases, and I've been informed that these buses have been reallocated to the Blackwood, Newport and Cardiff routes. Some popular routes have also been reduced in frequency, leading to problems getting on to the bus, let alone finding a seat. I can give you plenty of examples of complaints that I've received, but one has said,

'I drive everywhere, mainly due to the fact that the waiting times for public transport in general are appalling. The cost of a ticket isn't worth waiting for buses. If trains and buses were more frequent and cheaper, then I would 100 per cent use them more often.' 

I applaud the decision not to go ahead with the costly black route for the M4, if not the cost and the rigmarole that it took to get us to this stage. However, if we are going to make Wales the cleaner, greener and more prosperous country that we all know we are capable of becoming, then there needs to be a radical plan to improve public transport. This Government needs to make a pitch to ditch the car. Can the Government therefore issue a statement on its plans to improve public transport in Wales, and specifically how it will put right these problems that I've referred to in the Rhondda?

I was informed last week of the decision to delay the centralisation of paediatric services in Cwm Taf health board. This decision, which was endorsed by the Labour Government here, would have seen consultant-led services removed from the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, and concentrated at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr. For me, and the thousands of others who marched and campaigned against those plans for many, many years, this was very welcome news. While the centralisation of maternity services in Cwm Taf cannot be held solely responsible for the failings that we've seen there, it's hardly helped the issue.

I'd like the Government now to acknowledge that the centralisation of services is not the answer to the recruitment crisis. Proactive recruitment and providing more training places is the answer. This is what Plaid Cymru has long been calling for. Will the Government make a statement on its plans for tackling the recruitment crisis please?

Thank you for raising both of these issues. The first was reflecting the concerns of your constituents regarding their experience with bus services in the Rhondda, particularly in terms of the frequency and the quality of the service. You'll be aware, of course, that Welsh Government has recently concluded a consultation on some quite radical plans for the future of bus services in Wales, and we're extremely ambitious for what bus services could deliver in terms of public transport, alongside all the work that we're doing with the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 and so forth. But you say that many constituents have been in touch with you, so I'd certainly encourage you to share those individual experiences with the economy Minister, who is responsible for the consultation on bus services, so that he can consider them as part of that.

The health Minister has committed to providing regular updates to Members regarding the Cwm Taf paediatric services, and maternity services in particular, I should say. And he has recently provided an oral update to the Assembly on the 'Train. Work. Live.'  programme, which did offer Members the opportunity to discuss in depth the recruitment challenges within the NHS. 

A couple of weeks ago, there was a trade union bulletin in Ford in Bridgend about the possibility of potential strike action if plans, as they understood, go ahead to cut two thirds of the job population at Ford in Bridgend due to cutbacks, and due to changes in Ford on a UK and European level. I understand that there's going to be a top-level Ford management meeting in June—this month—and I wanted to understand what the Welsh Government are doing to (a) take part in that meeting, and (b) to protect and safeguard the jobs at Ford. I'm getting quite a lot of workers at the plant contacting me with anxiety about the future, considering this is one of the biggest employers in Wales. So, I would like to have an update urgently on the position that the Welsh Government is taking in relation to those particular jobs at Ford.

My second question is on something that's been brought to my attention over the weekend, about a lady from Swansea who is an asylum seeker/refugee. She actually didn't know her own status because her husband wouldn't tell her. She was beaten up over the weekend, and went to the police and domestic abuse services, but was told, because she had no recourse to public funds, that she couldn't get any support. So I've been trying to help her over the last few days to get a hostel, to get anywhere to get support, because she couldn't return to this abusive relationship. And, for me, it was about the fact that she had to define herself before she could get any support. She didn't actually know her status, because her husband, being abusive, wasn't telling her. So, what can we do to ensure that the first thing we think about, if a woman is being abused, is to help her, and not to think about how much money she's got, what country she's from, what her status is, so that that woman doesn't go back to an abusive relationship? I would like to have a statement specifically on this small group of people, actually, who need support in relation to a refuge, a hostel, when they simply do not know their status.

The Deputy Minister and Chief Whip has responsibility for both the support that we are able to offer asylum seekers and refugees in Wales, and also the issue of tackling domestic violence. So, I think she'll be very well placed to provide you with an update in terms of how those two pieces of work can mesh seamlessly together, so that we don't put people such as the woman you describe in such a terrible situation, where they are perhaps faced with no other option than to return back to an abusive partner.FootnoteLink We do have a statement next week on the nation of sanctuary, so this might be an opportunity to raise this specific case on the floor of the Assembly with the Minister concerned.

The Minister for Economy and Transport has confirmed that we are in regular contact with Ford, but I will ask him to write to you with an update on the most recent discussions that have been had.

Information further to Plenary

May I ask the Trefnydd for two statements from the Government? First of all, of course, we'll all be aware that many EU citizens had failed to vote during the European elections recently. That is a cause of concern for each and every one of us. I know that at least 3,500 have made official complaints across the UK that they had got to the polling station and been rejected. There will be far more who won't have made an official complaint, and there will be yet more who won't have received the relevant paperwork before even getting to the polling station. It’s not a new problem—there were problems in 2014, but they were far worse this time.

Simple steps could have been taken and could have been to contact directly by letter and e-mail those constituents—as some local authorities did, by the way—but also to offer the UC1 forms that had to be filled in order to say that you were voting here rather than elsewhere, and to provide those not only online but in the polling stations themselves, where they could have been filled in on the spot. Two simple steps, I think, that could have prevented the great misdemeanour that many constituents faced. So, could I ask for the Government to make it clear what contact you've had with the UK Government, and with local authorities, in order to express the concern that many of us have on this injustice, for those who were not allowed to vote, and in order to ensure that that won't happen again?

Could I ask for a statement from the health Minister, if I may? Many of us are increasingly concerned about the creeping privatisation within the health service in Wales. I'm particularly concerned about the situation in Betsi Cadwaladr in my region, in North Wales, which is of course under the direct control of this Labour Government at the moment. Last year, I'm sure you will recall, many of us campaigned to stop the privatisation of dialysis services in Wrexham and Welshpool, where the proposal was even to transfer NHS staff into the private sector. Now, myself, trade unions and others succeeded in that campaign, but now we learn that the health board is turning to private companies to run hospital pharmacies, in Ysbyty Wrecsam, in Glan Clwyd, and in Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor as well.

Labour of course is seemingly fiercely opposed to the privatisation of health services in England, yet seemingly very relaxed about a similar outcome emerging here in Wales. I agree with the trade unions, such as Unison, that there is no place for private companies within these kinds of services in Wales. In light of the ongoing trend that we're seeing, in terms of this privatisation of services across North Wales, I think the Government needs to make a clear statement on outsourcing NHS services, to ensure that we do protect our national health services from private predators.

I can give a clear statement now that we're fundamentally opposed to any privatisation of the health service here in Wales, and we're fundamentally opposed to any suggestion, for example, that there should be an agreement made with the United States of America that might sell off parts of our NHS here in Wales, and we continue to make those points.

On the issue of votes for EU citizens, we'll take into account what the Electoral Commission review will say and the Wales Electoral Coordination Board is involved in that work, and that's an opportunity to make those representations on behalf of those EU citizens based here in Wales who were denied the opportunity to take part in that election. 

And finally, Rhun ap Iorwerth. 

Thank you, Llywydd. I would like to make a request for a debate in Government time, as we await the statement from the First Minister on the decision on the M4 corridor around Newport. I have no doubt that strong views will be expressed during the next three quarters of an hour or a little longer that will be allocated for that statement today, and there will be strong arguments on both sides, I'm sure. But dare I suggest that there is more to be said than can be covered in response to a statement from Government today? So, I would like to request a debate, and a substantial debate, in Government time, possibly over two days even, on what exactly the implications of this decision are and what steps need to be taken as an institution, as a Government and as a nation, as we move forward from this particular point in time. I think this has been one of the most important political issues that we have discussed in recent years, but I do believe in light of that that we do need to ensure that there is adequate time allocated here in our national Parliament to have this important debate as we face the next steps.

Well, the inspector's report is very long and very detailed, as is the decision letter, and it is really important that Members do have the opportunity to read both of those documents and to consider them fully before we schedule a debate in Government time. But we will bring forward a debate in Government time during the forthcoming weeks, once Members have had the opportunity to consider fully the information that's been set out today. 

Thank you, Trefnydd.