2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:22 pm on 11 June 2019.

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Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 3:22, 11 June 2019

Trefnydd, can I ask for two statements from the Welsh Government please? The first one is actually, basically, a nice easy one for the health Minister. Over the weekend, we saw the news that NHS England is looking at trials for using MRIs for scanning for prostate cancer. Clearly, the means of identifying prostate cancer quicker and sooner could be a cause for appreciation for individuals that they will get caught earlier, because over 6,000 a year are identified in the late stages in prostate cancer, and over 11,000 die each year of prostate cancer across the UK. So, any means that we can have of addressing that as an early diagnosis is going to be acceptable.

But scans using MRIs mean that we need MRI scanners, we need radiographers who are trained in MRI scanners, and we need radiologists who can actually understand the outcomes of the scans. We need to put those into place because the MRI scanners that we have today are fully utilised and are being used. Therefore, if we can talk about scanning people, where are we going to fit them into the current schedules? So, we need to make sure that we have a plan in place. So, can the Minister come forward with a plan as to how he intends to look at radiological services across Wales to ensure that, as this approach comes forward, and once it's approved, it actually does give us the outcomes that we want, and that we are in a position to go straight into that and not have to wait as we look at funding for new scanners?

On the second statement, could I have a statement from the Minister for Economy and Transport in relation to the ownership of various structures, including tunnels, that are currently in the ownership of the Department for Transport? I understand that Highways England actually manages many of those structures in Wales on behalf of the Department for Transport—and I include the Rhondda tunnel as one of those and, obviously, other tunnels are included. We've asked many times about the ownership coming to Welsh Government, but I understand that the management contract for those expires next year. Therefore, there will be an opportunity next year, when the Department for Transport's contract with Highways England ends, to look at the ownership of these tunnels and other structures that are in Wales—they belong here, but they're being managed by the Department for Transport. Is it now time to have a statement to actually say what actions the Welsh Government will take to take those into ownership? Because that also addresses a very major question: if we want to do something with them, we need to have the funding, and we can't get the funding until we have the ownership, so that the liabilities come here. So, it is crucial. Things are on hold as a consequence of us not having that ownership here in Wales.