Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:18 pm on 18 June 2019.
Thank you very much, Nick Ramsay. On the first issue, as I said to Suzy Davies, I'll certainly explore the issues regarding the publication of the consultation document and make sure that those people who will have an interest and would like and need to respond to it do have the opportunity to do so.
On the second issue of plastic waste and innovative ways to reduce the amount of plastic that we use, particularly single-use plastic, I know that the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, with responsibility for waste, has taken a particularly strong interest in this. She does intend to make a statement to the Assembly, but I don't think that we can accommodate it until next term, which is why I know that she's planning on issuing a written statement very shortly, given the high level of interest that there is, quite rightly, in this issue.
We're currently undertaking joint consultations with the UK Government on both the possibility of introducing a deposit-return scheme and extending producer responsibility. That closed last month, so, as part of that, I know the Deputy Minister did host a briefing session for Assembly Members and a stakeholder round-table, which did give the opportunity to bring together some of those more local ideas of things that we should be celebrating in Wales, but also scaling up so that they don't become small things that we think are worthy of celebration, but actually things that are mainstreamed in the way that we do things. But, as I say, the Deputy Minister does intend to issue a written statement very shortly to update Members as to where we are on the issue of plastic, and of course I'm very happy on behalf of the Welsh Government to extend my congratulations to Usk school's ski team on the successes that they've had and the medals that they've won.