And that brings us to the business statement and announcement. I call on the Minister and 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 in the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the papers available to Members electronically.

Minister, may I ask for a statement from the Minister for Education on examination results in Wales? According to Estyn, the proportion of pupils who do not move from year 10 to the final year of GCSEs has already doubled in the last six years. They went on to say the data suggested that the majority of pupils repeating year 10 were not doing so for genuine reasons. In the light of Estyn's concerns, can we have a statement from the Minister on what actions she intends to take to ensure that schools are not moving pupils off their registers as an easy way of improving exam data in Wales?

Thank you to Mohammad Asghar for raising this important issue this afternoon, and I'll be sure to ask the education Minister to write to you with information as to what the Welsh Government is doing to ensure that young people are taking the exams at the appropriate time.

Trefnydd, last year, and earlier this year, we actually had reports from the NHS delivery unit and from Healthcare Inspectorate Wales relating to adult mental health services in the community. Both highlighted the care and treatment plan aspect of that delivery plan that the Welsh Government operates, and the need to actually strengthen it. I have met with Mind, and Mind have also done some work on care and treatment planning, again highlighting the need for this area to be strengthened, for people to understand how they can be involved and how they can actually build it themselves, and not simply be given a tick box.

I fully understand that the Welsh Government will be publishing its 'Together for Mental Health' plan very shortly. But, can we therefore have a debate in Government time on that plan, once it's published, so that we can have a discussion as to the aspects that it is addressing, to ensure that people who need the service understand the care and treatment planning, to ensure that we can have that discussion? We can help people who are vulnerable. We can make sure that they are getting the best advice possible, and that they are involved in their care and treatment plan.  

David Rees is correct that the Welsh Government has recently been consulting on its new mental health delivery plan, and I know that the health Minister is keen that Members do have the opportunity to discuss it in the Chamber. I'm sure that he'll be putting forward a motion to be tabled in due course.

Trefnydd, could I ask for a statement on the safeguarding of schoolchildren at locations that are used as polling stations, please? There is a concern regarding the safety of pupils due to school facilities also being used as polling stations on the general election day. I give one example here of a headteacher who has contacted me, unable to secure the school safely for the pupils as the general public would share access, and security fences would have to be kept unlocked for public use. This particular headteacher is, of course, reluctant to close the school on this day, and I would expect that this example is not an isolated situation across Wales. In light of this, can I ask for a statement and can you liaise with the education Minister about whether or not there is funding available that would enable schools to relocate to teach their pupils at another facility or location? This isn't just relevant to this general election, but also council and Assembly elections in the future.

The safeguarding of children within their school environment is clearly a top priority for Government. I would suggest that, in the first instance, the headteacher of the school to which you refer discusses his specific case with the electoral returning officer for the local area, but also potentially democratic services within the council as well. But, I would encourage you to write to the Minister with responsibility for local government in order to solicit a wider response to the issue that you raised. 

Could we have a statement on the support for primary school children with additional learning needs in Welsh-medium education? Now, obviously, this Welsh Government has prioritised the growth of Welsh-medium education as part of its ambitious targets for 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050. But, one of the challenges of growing Welsh-medium education in areas that start from a low base is that there will also be children in those areas attending Welsh-medium primaries that come from Welsh-speaking and non-Welsh-speaking families who will require additional learning support in Welsh, which may not be in place. It would be deeply unsatisfactory—I know that the Trefnydd would agree—if, at the age when diagnosis supporting additional needs is often made, in years 9 and 10, that there was not adequate support for these children in Welsh-medium primary education, as well as in English. So, I would welcome a statement on this important matter, which could highlight then the support that's available and also any gaps in provision in different local authority areas across Wales.

The Welsh Government recognises the importance of supporting those children with special educational needs within Welsh-medium education. The SEN code of practice for Wales makes it clear that local authorities are under a legal duty to have regard to meeting the needs of SEN pupils in accordance with parental preferences, and that includes the preference for Welsh-medium education. The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 aims to create a bilingual system of support for learners with ALN. Under the new ALN system, local authorities and education settings will be required to consider whether additional learning provision should be provided to the child or to the young person in Welsh, and where a learner has need for that provision in Welsh, it must be specified in the individual development plan and the body must then take all reasonable steps to ensure that the support is provided in Welsh. But I will ask the education Minister to provide you with a more detailed update in terms of the particular questions that you asked about potential barriers to ensuring that young people are getting this kind of support.

Organiser, could I seek two statements if possible, please, and the first on ash dieback? The Tree Council recently did a survey and made a report on that survey across the whole of the UK, and the potential financial costs and environmental costs. In England in particular local authorities have faced bills of tens of millions of pounds. I appreciate that those local authorities are bigger than local authorities in Wales, but the magnitude of this cannot be underestimated. As you drive around you can see far more tree work being undertaken because of ash dieback, which is now taking hold across the whole of Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom. Indeed, this particular report identifies the potential loss of 2 billion trees. Dutch elm disease, which many people are familiar with, lost us 150 million trees, so you can see the scale of this. I'd be grateful if we could have a statement from the Government as to how—and I'm not quite sure which Government Minister it would be, whether it would be the Minister for local government or the rural affairs Minister—it is engaging with local authorities and other public bodies as to (a) the liabilities and (b) what work is being undertaken to try and obviously mitigate any fallout from such a massive impact on our tree canopy across the length and breadth of Wales.

Secondly, could I seek some clarification from the housing Minister, who very kindly agreed to go to Celestia residents up the road here and meet with them and discuss their problems? I met with them on Friday and they were anxious that they were able to meet with the Minister and, as I understand it, in committee the Minister indicated that she'd be prepared to meet the residents. I do accept that ministerial diaries are very busy and it takes time to plan these things, but it would be very helpful if the residents could get an understanding of when such a meeting would be furnished so that they could obviously plan accordingly.

Okay, so the first issue you raised was the important issue of ash dieback, and the impact that that can have on our tree population here in Wales. I will ask the Minister for environment to provide you with an update on what Welsh Government is doing in this regard, but also the considerations, and an update on discussions that have been had with local authorities in terms of the impact that they might feel.FootnoteLink On the issue of the request for a meeting with the Celestia residents, can I ask you to write to the Minister's office to seek to make those arrangements?

Information further to Plenary

Thank you, Trefnydd.