1. Will the Minister make a statement on the cases of Covid-19 that stem from the 2 Sisters factory in Llangefni? TQ449

Thank you for the question. I have today issued a written statement on the two recent outbreaks centred on meat and food processing sites in north Wales. We're keeping both of these under very close observation and management. All necessary action to protect the public is and will continue to be taken.

Thank you very much. I am grateful for those statements. There is clearly concern locally as a result of the events of last week. The Government have said that they are now looking into the safety of the food production sector, and that's a good thing. May I ask why this kind of assessment hadn't happened before now, and has the Health and Safety Executive been effective enough in the Minister's view? And will there be very different advice now on how these sites should operate? Because this plant can't reopen again without an assurance that staff are safe.

In terms of the broader community, can I ask how confident is the Minister that the early warning system, if you like, or the test and trace system, is going to be able to identify broad community transference at an early enough stage so that any decisions that may be needed in terms of tightening lockdown can be made in good time? There is good collaboration on a regional level in terms of the trace element, but some members of staff have waited many days for the result of their tests, which undermines confidence in the system. And finally, may I turn to the need to comply with the requirements of self-isolation? It was very important to have confirmation that the company was going to continue to pay the staff in full during this period, but what further steps will the Government take to ensure that messages are heard and that support is provided in order to ensure that that crucial compliance is high?

Thank you for the series of questions. On the broader point about advice within the sector, as with every other sector of the economy, those who would have carried on operating would have had to consider how they could remain COVID compliant. There have been conversations with both the Food Standards Agency for their role in food hygiene and the Health and Safety Executive about the way that the plants were operating, together with those parts of the labour in the factory that were organised and unionised.

We're looking again at that because of the reality that we have these three incidents. There is an incident in Merthyr, which is different to the two outbreaks in north Wales, but it would be an odd thing if we didn't take at this point in time the opportunity to review and revise the guidance we're providing, because there are examples of good practice within the sector here in Wales. So, we'll build on the review that my colleague Lesley Griffiths referred to in questions to her earlier today, across the sector; we'll take work from the Food Standards Agency and then provide that revised rapid guidance back to the sector before the end of this week. I spoke with the Health and Safety Executive yesterday; clarity in their respective roles and they're involved in the outbreak management oversight arrangements in both sites within north Wales. They're plugged in to the work that we're doing, and they'll also be consulted briefly before we issue that guidance.

When it comes to test, trace, protect, I think the issues that you refer to matter to each individual person who's got a delay, but actually, we've got a very high level of quick turnaround in terms of the testing outcome, so over 97 per cent of people in Llangefni, for example, have had their test results back within a day. But in each case where there's been a delay, there's an opportunity to learn and improve, and I don't try to—[Inaudible.]—from that, but actually, 97 per cent within a day is a very high level of performance.

And when it comes to the broader point about isolation, this is difficult because, as I know other Members have referred to previously, when you have relatively low pay, as I referred to yesterday in my statement in a press conference, and people are making choices about statutory sick pay and potentially not receiving pay, that's difficult and we've got some anecdotal experience in the early trials of test, trace, protect as well. That'll be part of the conversation that we have with the sector more broadly, which I have later this week with both employers and the trade union side, but TTP has been a really important factor in containing these outbreaks to date.

If we didn't have the test, trace, protect system, then we would have seen almost certainly much greater transference, not just within the workforce, but within community transmission, which we haven't seen to date. It's also been a national success story, because the contact tracing team on Anglesey, for example, have been supported by the contact tracing team in Swansea bay in particular; and it's the same with colleagues in Wrexham, they've been largely supported by both Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Cardiff and Vale. So, a real national redeployment of energy and resource to make sure we keep people as safe and well as possible, and I'm very proud of the fact that in this first but very difficult stress test of our ability to carry on successfully contact tracing and giving people advice and support, test, trace, protect has been a crucial part of our response.

Can I thank you for that, Minister, and thank you for mentioning Merthyr Tydfil in your response to Rhun ap Iorwerth? Because I was very disturbed, but not surprised to hear reports over the weekend of significant numbers of people testing positive for COVID-19 at the Kepak meat processing plant in Merthyr, and perhaps even more alarmed to find that this has actually been going on since around April time. You'll be aware that I've been concerned for some time about the levels of COVID infections in the Merthyr area, which have been worryingly high, even when infections elsewhere in Wales have been falling, and I've been asking what work epidemiologists have been doing on identifying the causes. I've always had concerns about Kepak due to their working practices, their lack of social distancing and how they were going to ensure the safety of workers who were working closely together and in conditions where the virus thrived. And Gerald Jones MP and I wrote to the company about this at the beginning of lockdown, and while we received assurances from the company, the unions and the staff there remained concerned about what was going on. I'm aware that Public Health Wales, Merthyr council and the Health and Safety Executive met yesterday to discuss the COVID infections linked to Kepak, but what my constituents will want to know is whether the high levels of infections across the area are in any way related to this factory, and if so, what action is now being taken to close down this operation, isolate the staff and ensure that we have no further spread beyond the people that are employed there.

Thank you for the question from Dawn Bowden, and to be fair, Dawn has raised consistently with me over a period of time concerns about that broader community transmission rate within Merthyr Tydfil. The difficulty we face with Merthyr Tydfil is that the scale and the spread is different to the two sites in north Wales. The numbers are different and we're clear that they're centred or associated with the two sites in north Wales; it isn't as clear in Merthyr Tydfil. There have been 33 tests since April that have been associated with or have a link with the Kepak site in Merthyr, and one of the things that the incident team are looking to understand rapidly is whether that is about the operation of the site or whether it's actually about community or whether it's a mix of the two. There will be a site visit, and that's again the local authority working with health agencies, but also working with both the FSA and the Health and Safety Executive, and we should know much more not just about that visit, but the learning from that—what else we need to do within the sector to keep the operation as safe as possible.

When it comes to any site across Wales, it is of course one of the options to close that site on public health grounds. In Llangefni the employer made the decision to close the site. There are ongoing discussions and there will continue to be an ongoing assessment of whether any business should continue to operate and whether it can operate safely. So, I don't want to try to set up any suggestions or set any expectations, but I wouldn't rule out any measures to be taken to protect the wider public, not just the workforce but the wider public. So, when we have that understanding of what we need to do, and if indeed wider community or workplace measures are required, then I certainly won't be afraid to take those measures, but if people follow the advice they're given by test, trace and protect, then we will have a smart form of lockdown for all those people directly engaged and their households contacts. 

It's understood, as you know, that 200 staff at the 2 Sisters plant in Llangefni have now tested positive and 97 at Rowan Foods, just down the road from me in Wrexham. How do you respond to the statement by Ynys Môn MP, Virginia Crosbie, that although the initial closure of the 2 Sisters plant for two weeks is vital for the—? In addition to the initial closure, she said it's vital for the safety of the workforce and their families, along with the safety of communities, that the plant remains closed until an independent health and safety audit is carried out and that all recommended safety measures have been implemented. How would you expect this outbreak to impact more widely, where, for example, Anglesey social services were scheduled a home care assessment tomorrow, stating that until the assessment has been completed the department will be unable to confirm the outcome of any request for services? Staff manage such visits with appropriate use of PPE, but when the constituent contacted the Welsh Government, it replied, 'Unless they're providing essential care for you, we're advising everyone to use the phone or internet wherever possible.'

On the second point I don't think there is a conflict, because there's the point there about the people who are directly running and delivering that service thinking about the adjustments they need to make for those assessments to continue, and that's actually something that, to be fair to the local government family, they've managed throughout the period of the pandemic. And there's more of that activity taking place as there's greater confidence because of the lower transmission and incidence rates, but also because, of course, for some time now, we've managed to stabilise our supplies of PPE to the broader social care sector.

On your first point, there is a relationship here between both devolved and non-devolved responsibilities. So, health and safety is not a devolved responsibility. It shows though that there is a very practical relationship between our responsibilities here and the way in which we interact with UK agencies. So, the Health and Safety Executive are involved in both of the outbreak management teams and they have a relationship with the incident in Merthyr, and that's exactly as it should be.

As for the headline call for an audit, well, we actually need to see whether that's the right thing to do or not. We need to understand the public health responsibilities and where we are in controlling and running the incident itself, to protect people who are not just associated with that workforce in Llangefni, but the wider community as well. As I said to Dawn Bowden, I wouldn't rule out any steps at this point. We will continue to take decisions that protect people here in Wales in local communities and further afield, and that will be the guiding point. I just don't think that it's helpful, though, to try to respond to an individual suggestion that doesn't appear to have a proper evidence base that it's the right thing to do. That's exactly why we have outbreak management teams drawing together all of those local stakeholders.

Can I thank the Member for Ynys Môn for raising this very important question today? Minister, you will know that the company also has a site in Sandycroft in my constituency, and I have raised my concerns directly with them. But, what can the Welsh Government do to ensure that the company implements the necessary safety measures to ensure that they protect the local workforce and the local community in Alyn and Deeside?

Yes, I'm well aware that there's a further 2 Sisters plant within your constituency. It's been part of our conversations with the trade union side officials, and part of the reason why it's important for me to have a conversation with the sector, including, of course, employers. So, it will be myself and Lesley Griffiths, with her ministerial responsibilities, engaging in that work. It builds on the review that she's ordered through Food Innovation Wales and the guidance that I will issue within this week, to make clear the things that should not happen and the interventions that could and should be undertaken, but also to highlight that there is good practice within the sector.

The trade union side were very keen to emphasise that they think that there are good employers in this field, and that it's possible to operate with a minimal level of risk. What this really does, though, is that it highlights that COVID has not gone away, and that if people don't follow the guidance that we provide, then there are real consequences. So, I hope that there's a wider message there for the whole public, and not just people working in this one sector of the economy. If you feel unwell and you have one of the symptoms, get a test and self-isolate until you know the result of that test, and make sure your household does the same as well.  

I thank the Minister. The next topical question is to be answered by the Education Minister, and is to be asked by Siân Gwenllian.