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

Diolch, Llywydd. There is one change to today's agenda: the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition will make a statement on the UK Government Internal Market Bill. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

As we're embarking on the scrutiny of the curriculum Bill, I think it would be helpful if we could have some clarity on protecting the existence of Welsh-medium schools. I know the education Minister, in recent exchanges about the requirement to opt out of English, has said that this is not about the medium of teaching, it's about subjects, but I think that prompts the question then about how schools are currently categorised and what protections are currently in place. I wonder if the education Minister, or Minister for Welsh language—because I'm not quite sure which one it is—could update the Senedd via a statement about work that's being done on the language categorisations of schools in, say, I don't know, maybe the last two years, in view of the strategy for 1 million Welsh speakers and of course the curriculum Bill, to see if there are any possible conflicts in that. Thank you.

Thank you to Suzy Davies for raising that this afternoon. In the first instance, I will have a conversation with both Ministers to better understand what might be the best way to update the Senedd on that particular issue. But, in any case, I'll ensure that you do get a written response to that.FootnoteLink

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Some people who are exempt from wearing face masks are being challenged or refused entry into shops, and many small business owners in particular are telling me of the difficulties that they are facing policing the wearing of face masks. So, will the Government look into providing some sort of official means of proof for people to show if they're exempt from wearing a face mask?

I also wanted to say 'thank you and well done' to all the staff who stepped in at the last minute in the Rhondda after the UK Government decided to reduce the number of tests per day to just 60. I'm still getting people who say they have symptoms of COVID-19 but cannot get a test. Now, how can this happen in the Rhondda when we've been told that we're on the verge of a local lockdown? This failure could put lives at risk, it could help a second wave. So, could we have a statement outlining what alternative plans the Government have so that we're not at the mercy of Westminster for this crucial testing operation?

Thank you to Leanne Wood for raising those issues. On the second, which relates to the availability of COVID-19 tests, I would respectfully refer the Member to the comments made by the First Minister during First Minister's question earlier on this afternoon, because I do think that he addressed that specific issue in some depth.

On the issue of face masks, I do agree that it's absolutely important that there is a greater level of understanding that not everybody will be able to wear a face mask for a multitude of reasons, and I will ensure that I have a conversation with the health Minister to explore what more we can do to ensure that we do engender that atmosphere where people feel comfortable not wearing a mask if they can't do so because of a mental or physical reason, and that people have more understanding that there are people out there who might have a very, very good reason not to be wearing a face mask.

Minister, you'll have heard the exchange earlier between Darren Millar and the Deputy Minister on the issue of singing and worship in churches and chapels and elsewhere. It is an issue that is causing some great distress amongst people within the community. You may also have seen BBC Wales Today last week, where Beaufort male voice choir was practising in Ebbw Vale rugby club to avoid some of the difficulties that are faced in practising indoors. It is important that, as we move through these very, very difficult months, there are points of normality in people's lives that enable them to accept and abide by all the other regulations that we need to impose at different times. Would it be possible for the Government to look hard again at some of the evidence that is being produced to enable choirs to practise and singing to take place in places of worship, and also the situation of brass bands and others as well, to enable people, during the long winter months, to ensure that there are elements of normality in their lives?

The second issue I'd like to seek the Government's time for, in terms of a statement or debate, is that about access to public transport. With schools and colleges going back over the last few weeks, we have recognised that there are some significant difficulties with public transport, particularly, perhaps, in areas such as Blaenau Gwent, where people have not been able to get to local colleges easily and where people are not able to access public services easily because of the difficulties with mainly bus services.

The Grange University Hospital will be opened in November and we all very much welcome this enormous investment in our local health service, but we need to ensure that there are public transport routes and public transport services enabling people to reach that hospital, whether it's for treatment or for visiting when that will be possible. So, access to services through public transport continues to be a very major issue and I'd be grateful if the Government could make a statement on that.

Thank you to Alun Davies for raising these issues. I know that he is a passionate supporter—even the president, maybe, I think—of Beaufort male voice choir. And I obviously declare an interest, as the Member for Gower, given the fact that we also have some of the best male voice choirs and brass bands in the world in that constituency too. So, yes, I do give that commitment that we will continue to keep that evidence under review, because we recognise the true value that being a member of a brass band or a choir has. And, of course, I see Mick Antoniw, the famous supporter of the Cory Band, also in the Chamber this afternoon. So, we've got lots of rivalry about our local brass bands and it just shows how passionate we are about them. So, yes, absolutely, we will continue to keep that advice under review as the evidence continues to develop.

And I do know that it is the intention of the Minister for the economy to bring forward a statement on buses very shortly, and you'll see that added to the business statement before too long.

Unmute, right. I call for a Welsh Government statement on the approval and distribution of clear face masks in Wales. Action on Hearing Loss Cymru has highlighted the disproportionate effect on people who are deaf or have hearing loss of face mask use during the coronavirus pandemic, where inaccessible communication can also present a safety risk. Visual cues, such as facial expression and lip reading, are essential for communication, but personal protective equipment in health and social care settings is masking these visual cues.

Now the UK Government has announced the approval and dissemination of a clear mask for use in health and social care settings in the UK, Action on Hearing Loss is seeking clarification from the Welsh Government on: what the allocation of the first clear masks will be for Wales; will the allocation cover both health and social care settings, including care homes; how will applicable third sector organisations, such as themselves, access a supply; and how will the Welsh Government ensure ongoing supply to meet demand? I call for a statement accordingly.

Thank you to Mark Isherwood for raising that, and I think this is the third time in this afternoon's session when we have explored the difficulties that people who are deaf, who have hearing loss are experiencing at the moment as a result of the usage of face masks. So, it is a really important issue and I will ensure that Action on Hearing Loss does have an answer to their particular questions about how those specially adapted masks will be distributed to ensure that they're distributed to people who most need them and who will most benefit from them.FootnoteLink

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Minister, could we have a statement on the steps that the Government is taking to respond proactively to the housing crisis that we see in so many communities across Wales? It is a crisis, of course, driven mainly, but not only, by the fact that an increasing number of homes are now being bought as second homes or holiday accommodation. It's intensified also by the fact that more people are now moving out of cities and more populated areas to rural Wales in response to the pandemic.

Now, you heard in the Finance Committee yesterday that many Members felt that the Government should be making better use of its taxation powers in order to seek to address this issue. I would like to know what new steps the Government is considering to that end. But mainly, of course, we need to look at specific steps within the planning regime, and certainly we need to manage the ability to change the use from a residential property into a second home. There are examples of steps taken in other parts of the UK, in Cornwall specifically in terms of second homes. In Guernsey, in terms of the housing market, there is an open market and a closed market there, and there are examples across Europe and beyond of the kinds of things that the Government should now be considering.

So, I'd like to know what plans are in place by Government to respond to this crisis. Because we all know, of course, and we all recall what happened in the 1980s, and that was a direct result of the failure of politicians in addressing the problem. Now, nobody wants to see us back in that situation, of course, because if that were the case, then that would represent a grave failure from the point of view of the Welsh Government and a grave failure for the Senedd, and that would be an insult to devolution.

Well, of course, we've had excellent success over the course of this Senedd in terms of meeting our Welsh Government commitment to the people of Wales, that we would build 20,000 new affordable homes over the course of this Senedd. And I'm really pleased to be able to say that we are absolutely on course to have hit that target by the end of this Senedd term.

I recognise all of the issues that Llyr has described in terms of the pressures on the housing market, particularly in some parts of Wales, and I know that the Minister for housing is participating remotely this afternoon, but will have heard that request for a statement or a debate in order to explore those issues further. FootnoteLink

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Trefnydd, tourism has been one of the sectors that have been actually badly affected by the pandemic, but yet tourism can also be one of the sectors that can drive our regeneration of the economy as we move forward. Now, with that in mind, obviously, we want to try and promote tourism and promote projects that develop tourism as much as possible. To that end, the Rhondda tunnel has actually always been one of those projects that could deliver on the tourism idea. I have raised this before in this Chamber, that the ownership of the tunnel has been one of the big stumbling blocks to the progression of the work there. Can I have a statement from the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales as to what progress has been made on the transfer of ownership from Highways England to the Welsh Government or to governments within Wales so that we can get on with the project, so that by the time we look at a situation where we really want to regenerate our economy in our Valleys, the project could actually be going ahead and that tunnel could be one of the things that attract people here?

Thank you to David Rees for raising that, and he knows that I share his enthusiasm for that particular project. Transport officials are currently in discussion with the Department for Transport on the terms of any potential transfer of the tunnel, as well as with Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council on the development of a business case for its future use. I think, as I understand it, one of the outstanding big issues, of course, is in terms of taking on an asset and taking on risk and what funding should come alongside with that, but that is something that I understand is currently continuing to be discussed. The Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport did meet with the council and the Rhondda Tunnel Society at the beginning of this month, and I know that future meetings are again being arranged to discuss the future management and that issue of the ownership of the tunnel. So, there's certainly continued work going on in this space, even though we've been facing a pandemic.

The residents of Victoria Wharf in Cardiff bought what they thought were their dream homes, but it turns out that they've bought into a nightmare. The properties are worthless now, they're unable to borrow off them, they're unable to sell them and there are real concerns about fire safety. These residents do not now sleep easily in their beds at night, and the blocks were signed off by Cardiff council and the developers. So, the statement that I would like off the Government is: what do they propose to do to help these residents in Cardiff, and not only in Cardiff, but all over Wales? There are people in awful predicaments, where it seems that these buildings are quite simply not safe. What will be done?

The Minister for Housing and Local Government has made it clear repeatedly that building owners and developers should face up to what is, essentially, a very strong moral responsibility and put right these faults at their cost or they do risk their professional reputation, because it's absolutely critical that people do feel safe and secure in their homes and we are committed to improving building safety here in Wales. I do know, again, that it is the intention of the Minister to provide the Senedd with an update in the not-too-distant future on the work that we've been doing in terms of that building safety programme in order to address the concerns that came to light following the tragic Grenfell fire.

Trefnydd, one of the consequences of COVID has been that many of us have been getting more exercise. We've been taking walks in some of the incredible and beautiful countryside that we have around us. I regularly now walk through the Coedely woods, through the Smaelog, and the reconnection with nature is really something that is perhaps one of the positives that have come out of this pandemic.

But alongside that is the appalling behaviour of a minority of people and the amount of fly-tipping, the amount of rubbish that is being dumped. I've been photographing this. At one stage, I couldn't walk more than a couple of metres without coming across fly-tipping. Rhondda Cynon Taf council has been tremendous at not only monitoring social media, but then going along and clearing this up, but, of course, at a cost to all those members of the public who don't engage in that sort of anti-social behaviour.

The point I make is this: Rhondda Cynon Taf have been very vigorous in prosecuting, there have been a number of prosecutions, but the fines are no deterrent. They're far less than the benefit the individual gets, and in no way reflect the cost to the council of having to clear up these sites. Now, I've written to the Counsel General on this point, but it seems to me it would be very helpful if there was a Government-time debate here where we talked about the legislation that exists, the penalties that exist, how the penalties have now got to relate to the cost of clearing up fly-tipping, and how we've got to campaign against this anti-social behaviour. Do you agree with me that now would be a good time to actually start talking about this, and to seriously look at the legislation to improve our ability to deter and to prosecute those who engage in this terrible anti-social behaviour?

I'd like to join Mick Antoniw in congratulating RCT on the work that they've been doing on this particular issue, and being very proactive in their response to it, because fly-tipping is never justified in any circumstances, and obviously during the COVID-19 lockdown we worked particularly closely with local authorities and businesses to ensure that the public were aware of their responsibility to store their waste safely until the sites reopened. We know that not everybody did that, and we have seen the results of that.

We're currently exploring options on how best to further assist those local authorities and Natural Resources Wales in their enforcement work. Obviously, this area involves both items that are devolved to us here in Wales—so, those environmental issues, for example—but there are also some issues to do with the reserved justice system. I can confirm that we will be pursuing this with the UK Government in the first instance, and I'll be very pleased to provide an update on those discussions. 

I thank the Trefnydd. 

We will now have a short break and will postpone broadcasting for the time being. 

Plenary was suspended at 15:12.

The Senedd reconvened at 15:25, with the Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) in the Chair.