Item 3 on the agenda this afternoon is the business statement and announcement, and I call on the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans. 

Diolch. There are no changes to this week's business. 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.

Trefnydd, could I please request an oral statement from the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism in relation to the impact of COVID-19 on tourism in Wales and the steps being taken to plan for the reopening of the sector?

Now, as you'll be aware, tourism plays a huge role in my constituency, and supports many local jobs in the area. Sadly, businesses across Pembrokeshire continue to have concerns over matters such as business support, and they also, crucially, need further clarity on the Welsh Government's plans for reopening the sector so that they can start planning and preparing their own businesses. I appreciate that it can be difficult for you as a Government to predict coronavirus infection rates, even in the near future, given we've seen so many twists and turns during this pandemic. Setting out a road map for our tourism industry would be enormously beneficial for our tourism businesses. Therefore, I'd be grateful if the Government could find some time for a statement to be included in the agenda in the near future, outlining the Government's intentions, so that businesses can start planning ahead, given that Easter is now on the horizon.

Secondly, could I also ask for a statement from yourself or the Minister for Housing and Local Government in relation to ensuring that people have access to cash facilities in their local community, which is particularly important, given the travel restrictions in place. You may, or may not be aware that Goodwick post office in my constituency is risking losing its cash machine, and, unfortunately, as I'm sure you'll appreciate, several banks in the local area have already closed, meaning that local people will be without access to a cash facility in that particular community. Given the importance of limiting travel movements during the pandemic, accessing cash locally is crucial, and, therefore, I'd be grateful if the Government could provide a statement outlining the steps that the Welsh Government is taking to engage with banks, post offices and, indeed, other businesses, to ensure that these sorts of facilities are available in our local communities.

I'm grateful to Paul Davies for raising both of these important issues, and Welsh Government absolutely understands the importance of the tourism sector to huge swathes of Wales, and we're very keen to support the sector in as best a way as we possibly can. I know the Deputy Minister will be listening and considering the request for a specific statement on support, but I would like to reflect on the package of support that the Welsh Government has put in place for business. It is the most generous anywhere in the United Kingdom, and, actually, the funding that the Welsh Government has passed on to businesses here in Wales actually exceeds the consequential funding that we've received from the UK Government in respect of business support, and I think that demonstrates the priority that we are putting on the sector. But I'm sure that the Deputy Minister will be considering what you've said very carefully.

Again, I do share Paul Davies's concern about access to banking facilities and cash within local communities. The First Minister is very keen to pursue the idea of a community bank for Wales, and I know that my colleague Ken Skates has been working on this particular idea with Banc Cambria and the Wales Co-operative Centre, and I will ask the Minister to provide all colleagues with an update on that work, because I know it's of particular interest to all of us to ensure our constituents have access to the facilities they need. 

I would like to ask for two Government statements, one a statement on designation of something as a sport or whether it's play and leisure. I would suggest designating anything that is an Olympic event as a sport. Now, this designation has a major impact on when a facility can reopen and what tier it reopens in, and I think that there are a lot of people who are very concerned that they are actually sports that have been treated as if they are play and leisure.

The second one I'd like to ask, and Huw Irranca-Davies and I raised it a month ago, is for a statement on supply teachers and the way they're employed. I'm making a further request for a statement on supply teachers. My view on how poorly supply teachers are treated is well known, and I would like to see them employed directly by local authorities or groups of local authorities, but I just think we need a Government statement to explain why the Government does not support that.

Well, the regulations determine whether a business or premise must remain close at the different levels of alert, and guidance on what is or isn't allowed and what is allowed to open or has to remain closed is provided in the Welsh Government's control plan. At alert level 4, restrictions require all sports and leisure facilities to remain closed, and at alert level 3, sport and leisure facilities, including fitness studios and gyms are allowed to open, but ice rinks and bowling alleys must remain closed. As Mike Hedges says, indoor play centres, trampoline and skate centres must also remain closed at alert level 3, but following the representations that I've received and those that I know Mike Hedges has also received, when we are able to move to alert level 3, the Welsh Government will be revisiting guidance to provide any further clarification that may be required. 

And in respect of the request for the statement on supply teachers, I do know that the Minister for Education has written twice to Mike Hedges with some further information outlining the support, guidance and advice that the Welsh Government and the National Procurement Service have provided to supply teachers during the pandemic, and we do continue to liaise with our counterparts within the UK Government and all stakeholders to provide the very latest support and guidance. But, as I say, the Minister for Education will have heard the request for further information this afternoon. 

The Government will no doubt be aware of recent reports of care home staff having to take annual leave when they're required to self-isolate, and this is because the £96 per week statutory sick pay simply isn't enough to live on, especially when many people working in care homes have had to isolate a number of times. So do you agree with me that this is wrong, and that the situation needs rectifying? And can we therefore have a statement in response to the solution to this problem that is being pursued by the Scottish Government, where anyone earning £9.50 an hour or below have automatic entitlement to the self-isolation payments? I'm of the view that this is essential if we are to keep transmissions of COVID down. 

Welsh Government has put in place the £500 payment for those individuals who are required to self-isolate as a result of the conditions of the pandemic, but I will ask the health Minister to review your comments this afternoon in specific regard to those care home staff who are now being asked to take annual leave, given the specific role that those care home workers play in the pandemic.FootnoteLink 

Information further to Plenary

[Inaudible.]

You need to—. Sorry, you've only just unmuted, so can you start again, please?

Thank you. I wanted to raise a serious incident that took place at the Queensferry Gypsy and Traveller site managed by Flintshire County Council at the end of last month, which involved the mishandling of a COVID outbreak. An incident management team was set up, and somebody somewhere decided that—rather than asking the five families where someone had COVID to self-isolate, a decision was made to force everyone living on that site to become quarantined, regardless of whether or not they had tested negative. And what's more, a security firm was appointed to enforce this decision. I, frankly, know of no other instance where a whole street or a whole block of flats has been quarantined, and certainly not without putting in place arrangements to provide money to compensate people for loss of earnings, or the provision of essential food and medicines. So, I'm quite sure, if the incident management team dealing with the outbreak at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency had decided all their staff had to be confined to the workplace, there would have been an outrage at this breach of their human rights. I want, therefore, Trefnydd, to ask if we could have a statement from the Deputy Minister, who is responsible for equalities, that there will be no reoccurrence of such a major breach of the Equalities Act 2010 and that local authorities are clear that security firms have no role in promoting good management of relations between tenants and landlords, which in any case is essential to achieve public health compliance with COVID regulations. 

Thank you. I know the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip will have been listening very carefully to that contribution. We do understand that Flintshire County Council is conducting its own inquiry at the moment into the events at the Riverside site, and we'll be keen to learn from their findings. I would mention, though, that the Welsh Government has been very keen to provide good advice to local authorities since the very start of the pandemic. Back on 26 March, we provided advice to local authorities on how they can best support Gypsy and Traveller communities on sites and on roadside encampments through the pandemic. And our advice is really clear, in that managing COVID-19 incidents on sites must be based on clear communication, building trust and taking time to ask what support is needed by those residents. But I know that the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip will have heard the request for the particular statement.

Darren Millar.

Can I thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer? Trefnydd, can I call for two statements, please, from the Minister for economy and transport? The first I'd like to request is an update on the developments in respect of the north Wales metro. I noticed that there was some reference to the south Wales metro in the news this week, and it reminded me of the fact that of course there's going to be significant investment in the south Wales metro—some £0.75 billion, compared to just a paltry sum of £50 million being spent and invested on the north Wales metro. I think that, regardless of whether there are delays in the south, we certainly need to understand why there's such a disparity in the funding between north and south Wales for these two metro projects, and we certainly need to have an update on the situation in the north.

Can I also request a statement from the Minister for economy and transport in relation to the impact of the Welsh Government's clean air proposals in the White Paper that was published recently? You'll be aware, Trefnydd, that that White Paper suggests that we could have road pricing introduced in Wales on Welsh trunk roads. That would be absolutely devastating for people living in my constituency, who use trunk roads to get to and from their place of employment, to and from places of education like schools, and, indeed, for the tourism industry, which is absolutely dependent on people arriving from places on the trunk road network, such as the A5, the A55 and A494. I think it is absolutely imperative that we don't do anything to undermine the impact of the pandemic, and I can't think of anything worse than introducing road pricing in Wales at a time like this.

I will ask the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales to provide Darren Millar with that update on the north Wales metro.FootnoteLink

With respect to the clean air proposals, I would certainly encourage all colleagues to take the opportunity to seek to engage constructively with the White Paper and to come forward with their own suggestions as to how we can potentially ensure that, in future, we do have the clean air that we all aspire to and which will require interventions from all of us in all kinds of different ways. So, in the first instance, I think engaging constructively with that particular piece of work would be a useful first step.

Information further to Plenary

Trefnydd, in November, we celebrated 20 years of the Wales Union Learning Fund. It's a programme that allows trade unions to support workers back into learning, and, since April alone, in 2020, the fund has supported more than 5,000 workers with learning, advice, guidance, on essential skills and career progression. So, with the worrying news that the Conservatives are axing the funding of the Union Learning Fund in England a year earlier than expected, can I ask the Welsh Government for a statement on the importance of workplace training and the role of the Wales Union Learning Fund in Wales?

Can I also ask for an update on the Welsh Government's discussions with Centrica, with regard to the company's recent industrial dispute, ongoing with GMB? Now, as you know, the union has taken industrial action against the company following their attempt to fire and rehire many of the hard-working staff that work for the firm. Now, as an important contractor with Centrica, and in recognition of the fair work ambitions here in Wales, I know that the Welsh Government recently wrote to the Centrica board about this very issue, so, Minister, I want to ask if the Welsh Government can publish the response it's received from the board, or at least provide a written update on the Government's engagement with the company. Thank you.

Thank you to Huw Irranca-Davies for raising these issues, and the first one was in relation to the Wales Union Learning Fund, and of course that gives me an ideal opportunity to remind colleagues that it is HeartUnions Week, and, were it not for unions, we wouldn't have all of the workplace protections that we enjoy and which are so easy to take for granted. So, we're very proud of the work that the Wales Union Learning Fund has been doing, and of course there's never been a better time to join a union, with all of the threats of leaving the European Union and, of course, the importance of staying safe in the workplace during the pandemic.

On the specific issue regarding Centrica, the First Minister did indeed write to the board of Centrica on 1 February highlighting the significant concerns that the Welsh Government has with the actions that the company has taken in recent months, and that letter repeats the Welsh Government's clear, stated ask that the company returns to the negotiating table to seek an agreed way forward with the GMB. I do understand, as Huw Irranca-Davies says, that a response has now been received. Clearly, we'll have to consider if the response can be put into the public domain in full, but we will certainly find an opportunity to update Members on our engagement with the company.

And finally, David Rees.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Trefnydd, we all understand the issues relating to the flooding that happened in Skewen, and I very much praise the actions that the Welsh Government has taken to fund some of those residents to ensure that they have some support. But last night, on ITV's Sharp End, the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs seemed to indicate that they were asking the coal tips taskforce to take a look at the implications of mine workings as well across south Wales, and what that means for our communities. I wonder if we can have a statement from the Minister to indicate what exactly that taskforce will be asked to do, what discussions they're having with the UK Government in relation to these workings, and also what discussions they're having with the coal body and the UK Government to look at how they are liable for flooding from these workings. Because it's claimed the liability for floodwater is no-one's responsibility, but, when it emanates from a man-made structure that someone has responsibility for maintaining, surely there should be some liability there, and we should pursue that agenda very strongly.

Can I also ask for a statement from the Minister in relation to the dog thefts that have been happening lately? We have seen an increasing number of thefts of dogs and puppies across my region and area, and particularly across Wales. I very much appreciate the work that is done in trying to find those thieves and actually return some of those dogs, but we're now in a situation where people who are walking their dogs on the streets are being attacked and the dog's been stolen while they are taking that walk. It's clear we need to have a statement as to what action the Government is taking with the relevant authorities, with the police and the UK Government, and how we can perhaps adapt Lucy's law, when it comes in, to ensure that people selling these puppies illegally are going to be heavily penalised as a consequence of the actions they're taking.

And a final request, the Minister for the economy—

No, no—. No, no, I'm sorry. You have gone well over. You'll have to try again next week. Trefnydd.

Thank you. The first issue that was raised by David Rees was the coal tips taskforce, and the extension of that work now into mine works, and that's following the recent flooding incidents. Welsh Government is really keen to see a joint programme of work between the Welsh Government and the UK Government on this, recognising that Wales does have 40 per cent of the coal tips of the whole of the United Kingdom, and clearly the mine works issues will affect Wales also disproportionately, so it's important that we do have the correct support to address that. I'll seek to provide David Rees with a full update in terms of the discussions that are going on in that regard, and also with regard to the coal authority in particular.

And then the second issue was the important one of dog thefts, which is becoming increasingly concerning to us across all of our communities, I think. The theft of a pet is a criminal offence under the non-devolved Theft Act 1968, and the maximum penalty of course is seven years' imprisonment. I know that Jane Hutt meets regularly with the police, and that she'll be keen to raise this issue with them on behalf of David Rees and all of us who have concerns about this particularly concerning area.

Thank you very much, Trefnydd.