The next item is the business statement and announcement and I call on the Trefnydd to make that statement. Lesley Griffiths. 

Diolch, Llywydd. I've made three changes to today's agenda. Firstly, the Minister for Health and Social Services will make a statement to update Members on COVID-19, and as a result, the statement on 'A Healthier Wales' has been postponed until 11 January. Secondly, the Minister for Social Justice will make a statement on international day of disabled people. And finally, the debate on the legislative consent motion on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has been postponed until 11 January. 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. 

I'll just declare an interest as an elected member of Conwy County Borough Council. Trefnydd, I'd like to call for a Welsh Government statement providing an update on the COVID hardship funding for local councils in Wales. As has been mentioned a number of times across the Chamber, the good work that local authorities have carried out throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping people safe, and providing vital services in our communities—. It's also worth noting the support that Welsh Government have provided through the COVID hardship fund to local authorities, making sure that those services can continue as best as possible. But I'd like to receive a statement providing an update on that COVID hardship fund that local authorities have been receiving, and, importantly, the capacity of this fund to deal with what are going to be likely further pressures due to COVID-19 before the end of this financial year, and, if possible, an update on the future plans for this fund beyond March as well. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I absolutely agree with you that we've worked very closely in partnership with local authorities, particularly over the COVID-19 pandemic. Certainly, there are many services that wouldn't have been provided if it wasn't for their work. I'm not aware of any changes to the hardship fund at the moment. It could be that it's going to be part of our draft budget, but, if not, I will ask the Minister to update us.

I'd like to ask for a debate in Government time to discuss the funding of rail infrastructure in Wales. The disastrous underfunding of our rail network has been highlighted by the UK Government's union connectivity review, which recommends, astonishingly, improving links with England, even though it was the UK Government itself that reneged on its promise to electrify the south Wales main line. Wales Governance Centre research, Trefnydd, shows we lost out on £0.5 billion-worth of rail funding over 10 years, due to rail infrastructure not being devolved, and HS2 will make that worse. The UK Treasury's decision to set the comparability factor for Wales at 0 per cent means we'll get nothing from HS2 expenditure. Scotland will get around £10 billion, Wales will get zero, and this when our trains are already crammed, too often late, and unreliable. So, Trefnydd, I think Members across the Chamber would welcome an opportunity to discuss this crisis and what can be done about it, before we are, in the words of Will Hayward from the Western Mail, condemned to another century of second-class rail.

Thank you. It's certainly very disappointing to see that Wales is not going to benefit from that increased rail funding, which we'd certainly hoped to do. The Minister for Climate Change is in the Chamber with me and has heard your request. Obviously, she and the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, who has responsibility for transport, have questions next week, so I would suggest that you lay a question to them next week.

We've all been caught on the hop a little by the latest iteration of COVID, with the new variant called omicron, not least Welsh citizens who were abroad at the time that we needed to bring in these extra restraints on travel. I just wondered if the Government can make a statement about the situation of the Cardiff Blues and the Scarlets, who, obviously, are going to be required, in due course, to take part in further competitions, which may be disrupted by their continuing need to quarantine. Could you say whether it is possible for the Blues to return from South Africa and quarantine here in Wales, or, if not, what the situation is for them?

Thank you. As I've just announced, the Minister for Health and Social Services will be giving us an update on COVID-19 this afternoon. You asked specifically about—you mentioned Cardiff Rugby and the Scarlets. Under the current regulations, we do not have the option to bring the party home before the 10-day quarantine expires, as obviously it's illegal to enter Wales if you've been in a red-list country in the past 10 days. And even if it was not the case, obviously we don't have those quarantine facilities here in Wales. The Scarlets travelling party is currently in a managed quarantine service in Belfast, where they arrived on Sunday, and they need to remain in quarantine and see through the designated 10-day period. In relation to Cardiff Blues, they still remain in South Africa, and the current position is, when travelling to the UK from a red-list country, you cannot travel directly to Wales. We do know that several members of the party are unwell, and we do wish them a speedy recovery.

Rhys ab Owen. Oh—

No.

I don't know what it is about you, Rhys, but I seem to always call you at the wrong time. [Laughter.] Altaf Hussain, and then Rhys ab Owen.

Minister, on Wednesday, a city centre public space protection order is being introduced for three months in Swansea, and will apply to behaviour such as drug taking and drunkenness. It means that alcohol and drugs being consumed on the street can be confiscated before the situation becomes a problem, and fixed-penalty notices can be issued for anti-social behaviour such as swearing and aggression. Will the Minister commit to a debate in Government time for the Senedd to consider the success of such measures? Thank you. 

Sorry, Llywydd; I really struggled to hear. 

I think there was a problem with your microphone at one point there, Altaf Hussain. I'm going to come back to you at the end of questions to see if the issue can be resolved on your microphone. I will now call Rhys ab Owen. 

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Trefnydd, to mark over two years since the publication of the Commission on Justice in Wales report, a conference was staged this morning, chaired by Anna McMorrin, the Deputy Minister for victims and youth services. The trade unions were represented, as was the former Lord Chief Justice Thomas. He praised the steps that have already been taken following the publication of his report, such as greater leadership by the Government in this place and more scrutiny in the Senedd. He also praised the establishment of the Law Council of Wales and a pilot for the family drug and alcohol court. But he said there was still yet much to be done. With as many of a third of the recommendations within the gift of Welsh Government, as two years have now passed, can we have a statement on the Government's plan to implement those recommendations within their powers? Thank you. 

Yes, I'd be very happy to ask the Minister for Social Justice to bring forward a statement. 

I call for a Welsh Government statement on music education in Wales. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting Denbighshire Music Co-operative, a not-for-profit organisation providing quality music tuition in the Denbighshire and Wrexham areas, and winner of the Tech for Good award in the Social Business Wales awards 2021. The co-operative is run by teachers for the benefit of pupils, managed by a Denbighshire-based head of service. They provide tuition on a wide range of instruments and voice, aiming to develop each pupil's music potential according to their individual needs and aspirations. Their successful and cost-effective model meeting the health and well-being needs of children and young people deserves to be supported to continue and to grow. They told me they're only music co-operative in Wales. They named local authorities either without a music service or looking to make all music teachers redundant, and stated that only two local authorities in Wales provide a service for free-school-meal pupils, including Wrexham. They also told me that they developed a model that works, but having established a good foundation over eight years, they need sustainable funding to become a north Wales or all-Wales model, where they provide an opportunity for better, more cost-efficient service delivery, led by the co-operative members who are themselves music professionals. However, they expressed concern that the national music service being developed by the Welsh Government should not take their service back in-house, and asked whether the new national music service would include a new co-operative model with funding for co-operatives. I call for a Welsh Government statement accordingly. 

The Deputy Presiding Officer (David Rees) took the Chair.

Thank you. I'm obviously very well aware of the co-operative service that Mark Isherwood refers to. As you said at the end of your contribution, the national music service is a programme for government commitment for us, and is currently being developed. So, I don't think it's appropriate at this point to bring forward a statement, but I'm certain that the Minister will be very interested to hear the comments that Mark Isherwood has made—that he has brought forward from the co-operative—and I will make sure that their views are obviously taken into consideration as we bring forward the service. 

I'd like to ask for a statement on stop and search in Wales. A constituent of mine in Pencoed was stopped whilst leaving an under-15s football match, and my constituent himself was 15 and had no parent or guardian present with him when searched. Not only has this knocked his own confidence, but it strikes me that this is yet again a case of profiling. Whilst I accept that the Trefnydd and Minister can't comment on individual matters, I'm sure many of us have had constituents approach us with similar stories in our time here as representatives.

Thank you. Well, no, I can't comment on an individual case, and neither can the Minister. However, obviously, this is a matter for the police, which, as you're aware, is a reserved matter, but I will certainly ensure that the Minister for Social Justice has heard your comments. It might be better if you wrote directly to the Minister for Social Justice, because, clearly, she meets regularly with the four police forces.

I'd like a statement from the climate change Minister, please, about storm Arwen. As many of you will know, 30,000 homes were left without power, Transport for Wales suspended the majority of its rail services, we lost church windows in Llandudno, and hundreds of trees fell, often strewn across the highways. A wind speed of 81 mph was recorded at Aberporth in Ceredigion, and, in paying tribute to our local authorities, who were very fast in coming out and helping where people had had fallen trees, I just wonder, given that we all felt that was a freak accident of nature—I fear that those kinds of storms are likely to increase, going forward, with climate change—could we have a statement from the climate change Minister on how you intend to work with local authorities to ensure they have all the things they need, should these kinds of storms again happen, possibly even over this winter? Thank you.

I think that there is no doubt that we will see many more of these storms. We have seen many more of these storms over the past few years. We've seen increased flooding, et cetera, and the Minister for Climate Change, who, obviously, is in the Chamber, works very closely with local authorities to ensure they have everything they need. Clearly, there were many houses without power, I know, not so much in my own constituency, but in the neighbouring constituency. Up until last night, even, people were still without electricity. But the Minister continues to work very closely with local authorities, with organisations such as Natural Resources Wales to see what we can do to help protect our communities in the light of these storms.

Trefnydd, I would like to raise the issue of drug addiction services in Wales. Following on from last week's short debate by Jayne Bryant and from the short debate I held on substance misuse earlier this term, this Government committed itself to making a compassionate approach to tackling addiction. It was heartening to hear the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being say,

'In Wales, our approach remains that of harm reduction and building strong recovery communities.'

With this clear commitment in mind, I would like a Government statement on how drug addiction programmes that were once funded by European social fund money will be carried on with when the current contracts end.

I am specifically referring to the out-of-work peer mentoring service, which comes to an end in August of next year. In my region, this programme is called Cyfle Cymru, but I know it goes by other names, depending on which part of Wales it operates in. There is talk that this pan-Wales programme will be brought in-house and absorbed into existing employability contracts. Those with experience in the field say that this will be disastrous because their clients often lead chaotic lives, have severe mental needs and need to be dealt with differently. This is not just a hunch from those in the field, because there is a precedent for this service being brought in-house before; it inevitably collapsed. The current peer-led model has been successful for five years, and it needs a commitment to extend its funding beyond the summer of next year. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you. You make a very important point about services and schemes that have been funded by European funding and what we are going to do to continue them, so that we don't throw all that good work away. You just gave, I think, a very clear example of such a scheme. These will be parts of discussions that the Minister for Health and Social Services, along with her deputies—so, that includes the Deputy Minister for mental health—will be having as we approach the laying of the draft budget, so more information will be given then.

May I ask for one written statement, if I may, from the Minister for Economy and/or the Minister for culture on the level of financial or practical support that can be provided to cinemas, theatres, arts centres as they operate the COVID pass? I'm thinking about organisations such as Ucheldre Centre, Theatr Fach and the Empire cinema in Anglesey, which are run as social enterprises and just need some help just in order to ensure that they can implement the passes effectively. 

Also, I'd like to ask for an oral statement by Welsh Government congratulating the people of Barbados on their transition to a republic. The country gained its independence, I think, some 55 years ago and is now taking the final step on that journey. And, speaking to the crowd on the newly renamed National Heroes Square, the Prince of Wales said:

'Emancipation, self-government and independence were your way-points. Freedom, justice and self-determination have been your guides.'

I wish Barbados well as they face their new, exciting future, just as more and more people in Wales are realising the benefits we could have from embracing the future as an independent nation. And I look forward to a positive statement from Welsh Government. 

Well, I don't think it would be appropriate to have a Welsh Government statement on that. 

In relation to your first point around arts and culture, you will have heard the First Minister say in his question session that he met with officials yesterday who were looking at what support, if any, or what further support, would be needed by the arts and culture sector. And I think he said the Minister was awaiting further advice before coming to a decision. 

And finally, we'll go back to Altaf Hussain. 

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, on Wednesday, a city-centre public space protection Order is being introduced for three months in Swansea and will apply to behaviour such as drug taking and drunkenness. It means that alcohol and drugs being consumed on the streets can be confiscated before the situation becomes a problem, and fixed-penalty notices can be issued for anti-social behaviour such as swearing and aggression. Will the Minister commit to a debate in Government time for the Senedd to consider the success of such measures? Thank you. 

Well, it is a matter for each local authority in relation to what steps they take around zones, for instance, in relation to reducing, or banning completely, alcohol on the streets. So, I think it is up to individual local authorities and I don't really think it's right to have a statement in Government time. 

Thank you, Trefnydd.