– in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 5 July 2022.
And the next item therefore is the business statement and announcement, and I call on the Trefnydd to make that statement. Lesley Griffiths.
Diolch, Llywydd. The only change to this week's business is a reduction in the time allocated to today's Stage 3 debate. Draft business for the next three sitting weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Llywydd, I'd like to request a statement from the health Minister on the delivery of the north Denbighshire community hospital. Back in 2013, the then health Minister, who, of course, is now the First Minister, made an announcement that a new hospital would be built in Rhyl to replace the two previously closed hospitals of the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the Prestatyn Community Hospital. He said that he expected the building to be ready and open in 2016. It's now 2022, nine years after the announcement in 2013, and we still haven't seen a spade in the ground. Now, given that the hospital just down the road from this location in Bodelwyddan is under huge pressure—we know that it's in targeted intervention, and we know that the emergency department in particular needs to improve—the development of this facility now should be absolutely prioritised, because the minor injuries unit and the extra beds will take an awful lot of pressure off the hospital down the road. So, can I ask for an urgent statement, before the end of term, from the health Minister on this important project, and when we can expect to see it delivered?
Can I ask also for a second statement from the Minister for health? This is on the regulation of aesthetic products, such as the use of dermal fillers and botox. The aesthetics industry is something of a wild west, I think it's fair to say, in Wales at the moment—in fact, across large parts of the world. But we also know that these fillers, because they're not regulated, can cause significant harm, and the number of people that are ending up suffering harm is increasing. I think we need a licensing regime. I think we need to make sure that these things are used safely, in regulated practices, with proper hygiene standards and other things in place too. So, can I ask for a statement on what the Welsh Government proposes to do in order to improve safety in this unregulated industry? Thank you.
Thank you. Well, there is certainly no space in Government time before the end of term for the Minister for Health and Social Services to do a statement on either of the topics you've raised. You'll be aware that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is having a look at the way it provides its services right across the board. You'll also be very aware—more than probably anybody in the Chamber—of the significant funding that has been put into Ysbyty Glan Clwyd to help with pressures there also.
I don't disagree with what you're saying about the aesthetics industry, for want of a better word. It certainly does require regulation and licensing, and the Minister for Health and Social Services has heard your request.
I'd like a Government statement, please, on the mineworkers' pension scheme, setting out how the Welsh Government will put pressure on Westminster to finally do right by these miners and their widows and pay back the money that they owe them. Since 1994, Westminster Governments have pocketed billions of pounds of profit made by the mineworkers' pension scheme, because of how it was privatised. A Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee inquiry recommended in 2021 that these arrangements should be reviewed, but promises made by Boris Johnson and others have been broken. Now, that report is gathering dust, just as that other dust from those years of labouring underground is taking the lives of more and more miners every year. In the gallery today, we're joined by members of the National Mineworkers Pension Campaign; they're now raising funds to seek a judicial review. So, could a statement please be made to express solidarity with their cause and to tell these miners that Wales will fight their corner? Thank you.
Thank you. And I'd be certainly very happy to express solidarity with colleagues who are in the Chamber today. And you'll be very well aware of the pressure that Welsh Government has put on the UK Government, and that will continue.
Minister, I'm contacted almost weekly by residents in Rhondda who've had their application for a disabled parking bay turned down, not because they're not eligible, but because, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, there is only funding available for 12 new bays a year. Since 2011, car ownership per household in RCT has increased by almost 14 per cent, according to the RAC Foundation. The number of disabled parking bays granted each year does not reflect this increase. Too many disabled residents are isolated at home because it's just not worth the hassle or risk of not being able to park outside their own home. So, can I please request a statement from the Minister for Finance and Local Government regarding how disabled parking bays will be funded in the future? Thank you.
Thank you. Well, disabled parking bays are made by the highways authority, which is, obviously, the local authority, by means of a traffic regulation order. And local authorities do need to consider their responsibilities under equalities legislation as well as for highways. There is no specific funding from Welsh Government for the provision of disabled parking bays; local authorities need to consider this as part of their overall budget planning.
Good afternoon, Minister. I'd like to ask for a Welsh Government statement outlining the action that the Welsh Government is taking to support Wrexham County Borough Council's bid to gain UK Government levelling-up funding in order to fully undertake the Wrexham Gateway project, which, as you will know I'm sure, includes the construction of a new stand at the Kop end of the Racecourse ground. And I certainly acknowledge the £25 million of support already committed from the Welsh Government for the Gateway project, for which we're all grateful, I'm sure. But, as you'll know, Minister, a petition with more than 16,000 signatures for the Stadium for the North campaign was formally handed in to Downing Street yesterday, which I had the pleasure of supporting and signing. And it's this petition and this bid that is so important, because, as we know, sport, historically, has been centralised down here in south Wales, and we need to attract major events and major sporting events to north Wales, which would have a lasting benefit across the region. So, in light of this, Minister, will you join me in supporting the Stadium for the North campaign, and will you allow a Welsh Government statement to outline what further action the Welsh Government will take to support this bid? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
No, there won't be a statement around the stadium, as you outlined. As you say, Welsh Government did give £25 million to Wrexham County Borough Council as part of the Gateway. I'm very well aware of the petition that was handed in to 10 Downing Street yesterday. This is a second attempt to try and get some funding out of the UK Government. I passionately believe we should have a stadium up in north Wales that is capable of holding international matches. The Racecourse is the oldest international football stadium in the world, and, certainly, as a child and a young person, that's where I saw my international matches; I could not have possibly been brought down to Cardiff at that time by my parents. So, I think it's very important, for young people particularly, and of course for north Walians, to see international football, and I know it's something that the Welsh Government is very keen to see.
Could I ask for a debate on our procedures here in this place? To my knowledge, we've had no review of procedures in this Senedd since the election last year, and I don't remember any serious review of such things in the previous Senedd either. We had an exchange in First Minister's questions on the single market. Now, wherever you might stand on that matter, and my views are very well known and very clear, it surely cannot be right that we have a debate for 30 minutes tomorrow on the Order paper for this matter. This isn't serious politics; this is the politics of the school yard to believe that we can have a debate on such a serious matter in 30 minutes. It's not a serious way of conducting our affairs here, it's not a serious way of debating major issues facing this country, and it's not a serious way in which we should be reaching conclusions on these matters. So, I would like to ask for a debate on our procedures, I'd like to ask for a debate on how we structure our business in this place, and I would like to see Business Committee coming here and listening to that debate, so that all of us, wherever we stand on these matters, can have a very clear conversation about how we want our business to be handled in this place.
Thank you. Well, obviously, Plaid Cymru have chosen to use their time tomorrow for the debate that you have outlined. Both I and the Llywydd have heard your request. I think this is something that we can discuss in Business Committee in the first instance.
I wish to ask for an urgent statement this afternoon from the Deputy Minister for Social Services, regarding her review into children's services in Wales. I was horrified to see the details of the Logan Mwangi case—a young life ended so soon by those who were supposed to love and care for him. Whilst I'm pleased to see justice being served against the evilness that snatched a young boy's life away before it had begun, we need to make sure that this does not happen again and that social services here in Wales are fit to protect our children at risk. And I wish to send my heartfelt condolences to Logan's dad and the rest of his family and friends, and teachers in Tondu Primary School in Bridgend, who have all been affected by this horrific tragedy.
Logan was removed from the child protection register a month before his death. His routine visit, just prior to this incident, was not undertaken due to a positive COVID diagnosis, despite personal protective equipment being available for staff to use. And as I said when Logan's killers were convicted, I was surprised that the First Minister said that he didn't think an independent review of children's services was needed in Wales after this tragic case exposed some serious shortcomings in the system. We called for a review back in May, and, given the other three UK nations are conducting one right now, and the fact that Wales has the worst rates for looked-after children, I just can't understand why this Welsh Government is not following suit. These cases should never be allowed to occur, and vulnerable children deserve the full protection of the state, and the seeming cultural complacency within Bridgend council has had a negative influence on this child's fate. And I urge the Welsh Government to order this independent review without delay. Thank you.
Thank you. I too want to pass on my condolences to those who love and miss Logan. There will not be time for an urgent statement in the way you request, but I can assure you that measures are in place to ensure that learning from events such as this informs the continuous improvement of safeguarding practice in Wales. The Deputy Minister for Social Services is awaiting the findings of the recent inspection of Bridgend County Borough Council's children services—that's been conducted by Care Inspectorate Wales—as well as the completion of the child practice review to look at the events prior to Logan's death, and all findings and recommendations will be closely considered by the Welsh Government.
Trefnydd, could I ask for a statement, please, from the climate change Minister on the phosphates summit that's happening at the Royal Welsh agricultural show? I know there was a commitment to provide a written statement to this Senedd about the findings from that summit, but this is an important issue not just for my constituency, but a number of constituencies right across Wales. So, I would please ask that we can have an oral statement on what is discussed at the summit, so Members in this Chamber can do their job of scrutinising the Welsh Government on this very important topic. Diolch, Llywydd.
Well, there will be a written statement. You'll be aware the Royal Welsh agricultural show is happening in the first week of recess. So, there will be a written statement by the Minister for Climate Change over the summer recess. Obviously, there can't be an oral statement.
I thank the Trefnydd.