The next item will be the business statement and announcement, and I call on the Trefnydd to make that statement—Lesley Griffiths.

Diolch, Llywydd. There are four changes to this week's business. Later today, the Minister for Health and Social Services will make a statement on Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. To accommodate this, the oral statement on dental reform has been postponed. Additionally, the Business Committee has agreed to reduce the time allocated to Senedd Commission questions tomorrow in line with the number of questions tabled. Finally, the Business Committee has also agreed to change the order of debates tomorrow so that the Plaid Cymru motion is debated before the Conservative motion. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out in the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.  

Can I ask for a statement, please, Trefnydd, from the Deputy Minister for arts and sport, who has just taken over responsibility for the tourism sector here in Wales? We know that when tourism sat under the economy Minister, the economy Minister proposed a tourism tax on the sector. The Government's own report said that it would cost the sector £100 million and 2,500 jobs. VisitBritain called it inadvisable, saying that it discouraged the highest spending overnight visitors from coming to Wales. So, can I ask for a statement where the Deputy Minister will outline her priorities for the tourism sector, in the hope that with a new Minister we'll see a new set of priorities?

No, that will not be happening. The policy is as set out by the previous Minister with responsibility for tourism.

Families across Wales are facing an extremely uncertain near-term future as a result of the deadlock over whether Westminster will continue to help households with their energy bills, and the situation is going from bad to worse. Yesterday, I had a conversation with someone who runs a foodbank in my region, and he said that the number of people attending that foodbank had increased by 20 per cent over the past winter. The people who go there talk about the fear that they have about that April deadline. While the demand for food has increased, the donations sometimes decline because of the pressures faced by people in the area. Will the Government make a statement, please, setting out what emergency discussions it will have with Westminster to demand that the support with energy bills continues after April? If Westminster does not accede to this demand, will the statement confirm what the Welsh Government will do to fill that gap? Thank you. 

Thank you. The Minister for Social Justice does continue to have discussions with her counterpart in the UK Government. As you know, the price cap announcement will have no impact at all on energy prices for the period from April to June, because the actual prices are currently being set by the UK Government's energy price guarantee. What we would like to see is the UK Government reverse the decision to increase the EPG price from £2,500 to £3,000 from 1 April, and, of course, they'll have the opportunity to do that in the budget next month.

We've all either observed or seen the steep spike in the price of vegetables and the empty shelves in our shops. The horticulture start-up and horticulture development grant schemes led last year to 19 new entrants into commercial horticulture and the expansion of 12 existing schemes. I wondered if we could have a debate in Government time on whether this is merely a short-term problem provoked by bad weather and the spike in energy costs, as described in the press, or symptomatic of an ongoing food security issue caused by our changing climate, Brexit barriers disrupting the importing of perishable goods and the domination of our food supplies by multinational companies who are mainly interested in profitability rather than ensuring supplies of nourishing food. We really do need to assess whether this demands beefing up our legislative programme or investing in more vegetables grown in Wales.

Thank you. As you know, growing the horticultural part of the agricultural sector in Wales is something I'm particularly interested in. It's a very small part of our agricultural sector, only 1 per cent. The reason I had the two schemes that you referred to was because of the demand. People were telling me they wanted to see more windows within those schemes, and it was very good to have those new 19 new entrants and to have that take-up.

There is, clearly, some widespread shortage of some fresh products: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers. Yesterday, I was told there is a shortage of leeks, which is pretty unfortunate, I think, this week with St David's Day. I think it is the supermarkets where we are seeing shortages particularly. I think in local grocer shops, for instance, we're not seeing that shortage.

Next Monday, the Welsh Government is chairing the next inter-ministerial group with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and I've asked for food supply and food security to be put on the agenda. I know that the Minister for food and farming in the UK Government, Mark Spencer, is meeting the supermarkets this week. We haven't been invited to participate, but I've certainly asked to have a note on that to see how widespread this is.

I would like to request a statement from the Deputy Minister for Climate Change. Over two weeks ago, the T19 between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog was terminated. Employees have been left unable to access work, students are relying on private transport to get to school and residents are struggling to reach medical appointments. This morning, along with my colleague Mabon ap Gwynfor, we were in a very good meeting with bus operators, Welsh Government officials, the cabinet member from Conwy County Borough Council and Transport for Wales. But what came across loud and clear was that there seems to be an overwhelmed workforce within Transport for Wales. Criticisms were aimed at them, with bus operators trying to get this route back working again, but Transport for Wales not very good at responding. Their standard of communication with private bus operators was described as appalling, with e-mails not responded to, and that TfW actually lack experience in the bus marketplace. We now have a situation where the T19 is desperately needed to be reinstated. The response from TfW this morning was that they're going to go out to the public to see how in demand this service is. Well, I'm sure my colleague Mabon and I can actually say from our mailboxes that we know, we have data, but also the bus company who's had to suspend their bus operation has all the data. We made the point that it's not more talking we need; we need that bus reinstated. So, will the Deputy Minister now come forward with a statement and a plan for how we can actually get this bus route back firmly on its wheels? Thanks.

I don't think there's a need for an oral statement. I think you've done absolutely the right thing. I was aware of the meeting this morning. Clearly the data will help, because we certainly haven't seen patronage return to bus services post the COVID pandemic as was there pre the COVID pandemic. So, surely, if they get the data, they will be able to see, and if you say the data is there, then I think that will enable them to look at whether this service should be reinstated as quickly as possible.

May I ask for a statement from the health Minister on the issue of charging for delivering prescriptions from pharmacies? It's entirely reasonable to charge in a scenario where an individual can't be bothered to collect a prescription, but I've been contacted by some people in my region who, because of their medical condition, can't go and fetch their prescriptions, and have now found that they are required to pay for that. In the first instance, many of them can't afford to do so, and the inevitable upshot of that is that they will not, therefore, be receiving the medicines that they need. And that, of course, undermines the policy that we're all proud of, that prescriptions are free of charge in Wales. So, I think we need some clarity from the Minister on what the Government expects from pharmacies: do the pharmacists or the individuals trying to access prescriptions need support? And I i think we need more consistency across Wales, because in some areas they charge, and in others they don't.

Thank you. I will certainly ask the Minister to provide some clarity via a written statement. You're absolutely right that the whole point of having that policy of free prescriptions is to keep people well and to make sure that those who are employed are able to stay in employment. If we do have this disparity, I think you're quite right; you don't want to see that inconsistency or a postcode lottery, where you have some areas charging. So, I will certainly ask the health Minister to bring forward a written statement with that clarity.

May I ask for a statement from the health Minister on an update to the computer system within the national health service? I have a cancer patient in Dinas Mawddwy who's had to go to have initial treatment and gone to see a doctor locally in Dolgellau, and then had to go to hospital in Bronglais in Aberystwyth, and then in turn down to Glangwili in Carmarthen, and then back up to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, and then over to Llanidloes, which is part of the Powys health board, and now has to go to Clatterbridge near Liverpool, I believe. And what he's found is that every one of these providers, the different hospitals, aren't communicating with each other, and they don't share notes; they're not ready for the patient's arrival, they don't know that patient's history, because the ICT systems don't communicate, and there's no easy way to share that information. So, can we have a statement to see what the system is, and what plans are in place to ensure that that system is properly integrated in Wales to avoid this happening in the future? Thank you.

It's an ongoing piece of work to make sure that computers talk to computers and health boards talk to health boards here in Wales. It is absolutely vital that patients don't have to repeat their story every time they go to a different hospital, for instance. I know there were some difficulties between Wales and England, but as far as I was aware those systems should be able to talk to each other within Wales.

Thank you, Trefnydd.