National Assembly for Wales

I will issue a written statement following the visit and information relating to costs will be published here - Ministerial Code information publication: 6th Senedd | GOV.WALES - in line with the Ministerial code, after the end of the financial year..

I will issue a written statement following the visit and information relating to costs will be published here - Ministerial Code information publication: 6th Senedd | GOV.WALES - in line with the Ministerial code, after the end of the financial year..

Substantive response

Substantive response

While grid investment is largely the responsibility of the UK Government and the network operators, in Wales our approach to energy planning at the local regional and national levels is putting us in a strong position to be clear about our needs and provide the evidence for investment in the grid. We are using evidence developed through the local area energy plans and our Future Grids for Wales report to support the emerging strategic plans for new networks for Great Britain to make sure Welsh voices will be heard where these will affect Wales.

Although in previous years, the Welsh Government has provided funding to Tata Steel, we have not been asked over the last year to do so. We will however be making available our employability and skills support programmes to workers affected by the recent announcement by the company.

The current labour market statistics are classified by ONS as ‘official statistics in development’. The ONS are continuing their work to improve their labour market estimates, with a more robust data source expected to be provided through its Transformed Labour Force Survey. The first estimates from that data should be available later this year.

Care needs to be taken at present when assessing what is happening to the labour market in Wales due to the different data sources and their trends. The headline employment statistics are produced by the ONS from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However, data from the LFS are particularly volatile at present, with some large changes between periods being exhibited. These may not be wholly representative of what may be actually happening in the labour market at present.

The current labour market statistics are classified by ONS as ‘official statistics in development’. The ONS are continuing their work to improve their labour market estimates, with a more robust data source expected to be provided through its Transformed Labour Force Survey. The first estimates from that data should be available later this year.

Care needs to be taken at present when assessing what is happening to the labour market in Wales due to the different data sources and their trends. The headline employment statistics are produced by the ONS from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However, data from the LFS are particularly volatile at present, with some large changes between periods being exhibited. These may not be wholly representative of what may be actually happening in the labour market at present.

Welsh Government have provided intensive support to the workforce at Zimmer Biomet over recent months in partnership with Working Wales, Employability Bridgend, Department for Work and Pensions, the Economic Development Unit and Business Wales. We provided redundancy group sessions with staff on the 26th, 29th and 30th of January, also on the 1st of February and the 6th of March. All those facing redundancy have access to the ReAct Plus programme which offers tailored support to help people get back into work.

This trend is not unique to Wales.

We  will continue develop the high value sectors and strengthen the opportunities in the Welsh economy to retain and attract more talent to Wales.

I will write to you with a substantive response and a copy of the letter will be published on the internet.

I will write to you with a substantive response and a copy of the letter will be published on the internet.

Substantive response

I have not held meetings or corresponded with the health board on this issue. As is standard practice, Welsh Government officials and NHS Executive staff monitor operational pressures through daily risk management mechanisms. Cardiff and Vale University Health Board provided assurance through these mechanisms about actions to mitigate risks and to enable de-escalation.

Any disruption to the supply of medicines is unsettling and frustrating for people who have been prescribed them. Maintaining the continuity of supply of medicines to the UK is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of the UK Government. However, managing the implications of supply disruptions for patients and the NHS requires co-ordinated action between the UK and devolved governments, and the NHS.

There are currently supply disruptions affecting a number of insulin preparations, including Fiasp FlexTouch^® (insulin aspart) and Tresiba FlexTouch ^® (insulin degludec) 100units/ml solution in 3ml pre-filled pens. These are expected to be out of stock until January 2025.

Levemir InnoLet^® and Insulatard InnoLet^® 100units/ml suspension for injection in 3ml pre-filled pens have recently been discontinued by the manufacturer.

Medicines shortage letters have been issued for each of these, advising clinicians and community pharmacies of the actions that need to be taken.

Anyone who is having difficulty obtaining treatment should contact their doctor or pharmacist to discuss what alternatives might be available.

You may also wish to be aware of the Welsh Government’s Medicines Shortages web page, which offers general advice on why shortages occur and how they are managed: https://www.gov.wales/medicines-shortages and https://www.llyw.cymru/prinder-meddyginiaethau.

The Welsh Government have commissioned Improvement Cymru to deliver a dementia programme that provides support to health and social care colleagues, through the established Regional Partnership Boards. The dementia programme has 5 work streams; Community Engagement, Memory Assessment Services, Dementia Connector, Hospital Charter and Workforce Development & Measurement. These are all aimed at supporting consistent practice and where appropriate, ‘once for Wales’ approaches.  Improvement Cymru host a number of resources, including their work plan, on their webpages for those working with people living with dementia.  

A key component of the dementia programme has been the establishment of the All Wales Dementia Care Pathway of Standards. The pathway standards were published by Improvement Cymru in 2021, following extensive engagement with individuals living with dementia, carers, voluntary organisations and health and care professionals. The co-produced pathway promotes a whole systems integrated care approach with each region’s dementia board having the standards as a core agenda for advancing dementia care locally.

The Welsh Government continues to provide £12m to Regional Partnership Boards annually, through Regional Integration Funding (RIF), to support the implementation of the Dementia Action Plan vision and to develop a joint health and social care approach to dementia support.  All projects in receipt of Dementia Action Plan RIF funding must ensure their work aligns with the standards.

The Welsh Government also provides funding for the National Consultant Allied Health Professional Lead for Dementia role. A key aspect of the role includes providing advice and support to health boards and local authorities to drive forward service improvements and share practice in order to support consistent practice across Wales.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill was introduced to the UK Parliament on 20 March and has the potential to be one of the most significant public health interventions in a generation. If passed, the Bill will raise the age of sale of tobacco products by one year, every year and effectively take cigarettes and tobacco products out of reach of young people. To tackle youth vaping, the Bill provides powers to restrict flavours, point of sale and packaging for both nicotine and non-nicotine vaping products.

Smoking has a devastating impact on individuals, on society and our health service. It significantly increases the risk of cancer, respiratory diseases and dementia and is responsible for around 5,600 deaths per year in Wales. Treating smoking-related diseases has major economic impacts, costing the NHS in Wales an estimated £302m a year. This is why we established our ambitious target in 2022 to create a smokefree society by 2030 and why, we are taking forward actions to support more people to quit and to prevent the uptake of smoking in the first place.

To support the Bill, the UK Government’s Department for Health and Social Care published a comprehensive Impact Assessment that sets out the costs of benefits of the policies. In the long term, the measures in the Bill aim to reduce smoking prevalence by preventing smoking uptake.

The table below gives the number of ambulance arrivals, non-ambulance arrivals and the total number of attendances at major emergency departments in Wales in the five years to March 2024.

Wales major emergency department attendances, 2019-20 to 2023-24

The table below gives the number of ambulance arrivals, non-ambulance arrivals and the total number of attendances at major emergency departments in Wales in the five years to March 2024.

Wales major emergency department attendances, 2019-20 to 2023-24

The table below gives the number of ambulance arrivals, non-ambulance arrivals and the total number of attendances at major emergency departments in Wales in the five years to March 2024.

Wales major emergency department attendances, 2019-20 to 2023-24

Reducing waiting times is a priority for the Welsh Government. It is one of the topics discussed at my regular meetings with the First Minister.

Since being appointed Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in March 2024, I have had no specific meetings with international representatives to share best practice for bringing down waiting lists.

Previous meetings and engagements from my time as Minister for Health and Social Services are available at: https://www.gov.wales/ministerial-meetings-and-engagements. I have often used these as a source of learning about areas of good practice that could be applied to Wales.

I have not met with either Public Health Wales or Aneurin Bevan University Health Board regarding the current measles outbreak. However, I am regularly briefed by officials on the outbreak and the response. 

I have sought and received assurance that all necessary public health actions are being undertaken by the health board and Public Health Wales.

As a government we have also directed all health boards to ensure 90% of students in every school in Wales are fully vaccinated against measles by the end of July this year.  Though further action will be required to achieve measles elimination in Wales, this will be a positive first step to preventing further outbreaks.

I have not met with either Public Health Wales or Aneurin Bevan University Health Board regarding the current measles outbreak. However, I am regularly briefed by officials on the outbreak and the response. 

I have sought and received assurance that all necessary public health actions are being undertaken by the health board and Public Health Wales.

As a government we have also directed all health boards to ensure 90% of students in every school in Wales are fully vaccinated against measles by the end of July this year.  Though further action will be required to achieve measles elimination in Wales, this will be a positive first step to preventing further outbreaks.

Despite the extraordinarily difficult budgetary position, the Welsh Government continues to invest record amounts of funding in homelessness prevention and housing support, with almost £220m invested this financial year alone.

As part of our commitment to reform homelessness law, a White Paper was published on 10 October 2023 along with a draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) outlining initial consideration of the potential costs and benefits of the proposed reforms. Work is underway to provide a more detailed analysis which will be published in a revised RIA, subject to a Bill being introduced in the Senedd.

Any increase in the number of crimes on railways in Wales is unacceptable, and the Welsh Government will do all it can to tackle crime and ensure passengers are kept safe.

Whilst policing is a reserved matter, the Welsh Government has a long-standing relationship with the British Transport Police. We have provided them with grant funding of £500k in 2023-24 to improve safety and perceptions of safety on the railway in Wales by supporting up to 27 policing posts and will continue to fund them in 2024-25. This is additional to the funding provided to the British Transport Police by Transport for Wales Rail and other train operating companies as part of their responsibilities.

Department for Transport official statistics demonstrate that post covid bus journeys have decreased by 33.4% (Bus01). The increase in bus fare costs were drawn from the UK Government Bus Back Better strategy.

I am aware of previous commitments given to lower the speed limit on the A40 through Scleddau. We are updating our guidance on speed limits on roads affecting communities to be consistent with the clarified guidance on 20mph. We anticipate this work will be completed next spring.

Following the release of the new guidance Welsh Government will then review the speed limits across our Trunk Road Network and make any changes in a consistent way.

Cardiff is already seeing the benefits the South Wales Metro will bring both the city itself and the wider region with brand new trains already serving the city. Professor Barry himself has said that the South Wales Metro is progressing at pace and that it will deliver a radical uplift in public transport services and capacity to the core valleys bringing passengers into and out of Cardiff.

The South Wales Metro will form the backbone of the Regional Transport Plans being developed by each region of Wales to set their transport priorities over the following five years. We are working with the UK Government and Network Rail on enhancements on other lines in the region, including improvements to Cardiff West Junction which would enable more services to run on the City Line. We would welcome any additional investment from UK Government on this and the wider rail network in Wales.

I have not met with Heineken to discuss the removal of their commercial cider orchard. Officials are looking into the circumstances around the incident.

The assessments made during the 2024-25 budget setting process indicated the priority for the sector was to protect the Basic Payment Scheme at £238m. Savings made across the wider budget indicated limited impact, for example, all applications to the Habitat Wales Scheme were awarded contracts.

Despite huge pressures on public finances, I am pleased that we remain able to deliver on our commitments for both flood risk management and water policy through the 2024-25 budget. In terms of flood risk management, we have been able to able to maintain record levels of investment for the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Programme this financial year, at £75m. Meanwhile our £15m water quality capital budget is enabling Natural Resources Wales to progress its programme of water quality capital works, including £5m for our Metal Mine Remediation Programme which NRW deliver alongside the Coal Authority.

Under section 101 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (2014 Act), a local housing authority must, in each review period, carry out an assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers residing in or resorting to its area, having consulted such persons as it considers appropriate.

Welsh Government ensures local authorities are providing adequate and culturally appropriate sites where there is need through Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments (GTAAs), completed by Local Authorities on a 5 year cycle.

Welsh Government scrutinise the GTAAs and a recommendation is made to Welsh Ministers to approve, reject or approve with modifications.  Local authorities have been reminded that a local authority’s existing approved GTAA remains valid until it is superseded by the next GTAA. Therefore the authority remains under a statutory duty to meet any outstanding need which has been identified in the existing approved GTAA up to the date the next GTAA is approved.

In addition, officials scrutinise progress against GTAAs with local authorities and encourage local authorities to access Welsh Government’s Sites Capital Grant funding which is available to fund either residential sites or transit sites. The Sites Capital Grant seeks to provide funding to secure long term mobile home accommodation and to facilitate the traditional way of life for some Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.

The Sites Capital Grant funding available for 2024/25 is £3.44m.

Welsh Government are also reviewing the current GTAA guidance.  This review will take place with local authorities and Gypsy Roma Traveller communities to ensure that local authorities fully understand their duties under the Housing Act legislation.