National Assembly for Wales

The Welsh Government currently has 7 staff working in the United States of America split across 5 office locations. The number of staff per office is shown in the table below.

Operating costs for the five offices are:

 Individual office costs, such as rent, utilities and corporate services provided by the UK Government to our staff based in Embassies and Consulates (platform charges), cannot be broken down by office as the Welsh Government receives a single annual invoice for the whole of the Overseas Network from the FCDO. The above represents the total expenditure against the US offices, not including the platform charges.

The Welsh Government currently has 7 staff working in the United States of America split across 5 office locations. The number of staff per office is shown in the table below.

Operating costs for the five offices are:

 Individual office costs, such as rent, utilities and corporate services provided by the UK Government to our staff based in Embassies and Consulates (platform charges), cannot be broken down by office as the Welsh Government receives a single annual invoice for the whole of the Overseas Network from the FCDO. The above represents the total expenditure against the US offices, not including the platform charges.

The USA remains an important export market for Welsh processors, as recent trade figures supplied by Hybu Cig Cymru show:   

·       HCC estimates based on HMRC data suggest that shipments of beef to the U.S. were worth more than £258,000 in 2023. 

·       Shipments of sheep meat to the U.S. were worth around £51,000 in the same period, this is in fact over 80% higher than the value in 2022. 

·       Furthermore, for the period from January to June 2024, the value of sheep meat exports from Wales to the U.S. was just under £80,000.

There is currently branded PGI Welsh Lamb available in country, and Hybu Cig Cymru is supporting key accounts to develop this market further with promotional activity. 

Please note that the data and information have been provided by HCC.

HCC is working in partnership with Welsh Government, including its international offices, and others to identify further opportunities to increase exports into the growing U.S. market through trade missions and trade events.  International offices, in the US and elsewhere, together with the Welsh Government’s Food Division are working closely together to identify promotional and trade opportunities, and we are planning to attend Summer Fancy Food Fair in New York which has received a good response in previous years.

The work undertaken by our offices in the USA to develop trade, investment, education, cultural and tourism links is outlined in our annual report for 2023-24.

The work undertaken by our offices in the USA to develop trade, investment, education, cultural and tourism links is outlined in our annual report for 2023-24.

The UK Government is responsible for the regulation of medicines and the medicines supply chain for the whole of the UK. When there are issues, we work closely with the UK Government, devolved governments, and the NHS, manufacturers, wholesalers, prescribers and pharmacies.

We are aware of a supply issue affecting Tobi Podhaler® (tobramycin) 28mg inhalation capsules. The sole supplier has informed the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) of manufacturing issues and is expecting to be out of stock until May 2025.

DHSC is working with the manufacturer and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to explore a range of mitigations, including the potential to extend the expiry dates on some stock and using stock from non-UK markets. We will be issuing advice to healthcare professionals to manage the shortage.

To provide the public with timely advice about medicines shortages, a new page on the Welsh Government website has been created: Medicines shortages | GOV.WALES  This provides general advice about why shortages can occur, how they are managed and specific information relating to significant disruptions that are likely to cause concern.

The Independent Advisory Group is reviewing existing information relevant to the purpose of the group and commissioning evidence from organisations which have access to recent cost information. This includes evidence on cable ploughing. The group has not yet completed its review of the evidence and at this stage it is not possible to say what will be included in the report.

Recommendations from the group are expected at the end of March 2025, with a report to follow. 

The new Welsh Housing Quality Standard has been introduced in a pragmatic way that allows all social landlords to work towards compliance. The new standard also provides flexibility for social landlords to classify social homes as a conditional pass, when it is physically or not practicable for that home to fully comply with the standard.

In addition, there are other policies and programmes available to social landlords to increase the provision of social housing across the whole of Wales.

The Transitional Accommodation Capital Programme (TACP) follows a hierarchical approach to standards that allows for a greater choice of housing options to be delivered, at pace, which may not always meet Welsh Development Quality Requirements 2021 (new builds) and Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2023 (existing homes).

Leasing Scheme Wales also provides owners the opportunity to lease their empty home to the local authority for between 5 and 20 years. Caerphilly County Borough Council are one of 20 local authorities taking part in Leasing Scheme Wales.

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