National Assembly for Wales

Information on the final spend for Welsh Government’s Higher Education Learning Grant for the academic year 2018-19 is not available at the current time.

The forecast spend for each of the academic years is as follows:

We do not hold information specifically for Morriston, Llansamlet and Bonymaen wards, however, we have invested over £6.6 million through the Superfast Cymru project and provided access to fast fibre broadband to over 26,000 premises across all parts of Swansea. 

Although the Welsh Government has successfully led and delivered significant programmes to improve broadband, Telecommunications Policy remains a reserved matter.

We do have a range of interventions in place to reach any premises who remain without access to a fast, reliable broadband connection. A recent partnership between Welsh Government and the UK Government means businesses and residents in Wales could be eligible for additional funding towards the installation cost of a gigabit-capable broadband connection through the UK Government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. This means that for group projects in Wales up to £5,500 is available per business and up to £800 is available per residential property. Connectivity support is also available through the Welsh Government’s Access Broadband Cymru scheme.

Regarding the specific concerns of the Swansea company within your constituency, officials will be engaging with representatives to discuss connectivity to their premises and see what assistance can be given to help rectify any particular service problems.  

My officials are aware of the Department for Transport’s ongoing trials using noise-detecting cameras. They will consider the outcomes and their applicability in Wales alongside other stakeholders such as the Police and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

Since the news broke my officials have been in regular discussions with the Pensions Regulator to ensure that all workers affected by this news have access to high quality advice and guidance about their pensions. I will be following those discussions up with a letter to the regulator in the coming days. I have also raised this particular issue with Ford‘s senior management. It is an area the taskforce that is being established will be considering further and I will ensure the composition of the taskforce is set up to ensure it delivers for the workforce and wider community.

Our approach to improving levels of wealth and wellbeing, whilst reducing inequalities in both across all parts of Wales will support our target of one million Welsh speakers by 2050. This includes a new focus on regional economic development that is sensitive to the opportunities and challenges across our regions. This will help facilitate the thriving local economies and attractive places that will provide people with a reason to remain or return to work and live in communities where the Welsh language thrives.

A feasibility study report looking at parking issues at various locations on the A5, in the vicinity of Ogwen Cottage and Llyn Ogwen, has been completed. Short, medium and long term options have been identified and discussions have begun with stakeholders to progress measures which can be implemented quickly.

Short term measures include introducing parking restrictions in the vicinity of Ogwen Cottage to Pont Pen Y Benglog. We are currently consulting with local stakeholders on this issue. Another short term measure is better signage for the existing car parks which we will be taking forward this year.

The medium and longer term options include maximizing parking spaces in the existing car parks and introducing new parking areas within the existing highway boundary. Design work for these options is ongoing. Funding for any work will have to be prioritised against other similar schemes across the country.

Officials are also working with various stakeholders looking at a bus based Park and Ride between Bethesda and Llyn Ogwen.

As I have previously set out, I am very disappointed at Ford’s decision to close their Bridgend Plant. 

The First Minister will be writing to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to request the UK Government considers applying income tax relief to redundancy packages in these exceptional circumstances.

I am establishing a taskforce jointly with the Secretary of State for Wales and chaired by Richard Parry-Jones from the Welsh Automotive Forum. This will work with partners to consider the needs of the people working at Ford Bridgend, the future of the site and the wider community. 

I have asked the taskforce to consider all aspects of support which can be offered, including from the UK Government and from Ford, for the workers at Bridgend. 

We will be holding public information events at Dwygyfylchi, Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan week commencing 24 June where all stakeholders including residents will have an opportunity to submit feedback in response to the preferred option announcement.

The feedback will be considered as the preferred options are developed through this next stage of design development.

Trading standards falls outside the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales and I cannot comment on specific enforcement responsibilities which sit with the UK Government. Local Authorities are responsible and accountable for the enforcement activities they undertake.

We are working with local government and key stakeholders to improve performance in areas such as recruitment, training and support for foster carers in Wales. Funding invested to develop the National Fostering Framework will ensure there are more consistent outcomes for foster carers and looked after children and will reduce need for private foster carers.

 In 2017/18, Welsh Government provided an additional £5m recurrent funding to local authorities to establish or enhance existing edge of care services to better support vulnerable families to develop resilience and successfully bring up their children in the family home.

All 22 local authorities in Wales now have edge of care services in place. These services helped over 3,600 children to remain within the family unit by working with more than 2,000 families in 2017/18.

Alongside this, we have tasked local authorities and local health boards to establish Integrated Family Support Services as part of their regional partnership board arrangements.  These multi-agency teams provide family focused interventions to enable parents to achieve the necessary behavioural changes to improve their capacity as parents and address the concerns that would lead to their children entering care.

Pre-operative anaemia testing data is not currently collected.

The Blood Health National Oversight Group (BHNOG) oversees the delivery of the NHS Blood Health Plan.

·   One work stream’s key priority area includes pre-operative assessment of anaemia. BHNOG is working with Health Boards to further develop this.

·  An audit within Hywel Dda UHB showed that patients are screened for anaemia at pre-assessment clinics prior to surgery, and referred to their GP for management.

Local initiatives into iron deficiency anaemia include a referral and management pathway in Aneurin Bevan UHB and BHNOG is working to introduce this on an all Wales basis.

Pre-operative anaemia testing data is not currently collected.

The Blood Health National Oversight Group (BHNOG) oversees the delivery of the NHS Blood Health Plan.

·   One work stream’s key priority area includes pre-operative assessment of anaemia. BHNOG is working with Health Boards to further develop this.

·  An audit within Hywel Dda UHB showed that patients are screened for anaemia at pre-assessment clinics prior to surgery, and referred to their GP for management.

Local initiatives into iron deficiency anaemia include a referral and management pathway in Aneurin Bevan UHB and BHNOG is working to introduce this on an all Wales basis.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s operational plan for 2019-20 includes the development of the clinical strategy for urology. Work is underway to develop possible future models of care to meet the needs of the local population.

The Health Board is currently undertaking a whole service review of the urology services with the intention of developing a clinical urology strategy for North Wales. This work includes developing the business case for robotic assisted surgery to be available in North Wales – this case is nearing completion and will then be considered by the Board.

While the strategic plan is being developed, work is continuing to improve services aligned to the National Planned Care Programme for Urology:

• Following receipt of NICE Guidance the radiology service has, produced an implementation plan which has been submitted to Welsh Government for the commencement MP-MRI scanning in two phases. 
• Work is underway for the purchase and maintenance of a PSA Tracker system; this will facilitate patient self-management for those men who are on a PSA surveillance pathway.  This will reduce the need for unnecessary outpatient attendances.   It is anticipated that once the procurement process is complete that the system will become operational during quarter four of 2019/20.

Theatre and outpatient productivity programmes are being developed to generate internal productivity and efficiency to help reduce waiting list for both referrals and follow-ups. A national campaign will commence during quarter two 2019/20 to recruit consultant urologist posts across North Wales.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s operational plan for 2019-20 includes the development of the clinical strategy for stroke care. Work is underway to develop possible future models of care to meet the needs of the local population.

The work on stroke care is considering the whole pathway from prevention to life after stroke and is aligned to the National Stroke Delivery Plan. There has been good stakeholder engagement throughout the process. This work is assisting in shaping the strategic direction and the development of the business case for consideration by the Board. While this is progressing, the health board is also working to deliver improvements in care within the present service model.

There is work on going on all three acute sites to improve the stroke pathway within existing resources. Over recent years there has been:

• improved access to CT scanning by training on site staff to perform head scans;
• engagement with Walton to ensure daytime access to thrombectomy for eligible patients;
• an increase in the coverage of stroke specialist nurses on all three sites to 7 days per week; and
• improved access to therapy for acute stroke patients.

Following a review by the Delivery Unit in November 2018 as part of an All Wales Review of Thrombolysis Services, each site has an improvement plan to improve the door to needle times for patients who receive Stroke Thrombolysis treatment. 

A pilot is being considered in West Wales in partnership with primary care to look at the AF identification and improvement and if successful will be rolled out across North Wales.

A project has been recently started in the East in partnership with the National Trust to support stroke survivors in their rehabilitation and the services continues to work closely with the Stroke Association across North Wales.

I wrote to Assembly Members on 6 June announcing that the routine HPV vaccination programme will be extended to include teenage boys in the next academic year starting September 2019.

Whilst there is no target, we are committed to ensuring people can access mental health and learning disabilities services closer to home and the number of out of Wales placements, via the National Collaborative Framework Agreement for Mental Health and Learning disabilities (the Framework), continue to reduce.

For those patients placed outside of Wales, we continue to have robust arrangements in place to monitor the quality and safety of specialist inpatient settings. 

The Framework aims to enable all parts of NHS Wales to procure and performance-manage services under pre-agreed standards, costs and the terms and conditions of a contract in a compliant manner. It is the responsibility of providers to apply to be included on the Framework and the NHS Collaborative Commissioning Unit has confirmed that that all independent hospitals in Wales are included on the Framework.

The Wales CAMHS and Eating Disorders Network recently established a task and finish group to undertake a clinically informed option appraisal to consider the provision and capacity of specialist tier 4, low secure and learning disability inpatient care currently provided by out of area placements for children and young people. This work will inform the review of the existing Framework prior to new arrangements being introduced on 1 April 2020.

Domestic abuse, sexual violence and all other forms of Violence against women and girls is known to have a devastating impact on their mental health and wellbeing and we are committed to ensuring appropriate services are available to all those seeking support from domestic abuse and violence.

The Welsh Government’s commitment to tackling domestic abuse can be demonstrated through the legislation we have introduced and the services we fund for prevention, protection and support.  Our ambition is to make Wales the safest place for women in Europe.

Our Together for Mental Health strategy recognises that there are a number of factors that increase the risk of poor mental health such as domestic abuse.  We have already taken action as part of the 2016-19 mental health delivery plan to increase the availability of training to enable mental health professionals to have a greater understanding of the experience of domestic abuse and sexual violence across all groups and sectors of society.

We will be shortly be undertaking a formal consultation on our new Together for Mental Health 2019-2022 delivery plan which will include a number of additional  actions to improve the mental health and resilience of the population and will include  the development of trauma informed services. This consultation will be shared widely so we can ensure that we are focusing on the right actions within the mental health plan to support this area of work.

In addition, we are developing a National Survivor Engagement Framework to ensure that we hear and act upon the lived experience of those experiencing violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. A pilot panel is expected to be in place from September 2019.

I will write to you as soon as possible and a copy of my letter will be published on the internet.

Substantive Response - 26 June 2019

Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) are one of a number of organisations who were successful in applying for funding through the new Enabling Natural Resources and Well-being (ENRaW) grant.

My officials are continuing to hold positive discussions with these organisations, including KWT, to help strengthen their delivery proposals. The significant funding investment being provided to KWT will, in part, help to support hard-working community groups across Wales who are taking voluntary action to improve the quality of their local environment. A formal announcement of the award will be made in the next few weeks when a final delivery plan has been approved.