National Assembly for Wales

Both the Welsh and UK Government understand Tata Steel’s position on the situation at Port Talbot and will work collaboratively with a single focus to support our steel industry and affected communities, helping protect jobs and creating opportunities for new employment.

Both doors of Ty Hywel are currently in full operation.  One of the doors at the Ty Hywel entrance has been locked off during periods of inclement weather to reduce any issues with draughts in the Ty Hywel reception area and to maintain a comfortable working environment for Members, visitors and staff in that area.

 Due to the extended period of inclement weather experienced so far this year, this door has been locked off for a longer period of time than usual but, wherever possible, we will ensure both doors are open and operational.

During the last 12 months, one repair has been undertaken to one of the doors to replace a faulty lock at the cost of £261.42.

The principle of legislative consent, as reflected in the Sewel Convention and section 107(6) of the Government of Wales Act, lies at the heart of the devolution settlements and its proper application is vital to ensuring appropriate democratic engagement and legislative scrutiny of relevant Bills.

The Welsh Government has long argued that the Sewel Convention is in need of reform. We accepted and endorsed all ten recommendations made by the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, including in relation to the principle of legislative consent.

In its manifesto, the Labour Party committed to strengthening the Sewel Convention by setting out a new memorandum of understanding outlining how the nations will work together for the common good. I look forward to working with the new UK Government, along with other Devolved Governments, with a view to improving and bolstering the operation of this fundamental principle of devolution. 

Substantive response

The National Music Service is fully funded by the Welsh Government, with a significant investment totalling £13 million between 2022 to 2025.The principal focus of the Service’s work is to support every child and young person from the age of 3 to 16 to benefit from opportunities to play a musical instrument, to sing, and to engage in music-making activities. The Service is rolling out a range of provision across Wales, including ‘First Experiences’ and ‘Music Pathways’, which is designed to support learners in all education settings, including special schools.

Responses to a survey sent out by the National MA Education (Wales) delivery team in October 2023 were positive, with MA students indicating a strong intention of applying for the Doctor of Education (EdD) (Wales).

There is a minimum requirement of being EdD qualified to deliver the MA Education. Therefore, the EdD Wales will ensure the sustainability of the MA programme and will ensure that all education professionals in Wales have the same high-quality opportunity to enhance their professional knowledge, engage with research, and to improve their professional practice.

There are no universal requirements in place for teaching assistants in Wales to be assigned to work with children and young people with additional learning needs (ALN). Settings and institutions will set their own requirements. However, the Teaching Assistant Learning Pathway (TALP) is a key component of the Welsh Government’s strategy to support the education workforce and improve outcomes for learners, including those with ALN. It reflects a commitment to continuous professional development and the recognition of the vital role that Teaching Assistants (TAs) play in the educational system.

Under the regulatory framework and local management of schools’ arrangements, schools and governing bodies in Wales are responsible for ensuring sufficient and suitable staff are in place, including for cover arrangements.

The Welsh Government has supported the system by putting in place and managing the Welsh Government Corporate Procurement Supply Agency Framework. This helps schools to recruit temporary staff through a national list of approved agencies who will have met specified quality requirements and be formally monitored as part of the framework arrangement. This includes being regularly audited by both the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and an approved representative professional recruitment body, as well as signing up to the Welsh Government’s Code of Practice on Ethical Employment in Supply Chains.

As set out in the National Professional Learning Entitlement, we want to ensure that all practitioners, including supply teachers, in Wales have access to consistent and high-quality professional learning throughout their career. To ensure development opportunities for educational practitioners are easily accessible, a new professional learning area was launched on Hwb in September 2023. This provides a single point of access to high quality, professional learning resources.

 Out of the 166 Seren Academy learners that went on to study medicine or dentistry last year, 88 Seren Academy Learners went to study at Welsh universities.

There is compelling evidence showing the positive impact that enrichment activities and experiences have on both aspirations and attainment and we want to make sure all children benefit.

The National Music Service is fully funded by the Welsh Government, with a significant investment totalling £13 million between 2022 to 2025. The principal focus of the Service’s work is to support every child and young person from the age of 3 to 16 to benefit from opportunities to play a musical instrument, to sing, and to engage in music-making activities, in schools and in the wider community. A fundamental aim of the Service is to enhance equity of access to music education, and opportunities for learners from lower-income households are increasing significantly, encompassing ‘First Experiences’ provision, live music experiences, music therapy and one-to-one teaching. To support its establishment in 2022, more than 35,000 musical instruments were delivered to schools across Wales.

Other support for schools comes in the form of the Pupil Development Grant (PDG), which has a key part to play in counter the effects of socio-economic disadvantage on children and young people and removing barriers to their equitable enjoyment of Curriculum for Wales which encompasses music lessons and equipment.

In addition, the School Essentials Grant has made a significant difference to many lower income families across Wales, helping to reduce the worry surrounding the purchase of school uniform and equipment, and enabling children to attend school and take part in activities such as playing a musical instrument at the same level as their peers. In 2024-25, funding of £13.1m has been made available and provides £125 per learner for all year groups from Reception to Year 11, and £200 for learners entering Year 7.

The UK Government has not taken a decision to ban North Sea oil drilling.

The UK Government’s stated position is that no new licences to explore new fields will be issued. Existing licenses will be managed in line with established processes.

The Welsh Government continues to assess Wales’ energy use and generation through our published reports to support our net zero commitments and needs of our communities.

The Sustainable Farming Scheme is designed to meet the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) objectives established in the Agriculture (Wales) Act. These objectives recognise the importance of the sustainable production of food, along with the need to maintain and enhance ecosystem resilience to help mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change on food production, as well as benefitting biodiversity.

The proposed design, through a Universal Scheme supported by voluntary Optional and Collaborative Actions are aimed at best contributing to the SLM objectives.

No Scheme decisions will be made until we have completed a further phase of stakeholder engagement through the Ministerial Roundtable.  

Welsh Government is working with the Ministerial Roundtable to help finalise the Sustainable Farming Scheme. The Roundtable has a wide representation from the farming industry, farmers, the wider supply chain, and veterinary, nature, forestry, and food sectors. 

I have heard farmers feedback, and the purpose of the Ministerial Roundtable is to further develop the partnership approach needed to finalise the design and implementation of the SFS, in line with the Sustainable Land Management objectives of the Agriculture (Wales) Act, and building on previous phases of co-design and engagement.

The Scheme will only be introduced when it is ready. This is why the SFS Transition Period will now commence in 2026, preceded by a Preparatory Phase in 2025, details of which were set out in my recent statement to the Senedd.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have statutory and regulatory duties to discharge in its role as environmental regulator.

NRW’s professional and expert people are doing all they can to ensure that its resources are channelled and directed to support the delivery of its front-line services. As I stated in Plenary on 17^th July, Plenary 17/07/2024 - Welsh Parliament (senedd.wales), greater collaborative actions are required between NRW, Welsh and UK Governments and with the relevant sectors to jointly address these issues.

My officials continue to work with NRW to better understand the issues recently raised in the media, I will be discussing these in my next meeting with NRW.

Welsh Government officials meet with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on a regular basis to discuss the delivery of its activities and service, ensuring its statutory duties and functions are prioritised and are delivered within budget.

At a strategic level, the Welsh Government Sponsorship Team meets with NRW’s Chief Executive and Executive Team at regular intervals to monitor and analyse NRW’s performance in achieving agreed aims and objectives contained within both its Annual and Corporate Plans.

In addition, the Senedd’s Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure (CCEI) Committee also scrutinises NRW’s performance on an annual basis.

The CCEI Committee published its finding and recommendations, from its recent scrutiny, on 21 May 2024 which have been responded to by the Welsh Government.

Our Circular Economy Strategy, Beyond Recycling, sets out the key actions being taken to transition Wales to a circular economy. This includes a range of work programmes, underpinned by partnership working and supported by communications campaigns to continue to build on our success which has seen Wales become one of the World’s best for recycling.

A key action to further improve our performance beyond that achieved in the Eunomia study and committed to in Beyond Recycling, was the delivery of the new Workplace Recycling Regulations which came into force on 1 April 2024. 

We are also continuing to work in partnership with Local Authorities to further improve recycling services, supported by the provision of capital funding for infrastructure improvement and expert advice. In parallel we are also continuing to work with the other UK nations to bring in the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging and Deposit Return Scheme for drinks.

Last month, I published an end of  year two six goals for urgent and emergency care programme progress report, and updated members in the Senedd on 11 June 2024 outlining progress and highlighting priorities for the coming year.

Key achievements in quarter one of 2024/2025 include:

• Development of Quality Statement for care in Emergency Departments implementation plans;
• Launch of ‘E-Triage’ pilots at two emergency departments in Wales;
• Delivery and evaluation of a Clinical Support Hub Paediatric Consultant pilot;
• Extension of Fraction Liaison Services (FLS);
• Extension of a Telehealth Programme in two LHB areas;
• Development of Pathway of Care Delays (POCD) dashboards and trajectory tools, and
• Launch of an NHS 111 Wales Urgent Dental, enhanced clinical pathway.

Blood pressure checks are not currently part of the contractual arrangements for NHS services provided by community pharmacies in Wales, however some pharmacies may take a business decision to offer this service. As it is not a commissioned NHS service, some pharmacies (although not all) may choose to charge for this service in Wales.

Our schools and settings have a key role to play in making active lifestyles more accessible for children and young people.

The mandatory Health and Well-being Area within the Curriculum for Wales can help learners to understand the factors that affect physical health and well-being. It also recognises that good health and well-being are important to enable successful learning; this includes emotional and mental well-being.

Additional guidance for schools on the Daily Active approach will be available this autumn. It will include advice on how to incorporate physical activity across the curriculum and make playtimes more active as well as promoting active travel to school and delivering after-school activities and sports.

Our Healthy Weight Healthy Wales strategy includes a range of actions to enable and encourage more active lifestyles.

Schools have a key role in encouraging active lifestyles for children and young people. Extensive consideration has been given to learners’ physical development and the Curriculum for Wales framework, and it includes clear progression in physical literacy and activity which highlights the importance of learners experiencing a range of ongoing, daily opportunities to be physically active.

We are working with Sport Wales to develop professional learning so that teachers have the skills and confidence to deliver engaging physical activities and sport.

Daily Active guidance will support schools to deliver a range of opportunities for children to be active every day, for at least an hour.  This includes active playtimes and active travel to school as well as physical activities and sport.

Outside of school term, Welsh Government fund the Food and Fun programme, a school-based initiative that provides free, enjoyable physical activity opportunities to thousands of children in Wales.

We are committed to working with hospices and the national programme board for palliative and end-of-life care to find a sustainable financial funding settlement for Welsh hospices.

To aid our understanding, we have supported children’s hospices in Wales to commission a paediatric palliative care prevalence study to provide up to date information of paediatric palliative care needs in Wales.

As part of our Programme for Government commitment to review palliative and end-of-life care funding, we have provided an additional £2.2m for hospices on a recurrent basis from April 2022, including an additional £900,000 for children’s hospices.

In addition, earlier this year we provided an additional £4m one-off hospice cost-of-living grant to help ensure hospices can continue to provide their vital services and keep on providing high-quality care across Wales. This included £775,000 for children’s hospices.

Looking forward, we have agreed to the development of a hospice commissioning framework for Wales. This work is being taken forward by the national programme board for palliative and end-of-life care with support from new NHS Wales Joint Commissiong Committee (JCC). The framework is being developed in conjunction with Welsh hospices, and it is intended it will support adult and children’s hospices. A meeting with hospice care providers took place on 11 July to discuss the exploratory work and  explore the next steps.

We are committed to working with hospices and the national programme board for palliative and end-of-life care to find a sustainable financial funding settlement for Welsh hospices.

To aid our understanding, we have supported children’s hospices in Wales to commission a paediatric palliative care prevalence study to provide up to date information of paediatric palliative care needs in Wales.

As part of our Programme for Government commitment to review palliative and end-of-life care funding, we have provided an additional £2.2m for hospices on a recurrent basis from April 2022, including an additional £900,000 for children’s hospices.

In addition, earlier this year we provided an additional £4m one-off hospice cost-of-living grant to help ensure hospices can continue to provide their vital services and keep on providing high-quality care across Wales. This included £775,000 for children’s hospices.

Looking forward, we have agreed to the development of a hospice commissioning framework for Wales. This work is being taken forward by the national programme board for palliative and end-of-life care with support from new NHS Wales Joint Commissiong Committee (JCC). The framework is being developed in conjunction with Welsh hospices, and it is intended it will support adult and children’s hospices. A meeting with hospice care providers took place on 11 July to discuss the exploratory work and  explore the next steps.

We are committed to working with hospices and the national programme board for palliative and end-of-life care to find a sustainable financial funding settlement for Welsh hospices.

To aid our understanding, we have supported children’s hospices in Wales to commission a paediatric palliative care prevalence study to provide up to date information of paediatric palliative care needs in Wales.

As part of our Programme for Government commitment to review palliative and end-of-life care funding, we have provided an additional £2.2m for hospices on a recurrent basis from April 2022, including an additional £900,000 for children’s hospices.

In addition, earlier this year we provided an additional £4m one-off hospice cost-of-living grant to help ensure hospices can continue to provide their vital services and keep on providing high-quality care across Wales. This included £775,000 for children’s hospices.

Looking forward, we have agreed to the development of a hospice commissioning framework for Wales. This work is being taken forward by the national programme board for palliative and end-of-life care with support from new NHS Wales Joint Commissiong Committee (JCC). The framework is being developed in conjunction with Welsh hospices, and it is intended it will support adult and children’s hospices. A meeting with hospice care providers took place on 11 July to discuss the exploratory work and  explore the next steps.

Ambulance responsiveness is not where I, the NHS nor the public want it to be. 

Many factors are contributing to make it difficult to achieve the ambulance response time target, including increasing demand, ambulance handover delays at hospitals, which reduce available capacity, discharge delays within the healthcare system and higher-than-normal levels of staff sickness absence.

I am concerned about the levels of handover delays reported at emergency departments in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB area. I have been clear with the health board about the need to release ambulance crews from emergency departments quickly to support faster response times to those in most need.

The health board has a Six Goals for Urgent and Emergency Care programme plan, supported by £2.7m in additional Welsh Government funding. Successful delivery of this plan should support improvements across a range of measures, including a reduction of ambulance handover delays, contributing to improved ambulance responsiveness.

We are monitoring delivery of health board plans and expect to see improvements in reducing ambulance handover delays.

The Minister for Mental Health and Early Years is focused on ensuring our programmes and interventions are aligned and fit for purpose, and we will continue to work with our partners to focus our efforts on improving health outcomes for children and young people.

The NHS Providers report Forgotten generation: shaping better services for children and young people is an English report. However, we recognise there are challenges in children's healthcare services and we are committed to improving the health of children and young people in Wales and to ensuring they have the best start in life.

While there has been a very small increase in the overall number of children’s pathways waiting in May 2024 (57,912) compared to April 2022, there has been a 75% reduction in the number of long waits of more than two years over the same period.

A comprehensive range of policies and programmes play a pivotal role in improving outcomes and promoting child health and well-being, including:

• Our Healthy Child Wales Programme provides a unified and equitable public health offer for all babies, children, and young people, regardless of setting. Furthermore, we provide all Flying Start children and families with access to enhanced health visiting and support with speech, language and communication. Flying Start health visitors work in partnership with families, communities, and other professionals to promote key public health messages and play a vital role in positively influencing health outcomes for our future generations.
• We have published a new unified operating model to underpin the existing school nursing frameworks in Wales. The operating model will effectively extend the current Healthy Child Wales Programme by extending the universal public health offer to all compulsory school-aged children, regardless of setting. The NHS in Wales has two years to fully implement the model across Wales.

In Wales we also believe in the importance of taking preventative action for the health of the nation. Specific examples include:

• Our national oral health programme Designed to Smile has been in place for over a decade. It is targeted at schools and nurseries in disadvantaged areas, working with families and young children aged 0 to 7 to establish good oral health habits. The school/nursery element of the programme has two elements – supervised toothbrushing and the application of fluoride varnish. In 2022-23 academic year more than 1,000 schools and nurseries provided the toothbrushing programme with nearly 51,000 children participating. Also, more than 190,000 toothbrushing packs were distributed by schools, nurseries, and health visitors.
• An important part of our National Immunisation Framework, is our ambition to maximise uptake of childhood vaccinations, to not only protect against severe illness but also reduce health inequalities and provide each child with the best start in life.
• Our 10-year strategy for preventing and reducing obesity Healthy Weight Healthy Wales has a strong focus on the early years and childhood.

We are also making improvements to services, for example:

• Our draft mental health and wellbeing strategy sets out our vision for the next 10 years and includes a focus on improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. This consultation closed on 11 June and the final strategy and delivery plan will be published later this year.
• The transition and handover between children’s and adult healthcare services is a critical period for young people, which requires careful management to ensure continuity of care and services. In 2022, we published new guidance on the arrangements that should be in place to ensure children and young people are supported and move between services in an inclusive and seamless way.
• The NHS Executive is establishing a National Strategic Clinical Network for Children’s Health, and a National Clinical Lead for Children’s Health has recently been appointed.

The Minister for Mental Health and Early Years is focused on ensuring our programmes and interventions are aligned and fit for purpose, and we will continue to work with our partners to focus our efforts on improving health outcomes for children and young people.

The NHS Providers report Forgotten generation: shaping better services for children and young people is an English report. However, we recognise there are challenges in children's healthcare services and we are committed to improving the health of children and young people in Wales and to ensuring they have the best start in life.

While there has been a very small increase in the overall number of children’s pathways waiting in May 2024 (57,912) compared to April 2022, there has been a 75% reduction in the number of long waits of more than two years over the same period.

A comprehensive range of policies and programmes play a pivotal role in improving outcomes and promoting child health and well-being, including:

• Our Healthy Child Wales Programme provides a unified and equitable public health offer for all babies, children, and young people, regardless of setting. Furthermore, we provide all Flying Start children and families with access to enhanced health visiting and support with speech, language and communication. Flying Start health visitors work in partnership with families, communities, and other professionals to promote key public health messages and play a vital role in positively influencing health outcomes for our future generations.
• We have published a new unified operating model to underpin the existing school nursing frameworks in Wales. The operating model will effectively extend the current Healthy Child Wales Programme by extending the universal public health offer to all compulsory school-aged children, regardless of setting. The NHS in Wales has two years to fully implement the model across Wales.

In Wales we also believe in the importance of taking preventative action for the health of the nation. Specific examples include:

• Our national oral health programme Designed to Smile has been in place for over a decade. It is targeted at schools and nurseries in disadvantaged areas, working with families and young children aged 0 to 7 to establish good oral health habits. The school/nursery element of the programme has two elements – supervised toothbrushing and the application of fluoride varnish. In 2022-23 academic year more than 1,000 schools and nurseries provided the toothbrushing programme with nearly 51,000 children participating. Also, more than 190,000 toothbrushing packs were distributed by schools, nurseries, and health visitors.
• An important part of our National Immunisation Framework, is our ambition to maximise uptake of childhood vaccinations, to not only protect against severe illness but also reduce health inequalities and provide each child with the best start in life.
• Our 10-year strategy for preventing and reducing obesity Healthy Weight Healthy Wales has a strong focus on the early years and childhood.

We are also making improvements to services, for example:

• Our draft mental health and wellbeing strategy sets out our vision for the next 10 years and includes a focus on improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. This consultation closed on 11 June and the final strategy and delivery plan will be published later this year.
• The transition and handover between children’s and adult healthcare services is a critical period for young people, which requires careful management to ensure continuity of care and services. In 2022, we published new guidance on the arrangements that should be in place to ensure children and young people are supported and move between services in an inclusive and seamless way.
• The NHS Executive is establishing a National Strategic Clinical Network for Children’s Health, and a National Clinical Lead for Children’s Health has recently been appointed.

The Welsh Government does not collect this information. Clinical emergency department data is held by Digital Health Care Wales (DHCW).

The Minister for Mental Health and Early Years is focused on ensuring our programmes and interventions are aligned and fit for purpose, and we will continue to work with our partners to focus our efforts on improving health outcomes for children and young people.

The NHS Providers report Forgotten generation: shaping better services for children and young people is an English report. However, we recognise there are challenges in children's healthcare services and we are committed to improving the health of children and young people in Wales and to ensuring they have the best start in life.

While there has been a very small increase in the overall number of children’s pathways waiting in May 2024 (57,912) compared to April 2022, there has been a 75% reduction in the number of long waits of more than two years over the same period.

A comprehensive range of policies and programmes play a pivotal role in improving outcomes and promoting child health and well-being, including:

• Our Healthy Child Wales Programme provides a unified and equitable public health offer for all babies, children, and young people, regardless of setting. Furthermore, we provide all Flying Start children and families with access to enhanced health visiting and support with speech, language and communication. Flying Start health visitors work in partnership with families, communities, and other professionals to promote key public health messages and play a vital role in positively influencing health outcomes for our future generations.
• We have published a new unified operating model to underpin the existing school nursing frameworks in Wales. The operating model will effectively extend the current Healthy Child Wales Programme by extending the universal public health offer to all compulsory school-aged children, regardless of setting. The NHS in Wales has two years to fully implement the model across Wales.

In Wales we also believe in the importance of taking preventative action for the health of the nation. Specific examples include:

• Our national oral health programme Designed to Smile has been in place for over a decade. It is targeted at schools and nurseries in disadvantaged areas, working with families and young children aged 0 to 7 to establish good oral health habits. The school/nursery element of the programme has two elements – supervised toothbrushing and the application of fluoride varnish. In 2022-23 academic year more than 1,000 schools and nurseries provided the toothbrushing programme with nearly 51,000 children participating. Also, more than 190,000 toothbrushing packs were distributed by schools, nurseries, and health visitors.
• An important part of our National Immunisation Framework, is our ambition to maximise uptake of childhood vaccinations, to not only protect against severe illness but also reduce health inequalities and provide each child with the best start in life.
• Our 10-year strategy for preventing and reducing obesity Healthy Weight Healthy Wales has a strong focus on the early years and childhood.

We are also making improvements to services, for example:

• Our draft mental health and wellbeing strategy sets out our vision for the next 10 years and includes a focus on improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. This consultation closed on 11 June and the final strategy and delivery plan will be published later this year.
• The transition and handover between children’s and adult healthcare services is a critical period for young people, which requires careful management to ensure continuity of care and services. In 2022, we published new guidance on the arrangements that should be in place to ensure children and young people are supported and move between services in an inclusive and seamless way.
• The NHS Executive is establishing a National Strategic Clinical Network for Children’s Health, and a National Clinical Lead for Children’s Health has recently been appointed.

Substantive response

I have already had a positive meeting with the new Secretary of State for Transport and I will be meeting with the new Rail Minister very soon. I have already set out that my priorities for rail reform alongside our longstanding call for the full devolution of rail infrastructure and services along with a fair funding settlement. I am looking forward to working in close partnership with the UK Government to deliver genuine rail reform that benefits passengers in Wales.

The UK Government has not taken a decision to ban North Sea oil drilling.

The UK Government’s stated position is that no new licences to explore new fields will be issued. Existing licenses will be managed in line with established processes.

The Welsh Government continues to assess Wales’ energy use and generation through our published reports to support our net zero commitments and needs of our communities.

We are looking forward to working with the new UK Government on the development of Wales’s Freeports with a focus on green energy that will create jobs and bring investment to Anglesey, Neath-Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, and Wales as a whole.

Substantive response

Substantive response