Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru

The Eat Out to Help Out Scheme was one of the UK Government’s economic policy measures aimed to support businesses reopening after the first Covid-19 lockdown period. The subsidy element was fully funded by the UK Government and formed part of the Chancellor’s summer economic update on 8 July 2020 (the Plan for Jobs). The then Chancellor of the Exchequer directed the Accounting Officer of the HM Treasury to take forward the scheme with immediate effect. Under that scheme the UK Government provided 50% off the cost of food and/or non-alcoholic drinks eaten in at participating businesses UK-wide from 3 to 31 August 2020.

The scheme was UK-wide. The scheme was implemented under powers held by UK Ministers to provide direct business support and the Welsh Government was not involved in the design of the scheme or in its implementation.

Welsh Government uses several methods to raise awareness, including the Farm Liaison Service, adverts in the hard copy seasonal updates sent to all registered BPS claimants as well as literature on our stand at the Royal Welsh show and Winter Fair. The Programme itself also uses various interventions to raise awareness and promote the services on offer, including through its regional development officers, the Service Centre as well as regular meetings with representatives from the farming unions and levy bodies.

Robust regulation of chemical pesticides is essential to protect human health and accelerate action on the nature crisis. In relation to the decision to refuse an emergency authorisation for use of Asulox in Wales in 2023 I considered the expert advice of the Health and Safety Executive and was content with their decision to refuse the application.

Sustainable bracken control can be achieved using mechanical methods such as ploughing, cutting, bruising or rolling, although Welsh Government recognises mechanical control may not be the quickest, most cost effective or most appropriate method in all circumstances. There are two alternative pesticide products approved for bracken control in GB where chemical control is deemed more appropriate than mechanical control.

A working group has been established to develop Bracken Management Guidance and a framework as part of a UK-wide approach which will be published in 2024.

Our approach to reducing the length of time people stay in accommodation was emphasised in a Written Ministerial Statement published on 9 August.

The Welsh Government remains committed to supporting local authorities to help find sustainable, long-term homes for people experiencing homelessness, and officials are working closely with local authorities in this regard. Prevention remains the focus and priority to reduce the flow of people needing temporary accommodation. 

Our overall aim is to reduce dependency on temporary accommodation and work with local authorities to drive down usage in a manageable way, therefore avoiding the risks of a sudden removal of this type of provision. This aligns with our approach to Rapid Rehousing across Wales, and is supportive of our high-level action plan and ultimate ambition to end homelessness as set out in our recently published White Paper on ending homelessness in Wales. 

In order to support move-on from temporary accommodation, the Transitional Accommodation Capital Programme (TACP) was established in 2022-23 to provide good quality longer-term accommodation for everyone in housing need. In its first year, £76.4m was made available to bring forward 936 homes. TACP has opened to new applications in 2023-24 to deliver more homes to reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation.

We are also investing over £210m in homelessness prevention and housing support services in 2023-24, the majority of which is preventative spend. This includes £6m to local authorities for a Discretionary Homelessness Prevention Fund, which can be used flexibly to help keep someone in their own home or quickly relieve homelessness – including helping with rent arrears. This fund received a £6.5m in-year top up in 2023-24, taking to the total to £12.5m.  

The £50m allocated to the Empty Homes Grant Scheme is not being cut. We have been clear that the £19 million being released from our Empty Homes scheme in 2023/24 is a deferral of funding and reflects updated spend forecasts.

We want to increase levels of both walking and cycling as an everyday transport mode. We promote and encourage use of cycling through a combination of measures, such as supporting the development of cycling infrastructure, provision of cycle training and behaviour change initiatives.   

We know that a lack of safe, direct and attractive routes is an important barrier to cycling for many people. The Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 and the supporting Guidance address this by placing a duty on Local Authorities to map existing routes and plan improvements to create integrated walking and cycling networks, and make improvements each year.

The Active Travel Fund, managed by TfW on behalf of Welsh Government, is available for Local Authorities to develop and expand these active travel networks. The Active Travel Network Maps are published and available to the public on Welsh Government’s DataMap Wales website, helping the public to find active travel routes and cycle lanes for their journeys. 

There are many different types of cycle infrastructure, so routes can be on paths away from roads, alongside or on roads, with or without physical separation from vehicle or pedestrians. Our guidance aims to support the creation of routes that feel safe even for inexperienced users, but no design suits everybody equally. The Highway Code makes it clear that it is not mandatory to use cycle routes, where they are provided.

The Welsh Government also funds programmes to encourage uptake of walking and cycling and to provide cycle training for children and adults. For example, Sustrans’ Active Journeys Programme works with children, teachers, and parents to increase levels of active travel to school through training, promotion, confidence building and skills development. A key element of the programme is working with pupils and parents to plan the safest cycling routes to schools using local cycling infrastructure. 

Teachers' pensions have not been devolved and therefore remain the responsibility of the Department for Education. The Teachers' Pension Scheme has provision for early retirement and decisions about access to these provisions are a matter for the teacher, the employers, and the pension scheme.

Tackling the impact of poverty on educational attainment is at the heart of our national mission in education and I set out our plans in March and June 2022.  Building on this I published a roadmap for High Standards and Aspirations for All on 21 March 2023 to set out a whole-system approach to tackling the impacts of poverty on educational attainment.  I provided further detail on the progress of actions to tackle the impact of poverty on educational attainment to the Senedd when I gave my Oral Statement on 28 March 2023.

The Pupil Development Grant (PDG) has a key part to play in tackling the impact of poverty on attainment.  Funding of around £129m has been allocated to PDG in 2023-24 and we continue to work closely with PDG regional representatives to identify the areas where funding can have most impact.

The Curriculum for Wales is inclusive of all learners, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It focuses action on supporting learners to make progress in a given area or discipline, as well as how they should deepen and broaden their knowledge and understanding, skills and capacities, attributes and dispositions. This is key to all learners embodying the four purposes and to progressing into different pathways beyond school. We are providing purposeful support to schools, including funding to create time and space for practitioners to engage with their peers, undertake school cluster working, access professional learning and apply the increasing bank of practical resources on curriculum design and progression on Hwb.

PISA results suggest that we have a better equity balance than many other parts of the OECD and Wales’ learners were found to be more academically resilient than the OECD average. The results also show that socio-economic disadvantage had less impact on their scores than on average across the OECD.  Education in Wales was found to be more equitable than the OECD average, and that in other UK countries, as the attainment gap between more disadvantaged learners and less disadvantaged learners is smaller. 

The statistical release on patterns in Reading and Numeracy published in November does not contain data regarding an attainment gap relating to different backgrounds.  The release is the first of a series of anonymised releases planned on national-level personalised assessment data. A more comprehensive release on the 2018/19 to 2022/23 data, to be published in late spring 2024, will show demographic differences, for example between male and female learners and the gap between learners eligible for free school meals and their peers.  Future annual releases will show information on learners' development over time. The releases will eventually form part of a wider range of national-level information on learner achievement covering the breadth of Curriculum for Wales.

Having a common understanding of national trends in Wales is an important foundation to inform our policies and actions to boost learners’ achievement in literacy and numeracy, which are key to children’s development across the curriculum. Being able to observe how national-level attainment in reading and numeracy is playing out and potentially changing over time will help us to reflect on how our policies and actions are working.

Tackling the impact of poverty on educational attainment is at the heart of our national mission in education and I set out our plans in March and June 2022.  Building on this I published a roadmap for High Standards and Aspirations for All on 21 March 2023 to set out a whole-system approach to tackling the impacts of poverty on educational attainment.  I provided further detail on the progress of actions to tackle the impact of poverty on educational attainment to the Senedd when I gave my Oral Statement on 28 March 2023.

The Pupil Development Grant (PDG) has a key part to play in tackling the impact of poverty on attainment.  Funding of around £129m has been allocated to PDG in 2023-24 and we continue to work closely with PDG regional representatives to identify the areas where funding can have most impact.

The Curriculum for Wales is inclusive of all learners, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It focuses action on supporting learners to make progress in a given area or discipline, as well as how they should deepen and broaden their knowledge and understanding, skills and capacities, attributes and dispositions. This is key to all learners embodying the four purposes and to progressing into different pathways beyond school. We are providing purposeful support to schools, including funding to create time and space for practitioners to engage with their peers, undertake school cluster working, access professional learning and apply the increasing bank of practical resources on curriculum design and progression on Hwb.

PISA results suggest that we have a better equity balance than many other parts of the OECD and Wales’ learners were found to be more academically resilient than the OECD average. The results also show that socio-economic disadvantage had less impact on their scores than on average across the OECD.  Education in Wales was found to be more equitable than the OECD average, and that in other UK countries, as the attainment gap between more disadvantaged learners and less disadvantaged learners is smaller. 

The statistical release on patterns in Reading and Numeracy published in November does not contain data regarding an attainment gap relating to different backgrounds.  The release is the first of a series of anonymised releases planned on national-level personalised assessment data. A more comprehensive release on the 2018/19 to 2022/23 data, to be published in late spring 2024, will show demographic differences, for example between male and female learners and the gap between learners eligible for free school meals and their peers.  Future annual releases will show information on learners' development over time. The releases will eventually form part of a wider range of national-level information on learner achievement covering the breadth of Curriculum for Wales.

Having a common understanding of national trends in Wales is an important foundation to inform our policies and actions to boost learners’ achievement in literacy and numeracy, which are key to children’s development across the curriculum. Being able to observe how national-level attainment in reading and numeracy is playing out and potentially changing over time will help us to reflect on how our policies and actions are working.

We are aware of the report published by Cultural Freelancers Wales and have considered the content and its recommendations. I am delighted to see the sector’s willingness to learn Welsh and build upon existing Welsh language skills. This approach embraces Cymraeg 2050’s ethos and objectives.

I am also pleased with the work that our partners are undertaking to increase the workforce’s Welsh language capacity. Both the National Centre for Learning Welsh and the Arts Council of Wales have innovative projects underway which support the sector’s journey in delivering Cymraeg 2050.

We welcome seeing councils along the Marches coming together on a voluntary basis to work on shared interests.

We firmly believe that Cymraeg belongs to us all, wherever we are and however much Welsh we have. Many of our Cymraeg 2050 programmes to increase the numbers of Welsh speakers and its use are available online for everyone to use, for example Cymraeg i Blant and resources to Learn Welsh, and are therefore not limited to those who live in Wales.

Our Welsh language strategy, Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers, first and foremost focuses our efforts on the residents of Wales. However, we firmly believe that Cymraeg belongs to us all, wherever we are and however much Welsh we have.

Cymraeg is not bound by geographical borders. It is a living language that is used worldwide on various platforms and networks. We recognise the fact that the language is used and valued on both sides of the border.

To provide universal free school meal provision in the Christmas holiday to every child in a maintained school, would approximately cost £18.3m. This does not include any associated administration fees.

I have not met the Designated Member under the Co-operation Agreement concerning potential provision of universal free school meals over the Christmas school holiday period.

To provide universal free school meal provision in the Christmas holiday to every child in a maintained school, would approximately cost £18.3m. This does not include any associated administration fees.

I have not met the Designated Member under the Co-operation Agreement concerning potential provision of universal free school meals over the Christmas school holiday period.

The Welsh Government has guidance in place for schools and local authorities on exclusions which covers options available to teachers to support them when dealing with behavioural issues. There are also guides available for both primary and secondary schools on ‘Behaviour Management in the classroom’. However, under local management of schools arrangements, it is the responsibility of schools to determine what to do in a particular situation, and ensure that it follows policies designed to promote positive behaviour and discipline across the school environment. Schools are required to have a written behaviour policy in place which sets explicit standards of behaviour.

In addition, we are currently revising our exclusion guidance.

The Welsh Government has guidance in place for schools and local authorities on exclusions which covers options available to teachers to support them when dealing with behavioural issues. There are also guides available for both primary and secondary schools on ‘Behaviour Management in the classroom’. However, under local management of schools arrangements, it is the responsibility of schools to determine what to do in a particular situation, and ensure that it follows policies designed to promote positive behaviour and discipline across the school environment. Schools are required to have a written behaviour policy in place which sets explicit standards of behaviour.

In addition, we are currently revising our exclusion guidance.

I have set out the actions we are taking in a number of oral statements which can be found here:

Plenary 03/05/2022 - Welsh Parliament (senedd.wales)

Plenary 24/10/2023 - Welsh Parliament (senedd.wales)

The Welsh Government’s ambitions for education in Wales are set out in Our national mission: high standards and aspirations for all.

Official figures show that teacher recruitment and retention remain stable.

We undertake a range of activities to ensure there is a sufficient supply of qualified teachers. These include our financial incentives, targeted at attracting those most needed in our teaching workforce to enter teacher training programmes and the provision of alternative routes into teaching through the Part-time PGCE and the Salaried PGCE. We have published the Welsh in Education Workforce Plan to address issues in the Welsh medium workforce.  We also continue to work with partners to promote teaching as a career.

Careers and Work-related Experiences (CWRE) is a cross-cutting theme in the Curriculum for Wales guidance, which all schools must consider.

Careers Wales provide opportunities for learners to meet and interact with employers from a wide range of sectors.  These opportunities allow employers to provide real world insight and inspiration to potential future employees and helps to inform, inspire, and motivate young people about their career opportunities.

Within the Programme for Government and the Co-operation Agreement we have committed to developing a sustainable model for the employment of supply teachers with fair work at its heart.

We are working to ensure that teachers undertaking supply cover are appropriately rewarded, that all supply staff have greater choice over how they are employed, and that they are able to access the required support and professional learning opportunities to carry out their roles effectively.

The Welsh Government does not hold financial information on dentist locum assignments.

The Welsh Government does not hold financial information on dentist locum assignments.

The Welsh Government does not hold financial information on dentist locum assignments.

The Welsh Government does not hold financial information on dentist locum assignments.

Welsh Government does not hold address-level information that shows which patients are registered with each GP practice in Wales.

However, average travel times to a GP practice, both by public and private transport, is available from the last Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation. This information is available by lower layer super output area across Wales and is found here.

Welsh Government does not hold address-level information that shows which patients are registered with each GP practice in Wales.

However, average travel times to a GP practice, both by public and private transport, is available from the last Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation. This information is available by lower layer super output area across Wales and is found here.

Information on adopted and looked after children on the waiting list for child and adolescent mental health services is not held centrally by Welsh Government.

Welsh Government collects data annually on children receiving care and support from local authority social services as at 31 March. Data on the mental health status of children with a care and support plan is published on StatsWales.

Information on adopted and looked after children on the waiting list for child and adolescent mental health services is not held centrally by Welsh Government.

Welsh Government collects data annually on children receiving care and support from local authority social services as at 31 March. Data on the mental health status of children with a care and support plan is published on StatsWales.

Health boards are responsible for the planning of delivery of services for their population. The delivery of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) services, including intra-uterine devices, is through a mixed model of GP practices, and hospital and community services in line with the health board care pathway. Data on the number of GP practices in Wales offering coil fitting is held by health boards. 

Individual health boards operate different appointment systems and processes, some such as Cardiff and Vale hold waiting lists, others do not. As such, it is not possible to give definitive numbers for those on coil-fitting waiting lists or to calculate an average waiting time.

My officials are aware of the challenges faced by reproductive health post-pandemic. A task and finish group, which includes representation from service users, has been established to consider the issue.

Service providers will now be brought together to form a clinical network and carry out an audit of all services in Wales, which will map current pathways for provision of long-acting reversible contraception and identify gaps. The findings will be reported to the Welsh Government’s Sexual Health Programme Board in 2024.

Health boards are responsible for the planning of delivery of services for their population. The delivery of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) services, including intra-uterine devices, is through a mixed model of GP practices, and hospital and community services in line with the health board care pathway. Data on the number of GP practices in Wales offering coil fitting is held by health boards. 

Individual health boards operate different appointment systems and processes, some such as Cardiff and Vale hold waiting lists, others do not. As such, it is not possible to give definitive numbers for those on coil-fitting waiting lists or to calculate an average waiting time.

My officials are aware of the challenges faced by reproductive health post-pandemic. A task and finish group, which includes representation from service users, has been established to consider the issue.

Service providers will now be brought together to form a clinical network and carry out an audit of all services in Wales, which will map current pathways for provision of long-acting reversible contraception and identify gaps. The findings will be reported to the Welsh Government’s Sexual Health Programme Board in 2024.

Health boards are responsible for the planning of delivery of services for their population. The delivery of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) services, including intra-uterine devices, is through a mixed model of GP practices, and hospital and community services in line with the health board care pathway. Data on the number of GP practices in Wales offering coil fitting is held by health boards. 

Individual health boards operate different appointment systems and processes, some such as Cardiff and Vale hold waiting lists, others do not. As such, it is not possible to give definitive numbers for those on coil-fitting waiting lists or to calculate an average waiting time.

My officials are aware of the challenges faced by reproductive health post-pandemic. A task and finish group, which includes representation from service users, has been established to consider the issue.

Service providers will now be brought together to form a clinical network and carry out an audit of all services in Wales, which will map current pathways for provision of long-acting reversible contraception and identify gaps. The findings will be reported to the Welsh Government’s Sexual Health Programme Board in 2024.

The data requested are not held centrally by Welsh Government. Referral to treatment (RTT) data are available for main specialties – for example trauma and orthopaedics – but not for more specific procedures like knee replacements.

 Current data for pathways waiting in the trauma and orthopaedic specialty can be found on the StatsWales website:

Patient pathways waiting to start treatment by month, grouped weeks and treatment function, January 2021 onwards (gov.wales)

Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) publishes historical data on patients waiting for specific procedures in its annual patient episodes data. The latest ‘principle procedure’ table shows there were a total of 1,799 patients awaiting knee replacement procedures at the end of 2021-22. For further information or to enquire about more recent data you may wish to contact DHCW directly (DHCW.Info@wales.nhs.uk).

Use of agency nurses in general medical services is a matter for individual practices. The information requested is not held centrally.

Notes:

• Source: Wales National Workforce Reporting System (WNWRS)
• WNWRS data available from 2020
• Fully qualified permanent GPs: partners, salaried GPs, and retainers
• A Welsh speaker is where a person has at least entry level Welsh speaking ability, i.e. a person who has either entry, foundation, intermediate, higher, or proficiency Welsh language
• Staff with missing Welsh speaking data are excluded from the denominator in the percentage calculation.

There is a significant difference between the service models of GP practices and community pharmacies, which means a direct comparison is complex.   

Community pharmacies and GP practices are both engaged in the annual influenza and Covid-19 vaccination programmes. A comparison between payments for these services is possible. 

Covid vaccines are commissioned through a multi-contractor Primary Care Contracted Service: Immunisation (PCCS:I) (Covid-19) with a single Item of Service (IoS) fee of £10.03. GP practices and community pharmacies are able to work collaboratively, or independently to deliver Covid vaccines under PCCS:I.

Flu vaccines are delivered through a Directed Supplementary Service (DSS) by GP practices and through the Clinical Community Pharmacy Service (CCPS) in pharmacy. The cost models for delivery vary given the differing arrangements in place with an IoS fee of £10.03 for GP delivery and £10.08 for pharmacy delivery. Both GPs and pharmacies are reimbursed for flu vaccines purchased. However, GP practices are also paid an administrative/dispensing fee, which is, on average, £2.50 per dose.

Future arrangements for procuring and delivering flu vaccination are being considered as part of the national Vaccination Transformation Programme as set out in the National Immunisation Framework. Officials are working closely with Vaccination Programme Wales (NHS Executive) and primary care partners to co-develop an effective and efficient flu delivery model fit for the future.

There are some further services pharmacies provide, such as treatment for common ailments, which are also provided by GPs as part of their unified service where a comparison cannot be made. A price or IoS fee is not attached to individual services provided as part of unified services. Instead, GPs are paid a global sum payment based on a weighted sum for every patient on their practice list. Pharmacies are paid via the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) which is negotiated annually. The global sum of the CPCF is apportioned into a number of elements, one of which is clinical services.

As a result of contract reform, clinical service activity within community pharmacies is at its highest ever level, and we are actively working to increase capacity further to support better access to primary care services. Ensuring people have a choice about where to get healthcare locally and being able to visit their pharmacy for less complex and routine needs is helping to reduce pressure on GP practices.

Welsh Speaking Leavers - 

Midwives

Notes: -

• When an individual leaves a permanent or fixed term contract between two periods of time and they do not appear as an employee with a permanent or fixed term contract at the end of the period, either within the same organisation or within a different NHS Wales organisation, they are classed as a leaver.
• Staff can exit NHS Wales by way of a number of reasons, these can include resignation, dismissal or retirement
• Source: Electronic Staff Record.

Local authorities are responsible for meeting the care and support needs of people in their local area. They either provide these services themselves or commission them from external providers. Local authorities agree their own fees rates on an annual basis even if they have worked with other Local Authorities and Providers under ‘Lets Agree to Agree’ to understand the costs of care.  Local Authorities will also work in line with their corporate standing orders in the way that they procure their services. 

Through our Rebalancing Care and Support Programme we will establish a National Framework for Commissioning Care and Support. This legislative framework sets out principles and standards for commissioning practices and will be established through a statutory Code of Practice and will apply to the commissioning of care and support services by Local Authorities, Local Health Boards and NHS Trusts.  

The content of the National Framework has been co-produced by members of a National Technical Group including commissioners and provider representatives.  The principles and standards for commissioning practice aim to reduce complexity and rebalance commissioning to focus on quality and outcomes. Further, the development of the National Framework is an important part of our journey towards a National Care and Support Service and provides some of the necessary foundations for its implementation.

Implementation of the National Framework will include putting in place a national toolkit of good practice documents to support commissioners and training and awareness support for commissioners to be able to work in line with the Code of Practice.      

The commissioned sector is very important, delivering care to thousands of people across Wales each day.  The principles and standards in the Statutory Code of Practice focusses on ‘what matters’ to people and will put people at the heart of commissioning practice. 

These are all tangible changes that will make a real difference for people.

Welsh Speaking Leavers - Nurses

Notes: -

• When an individual leaves a permanent or fixed term contract between two periods of time and they do not appear as an employee with a permanent or fixed term contract at the end of the period, either within the same organisation or within a different NHS Wales organisation, they are classed as a leaver
• Staff can exit NHS Wales by way of a number of reasons, these can include resignation, dismissal or retirement
• Source: Electronic Staff Record

Ymateb o sylwedd

Ymateb o sylwedd

The decision to not introduce the Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill on 4 December was made by Welsh Ministers to enable further work to be carried out on the legislation.

This work is being carried out in collaboration with Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru designated member, as part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.