Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru

Galwaf y Cynulliad i drefn.

Cyn i ni symud at y cwestiynau i’r Prif Weinidog, ac yn dilyn yr wylnos a gynhaliwyd y tu allan i’r Senedd neithiwr, ar ran y Cynulliad hoffwn fynegi ein cydymdeimlad â’r rheini yr effeithiwyd arnynt gan y saethu yn Orlando. Rydym yn meddwl heddiw am y rhai sydd wedi’u hanafu a’r teuluoedd a’r ffrindiau hynny sy’n galaru. Fel Cynulliad, rydym yn dyheu am fyd sy’n rhydd o droseddau casineb o’r math yma. Gofynnaf i’r Aelodau sefyll am funud o dawelwch er cof.

Cwestiynau i’r Prif Weinidog. Y cwestiwn cyntaf, Neil McEvoy.

Sorry, Presiding Officer, do I read out the one in writing?

Yes.

Thank you.

Up-to-date adopted local development plans are an essential part of an effective planning system.

Thank you. First Minister, the integrity of, and the people of Wales’s confidence in this Assembly are based on being able to believe what is said in this Chamber. In April 2012, you stated in public that Labour would implement its local development plan. Labour’s plans included allowing big business to concrete huge swathes of greenfield sites and, as a result, I published that you had announced plans to concrete Cardiff by stating your party would implement its LDP. You said in this Chamber on 24 April 2012 that my publications were wholly untrue and a blatant lie—your words, not mine. Last week—

Can you bring yourself to a question now please?

Last week, you stated that you did not say what you have already said on the record.

Can you bring this to a question?

Do you think that it is at all acceptable for Wales’s First Minister to come here and deny what you’ve already said? Will you set the record straight?

The Member lives in a land of fantasy. He’s been living in it for the past three years and he didn’t even ask a proper question.

Point of order.

There is no point of order. Hefin David.

Diolch, Lywydd. I’ve absolutely no idea what that was all about. This isn’t Cardiff council chamber—this is the National Assembly for Wales. What we are talking about is the issue of 22 local development plans across south-east Wales, which don’t connect very well, and the Welsh Government has already introduced, last year, the Planning Act 2015 to resolve those issues. A south-east Wales strategic development plan could involve all 10 local authorities, and it is certainly the case that with the Cardiff city region, the 10 local authority leaders are already on board, involved and supportive. Does the First Minister agree with me for the need to take such an approach into serious consideration, and does he also agree this can only be achieved by working together, not being party political and tribal, as Neil McEvoy is so intent on being?

There are real challenges of course for the entire area of the south-east of Wales. Cardiff can’t be expected on its own, nor any other local authority, to provide housing for the entire region. That’s why it makes perfect sense, as my colleague, the Member for Caerphilly, says, that the 10 local authorities should work together in order to have a strategic plan that goes beyond the local development plans, which, of themselves, can never be enough to satisfy the demand that the success of the economy of south-east Wales will place on the local area.

Mark Isherwood.

Presiding Officer, am I right in—

Mark Isherwood.

Am I right in—

No, you’re not. You are not being heard. Mark Isherwood.

Diolch. Well, of course, local development plans don’t build any houses. Given that, in England, local plans produced in consultation with the community have been the cornerstone of planning reforms, how will your Government engage with the Homebuilders Federation regarding the statement in its Welsh election paper, ‘Building Communities, Boosting Investment’, that, because of the many improvements in England, in terms of reduced regulation and greater land availability, the relative attraction of investing in the requisite land and skills in Wales has reduced over recent years? The results can be seen in the most recently published data on planning permissions, which show that, since the start of 2013, the number of private units granted planning permission in Wales has decreased by 4 per cent, whilst increasing by 49 per cent in England.

Well, we have seen significant increases in the number of houses being built in Wales over the past two years. It seems to me that, in England, the plans there are designed to block housing development and not to encourage housing development. What there needs to be, of course, is a properly regulated development plan so that people are able to see where development will take place. I don’t believe that local development plans, of themselves, are sufficient over a wider economic area, which is why strategic plans, to my mind, have a great deal of force and are a great deal of help when it comes to planning for the future.

There are serious issues, as she will know, of course, relating to opencast mining and the restoration of sites. We know that, in 1994, the UK Government did not require operators to set aside enough money for restoration, and so the UK Government have a moral responsibility to work with us to ensure that sites are restored.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. You will know that Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council recently passed a partial restoration of Margam opencast area. But, of course, that’s partial restoration, and many of the residents there are concerned about the future and the void not being restored, and also, with it being in Celtic Energy’s hands, for that full restoration to take place. I was wondering whether you could give us a commitment here today, First Minister, even though that’s not part of the plan, in terms of the void, whether you could seek to bring people together to look to restore that eventually, because I think people are concerned, especially as key people within the council are also concerned now about how that will be restored if there are any flooding problems within that void.

Well, I agree with the concern that she expresses. She will know that there is an effect on my constituency as well. In 1994, when privatisation took place, those companies that took over former British Coal sites were specifically excluded from being required to put aside finance for restoration, and this is why we are where we are now. Partial restoration is welcome, but it isn’t full restoration, and there must be full restoration in time. Given the fact that it was the UK Government that created this problem, there is no doubt in my mind that they have a responsibility to work with us in order to resolve the problem.

I’m sure Members across the Chamber will be pleased to welcome with me the withdrawal of Varteg opencast application in my constituency. And I’m very grateful to the International Council on Monuments and Sites UK, which I invited to visit the site last year, and to Cadw, for their objections, which led to the application being withdrawn. But, of course, most communities cannot rely on the protection of being in a World Heritage Site and do need to rely on us as a National Assembly and the protection that we give them. What assurances can you give that the review of MTAN 2 will be taken forward as a matter of priority by this Welsh Government?

Well, I can assure the Member that a focused review of MTAN 2 was announced by the Minister prior to the UK Government’s announcement on coal-fired power stations, and that review, of course, will proceed, because we know that it’s important that the planning guidance is as up to date as possible.

First Minister, Members will know that the part restoration plans for Parc Slip are pretty unpopular, and none of us would wish to see the history behind that repeated. But we were talking about this in some detail over a year ago now. The local authority strongly asserts that there’s no alternative to the plans. So, is the Welsh Government holding direction of April of this year—that’s a whole year later—an indication of, perhaps, a prima facie case that perhaps there is an alternative to what’s being suggested by Neath Port Talbot, and, if not, what statutory time limits are preventing Welsh Government moving that holding direction sooner?

The difficulty in the site, of course, is that the site at the moment is in the custody of a company that, in reality, doesn’t exist. It’s registered in the British Virgin Islands, and if legal action were to be taken against it, I have no confidence that that organisation would continue to exist, leaving nobody, as she knows, against whom legal action can lie. To my mind, it is important that the UK Government recognises its responsibilities. This was created not by the current UK Government but by a UK Government in 1994. There is no doubt that the amount of money we’re talking here for the full restoration of just one site at Parc Slip is huge. It cannot be reasonable to expect the local authority nor the Welsh Government to meet the full costs of that restoration.

Rwy’n galw nawr ar arweinwyr y pleidiau i holi’r Prif Weinidog, ac rwy’n galw’n gyntaf yr wythnos hon ar arweinydd grŵp UKIP, Neil Hamilton.

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Lywydd.

The First Minister will know that Welsh farming is in crisis at the minute. Farm incomes across the board are down by 25 per cent and, in some sectors, like dairy, they’re down by as much as half. Of course, this is caused, to a great extent, by a collapse in commodity prices, but there are administrative reasons also behind it, in particular the chaos in the payments system and the basic payment scheme. There’s a particular problem for cross-border farmers with land in England as well as in Wales, where hundreds of them have still not been paid, and, indeed, the information they provided a year ago has still not been validated and yet they’re—[Interruption.]

I want to hear an important question on farming. Allow the Member to be heard.

So, I’m going to ask the First Minister: what further progress has been made, particularly with the payments agency in England, to get these problems sorted out?

The vast majority of payments in Wales have been made—over 90 per cent, if I recall correctly. There are, as the Member says, some cross-border farms that await payment, and that’s because we’re awaiting data. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but we’re awaiting data from the Rural Payments Agency. Until that data is available, it’s not possible to make full payment, unfortunately. We hope that it will be resolved swiftly.

I fully agree with what the First Minister says, but it’s quite extraordinary that two Government agencies can’t find the means by which to talk to each other electronically whereas this happens quite naturally in the private sector and, indeed, in our private lives. So, I wonder what he can do to try to integrate the administrative arrangements between England and Wales in this respect, because farmers on the border are in very dire financial straits.

Well, the solution is not in our hands. We await data from the Rural Payments Agency. We’re ready to pay once that data is made available. It’s very difficult to integrate the administration given the fact that the payment schemes are very radically different, and so they should be because the nature of Welsh farming is very different to the nature of farming across much of England. But, as soon as that data is available, of course we will pay our farmers and we have a very good record of doing that over the last few years.

There is another big problem that needs to be addressed, of course, and that’s with the growth of bovine TB. In fact, in my region, in Carmarthenshire, cases of cattle slaughtered as a result of bovine TB are up by 87 per cent this year and in Pembrokeshire up by 78 per cent. With the non-availability of vaccine, the preferred option isn’t available to us. So, what can the Welsh Government actually do to try to cope with the growing problem of bovine TB?

The Member’s correct to point out that the vaccine is not available at present. I know that the Minister has held a meeting this week—or certainly at the end of last week—to look at this issue. There is a need to move forward with dealing with bovine TB. It can’t be left simply to proceed. The Minister is examining what science-led approach could be taken in order to make sure that, at the very least, there is a reduction in the presence of bovine TB and, in time, of course, eradication.

Arweinydd yr wrthblaid, Leanne Wood.

Diolch, Lywydd. I’m sure, First Minister, that you will have shared the warm feelings that I felt on seeing images of the Welsh fans in France singing and linking arms with fellow fans. They were ambassadors for our nation. I thought those images captured something about the naturalness of our place as Wales within Europe, singing with Slovakians—people from another small nation, bilingual and so on. As we approach the final week of the campaign—and families will be gathering together this weekend to work out the best options for them—good information is vital to enable people to make a fully informed choice. What can you and your Government do in the final week to make sure that people vote on accurate information and not on the basis of myth and propaganda?

We can’t send out information as a Government—that’s covered by purdah—but of course, as politicians, we can make our case. I’ll be making the case, as I know she will, over the next few days that Wales is better off in the UK and the EU—well, maybe not the UK as far as she’s concerned, but the EU. [Laughter.] The EU.

We agree, First Minister, on our unity within Europe, and let’s just leave it at that for now. We are, in Wales, the most export-intensive nation within the UK. We’ve got a balance of trade payments surplus in terms of goods with the EU, and that isn’t the case for the UK. Uncertainty, therefore, will impact more upon Welsh businesses and the Welsh economy. We’ll be affected disproportionately here. I’m keen to understand what your Government’s contingency plans are if there is a vote to leave the EU next week. Can you please outline what plans your Government has to mitigate the worst effects for the Welsh economy and Welsh businesses, especially exporting businesses, in the event of a vote to leave the EU?

It’s very difficult to produce a contingency plan when there’s such uncertainty. Nobody knows what would happen if there was to be a ‘leave’ vote. I took note of the fact that Nigel Farage himself last week said that it didn’t matter if there was a trade deal at all with the European Union. That’s disastrous for our farmers and for our exporters. For me, I’ve seen both campaigns, and at the end of the day it comes down to this: why would we put an unnecessary hurdle over which we would have to jump before us when it comes to attracting investment into Wales? It is a huge advantage to have free access to an enormous market, the EU. The UK is a tenth of that market. We have access to that market. To lose that access or to jeopardise that market simply puts another wall in front of us when it comes to attracting investment and when it comes to exporting. The last thing we need to do is to make it harder to export what we produce in Wales, and harder to attract investment into Wales.

I share your concerns, First Minister, and I think we need to think very carefully about what happens in the event of a vote to leave next week. Now, former Prime Ministers Blair and Major waded into the debate saying that one of the other likely consequences of a vote to leave could be the break-up of the UK. Now, I accept that our parties have got two very different views on that, but I’m sure that we’re both agreed that we want to stop a situation whereby Wales is at the total mercy of a Tory Government that we have never, ever in this country voted for. What contingency plans do you have for Wales if we find ourselves part of a rump UK where we will risk facing a Tory Government, or an even more right-wing Government than the present one, on a permanent basis? What plans do you have to protect and promote Wales’s best interests under this scenario?

Again, it’s impossible to predict what might happen in the event of a leave vote. There are serious consequences for Northern Ireland—a part of the wold I know very, very well. The peace process is based on EU membership and what happens to the peace process is difficult to predict. The border is open with a motorway over it, and that border would be the border between the UK and the EU. It would need border control and customs control, so it means shutting a motorway down, and shutting down most of the roads, as happened in the days of the Troubles. That is hugely difficult for the people who live on that island.

It’s difficult to know what the people of Scotland might think, but at the very least there needs to be—and this is regardless of the result next week, because I’ve said it before—a full reassessment of the relationship between the nations of the UK. The current constitution doesn’t work. The concept, to my mind—I’ve said it before—of parliamentary sovereignty doesn’t work. I think we need to move towards a system of shared sovereignty. It happens in Canada, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t happen here. But there is no question, if there is a ‘leave’ vote next week, that the UK can just carry on as before. That simply isn’t possible if it wishes to remain stable.

Arweinydd y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig, Andrew R.T. Davies.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, last week in response to my questions on the deal that you struck with the Liberal Democrats, you indicated that your Government would be making available an additional £42 million to meet that commitment over and above the Labour manifesto commitment of £100 million to education. You also then went on to say that if you had the responsibility over the Severn bridge tolls, you would abolish Severn bridge tolls, and that in itself could crystallise in a liability for your Government of between £15 and £20 million. You personally have put a lot of political capital into the most expensive option for the M4 relief road, the black route, which is anything from £1 billion to £1.2 billion. What money tree has the Welsh Government uncovered in Cathays Park that gives you confidence that you are going to suddenly find all this new money to meet these commitments that you are making in the opening weeks of this fifth Assembly?

So, he is against more spending on education; he is against the abolition of the Severn tolls; he is against the M4 relief road. These are three things that, apparently, he was in favour of last week. We have pressed the UK Government for the devolution of the tolls. We would expect there to be a fair financial settlement to reflect that, so that we can get rid of this tax on people coming into Wales. That is what we stand for as a Government. It is unclear where his party stands now.

First Minister, it is not unreasonable to ask the question: what will have to give in your spending commitments to meet your new commitments? I’ve identified £42 million that you’ve committed to last week; a potential liability of £15 million to £20 million if you get rid of the Severn bridge tolls at the end of the public concession—the concessions to the current Severn bridge user; and, also, if you build the black route, the £1 billion to £1.2 billion liability that you as a Government will have to finance. Now, I don’t think that’s unreasonable. People in north Wales, mid Wales and west Wales ask those very questions. If the big capital projects in south-east Wales get the go-ahead, what will have to give in their own areas? So, I put the question to you again—not unreasonably from our position of opposition: where are you going to find this money to meet those commitments that you have given on the record, because you only have a set amount of money available to you? Can you just answer a simple question?

Borrowing it. That’s the whole point. The money for the M4 relief road, whatever it looks like, will be borrowed. The point of that is to make sure that (a) we’re able to do it, because we would not be able to build an M4 relief road of any shape or form if we didn’t borrow the money; and, secondly, through borrowing the money, it doesn’t eat into the roads budget. So, it means that road schemes elsewhere are protected in Wales, they can move forward, and that’s on the basis that the M4 relief road would not take a chunk out of the roads budget. So, it is possible to do both—as the Prime Minister himself has said.

As a Conservative, I fully understand that you can borrow, but you have to pay back borrowing and that has a cost in itself, year in, year out. But, I did also ask you about the education commitment that you made, which we welcome. I also made a comment about the £15 million to £20 million that you would have to meet if you were to abolish the Severn bridge tolls, which, again, in some quarters, is supported. So, how will you meet those liabilities? Those are perfectly legitimate questions. In total, that’s an extra £60 million you will have to find out of the Welsh block grant. Some commitments will have to give. Also, on the black route, there is upfront cost that cannot be borrowed against and you will have to meet that out of day-to-day expenditure. From our position of opposition, it is our job to ask you these questions and I’d hope that you as a Government would have the answers that we would require to satisfy our constituents. Or, are you just making it up as you’re going along?

No. I sat here—or stood here, in fact—in the Chamber before the election, listening to the leader of the opposition, as he was then, saying that they would make spending commitments across the board, not knowing where that money was going to come from. It’s a legitimate question and there are two answers to it. First of all, yes, we will have to examine some of our current spending commitments—not our commitments in the manifesto—and that will happen during the course of the budget process, because the money will have to come from somewhere, that’s true. But, secondly, even though we will see real-term cuts in the block grant that we receive, there will be an uplift in the amount of money available. So, there will be extra money, even if it isn’t sufficient to cover inflation. So, yes, there will be difficult decisions that we’ll have to take over the course of the next year or two, but we’re confident that the money can be found and that will become clear during the budget process.

Thank you. Llywydd, I understand you’ve given your permission for questions 3 and 5 to be grouped. The benefits to Wales of EU membership are wide ranging and fundamental to our prosperity. We know that, in recent years, EU funds have supported significant investments in the Welsh economy and labour market.

I thank the First Minister for that response. Scientists and universities in Wales have spoken out strongly about the importance of remaining in the EU. Is the First Minister aware that Cardiff University alone has received Horizon 2020 funding for 49 projects at a value of £16.9 million, and that this money enables the university to build working relationships with leading experts all over the European Union and to develop really important groundbreaking research, such as testing innovative vaccines for type 1 diabetes, solar powered water purification and working out how the brain works? Do we want to throw all these opportunities away?

No, we don’t. Higher education operates not on a little-Britain model but on a world model. It’s important that there’s access to as much finance as possible and access to as much academic brain power as possible. We also see of course, for example, in Swansea University, where the new campus has been built partially with the help of European money. Cutting ourselves off from the main stream is not the way to advance science in the UK.

Fel y mae’r Prif Weinidog yn ymwybodol, os bydd y wladwriaeth Brydeinig yn aros yn aelod o’r Undeb Ewropeaidd, mi fydd yn dal llywyddiaeth cyngor yr undeb am chwe mis y flwyddyn nesaf. Byddai hynny’n gyfle euraidd i ddechrau’r broses o adnewyddu Ewrop a chreu partneriaeth sy’n gweithio yn well dros ein dinasyddion ni. A fyddai’r Prif Weinidog yn cytuno i sicrhau bod y llywyddiaeth yna yn un sydd ar y cyd rhwng Llywodraethau gwahanol Prydain, gyda Chymru’n chwarae rhan allweddol, a hyd yn oed ystyried cynnal uwch-gynhadledd Ewropeaidd yma?

Wel, yn gyntaf, wrth gwrs, mae’n rhaid i ni sicrhau bod y Deyrnas Unedig yn dal i fod yn rhan o’r Undeb Ewropeaidd ar ôl wythnos nesaf. Mae’n bwysig dros ben i fod yn bositif ynglŷn â beth mae’r Undeb Ewropeaidd wedi ei weithredu, sef, wrth gwrs, y ffaith bod democratiaeth wedi dod i wledydd dwyrain Ewrop; sef y ffaith bod arian wedi mynd i ardaloedd o Ewrop lle yr oedd eisiau’r arian hynny; sef, wrth gwrs, fod buddsoddiad wedi dod i sawl rhan o Ewrop na fyddai wedi gweld yr un lefel o fuddsoddiad o’r blaen. Byddai’n beth hynod o od petasai’r Deyrnas Unedig yn cymryd llywyddiaeth yr undeb ar y ffordd mas o’r undeb. Ac mae’n bwysig, wrth gwrs, ar ôl y refferendwm ddydd Iau nesaf, i sicrhau bod y neges bositif yna yn cael ei phregethu ar draws nid dim ond Cymru, ond Ewrop.

First Minister, you may have seen a ‘leave’ broadcast last week that said that Britain’s EU contributions would be spent on the NHS should we leave the European Union. We’ve also been told that they’re going to be spent on guaranteeing Welsh regional aid, they also guarantee payments to farmers, and now, oh wonder, oh wonder of magic money, it’s going to preserve the amounts that are going to Welsh universities. Do you agree with me that a better way to preserve all of these valuable contributions to our economy is to vote to remain in the European Union next Thursday?

The Member puts it well, and I could not improve on that, but he’s right to say that we have certainty now; we’ll have no certainty if we choose to leave next Thursday. It’s a jump off the edge of a cliff. I noted today that—. I saw a letter signed by various backbenchers and Ministers from London, saying that funding would be guaranteed, but they have no such power—no such power—to offer that guarantee. At least with the vow before the Scottish referendum, those who signed it had the power to deliver on it; those who signed this letter have no more power to deliver on it than my children’s pet cat.

Given that one of the Labour Party’s great benefits of belonging to the European Union is the workers’ rights legislation, supposedly emanating from Brussels, perhaps the First Minister would like to comment on the rights of those workers formerly employed at the Bosch plant bordering his constituency, and perhaps reflect on the fact that it was British money, used in regional aid, that actually built the brand-new plant in Hungary, which cost them their jobs, along, of course, with all their workers’ rights.

Well, the issue with Bosch was that—. It’s right to say that the factory did move to Hungary. Most of those people who were employed there found jobs elsewhere, actually, very quickly. Renishaw now, of course, own the site and Renishaw are developing very, very quickly. But, we need to be careful here, because we are successful at attracting investment from other countries. So, it does work both ways. And yes, we need to make sure that those who have suffered most from globalisation are protected. That has been a weakness, I have to say, because globalisation has not been an unmitigated benefit for so many workers. Whatever happens after Thursday, the idea that we must live in an age of austerity forever and we must live in an age where workers’ rights are consistently whittled away, that must be defeated, because the working people of Wales and Britain will not accept that. But, he and I will be in a different position in terms of how we resolve that. I don’t see that leaving the EU and putting us in the hands of those who signed that letter, who are wild free-marketeers who care nothing for workers’ rights, is actually the way forward. But, the days when we could say to people, ‘Globalisation is all a good thing’ are gone, and we have to make sure, across Europe, that people’s rights are protected, that workers’ rights are protected, and that people truly feel that Governments are on their side, and many Governments have lost their way in that regard.

The previous Member talked about one business; I would like to draw attention to the fact that 770 businesses have been created across Rhondda Cynon Taf, including in my constituency of Cynon Valley, thanks to EU funding, employing local people and contributing to the local economy. First Minister, do you agree with me that our continued membership of the EU and the support it provides are essential to contributing an environment where businesses in Wales can thrive?

I do. I think we have to remember that the European money that we have seen coming into Wales is money that was not provided by successive British Governments in the 1980s and 1990s; it did not come to Wales. This is extra money that the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s would not provide for Wales. We still have a situation where the Barnett formula has not been addressed properly. At least we can rely on that European funding. What would happen if it wasn’t there? That money would end up back in the Barnett formula or end up being kept in London, and regions of England, as well as Wales and Scotland, would not see that money; it would be kept in Whitehall. I don’t buy this argument that somehow this is money that would come to Wales; I think this is money, if it does exist at all—I mean, the Member David Melding has made this point—that would sit in Whitehall and we would not see every penny that we get now, and that is dangerous for the people of Wales.

Dafydd Elis-Thomas. Na? Mark Reckless.

The First Minister said earlier that he didn’t want exporters to face unnecessarily high hurdles, and, in setting out the challenges to the steel industry, he’s emphasised his view that the pound has been too high. Would he therefore welcome a more competitive level for the pound, including against the euro?

Well, it depends what you mean by ‘competitive’. If it’s going to plummet, that, as he knows full well, will drive inflation, because we import so much. More than anything else, what the steel industry needs is a market, and, if it cannot enter the European market or any other world market without a tariff being imposed, then the steel industry doesn’t have a future. The UK is not big enough to drive demand for the UK steel industry. And, to my mind, what concerns me more than anything else is that I do not believe that there is a plan for what happens if we leave. Nigel Farage himself has said it doesn’t matter if there’s a trade deal or not. That is absolutely disastrous for the UK’s economy. We export—[Interruption.] Well, we export half of what we produce. We export half of it to the EU: half of our exports go there. Coming the other way, it’s 7 per cent; that’s the difference. It may be a higher figure financially, but percentage-wise we export far more than comes back in. And what worries me is that our export market will be jeopardised, Welsh lamb will be hit by a double whammy where it would cost more to sell Welsh lamb on the continent, and yet I hear your party say you want a trade deal with New Zealand—that means floods of New Zealand lamb coming in cheaply into Wales. So, there are some consequences here that have not been thought through. Better, I say, that we don’t have the barriers to export that leaving the UK would put in place. Better not to have that, and better to have a situation where, yes, we’re able to export freely and we’re able to get access to those funds. We will not get those funds and not get that guaranteed access if we leave.

As a pro-business Government we are delivering on a range of actions to help new and existing businesses to develop, grow and prosper.

Thank you, First Minister, and, as you’ve highlighted, there’s no escaping the fact that the outcome of the referendum next week will have a huge impact on businesses in Wales—if you just take Jobs Growth Wales, a Welsh Labour Government programme, which, with the support of EU funds, has enabled small employers to take on one or two people and has helped to support more than 15,000 young people into work over the last few years alone. I’m sure you’ll have seen yesterday a letter signed by 10 top Welsh business figures in Wales, including Laura Tenison, the founder of JoJo Maman Bébé, who started her business in Torfaen, arguing the case for Britain to remain in the EU. First Minister, would you agree with me and those leading Welsh business figures that Welsh businesses are stronger, safer and better off in the European Union?

I will. As I say, half of what we export goes to the EU—half of it. You interfere with that market at your peril. Many of our largest employers—Ford, for example, in my own constituency—are part of a European operation. That’s why accessing the European market is all-essential for them; that’s why they’re in the UK. There’s no incentive for them to stay in the UK if they can’t access the European market. There is no incentive for investors to come into the UK, because its market is too small, if they can’t access the European market. We know that we are able to export freely at the moment, we know that our farmers—and our lamb farmers particularly, who are absolutely dependent on exports to the EU—they’re able to do that. And it is absolutely crucial that we say, ‘We are a positive, confident country, we do not need to hide behind walls, we do not need to put our heads in the sand.’ And a sign of that confidence is being part of something bigger, ensuring the prosperity of all.

Un o nodau’r Llywodraeth o ran datblygu busnes ydy cynyddu’r lefel o gaffael gan fusnesau Cymreig ac mae’n nod, wrth gwrs, y mae Plaid Cymru yn cytuno gydag e. Os felly, pam mae Busnes Cymru wedi torri’r nifer o gynghorwyr tendro roedden nhw’n eu hariannu i lawr o ryw 12 i 14 ychydig o flynyddoedd yn ôl i ddau neu dri nawr, a pha effaith y mae’r Prif Weinidog yn meddwl y bydd hynny’n ei chael ar allu busnesau Cymreig i ennill cytundebau yn y sector cyhoeddus fan hyn yng Nghymru?

Wel, y peth i ni, wrth gwrs, yw sicrhau bod yna fanc datblygu yn cael ei sefydlu, a defnyddio strwythur hynny er mwyn cryfhau’r cynghori sydd ar gael i fusnesau. Mae’n hen broblem, wrth gwrs, ynglŷn â chael mynediad i gaffael ac i gyfalaf. Rŷm ni, wrth gwrs, wedi gweithio’n galed gyda busnesau er mwyn sicrhau bod yna fwy a mwy o fusnesau o Gymru yn gallu cael cytundebau, yn enwedig yn y sector cyhoeddus yng Nghymru, ac rŷm ni’n gweld bod y nifer hwnnw wedi cynyddu dros y blynyddoedd. Wrth gwrs, mae yna sawl cynllun mewn lle er mwyn cryfhau’r sefyllfa ymhellach eto.

First Minister, the Severn Valley Effect was launched nearly two years ago, covering the Severn valley area. I should also declare an interest in having an involvement in the project. Now, the project has helped more than 75 people to start or grow their businesses in my constituency. Funding for the project has been supported by the Welsh Government and it’s due to come to an end in August, and additional funding is being sought to secure the future of this service. Will you commit the Welsh Government to looking at how the success of this project can be used as a blueprint to support enterprises in other communities in other parts of Wales, and can I also ask that you consider joining me to visit people who have benefitted from this project the next time you’re in Montgomeryshire?

If the Member would write to me with that invitation I will of course consider it. He makes a strong case for the scheme that he has mentioned. We’re always keen to make sure that we look at schemes that have worked effectively across the whole of Wales in order to see how they can be rolled out across the rest of the country.

Yes, they’re set out in our manifesto.

Thank you very much indeed, First Minister. One of the commitments that you gave during the election period was that within 100 days you would consult on whether the Betsi Cadwaladr university health board ought to be divided into two or more health organisations. Have you abandoned that commitment or are we going to see a proposal come forward from your new Government?

We’ve not abandoned the commitment to consult people on the future structure of the health service in the north, no; that commitment remains in place.

Ymhlith blaenoriaethau Plaid Cymru yn y Cynulliad yma bydd gwthio am fesurau gwirioneddol i daclo recriwtio o fewn y gwasanaeth iechyd, fel sy’n cael ei adlewyrchu, wrth gwrs, yn y cytundeb ar ôl yr etholiad. Ond a wnaiff y Prif Weinidog gydnabod, ynghyd â mi, yn y cyfamser, y cyfraniad sy’n cael ei wneud gan weithwyr iechyd proffesiynol o wledydd eraill yn yr Undeb Ewropeaidd i ddelio â’r problemau recriwtio sydd gennym ni yn y gwasanaeth iechyd ar hyn o bryd, a’r bygythiad i hynny gan yr ymgyrch i adael yr Undeb?

Mae’r Aelod yn iawn i ddweud taw marchnad fyd-eang yw meddyginiaeth a nyrsio; mae pobl yn teithio ar draws y byd gyda’r cymwysterau sydd gyda nhw, ac, wrth gwrs, mae yna sawl doctor a nyrs sydd yn gweithio yn y gwasanaeth iechyd yng Nghymru sy’n dod o wledydd eraill yn yr Undeb Ewropeaidd neu o’r tu fas i’r Undeb Ewropeaidd, er enghraifft y nyrsys yn yr ysbyty ym Mhen-y-bont sy’n dod o’r Philippines, lot fawr ohonyn nhw. Heb y bobl hynny, ni fyddai gwasanaeth iechyd gyda ni yng Nghymru nac yng ngweddill y Deyrnas Unedig. Mae’n bwysig dros ben nad oes yna rwystr yn cael ei rhoi o’u blaenau nhw fel eu bod nhw’n ffaelu dod i Gymru nac i weddill y Deyrnas Unedig, achos y cleifion fydd yn dioddef o achos hynny.

First Minister, I received a letter from one of my constituents who is a health worker who’s been working in the NHS for 19 years. He expresses his concerns about the Betsi Cadwaladr health board. He says the service is floundering for lack of strategic direction and he goes on to say the effect of this means that individuals are now burnt out and stepping aside or looking for early retirement. What is the Welsh Government going to do to fix this situation and to deliver the health service that the people of north Wales deserve?

I think the Member’s comments would have been fair at one time; I don’t think they’re fair now. We obviously put Betsi Cadwaladr into special measures. We know that there were problems—

They’re not my comments; they’re a constituent’s comments.

I take what the Member says. I don’t think the comments are correct now. We put Betsi Cadwaladr into special measures. We have seen significant improvements—ambulance times, for example, were one thing—in terms of the delivery of services in the area. And rightly so because it was quite clear to us at the time that the local health board was not delivering as it should—certainly it wasn’t communicating with people as it should. The situation now I believe has improved markedly. But, nevertheless, it’s important to take on board the comments of those who work in the health service in order to make sure that every possibility for improvement is being taken.

That guidance already exists. The regulators’ code sets out good practice in how regulatory functions should be exercised, and local authorities are encouraged to act within the code.

I thank the First Minister for that reply, but is he aware of the problems that have been faced by The Union pub in Tremadog in north Wales in my region where, having been closed for several months on account of flooding, over the bank holiday weekend, the landlady decided, because it was sunny, to put out tables and chairs for drinkers to drink outside, which was very successful. Unfortunately, a killjoy from Gwynedd county council came around and told her to remove the tables because, technically, they were on a highway. In fact, it’s normally a car park. This is a prime example of the kind of heavy-handed actions that local authorities can take that discourage business and discourage wealth creation.

I wasn’t aware. I know where The Union is in Tremadog. [Laughter.] I know full well where The Union Inn is, but I must say he has caught me there in terms of the detail. I will write to him, of course. He raises an issue that is important to The Union Inn, I understand that—or indeed to any pub, and pubs have faced difficulty for many years because of changing habits. I will investigate the situation and I will, of course, provide a full answer to the Member.

First Minister, regulatory services are, of course, a very important service and a valuable key area of local government—environmental health, trading standards, food safety, public protection, regulatory housing provisions, to name just some. But much of the new legislation passed in the last Assembly term has actually placed even more obligations on our departments and there’s only 1 per cent of councils’ spend on average being spent on these services across Wales on an annual basis. How will you work with the new Cabinet member for—Secretary for local government, Mark Drakeford, who I very much look forward to shadowing over this Assembly term—? How will you work with him to make sure that our regulatory departments have the appropriate and adequate funding in order to keep our constituents across Wales actually safe?

It won’t come as a surprise to the Member when I say that I will work closely with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government. And, of course, we will seek to provide local government with an appropriate level of funding, bearing in mind the level of funding we ourselves get from the UK Government.

Mae sicrhau bod yr iaith Gymraeg yn ffynnu yng Nghymru yn parhau yn flaenoriaeth i Lywodraeth Cymru, a byddwn yn parhau, wrth gwrs, i weithredu’r blaenoriaethau a nodir yn ‘Bwrw Mlaen’, gyda ffocws ar gynyddu defnydd o’r iaith gan bobl, ynglŷn â sicrhau ein bod yn gwella cynllunio a datblygu’r seilwaith drwy dechnoleg a safonau a chynyddu addysg Gymraeg.

Diolch. Rwy’n falch o glywed hynny, ond roedd eich maniffesto chi yn gosod targed o 1 filiwn o siaradwyr erbyn 2050—rwy’n siŵr eich bod chi’n cytuno â hynny, ac mae hynny’n wych o beth, ac rwy’n eich longyfarch chi am osod y ffasiwn darged, sy’n golygu, 34 mlynedd o rŵan y bydd gennym ni ddwbl nifer y bobl sydd gennym ni ar hyn o bryd yn siarad Cymraeg, ond sut ydych chi’n mynd i symud ymlaen i wneud hynny, beth ydy’r camau gweithredol, ac ar beth yn union fyddwch chi’n canolbwyntio, a beth ydy’r amserlen ar gyfer y gweithredu? A fyddech chi’n cytuno â mi ei bod hi’n ymddangos i’r cyhoedd nad yw’r uchelgais gwleidyddol yno, o gofio eich bod chi, rŵan, wedi symud y Gymraeg allan o’r Cabinet? Mae yna Weinidog sydd â chyfrifoldeb dros y Gymraeg; nid wyf yn amau dim am ei ymroddiad o a’i arddeliad o ynglŷn â’r Gymraeg, ond nid yw, yn ganolog, yn rhan o’r Cabinet erbyn hyn, felly mae rhywun yn amheus o’r uchelgais yma erbyn hyn. A ydych chi’n cytuno efo fi ynglŷn â hynny a sut ydych chi’n mynd i symud pethau ymlaen? Sut ydych chi’n mynd i fy argyhoeddi i bod y Gymraeg yn flaenoriaeth i’r Llywodraeth yma?

Mae’r Gymraeg yn flaenoriaeth i fi, wrth gwrs, fel rhywun sy’n dod o deulu sy’n hollol Gymraeg ei iaith a rhywun sydd â phlant mewn ysgol Gymraeg. Felly, mae hynny’n rhywbeth sydd yn ffynnu ar draws Llywodraeth, er bod yna Weinidog, wrth gwrs, sydd â chyfrifoldeb unigol dros yr iaith. Fe fydd yna ddatganiad cyflawn yn ystod wythnos yr Eisteddfod ynglŷn â’r manylion am ba ffordd rŷm ni’n mynd i symud ymlaen. Ond, wrth gwrs, mae sicrhau bod mwy o addysg Gymraeg ar gael yn bwysig dros ben. Mewn rhai mannau o Gymru, mae’n anodd i fynd i ysgolion Cymraeg, yn enwedig ysgolion cyfun Cymraeg, sydd, efallai, yn bell o ble mae pobl yn byw. Mae’n rhaid i hynny newid dros y blynyddoedd a dyna pam, wrth gwrs, mae cynlluniau gan awdurdodau lleol i sicrhau bod hynny’n digwydd—ac, wrth gwrs, i sicrhau bod canolfan genedlaethol newydd sydd yn mynd i helpu ffynnu Cymraeg i oedolion yn gweithredu’n effeithiol yn y pen draw. Ond fe fydd yna ddatganiad cyflawn yn ystod mis Awst.

A wnaiff y Prif Weinidog ymuno â mi i ddymuno’n dda i ganolfan iaith Tŷ’r Gwrhyd ym Mhontardawe yn fy etholaeth i, sydd newydd lansio gyda buddsoddiad sylweddol gan Lywodraeth Cymru? A yw’n cytuno bod rôl sylfaenol i ganolfannau iaith i ddatblygu’r galw yn ein cymunedau am wasanaethau cyhoeddus a busnes wedi’u darparu trwy’r Gymraeg?

Rwy’n croesawu’n fawr iawn agoriad y ganolfan ei hun—rydym wedi buddsoddi yn y ganolfan. Mae cwm Tawe yn ardal sydd wedi mynd o ardal a oedd yn ardal mwyafrif Cymraeg i ardal lle mae’r Gymraeg yn tueddu i gael ei siarad nawr ar ben y cwm—mewn 30 o flynyddoedd, byddwn i’n dweud, sy’n gwymp sylweddol. Mae’n bwysig dros ben, felly, ein bod yn gallu sicrhau bod yna fywoliaeth i’r Gymraeg islaw Ystalyfera tuag at Ynysmeudwy a Phontardawe, i lawr i Glydach ac ymhellach, er mwyn sicrhau bod yr etifeddiaeth Gymraeg yn yr ardal yn cael ei hailfywhau.

Brif Weinidog, yn ôl yr arolwg defnydd iaith 2013-15, a gomisiynwyd gan eich Llywodraeth ddiwethaf chi, dangoswyd mai dim ond rhyw 50 y cant o bobl yn sir Benfro, a ofynnwyd, a oedd yn credu bod busnesau’n gefnogol o’r iaith Gymraeg. Yn sgil y ffigwr yma, beth mae’ch Llywodraeth newydd chi’n bwriadu ei wneud i sicrhau bod busnesau’n cael mwy o gefnogaeth er mwyn hybu’r iaith Gymraeg?

Mae yna brosiect peilot wedi cymryd lle yn nyffryn Teifi er mwyn sicrhau bod busnesau’n gweld nad yw’n anodd dros ben i sicrhau bod yna wasanaeth Cymraeg ar gael, a hefyd i weld bod hwn yn rhywbeth sydd o les iddyn nhw’n fasnachol, er mwyn eu bod yn gallu gweithredu gwasanaeth i bobl sydd eisiau defnyddio’r Gymraeg a phobl sy’n meddwl ei bod hi’n bwysig bod yna wasanaeth ar gael. Felly, byddwn ni’n ystyried canlyniadau’r prosiect hynny i weld ym mha ffordd y gallwn sicrhau bod busnesau’n gweld ei bod yn fantais masnachol iddyn nhw ddefnyddio’r Gymraeg yn eu busnesau nhw.

Ac yn olaf, cwestiwn 9—Hannah Blythyn.

We are committed to offering 30 hours of free childcare to three and four-year-olds of working parents for 48 weeks a year, the most generous offer in the UK. A delivery plan will be published shortly.

Thank you, First Minister. I welcome your commitment to working parents. I know this is a huge issue for my constituents; it’s been raised with me time and time again in correspondence and in conversations as well. Whilst it’s fantastic that we’re offering the most ambitious childcare support in the UK, it’s important that it works well and fits the lives of working parents today. What assurances can you give that childcare support will be flexible and that its delivery will both take into account and meet the needs of working parents?

That’s exactly what it must do. One thing I have to say is that the intention is not to displace existing childcare providers. What the scheme will do is help them, in fact, because it’ll mean that they will have a greater source of income than is the case now, and, in many parts of Wales, childcare provision is non-existent, so it will help to stimulate childcare provision in many parts of Wales as well. We know that for many parents, at three and four years old, that is the time when people are looking to go back to work and that’s the time when it’s most difficult and most expensive to get access to childcare, which is why, of course, we made this pledge.

Mae creu’r ddarpariaeth yr ydych chi wedi cyfeirio ati i deuluoedd sy’n gweithio yn rhywbeth i’w groesawu, ond fe fyddwch chi’n ymwybodol iawn, wrth gwrs, y byddai’n ddymunol i ehangu’r ddarpariaeth i bob teulu, oherwydd mi fyddai hynny yn creu cyfle wedyn i rieni sydd ddim yn gweithio ar hyn o bryd, efallai, i fynd yn ôl i’r gweithle, fel y mae nifer ohonyn nhw am ei wneud. Felly, pa ystyriaeth rydych am ei roi i estyn y ddarpariaeth honno yn y pen draw?

Fe ofynnon ni i Sefydliad Polisi Cyhoeddus Cymru edrych ar hwn i weld beth fyddai’r ffordd orau o wneud hyn: ei wneud yn eang, neu ei dargedu at rieni sy’n gweithio. Fe ddywedon nhw, yn ôl eu tystiolaeth nhw, mai’r ffordd fwyaf effeithiol fyddai targedau’r rheini sy’n gweithio, o achos y ffaith bod gan y rhai sydd ddim yn gweithio ar hyn o bryd rwydweithiau anffurfiol sy’n eu helpu gyda phlant. Y peth rydym am ei sicrhau yw ein bod yn gallu hybu pobl yn ôl i mewn i’r gwaith, felly, wrth gwrs, maen nhw’n cael gofal plant am ddim. Dyna beth yw’r egwyddor y tu ôl i’r cynllun fel y mae e.

First Minister, in England, of course, there’s already an entitlement for 15 hours’ worth of childcare each and every week versus the entitlement to just 10 hours here in Wales. I know some local authorities are providing more than that at present, but it’s certainly not something that reaches across the board. Given that there is already a second-rate deal, as it where, for parents here in Wales, can I ask you for a very clear timetable by which you expect to be able to transition to this 30 hours? Can we see an immediate jump to the 15 hours so that at least we’ve got a level-playing field between England and Wales?

I saw the commitment that was made by his party in the election. I never understood it because it was never clear. We were absolutely clear what we were offering to working parents, and it was reflected in the respective results of the parties, I would argue. We will roll this out as what was our main pledge of our five first pledges as soon as we can.

Diolch, Brif Weinidog.

Datganiad a chyhoeddiad busnes sydd nesaf. Rwy’n galw ar Jane Hutt.

There have been several changes to the business statement for this week’s business, Llywydd. Today’s business now also includes oral statements on building on our recycling success for a circular economy, apprenticeships in Wales, volunteering week and a report on the working group on the Welsh language and local government. Additionally, the Business Committee agreed to the reordering of tomorrow afternoon’s debates. Business for the next three weeks is as shown on the business statement and announcement found among the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

Can I request a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for health on the ‘Together for Mental Health’ consultation, which closed shortly before dissolution? The document covers a wide range of important mental health issues, but it is the proposals on a dementia-friendly nation that I want to focus on. Having led the short debate in January calling for a comprehensive and fully resourced national dementia strategy for Wales, I responded to the consultation echoing the goals and actions I consider vital: dementia training, support workers, public awareness campaigns, to name just a few. Given that this consultation is now closed and a new Government and Minister are in place, I’d be grateful for a statement with an update on progress so far, setting out priorities and timescales going forward.

I think Lynne Neagle has consistently raised these issues and played a full part in terms of responding to the consultation, seeing it in the context of ‘Together for Mental Health’, the delivery plan. Of course, as you say, the formal consultation is now closed. So, we are committed to developing a new dementia strategic action plan for Wales, working closely with key stakeholders. The final version of that delivery plan will be published in the summer.

Diolch, Weinidog, am eich datganiad. Hoffwn i godi dau fater gyda chi, a gobeithio y bydd modd i’r Llywodraeth ymateb mewn datganiad i’r materion hyn.

Yn gyntaf oll, wrth gwrs, rydym heddiw yn nodi’r gyflafan a fu yn Orlando gyda munud o dawelwch yn y Siambr hon, ac roedd yn briodol, hefyd, gweld bod baneri’r Cynulliad a Llywodraeth Cymru ar eu hanner ddoe a heddiw, a baner enfys yn eu plith, wrth gwrs. A fedrwn ni, felly, gael datganiad pellach gan y Llywodraeth parthed ei pholisi cyhwfan baneri? Fe gofiwch, efallai, imi godi hwn ddiwethaf gyda chi adeg y bu Llywodraeth Cymru yn cyhwfan baneri ar eu hanner i nodi marwolaeth Brenin Saudi Arabia, digwyddiad a oedd i mi yn dwyn sarhad a sen ar bobl Cymru. Addawyd gan y Prif Weinidog bryd hynny y byddai adolygiad o’r polisi yn dilyn ac yn hytrach na dilyn yn slafaidd gyngor y weinyddiaeth dramor, y byddai Llywodraeth Cymru yn datblygu ei pholisi ei hun. Beth, felly, yw canlyniad yr adolygiad hwnnw? A gawn ni ddatganiad gan y Prif Weinidog i esbonio’r canllawiau sy’n cael eu defnyddio bellach gan y Llywodraeth i benderfynu pryd i arddangos eu lliwiau, yn llythrennol?

Yr ail gwestiwn yr hoffwn ei godi gyda chi yw bod y Cynulliad hwn, wrth gwrs, ag enw arloesol ym maes deddfu a seneddu, os caf i fathu term, yn y ddwy iaith, a’r Llywodraeth yn dilyn. Roedd yn siom, felly, imi weld bod Chris Grayling, arweinydd y Tŷ arall, wedi gwrthod galwadau ar gyfer gwneud defnydd o’r Gymraeg yn uwch-bwyllgor Cymreig y lle hwnnw—galwadau a oedd wedi cael eu harwain, i fod yn deg, gan Chris Bryant. Mae modd defnyddio’r Gymraeg yn y pwyllgor hwnnw os yw’n cyfarfod yng Nghymru. Rydym ni’n gwybod hynny achos rwyf i wedi ei wneud e fy hunan yng Nghwmbrân rai blynyddoedd yn ôl, ac mae’n hen bryd i ganiatáu’r un peth pan fo’r pwyllgor yn cyfarfod yn Nhŷ’r Cyffredin ei hunan. A oes modd, felly, i chi, fel y prif reolydd busnes yn y Cynulliad yma, arwain y ffordd i gynnig cymorth ymarferol i Dŷ’r Cyffredin i ddod dros y rhagdybiaethau sydd ganddynt yno yn erbyn defnyddio’r Gymraeg, cynnig cyngor gan y Llywodraeth i gyflawni hynny ac adrodd nôl yn y ffordd briodol i’r lle hwn?

Diolch yn fawr, Simon Thomas. Certainly, I think on your first point, it’s worth just spending a moment recognising the tragedy and the massacre at Orlando and the fact that we did bring together a lot of people yesterday outside the Senedd—members and allies of the LGBT community, people of different faiths, joining Wales with other nations in that show of strength and solidarity for all those who are affected by the tragic and deeply saddening attack in Orlando. Of course, we were able to have that moment of silence, very appropriately, at the beginning of this session today. As you said, the First Minister did say he would review that policy, and I’m certainly happy to follow that up. It was very good to see the rainbow flag with the Welsh dragon, and the recognition of that in the way that we as an Assembly had pulled together in support. I think that was very welcome last night. But I would also say that, of course, this is about how Welsh Government, the Assembly and Stonewall Cymru work so closely together to tackle LGBT inequality.

I want to say on your second point that I was also very disappointed. I will certainly be happy to not only approach the Leader of the House of Commons, but also to work with the shadow leader, Chris Bryant, on this issue. Again, it not only is disappointing, it’s disrespectful in terms of the Welsh Grand Committee, not just in terms of those entitlements and rights, but the respect for the way in which we here, of course, work together with our two languages.

Leader of the house, I’d be grateful if you could please ask the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs to bring forward a statement clarifying the Welsh Government’s new approach to dealing with bovine TB. As has already been said in this Chamber today, recently published official Government statistics show that there has been a huge year-on-year increase of 78 per cent in the number of cattle slaughtered in Pembrokeshire as a result of bovine TB. Now, in last week’s business statement, you said, in response to the Member for North Wales, that this will be an issue for the Cabinet Secretary in terms of one of her early considerations of the situation. Given that the Welsh Government has suspended the vaccination programme, it’s quite clear that the Government does not have a current policy to eradicate bovine TB. In the circumstances, can you please encourage the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs to bring forward a statement on this issue as soon as possible so that Welsh farmers can understand exactly what the Welsh Government’s approach to dealing with bovine TB actually is?

Paul Davies, I’m very happy to repeat, I’m sure, the same words that I used last week in terms of questions on the business statement: the Welsh Government is committed, led by the Cabinet Secretary, to deliver that science-led approach to the eradication of bovine TB. Our comprehensive TB eradication programme—that is our policy, led by the Welsh Government—includes annual testing of cattle, strict biosecurity measures and movement controls. This approach, of course, is aimed at tackling all sources of infection. I again repeat those statistics: between May 2011 and November 2015—that’s the latest period for which we’ve got results—the trend in new TB incidents in Wales fell by 19 per cent. There is no sign that the supply issue regarding the BCG vaccine will be resolved in the short term. Of course, when it does become available, we will make a decision on the way forward with vaccination in Wales, and continue in terms of implementing the policies. A new TB Order came into force on 1 April, changing the way farmers are compensated for cattle slaughtered for TB, and those changes do aim to reduce the risk of the disease spreading by encouraging best practice, and that does follow a full consultation with the industry. Of course, it is a question of discussing with the farming community, which the Cabinet Secretary is undertaking, to ensure that they are fully aware of our commitment in terms of the positive approach that we’re taking with our TB eradication programme.

I’d like to thank the Minister for Government business for her statement. We have five statements today—four newly announced. I just wondered if the number of statements reflect the fact we’ve come through a recess, Ministers have been recently appointed and are perhaps finding their feet following the election, and there are more statements than one might normally expect, or has there been a particular decision, with the self-denying ordinance, I believe, on legislation for the first 100 days, to use the opportunity of Government time to perhaps give statements on a wider range of issues than would be the norm?

Mark Reckless, I’m very glad you welcome the fact that there are oral statements from a number of Cabinet Secretaries today. It is vital that Welsh Government and our Cabinet Secretaries do have the opportunity to update the Assembly. Of course, questions on my Business Committee statement always raise other issues that I know you would like Cabinet Secretaries to make statements on, and, of course, they will appear in due course. This is an opportunity, and I’m sure the statement this afternoon will receive robust scrutiny from across the Chamber.

There is a substantial need in Wales for good-quality housing, not least in Swansea East. I would like to ask for a statement by the Minister with housing as part of their portfolio on how they intend to increase the availability of social and co-operative housing, including support for councils such as Swansea building new council houses?

Well, I know that the Minister is very committed indeed, with former responsibilities for housing in previous portfolios, to progressing not only investment in social housing, but also in the more innovative ways in which social housing can be delivered through the co-operative approach. Of course, there have been pilots that were undertaken by the former Minister with responsibility, Lesley Griffiths, in terms of co-operative housing as one route to ways in which we can provide that affordable housing, with new ways in which they can be managed as well.

I call for a single statement on support for Wales’s armed forces veterans, following the ‘Call to Mind: Wales’ report, published at the beginning of this month, which showed that much more needs to be done to support the mental health needs of veterans in Wales. Only a fraction of the estimated 10,000 Welsh veterans living with mental illness of some form are being referred to NHS Wales. The report was commissioned by the Forces in Mind Trust, but based on interviews with veterans and their families and people working in the voluntary and independent sector. It called for increased Veterans’ NHS Wales capacity; increased data to inform, commissioning and service provision; more to support family and carers; and it highlighted the work needed to progress and to identify the need for involvement, liaison and action with people in the armed forces, serving and/or at transition into civilian life, and proposes that veterans and family members’ mental and related health needs are considered in the new legislation introduced at the end of the last Assembly, such as the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

So, could I call for a statement? We need a statement detailing the Welsh Government’s proposals and the new health Minister’s proposals to make assessment of, and provision for, the mental health needs of Wales’s veterans a priority of this Welsh Government.

This Welsh Government will be very happy to provide that statement, Mark Isherwood. Of course, as you say, although led by the Minister for communities and children, this will also involve other Ministers, including the Minister for health, and it provides an appropriate opportunity for me to respond today, in answer to that question on the business statement, that we will progress with a statement, as you called for.

I’d like to ask the leader of the house about a point of practice about the issuing of statements to opposition parties in advance of their being read out in this Chamber. I appreciate the courtesy that this is, and it is important, I think, that debate and scrutiny should be informed, for that debate and scrutiny to be best. Today, I received copies of these statements at 13:20, so that didn’t leave any time at all before coming down to the Chamber to read them. I appreciate that today’s statements are not exactly controversial, but there will come a time when they are controversial, and they may require a bit of research in order to respond to them properly. So, I’m wondering if the leader of the house would undertake today to ensure that, in future, the Welsh Government does give opposition parties proper notice of statements, so that they can prepare for debate.

Well, I’m very happy to provide the leader of UKIP, Neil Hamilton, the clarification of how we do manage this, how we have managed this in this Senedd, and to offer you every courtesy, as I do to all business managers. Hard copies of our oral statements are circulated to party business managers through their offices, as close to 1 o’clock on Plenary days as possible—I think business managers will recognise that—and they, obviously, have to be subject to ministerial clearance. And it is for individual business managers to pass those copies of the statements to the relevant spokespeople within their parties. So, in accordance with that, I know the hard copies were passed to Mark Reckless, in line with that established and long-standing practice. But, of course, then electronic copies of the oral statements are e-mailed to all Members, once the Minister has started to deliver them. I hope that that, again, will progress as customary practice.

I thank the leader of the house for her statement. The Government in the fourth Assembly welcomed the conclusions and recommendations of the Welsh Co-operative and Mutuals Commission, chaired by Andrew Davies. Will the Government bring forward a statement outlining what steps it will take in the fifth Assembly to take those recommendations forward?

Well, I know Jeremy Miles’s interest in the work of the Welsh Co-operative and Mutuals Commission, of course chaired by Professor Andrew Davies, a former Member of this Senedd. It reconvened last year, in February of last year, to take stock of how the recommendations are being implemented. All Ministers then, obviously, had to respond. They reported on their findings earlier this year—in February of this year. There has been progress in those 18 months, since the publication of the first report. It is crucially important to ensure that we see how new co-operative ways of working and doing business are becoming the norm, not the exception. Perhaps a couple of examples: the publication of the alternative delivery models action plan—that came out of the review undertaken by Keith Edwards, ‘Is the Feeling Mutual? New Ways of Designing and Delivering Public Services in Wales’—and also a new support facility, Social Business Wales. Now, interestingly, as far as Social Business Wales is concerned, that was a European regional development fund project. We provided funding towards this £11 million European Union-funded project, and that’s going to, of course, support EU-funded Social Business Wales enterprises and co-operatives.

Could I raise two matters with you, leader of the house? The first is: could we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for local government on the obligation that he believes local authorities have to maintain council roads? It seems, across the whole of the south Wales region, councils seem to have given up filling in potholes and maintaining the surfaces of the public highway. And the amount of constituents I have raising this issue—and I can see certain Members sniggering at this, but, actually, for most Members it’s quite an important issue, and for a lot of constituents, who suffer the blight of potholes and dangerous surfaces, it’s most probably one of their biggest priorities when they come to see their elected Members. I’d be grateful—where there is an obligation placed on the local authority to maintain those surfaces, what is the expectation of the Welsh Government in them fulfilling that obligation, and, indeed, when the Minister makes money available to local authorities, does he make sure—and categorically make sure—to those local authorities that they have a duty to maintain the fabric of the highway in their respective areas?

The second point I’d like to make is to add voice to the concerns already raised about the bovine TB strategy—and I do declare an interest as a livestock farmer—that the Welsh Government do have. Yes, there are many controls in place at the moment, but one of the central planks of the strategy was the vaccination policy—and we can argue the merits of that strategy, but, obviously, that was what was put in place by the previous Government, and I presume it is the policy of the current Government to maintain that—and it is a fact that the vaccine supply has ceased to come forward now. So, one of the central planks of the Government’s strategy to eradicate bovine TB here in Wales has been removed, and it is critical for livestock farmers to understand exactly how the new Government will come forward with a comprehensive strategy that is joined-up and isn’t just mere window-dressing. Ultimately, in many parts of Wales, this terrible disease is driving many businesses out of existence by the excessive costs that they have to face and the emotional trauma that they go through when the blight of bovine TB visits that particular business.

Andrew R.T. Davies, I completely understand the concerns that constituents and residents have about the state of their roads and their local roads. We know that that’s an issue that’s raised with all of us as Assembly Members. I’m very proud of the fact that it’s a Welsh Labour Government that worked with local government to develop the local government borrowing initiative, which enabled us to actually then support and assist the borrowing of local authorities, which we didn’t have and they have got, to undertake a comprehensive investment in improving road structure across the whole of Wales, involving all of our 22 local authorities. Of course, that meant thousands of construction jobs and demonstrably better environments, particularly in some of our more deprived communities. Now, of course, we would like to continue with those kinds of initiatives if we, of course, had a better financial settlement from the UK Government, under your party’s leadership, because these are key issues, which local government, alongside the Welsh Government, want to tackle.

I have responded earlier to the questions about our Government’s commitment to the eradication of bovine TB. Of course, this is one of the top priorities of the Cabinet Secretary.

Following the massacre at Orlando and the vigil outside the Senedd last night, would the business Secretary consider tabling a debate to give the opportunity for Members to highlight areas of policy where further progress could be made in ensuring that discrimination suffered by members of the LGBT community could be tackled? At the vigil last night—and I know the Minister was there—speakers were highlighting issues of concern in Wales, and that included hate crime, homophobic bullying, which we have discussed in this Chamber, I know, on a number of occasions, and inequalities in giving blood. In light of the dreadful experiences in Orlando, would she agree that we should assess our performance in Wales in tackling discrimination and promoting equality? Perhaps having a debate in the Chamber would give us all an opportunity to share those views.

I thank Julie Morgan for raising that again, following Simon Thomas’s questions to the business statement earlier on, and, again, how important it was that we were there—members of the Government as well as Assembly Members—to listen to those powerful messages and to hear from those who have been affected by that hate crime, and also to see a very good article in the ‘Western Mail’ today by Andrew White: stand together against hate and look to a brighter future. Also, can I say how Jeremy Miles, Hannah Blythyn and Adam Price spoke so powerfully yesterday at the vigil and put on the record how you have made that stand and for us to be held to account for how we can then take this forward in terms of tackling discrimination and barriers to the equality of LGBT people in Wales. Of course, as I’ve said, it is about us working closely together. Also, I think it’s about activities in schools, as well as workplaces, the community working along with our public services in tackling hate crime.

Ac yn olaf, Nick Ramsay.

Diolch. Leader of the house, I wonder if I could ask you for an update from the new Cabinet Secretary for infrastructure and transport on the development of the south Wales metro scheme. Members of the previous Assembly will remember that I was most concerned when the town of Monmouth dropped off some of the south Wales metro maps, reappeared on others and dropped off subsequent maps. So, I’d be grateful for an update on where we are with making sure that the south Wales metro does reach all areas of the south Wales network it is supposed to, including some of the more far-flung rural areas, not just the urban areas.

Secondly, could we have an updated statement from the Cabinet Secretary for local government and finance on where we are with the devolution of taxation and specifically the development of a Welsh treasury function and Welsh Revenue Authority? In your previous role, you were heavily involved in this, leader of the house. I know you’ve handed the reins on now to the Member for Cardiff West. I think it’s very important, with time pressing on, that we make sure that we are moving towards the structures that we need when the devolution of certain taxes happens, so that this Welsh Assembly and Welsh Government is able to hit the ground running at that point in time. Time is pressing on and I think we do need to know where we are with the development of those functions.

I thank Nick Ramsay very much for those questions. Of course, he’s been a strong advocate for his constituency of Monmouthshire and Monmouth in recognising the importance, particularly to Monmouthshire, of the metro. You’ve raised this on many occasions and we’ve had updates or statements to the Assembly, and of course in due course the Minister for economy and infrastructure will want to come to the Chamber and, of course, as we then move into the committees that we’re establishing, there will be further opportunities, and indeed tomorrow, of course, questions to the Cabinet Secretary, which would be very appropriate.

On your second question, of course, my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government is also hitting the ground running in terms of moving forward, making good progress with the preparation of the introduction of devolved taxes. We’ve had Royal Assent for the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016, which I was very glad to take forward, with further legislation on land transaction and landfill disposals taxes due to be introduced later in this year. But also crucially important, Nick Ramsay, are the talks that are under way with the UK Government, seeking agreement on the fiscal framework underpinning our future funding arrangements.

Diolch, Weinidog.

Yr eitem nesaf yw’r datganiad gan Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Iechyd, Llesiant a Chwaraeon ar ganiatâd tybiedig ar gyfer rhoi organau—y chwe mis cyntaf. Galwaf ar yr Ysgrifennydd Cabinet, Vaughan Gething.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am grateful for the opportunity to provide Members with an update six months on from the introduction of the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013 and the introduction of deemed consent for deceased organ donation in Wales. This fully came into force on 1 December 2015. Members will know that people aged 18 and over who have lived in Wales for more than 12 months and who die in Wales are now regarded as being willing to donate their organs unless they have expressly said they do not wish to do so.

The path to organ donation is a complex one, but consent is the stage at which most donations are lost and I am extremely proud that Wales now leads the way as the first nation in the UK to move to a soft opt-out system of consent. I fully expect that the new system will create a step change in consent for organ donation in Wales and early indications are that that is the case. In line with many other European countries with similar systems, this law was introduced to address the chronic shortage of organs for transplant that we face in Wales. I am sure we’ve all heard heart-breaking stories about people on organ waiting lists. However, based on international evidence, we anticipate that the new system will increase organ donation by around 25 per cent, or an additional 45 organs per year.

In preparation for the change in the organ donation consent system, a great deal of work was undertaken to inform and engage the public. In the two years prior to full implementation, we undertook the largest and most wide-ranging public health information campaign in the history of devolution to explain these changes. Now, regular information has been collected on public awareness and the understanding of the organ donation law to monitor the effectiveness of that campaign. The latest survey in February 2016 showed that 74 per cent of the Welsh public could describe the changes unprompted, compared with 53 per cent in 2012. Now, this is an unprecedented level of understanding for something that was considered by some as being complicated. That 21 percentage point difference highlights a highly effective campaign, and I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to the people of Wales for not only embracing this ground-breaking legislation but for also taking the time to consider, to discuss and to register their decision about organ donation.

As of 28 May 2016, just over 167,000 people in Wales, or roughly 5 per cent of the population, are registered on the NHS organ donor register to opt out. That’s far less than was anticipated in June last year, when a survey showed that 14 per cent of Welsh residents would opt out. It’s really important that people who do want to positively opt out of the system have the opportunity to do so. But, in addition, there are now over 1.1 million people in Wales, over 35 per cent of the population, who are now positively registered to opt in to organ donation.

I’d like to thank the numerous stakeholder organisations for their unstinting support. I’d especially like to thank all the patients and families who helped with our public information campaign by generously sharing their own experiences, their moving experiences, to personalise the campaign. None of this would have been possible without the hard work and support of a very large number of people across Wales and beyond.

The redevelopment of the organ donor register was a key part of the work needed to provide the means to record an opt-out decision. That work was carried out with NHS Blood and Transplant and the other UK nations, and it was delivered six months before the law came into force. This allowed people enough time to record their decision. Everyone in the UK is now able to record their organ donation decision, whatever that might be. This has only been possible by the support provided by people across this Chamber in the development and implementation of the Act.

There will continue to be a need to maintain an understanding of the new system and the organ donation choices that people have in Wales: opt out, opt in or to do nothing. The communication plan for the coming year will focus on promoting conversations between families and loved ones on their organ donation decisions, whilst also encouraging people to register their decision on the organ donor register.

Although an increase in awareness levels is a measure of success, the real indication that that our legislation has delivered the required outcome will be an increase in donors, resulting in more patients and families benefiting from transplantation. Results for the first six months of the new legislation being in place, from 1 December last year to 31 May this year, showed 18 cases where consent was deemed in Wales. Ten of those proceeded to donation, but there were 42 consenting additional donors in total for that period. For the same period in 2014-15, there were 38 consenting donors, and 31 in 2013-14.

If we look solely at the 18 cases where we can identify that consent was deemed, 10 patients proceeded to donate. From those donors, 37 organs were donated and 32 went on to transplantation. In comparison to the figures for the similar period prior to the change in the law for all proceeding donors, these numbers do look very positive indeed. A formal evaluation of the impact of the new law has been commissioned and will be published next year.

I am grateful to Members of all parties for their contributions over the last few years in ensuring that Wales has been able to lead the UK in developing a soft opt-out system of consent for organ donation. Wales needed a transformation in donor and family consent, and the implementation of the Human Transplantation (Wales) Act 2013, I believe, has delivered that change. I look forward to hearing Members’ comments and questions.

Yn ogystal â defnyddio’r cyfle cyntaf hwn yn y Senedd i longyfarch yr Ysgrifennydd Cabinet ar ei benodiad a diolch iddo, wrth gwrs, am y datganiad yma, a gaf i longyfarch pob un sydd wedi’i gwneud hi’n bosibl inni gyrraedd y pwynt yma o ran rhoi organau yng Nghymru? Mi glywn ni, rwy’n gwybod, gan fy nghyd-Aelod i, Dr Dai Lloyd, yn y man. Rwy’n gwybod fod ganddo fo ychydig o gwestiynau i’w gofyn. Ond, mi fyddwn i’n licio rhoi teyrnged iddo fo a diolch iddo fo am gyflwyno’r cynnig i newid deddfwriaeth yn ôl yn 2007.

Rwy’n gobeithio bod yr ystadegau cynnar sydd wedi cael eu hamlinellu gan yr Ysgrifennydd yn dangos bod hwn yn gam sydd wedi bod yn werthfawr ac yn gam sydd wedi yn barod ac a fydd yn achub llawer iawn o fywydau. Mi fydd yn achub llawer o fywydau yma yng Nghymru. Ond, rwy’n gobeithio, fel sydd wedi’i weld efo sawl darn o ddeddfwriaeth arloesol yma yng Nghynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru, y bydd yn hwb i gyrff democrataidd eraill yn yr ynysoedd yma i weithredu mewn modd yr un mor flaengar.

A gaf i ofyn pa drafodaethau y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi’u cael efo Llywodraethau eraill yn y Deyrnas Unedig i wthio arnynt hwy i fabwysiadu system debyg, yn enwedig, wrth gwrs, o ystyried y gallai cleifion mewn rhannau eraill o’r ynysoedd yma fod wedi manteisio o’n Deddf newydd ni yng Nghymru a’r ystadegau positif sydd wedi dod ymlaen o ganlyniad i hynny?

A gaf i ofyn hefyd faint o bobl a allai fod wedi rhoi organau a oedd wedi optio allan yn y cyfnod yma? Rwy’n nodi o’r datganiad fod llawer llai wedi optio allan na’r disgwyl—rhyw 5 y cant o’i gymharu, o bosib, â 14 y cant a gafodd ei amcangyfrif mewn arolwg cynharach—ond mae pob un sy’n cael ei golli, wrth gwrs, yn gyfle yn cael ei golli i arbed bywyd. Felly, beth ydy’r ystadegau yn y fan honno? Ac, o ystyried, felly, fod angen parhau i hysbysu pobl am y pwysigrwydd o roi organau, pa fwriad sydd gan y Llywodraeth i barhau â’r gwaith o addysgu pobl yn y maes yma, yn dilyn y newid deddfwriaethol?

Yn achos rhai nad oedd wedi nodi'r naill ffordd na’r llall, yn sawl achos gwnaed penderfyniad i beidio â rhoi organau wedi trafodaethau efo’r teulu, ac nid, hynny yw, ar sail feddygol? Ond, yn gyffredinol heddiw, wrth gwrs, fel pawb arall yma yn y Siambr, mae hon wedi bod yn drafodaeth sydd wedi codi cwestiynau moesol dyrys iawn dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf, ond, fel rwy’n dweud, y canlyniadau sy’n cyfrif yn y pen draw, ac mae’n braf gallu edrych yn ôl ar gychwyn llwyddiannus i gyfnod dan y ddeddfwriaeth newydd yma.

I thank the Member for his comments. In particular, I acknowledge the work of, as I said, a range of people in the Chamber, including Dai Lloyd. In the interim, when he left us for a brief period of time, we actually passed the legislation that we’re now debating and discussing today.

To start, I think there were three particular points and questions that you made for me to answer. The first was about other Parliaments and other parts of the UK. I actually attended the board meeting of NHS Blood and Transplant before the election, in Cardiff. It was interesting, as you could see very real interest in the system that we have here in Wales and the impact that it is having. So, there is very real interest right across the NHS family in the United Kingdom about the amount of difference that this legislation will be making. I can’t speak for other Parliaments as to whether they plan to follow our legislation, but I do know there’s a very real interest in it. Personally, I’d be surprised if, in 10 years’ time, we don’t see similar pieces of legislation in other parts of the United Kingdom, because, if it makes the difference we want it to, and we think it has done already in the first six months, then you would have thought that people across parties, in other parts of the UK, would equally want to see extra dozens of lives saved every year, because the challenge of having enough donors available to match people waiting on the organ donor waiting list is not just a problem here in Wales.

In terms of those people who have opted out but might otherwise have been donors, I’m not actually aware that we do collect that particular information—I will check, though. Part of the reason is, of course, that there are precise circumstances under which people can be donors for organ transplantation, and I’m not aware that we can assume that someone could be a donor if it were not for the fact that they had opted out. But, I will check that and the particular point you also raised about the number of people where donation does not proceed because of objections from the family. I made the point earlier in interviews today about this that, even for people who have positively opted in and are on the register, it is still possible that transplantation won’t proceed because of the conversation with the family around the time of donation. Now, that’s something that some people are very frustrated by, but we do have to think about the impact on people who are here, not just the person who wishes for donation to take place.

The final point that I want to address is: you mentioned those people who are sceptical and those people who were not positive about the change being made—a range of people from different communities and a number of faiths had concerns about the change to a deemed-consent system One of the things I’m really pleased about is the work that we did specifically with a range of different groups, including religious and faith communities, to look at what the changes meant, and, actually, we’ve seen a different sort of attitude. People are more relaxed. They are happier that some of the concerns they had about how the system might work have not been borne out, and I think that’s part of the reason why we’ve not seen quite as many people positively opting out, to register that they don’t want to take part in the donation system. But, it is something where, after six months, after a year, and further on, we need to review the impact and understand whether we’re making the difference we want to or whether we could still do more.

First of all, may I start off by welcoming you to your position? I hope we have the opportunity to work well together to try to improve health services within Wales. I’m very grateful for this statement. For those of you who were here in the last Assembly, you will remember that I very clearly worked very hard on this as an individual Member and I leant the Government my vote, and I’m very pleased to see, after six months—because I said I’d keep a watching brief over the next few years—that things are going so well. There are a couple of areas, though, where I would like some questions, and I would like to make the point that I speak on my own behalf because, of course, the Welsh Conservatives had a free vote on this matter.

Minister, have you had any additional thought as to promoting this with your colleague, the education Secretary, in terms of getting the message through to young people in particular? I conducted a very unscientific piece of research at the weekend when I saw this was coming up, when I asked representatives from one school in Carmarthenshire—a secondary school—two in Pembrokeshire and two in the Vale of Glamorgan what they knew about organ donation, and there were very, very lukewarm and woolly replies. Now, the previous Minister gave a commitment that our communication plan already has new funds set out in it to make a special effort to ensure that young people have the information that they need, and, of course, schoolchildren, those who are coming up to leaving secondary school and those at higher education colleges are those who are about to become 18 and will then be able to opt in or out. So, I’d like to know what you’re going to do to really try and ramp up that communication programme, do you have funds set aside, and if you could give us an indication of how much those funds might be.

I’d like to just drill down very slightly into the 18 people who hadn’t made a preference either way. You said that 10 of them went on to donate and, obviously, eight didn’t, and I wondered if there’d been much qualitative research undertaken as to the reasons that those who didn’t go on to donate might not have. It could have been just that they didn’t have a match and there was no-one who wanted their particular organs, but it would be very interesting to see if there are any trends there as to perhaps age groups or background as to why that message hadn’t got through to them.

I also would like to know if you’ve done or intend to do any qualitative research on those people whose families who did agree to allow organ donation to go ahead because, of course, one of the things that we talked about a lot last time was ensuring that there was proper training in place for the doctors and nurses who are involved in the organ donation area, and it’s about lessons learned. Are we handling those people effectively, kindly, compassionately? They’re at a time of great personal stress, and that’s why I just want to pick you up on one comment you made, which gave me a slight shadow of unease, when you said that there is a frustration that some people said ‘no’ and didn’t let their organs go ahead. We should accept that frustration as part of the freedoms that we give people, and I wouldn’t like that ever to be translated to a person at the front line into any pressure on a family. At the end of the day, it’s the family’s right. We’ve enshrined that in this piece of legislation, that if there isn’t presumed consent, that the discussion happens, that there is the ability for them not to proceed. And we shouldn’t show a flicker of concern over that, because that’s what we said and that’s what we must adhere to.

Finally, Minister, could you set out the budget that’s in place to promote organ donation and outline whether there’s scope for further investment, if research proves that we need it to move this issue forward? Thank you.

Thank you for that series of questions. I’ll just deal first with the point that I think was about a misunderstanding, rather than anything else, because I was actually referring to the role of the family in not supporting donation, but of someone who’s actually made a decision to go on to the register to opt in. That still happens, but that’s part of what we need to do. It’s part of the sensitivity of the medical professionals and, in particular, in the scrutiny phase of this and afterwards, the record of the role of the specialist nurse, both being positive in explaining choice and what it means for people at that time, whether they opt in or opt out, whether they consent to donation proceeding and also, in particular, those who do say ‘yes’, because that’s been one of the things that’s been most affecting through this process is meeting families and loved ones of people who have gone on to be donors. So many of them have a positive story to tell about a death not being in vain, and understanding that there are other people who have continued with their lives because of the choice that’s been made. And that’s absolutely been very genuinely, very motivational, hearing that.

In terms of your broader points about research on impact and a review, we have, of course, committed to reviewing the impact of the legislation. I’m sure there will be a number of people wishing to undertake their own research on the impact of the law, but the Government has committed to review the impact of the legislation. We won’t be doing that right now because this is an update statement rather than a formal review of where we are in the first six months. We’re going to spend approximately £200,000 over the course of this next year on promoting what’s taken place, that information campaign, but you’ll be aware funding will continue into the next year because the Assembly committed to spending about £7.5 million over 10 years when we passed this legislation.

I do want to start off by recognising what Angela Burns said at the start of her contribution, and not just thank you—I should say it to Rhun as well—but say congratulations both to yourself and Rhun ap Iorwerth on your changes in role, and welcome to a significantly interesting portfolio where nearly half the Government’s money is spent. I do recognise that on this particular issue, not only did the Welsh Conservatives have a free vote, but I recognise very well that you said you were a sceptic, and it was a leap of faith to support the legislation coming into place. That’s why it is important that we’re open and transparent about the impact that the legislation is having and, equally, if we understand there’s more that we could or should do to improve the system. And that isn’t just about increasing the number of donors, but actually understanding the impact on families of any decision to proceed with donation.

I’ll deal with two final points that occurred in your comments and questions. The first was about ensuring that awareness continues, in particular for younger people. We’re already planning to ensure that people who are approaching their eighteenth birthday have what’s been called—I’m not sure if this is the right terminology—‘a rising 18s letter’. So, people who are approaching their eighteenth birthdays receive formal communication that tells them, reminds them, about the new system and what their choices are and it encourages them to talk to their loved ones, to have the conversation with people around them about what they would like to see happen. Equally, for the future, we’re looking at GP registration. It isn’t ready yet, but at some point we should be able to do something when people register with their GPs, so people can register their choice at that point as well. The more opportunities we give people, the easier we make it for people to record what their choice is—to opt in, to opt out or to do nothing—I think the better it is for all of us. That’s part of the success this legislation needs to have, to see the impact we want it to have, when more and more lives are saved each year.

I too would like to offer my congratulations on your appointment, Cabinet Secretary, and thank you for your statement. It is indeed good news that deemed consent created 10 more donors who contributed to half of the transplants in the last six months. Organ donation is the greatest act of generosity and compassion a person can undertake. Sadly, we still have over 200 people waiting for a life-saving transplant in Wales, and yet only 35 per cent of people in Wales have opted in to the organ donation register.

Deemed consent is a great leap forward and 32 organs have been transplanted that might not have been if the system was not in place. But, we all have a duty to encourage people to register as donors. In 43 per cent of cases where organ donation is possible, families say ‘no’ to donation, because they don’t know whether their loved one wanted to be a donor. Let’s take the burden off our grieving families and register as organ donors. When someone registers as a donor, their wishes, whether their family agrees or not, should be respected and not overridden. Deemed consent only applies if you die in Wales. Let’s ensure that we can save lives after our deaths elsewhere in the UK by opting in to the organ donation register.

Cabinet Secretary, what is the Welsh Government doing to encourage more people to register as donors? What about parental guidance to young people embarking on leaving school? What is the Government doing to improve education about organ donation? A lot of objections to organ donation are on religious grounds. Is the Welsh Government working with religious groups to help educate people about the beliefs of becoming an organ donor? It is unfortunate that if a potential donor’s family cannot be contacted, consent for donation cannot be deemed. What consideration has the Government given to adding emergency contact details to a patient’s medical records?

Cabinet Secretary, only 157,000 people have opted out from the organ donation register. Let’s use the next six months to persuade the remainder of the Welsh public that it is better if they give their express consent to organ donation and make their wishes known to their loved ones than to rely on deemed consent alone. Thank you.

Thank you for the comments from the UKIP health spokesperson and welcome to your own role. I’m pleased to hear your very clear support for the legislation and the outcomes that we wish to achieve. A part of what we’re doing today, and we’ll be doing throughout the rest of this year and the rest of the time we have a communication campaign, is to encourage people to make choices—whether that choice is to opt out or to opt in or to agree to do nothing and to potentially allow their consent to be deemed. I’ve dealt with a range of the points that I think you’ve raised about what we’re doing to try and promote a different range of people to have a conversation with their loved ones to make sure that their choices are known to the people they leave behind in particular. And in response to Angela Burns and Rhun ap Iorwerth, I’ve mentioned a number of things that we are already looking to do.

On the two particular points I think I should probably respond on, one is about the emergency contact for a family or loved one. Because of the particular circumstances in which people are able to be organ donors, it’s likely that a family member or loved one will be there with them. Where that isn’t the case, they still need to check that organ donation is possible, because you need to know enough about their medical history to understand whether their organs could in fact be made available for donation. So, there are practical points about that.

Just on your point about faith communities in particular, which I mentioned earlier, just to confirm, we employed a specialist consultancy called Cognition, which have experience of dealing with a range of different communities, and they’ve actually brought together people of different faith backgrounds to understand the concerns they had and how they’ve been able to get over those. So, I think people are more informed now, and that’s been part of the success of the legislation to date. I actually attended a workshop with a range of different people—not because of my particular role in Government, but also significantly because of my own constituency and the diversity that exists—with different faith groups to understand what their concerns were, where they’d moved to an understanding of the system that we have available and the choices that they can make. Because, actually, a range of people who are leaders in faith communities have the potential to influence people, to look at what we’re doing and to make their choice—whether it’s to opt in, opt out or do nothing.

So, I’m pleased with where we are now, six months in of the legislation going active, and I look forward to giving further updates to Members on where we have got to and where we still want to get to in the years and months to come.

Rwy’n diolch i’r Ysgrifennydd Cabinet dros iechyd am ei ddatganiad a hefyd am ei eiriau caredig. Yn naturiol, mae hwn yn esiampl o ddefnydd clodwiw o ddeddfwriaeth yn y lle hwn, ac mae’n werth nodi, heb y Cynulliad, fyddai yna ddim mo’r Ddeddf hon. Rwy’n gwybod bod hynny’n rhywbeth digon plaen i’w ddweud, ond mae yna lot o bobl yn holi beth y mae’r Cynulliad erioed wedi’i wneud iddyn nhw. Wel, dyma esiampl bur, glodwiw o ddeddfwriaeth sydd yn newid bywydau, sy’n achub bywydau, ac sy’n trawsnewid bywydau eraill.

A fyddech yn cytuno efo fi taw un o’r prif bethau ynglŷn â’r ddeddfwriaeth hon yw gosod y cynsail yn y drafodaeth rhwng y meddyg neu’r nyrs a’r teulu yn y sefyllfa ingol hon, pan fydd rhywun y maen nhw’n ei garu’n ddwfn iawn yn sylfaenol wedi marw, ac mae’n rhaid cael y sgwrs honno ynglŷn â beth sy’n digwydd i’r organau? Rwyf wedi bod yn y sefyllfa honno. Chi’n gwybod, os na fyddai’r ddeddfwriaeth yn y cefndir, hynny yw, bod ewyllys y wlad yn dweud mai’r disgwyl yw eich bod yn mynd i roi eich organau—. O’r blaen, cyn y ddeddfwriaeth hon, nid oedd disgwyl y byddech yn rhoi eich organau ac, fel meddyg, roeddech yn gallu swnio weithiau yn hynod galon galed yn y sefyllfaoedd gyfan gwbl ingol hynny, pan yr oedd yn rhaid ichi hefyd ofyn caniatâd am organau rhywun a oedd, ddwy awr ynghynt, yn berffaith byw ac iach. Dyna yw’r gwahaniaeth yn sylfaenol. Mae astudiaethau rhyngwladol wedi dangos, yn y sefyllfa gynt, fel yr oedd hi yn y wlad hon, pe bawn i fel meddyg yn gofyn caniatâd yn y sefyllfa anodd, anodd iawn honno, fod 40 y cant o deuluoedd yn gwrthod rhoi caniatâd. Ond, mewn gwledydd eraill, sydd eisoes wedi newid a chael yr un drafodaeth, ac sydd â’r cefndir hwnnw bod yna ddisgwyliad a dyna beth yw ewyllys y wlad, dim ond 15 y cant o deuluoedd sydd yn gwrthod rhoi eu caniatâd. Dyna’r math o ffigurau y buaswn yn disgwyl eu gweld yn awr.

Mae’n bwysig nodi hefyd, pan fydd un person yn marw ac yn cytuno rhoi ei organau, rydych yn trawsnewid bywyd saith person arall, gan gofio bod gennym i gyd ddwy aren, un afu, un pancreas, calon, ysgyfaint a dau ‘cornea’. Mae jest angen gwneud y ‘maths’. Felly, rwy’n falch iawn gweld llwyddiant y mesur hwn o ddeddfwriaeth. Roeddwn yn gallu rhagweld hynny’n digwydd lawr y blynyddoedd, pan gawsom drafodaethau dwys iawn yn y lle hwn a’r tu allan. Rwy’n falch iawn gweld y ffigurau hynny’n cadarnhau hyn. Buaswn yn pwysleisio, ac yn eich gwthio chi hefyd, i ddwyn perswâd ar Lywodraethau eraill yn yr ynysoedd hyn i ddilyn yr un trywydd. Dros y blynyddoedd, rydw i wedi cael trafodaethau efo pobl yn Senedd yr Alban ac yng Ngogledd Iwerddon ac mae yna fudiadau yn fanna sydd hefyd yn dilyn y ffordd rydym ni’n gweithredu yn y fan hyn. Ond Lloegr ydy’r broblem fawr—wel, yn y cyd-destun yma, fel mewn ambell i gyd-destun arall, yn amlwg. Ond mi fuaswn i yn eich cefnogi chi i geisio dwyn perswâd ar y Llywodraeth yn Llundain hefyd i geisio mabwysiadu deddfwriaeth debyg. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you for the comments and questions, Dai Lloyd. I’m more than happy, as I said in response to Rhun ap Iorwerth, to continue the conversation with other Parliaments and other parts of the NHS family across the UK. As I say, I know they are actively considering and interested in the progress of our legislation and the practical impact on the numbers of people going on to be organ donors.

I think this is a really good example of the creative use of our powers in this place for a real purpose—a practical and improved difference for citizens in Wales. And I think it is a genuine cross-party cause for recognition about how we could do things in the future as well. In particular, your point that each donor helps more than one person: we’ve seen 10 people proceeding to donation, 32 extra transplants taken, in the first six months through deemed consent. That’s a significant number of people who are being helped by the progress of this legislation and I hope to see further improvement on that in the future too. But I would say that, even at this point, if we see that maintained in the future, then the legislation will have been well worth it—having many, many people in years to come who can say that their life has been improved or saved because of the choice that we’ve made to create this legislation.

I’ll deal with your final point about the nature of the conversation. You’re absolutely right about the fact that we’ve had the legislation passed, so it changes the nature of the conversation and the approach that people take in having a conversation at an incredibly difficult time for individuals in saying goodbye to a loved one and understanding what might then happen about the gift of life to other people as well. Having the conversation start from a positive point about donation being, if you like, the default option to opt for, was something that came through in the consultation during the course of the Bill and has been reinforced in engagement that we’ve had with people throughout the last couple of years as well. So, I think there’s good reason to be optimistic about that, but equally good reason to review whether that is still the case in practice, about the way that different people outside this place—faith and voluntary communities—and, in particular, linking to people actually undertaking those conversations, as to whether what we think we’re seeing in the first six months is being maintained or whether there is more that we can do to improve the situation further.

Ac, yn olaf, Mohammad Asghar.

Thank you very much, madam Presiding Officer. Minister, I congratulate you on your new post. I will say it’s a very noble job to give organ donation. An independent report by the organ donation taskforce found that people of Asian and Afro-Caribbean origin make up 23 per cent of the kidney waiting list, but only 3 per cent of those donors come from these communities. Studies also show that cultural issues are important influencing factors when making a decision about organ donation. A recent study in Birmingham found that 60 per cent of Muslims said that organ donation is against their faith. I can assure you, Minister, that that is not the case. Engaging and educating our Muslim communities in Wales with relevant Muslim organisations is the answer. What steps are you going to take? I’m quite voluntarily trying to help you, if possible, to go to all mosques in this country to make sure that Muslims know the benefit of this noble object.

Written leaflets are not good enough—they have different languages in Muslim communities, more than half a dozen. And to make sure that they understand the language and the objective of this Government to make sure that our noble job is achieved in this country and we set an example—I’m sure you’re doing a wonderful job, but there’s still a long way to go for that. Thank you very much.

I thank Mohammad Asghar for his particular points in an area of real challenge for us. I’m particularly grateful that you’ve highlighted the fact that, of people on the waiting list, there is a significantly higher than expected number, certainly out of proportion with the general population, of people from black and Asian origin communities, and yet, of the people who are registered on the organ donation list, there’s a significantly lesser amount than in the population as well. So, we do have a real challenge and some of it is cultural, you’re right. I also know that this isn’t religious; there’s no religious bar to being a donor. But there is the challenge of some of the cultural norms that have built up and how we get around those. That’s why the work of cognition in supporting that conversation has been so important.

There’s no point in pretending that that work is done and everything is fine now. It needs to be a continued conversation. We want to change the culture and the way in which people have that conversation. It’s also why personal stories have been so important and so powerful. Understanding people in the communities that you live in, seeing someone waiting on the list, and then seeing someone and their family who’ve gone through the process of someone in their family passing away but becoming an organ donor, are really powerful motivators to challenge the way people feel about their choices, and, in many ways, the most persuasive way.

So, I do recognise there’s more to do in this area. There’s no lack of complacency, but what I would say is we’ve already undertaken steps, and not just with people in the Muslim community; there is a range of black and Asian-origin communities in the Christian faith, as well as the Hindu community and the Sikhs as well, that we’ve had conversations with, too—so, a wide range of faiths to engage here as well, but also a wide range of languages. We have made sure that a range of information is available in a different number of community languages. That doesn’t mean to say that all is perfect or the engagement we have with a different range of communities cannot be improved, and I look forward to us understanding what more we can do to achieve exactly that, because I don’t think there’s any difference between parties on this point.

Diolch i’r Ysgrifennydd Cabinet.

Yr eitem nesaf yw’r datganiad gan Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros yr Amgylchedd a Materion Gwledig ar adeiladu ar ein llwyddiant ailgylchu ar gyfer economi gylchol. Rydw i’n galw ar yr Ysgrifennydd Cabinet, Lesley Griffiths.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I want to draw the attention of the Senedd to a real success story for Wales and how we can build on this success for the future. Wales has achieved the highest municipal recycling rate in the United Kingdom and, if it were to report separately, the fourth highest rate in Europe. I would like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Carl Sargeant, for his contribution towards Wales’s achievements in recycling and resource efficiency and also acknowledge the efforts of Welsh local authorities and the Welsh public in this achievement.

Wales’s municipal recycling rate reached 59 per cent for the 12 months to the end of December 2015 and 58 per cent in quarter 3 of the full year 2015-16. This is up 5 per cent on the same quarter in 2014-15. In the new compositional analysis of municipal waste, published by the Waste and Resources Action Programme today, it is identified that around a quarter of what is in the black bag waste—residual waste—is food waste, and another quarter is dry recyclables. If we could capture even half of this material, we could comfortably achieve our target of 70 per cent recycling of municipal waste. This demonstrates a great advance in sustainable waste management in Wales. However, its real significance is that waste and resource efficiency offers a gateway into the circular economy.

A circular economy is one where materials can be productively used again and again, creating added value and associated multiple benefits. These benefits can help us deliver on many of our well-being goals under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, especially a prosperous Wales, a resilient Wales and a globally responsible Wales.

A recent study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and WRAP identified potential economic benefits of more than £2 billion each year to the Welsh economy. A further study by WRAP and the Green Alliance predicts that up to 30,000 new jobs can be created in Wales through development of a circular economy.

Thousands of Welsh workers are employed in supply chain companies, large and small, involved in collection, transportation, reprocessing and remanufacture of materials throughout Wales. Steel, aluminium, paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, textiles and electronic goods can all be recycled, creating jobs and adding value through the circular economy.

We need to make sure as large a quantity of materials as possible is reused within the Welsh circular economy. These materials need to be of high quality to be attractive to local reprocessing companies and command the best prices. In this way, local authorities and householders will be contributing to better environmental and economic outcomes as well as higher recycling.

It is important for Welsh householders to know where the materials collected from them are recycled. A recent report into the end destinations of materials collected for recycling by Welsh local authorities showed less than half, by weight, is recycled in Wales. There is enormous potential to boost the Welsh economy and the number of jobs by reprocessing more of these materials here in Wales.

Therefore, it is my intention as Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs to drive forward policies towards delivering a circular economy in Wales. This wi