Answers issued to Members on 2 June 2009
[R] signifies that the Member has declared an interest.
[W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.
Contents
Questions to the Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills
Questions to the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing
Questions to the Minister for Heritage
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs
Questions to the Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): What plans does the Minister have to increase support for pupils with communication difficulties in Wales? (WAQ54242)
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister offer Welsh pupils with communication difficulties similar support to that currently undertaken by BECTA in England? (WAQ54243)
The Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (Jane Hutt): The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all learners in Wales. That means access to high-quality education environments that are suitable for the 21st century and teaching staff that are able to provide appropriate support and intervention to meet the individual needs of learners. I recently agreed to provide funding of £2m over the next three financial years (2009—2012) to establish pilot projects to further develop a statutory system for ensuring all pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) have their needs met appropriately and in a timely manner.
If you would like to write to set out the areas in which you are particularly interested I should be happy to provide a more detailed reply.
Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister publish any representations she has received on primary education in Ceredigion since May 2007? (WAQ54249)
Jane Hutt: Thank you for your request. I have passed this over to my officials who will consider this under the Freedom of Information Act and respond to you accordingly.
Questions to the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on Capita Symonds report on wind farm access routes? (WAQ54239)
The Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing (Jane Davidson): Capita Symonds has completed the report on access to the Mid Wales Strategic Search Areas, and is completing studies into access to the North Wales and South Wales Strategic Search Areas. This work will feed into studies being commissioned by the British Wind Energy Association to enable the Assembly Government and other key stakeholders to resolve the transportation issues associated with the proposed windfarm developments in Wales.
Questions to the Minister for Heritage
Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on cultural spending in Powys since May 2007? (WAQ54257)
Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on cultural spending in Ceredigion since May 2007? (WAQ54258)
Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on cultural spending in Carmarthenshire since May 2007? (WAQ54259)
Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on cultural spending in Pembrokeshire since May 2007? (WAQ54260)
Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on cultural spending in Gwynedd since May 2007? (WAQ54261)
The Minister for Heritage (Alun Ffred Jones): It has not been possible to establish the cultural spending by county from my portfolio, as the spend is not all collated on a local authority basis.
Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs
Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): Will the Minister disclose the date of the next meeting of the Forestry Ministers’ Group and what topics will be discussed at that meeting? (WAQ54236)
The Minister for Rural Affairs (Elin Jones): There are no current plans for a meeting of the Forestry Ministers’ Group.
Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): What recent discussions has the Forestry Ministers’ Group had regarding the potential changes to the duties and functions of the Forestry Commission? (WAQ54237)
Elin Jones: The Forestry Ministers’ Group has not discussed potential changes to the duties and functions of the Forestry Commission.
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on the role of common land in a sustainable Welsh Farming Industry? (WAQ54244)
Elin Jones: Livestock farming on common land in Wales will be an essential element in addressing the challenges and maximising opportunities in an increasingly volatile economy. The future for farming on common land must include adaptation to market and environmental pressures whilst ensuring we play our role in meeting the food demands of an increasing global population.
Farming, Food & Countryside—Building a Secure Future outlines how the Welsh Assembly Government will work to secure a sustainable future for the farming, food and land based production industries and the Welsh countryside environment through to 2020.
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on how the management and use of common land fits into the Glastir proposals? (WAQ54245)
Elin Jones: Sustainable management of common land is very important to ensuring the new Glastir scheme delivers towards its principle objectives. Good management of common land will contribute to the protection of peatland carbon reserves, water quality and quantity management, and our biodiversity targets. Because of their important role, and the specific organisational issues involved with achieving land management agreements on commons, a working group has been set up to identify the best approach to integrate these areas within the new scheme.
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on how the efficiency of any sheep EID system will be monitored during the movement of livestock? (WAQ54246)
Elin Jones: Council Regulation 21/2004 requires devices and readers to comply with ISO (Internations Standards Organisation) 11784 / 11785 which cover the technical specifications. The Regulation also provides optional technical guidance recommending the tests that equipment should comply with.
The current consultation proposes that official EID devices and reading equipment should comply with both the ISO and technical guidelines, it is further expected that the current British Standards Institute PAS (Publically Available Specification) 66 will incorporate approvals to these standards before equipment can be marketed 'for official purposes.
The AMLS (Animal Movement Licencing System) team, a part of British Cattle Movement Service, will maintain lists of official sheep identification and equipment across GB.
Seprately we are awaiting legal text to amend the Regulation to cater for 3rd party recording (this would allow markets, abattoirs, large farms or contractors to read the devices after the sheep have moved). Clearly the fine detail of that legal text will influence the eventual system of reporting movements but should in itself remove a significant inefficiency of the current Regulation which requires two reads—off the farm and on to the destination.