Written Assembly Questions tabled on 25 June 2015 for answer on 2 July 2015
R - Signifies the Member has declared an interest.
W - Signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.
(Self identifying Question no. shown in brackets)
Written Questions must be tabled at least five working days before they are to be answered. In practice, Ministers aim to answer within seven/eight days but are not bound to do so. Answers are published in the language in which they are provided, with a translation into English of responses provided in Welsh.
To ask the Minister for Natural Resources
Janet Howarth (North Wales): Will the Minister detail the total costs associated with the Ynni'r Fro programme to date, in each year since its establishment? (WAQ68878)
Answer received on 7 July 2015
The Minister for Natural Resources (Carl Sargeant):
The total costs for the Ynni'r Fro Programme are as follows:
| 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | |
| Programme management | £206,168 | £181,514 | £195,501 | £178,548 | £126,445 |
| Technical Development Officer support | £349,603 | £266,438 | £264,724 | £246,149 | £195,154 |
| Preparatory grants for community groups | £100,278 | £111,655 | £163,583 | £365,790 | £591,608 |
| Loan Fund Management | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,250 | £1,500 |
| Capital loan/grant | £0 | £0 | £0 | £183,919 | £10,000 |
| Total costs | £656,048 | £559,607 | £623,809 | £975,655 | £924,708 |
The Welsh Government has also provided transitional funding to continue to support the projects that would not have met the programme's full eligibility criteria. The ERDF programme's five year timeline meant that there were restrictions around the support that could be offered to projects delivering beyond 2015. This additional funding has enabled continuity of support for the sector.
| TDO support | Programme management | Preparatory grants | Total | |
| 2012-13 | £199,691 | £199,691 | ||
| 2013-14 | £32,718 | £9,278 | £200,000 | £241,996 |
| 2014-15 | £84,118 | £157,518 | £241,636 | |
| Total transitional funding | | | | £683,323 |
Janet Howarth (North Wales): Will the Minister detail the total number of projects a) supported and b) completed to date by the Ynni'r Fro programme in each year since its establishment? (WAQ68879)
Answer received on 7 July 2015
Carl Sargeant:
- In total Ynni'r Fro has received inquiries from 216 community groups, and worked with them to identify feasible projects. 112 projects have received support from the programme, defined as one or more of the following: more than 7.5 hours of assistance, preparatory grants and capital loans or grants.
- To date three projects have been built and are generating benefits for the community. The Ynni'r Fro programme does not directly deliver projects: these are led and delivered by community groups. Renewable energy projects can take several years to deliver, even with the full resources of a commercial developer. At the end of the ERDF programme on 30 June 52 projects are currently being supported, and the community groups leading the projects anticipate that they will be built between now and 2018.
To ask the Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport
Russell George (Montgomeryshire): Further to the answer to WAQ68775, will the Minister outline what plans the Welsh Government has to inform the premises who fall outside the scope of the Superfast Cymru rollout and the footprint of commercial superfast broadband providers that they will not benefit from the initial intervention? (WAQ68875)
Answer received on 2 July 2015
Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology (Julie James): Officials are developing plans to put in place information on the Welsh Government website that outline the various options for getting superfast broadband including for those people outside of the Superfast Cymru roll-out. This will be accompanied by a communications and engagement campaign to signpost people towards the website. There are no plans to contact premises individually.
Russell George (Montgomeryshire): Further to the answer to WAQ68775, will the Minister ask the organisation responsible for conducting the Superfast Cymru Open Market Review for the addresses of the premises within each affected postcode that fall outside the Superfast Cymru intervention area and the footprint of commercial superfast broadband providers? (WAQ68876)
Answer received on 2 July 2015
Julie James: The organisation responsible for carrying out the Open Market Review only has access to postcode level data provided to them by the internet service providers.
Russell George (Montgomeryshire): Further to the answer to WAQ68775, will the Minister provide details of the organisation that was responsible for conducting the Superfast Cymru Open Market Review? (WAQ68877)
Answer received on 2 July 2015
Julie James: The organisation responsible for conducting the Open Market Review was Mott MacDonald.
To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services
David Melding (South Wales Central): What procedures must be undertaken by local authorities in Wales following the suicide of a child or young person in care, and how does the Welsh Government monitor the fulfillment of such requirements? (WAQ68872)
Answer received on 7 July 2015
The Minister for Health and Social Services (Mark Drakeford): The steps a local authority in Wales must take when a looked after child dies are set out in the Children Act 1989. These are replicated in section 125 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, which comes into force in April 2016.
The police would be notified of a sudden death and the matter would be referred to the coroner who will determine whether or not the death was suicide. If the child was living in a children's home in Wales, the responsible person in the home must notify the appropriate Welsh Government official, the placing local authority and the local authority and health board for the area where the home is located (regulation 29 of the Children's Homes (Wales) Regulations 2002.
Any unexpected death of a child in Wales is reviewed urgently under the PRUDIC (procedural response to unexpected death in childhood) process by a paediatrician and multiagency team including the local authority social services department. This process aims to support the bereaved family and foster carers and ensure any safeguarding issues are considered, including any risks to other children.. The full circumstances of any looked-after child are carefully considered in this process.
Where a looked-after child dies and abuse or neglect is a known or suspected factor, the relevant safeguarding board must consider undertaking an extended child practice review in line with the regulatory and statutory guidance framework. This framework provides an effective tool to review how agencies have worked together in order to inform improvement in child protection arrangements across agencies.
A key function of the National Independent Safeguarding Board, established under the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014, will be to provide advice and support for safeguarding boards and Ministers in relation to safeguarding arrangements in Wales.
Data on all child deaths is collected and analysed by the Wales Child Death Review team based in Public Health Wales. Thematic reports are produced to provide recommendations and learning for all public services to focus actions on effective prevention of child deaths.
David Melding (South Wales Central): Will the Minister make a statement on how many children and young people in care in Wales committed suicide in the last five years? (WAQ68873)
Answer received 7 July 2015
Mark Drakeford:
No data is published for the number of children and young people in care in Wales who have committed suicide.
Data collection for suicide rates in the UK is by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and covers individuals aged 15 years and over only.
David Melding (South Wales Central): Will the Minister make a statement on how many children and young people in care in Wales committed serious self-harm in the last five years? (WAQ68874)
Answer received on 7 July 2015
Mark Drakeford:
Stats Wales publishes data for hospital admissions for self harm for people aged 10 to 19 in Wales:
| Age bands | Gender | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
| 10-14 | Male | 25 | 27 | 35 | 41 | 34 | 56 |
| | Female | 180 | 197 | 200 | 225 | 263 | 412 |
| 15-19 | Male | 287 | 258 | 258 | 250 | 205 | 263 |
| | Female | 680 | 590 | 698 | 662 | 632 | 811 |
| Total | 1,172 | 1,072 | 1,191 | 1,178 | 1,134 | 1,542 |
A breakdown for children and young people in care is not available.