Written Assembly Questions tabled on 30 June 2017 for answer on 7 July 2017
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 First Minister
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): What commitments has the Welsh Government made as part of the Open Government Partnership? (WAQ73778)W
Answer received on 6 July 2017
The First Minister (Carwyn Jones): The Welsh Government published its commitments within the update to the UK Open Government National Action Plan 2016-18 in December 2016. A document outlining the nine commitments can be found on the Welsh Government website:
http://gov.wales/about/foi/open-government/?lang=en
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Will the First Minister publish any briefings he received from officials on the Circuit of Wales project between 26 January and 6 April 2016? (WAQ73756)
Answer received on 12 July 2017
Carwyn Jones: We are considering how much of this advice can be released in light of confidentiality obligations, the Data Protection Act and other legal and commercial considerations, and will write to the Assembly member in due course.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): When does the government intend to publish copies of Ministers' diaries, in accordance with the decision made on 23 January 2017? (WAQ73779)W
Answer received on 6 July 2017
Carwyn Jones: I said in my January letter to all Assembly Members that details of Ministers' meetings with external organisations and attendance at engagements would be published to the Welsh Government website quarterly. The publication of the information for January-March 2017 took place in April. Later this month we will publish the April-June information.
To ask the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Did the Welsh Government receive a copy of a report by Ernst and Young during 2016, which discussed the balance sheet treatment of a Welsh Government guarantee for the Circuit of Wales project? (WAQ73757)
Answer received on 7 July 2017
Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure (Ken Skates): Yes
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Was the Heads of the Valleys Development Company given any assurances by Welsh Government that Ministers would meet with it if any major issues were identified as part of the due diligence on their February 2017 proposal? (WAQ73758)
Answer received on 7 July 2017
Ken Skates: No, the Company was not given any assurances that Welsh Government Ministers would meet with them. However, officials met with the Company on a regular basis between October 2016 and June 2017.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Have TVR, Aston Martin and Jaguar Landrover committed to supporting the proposed automotive technology park in Ebbw Vale? (WAQ73759)
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): When were TVR, Aston Martin and Jaguar Landrover informed of the proposal for an automotive technology park? (WAQ73760)
Answer received on 12 July 2017
Ken Skates: We have spoken with TVR, Aston Martin Lagonda and Jaguar Landrover regarding their commitment to Wales in terms of investment and supply chain support in the absence of the circuit. Welsh Government will continue to work with these and other companies to ensure that the technology park meets the needs of business and the local community.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): What market assessment has been conducted as the basis for the proposed automotive technology park in Ebbw Vale? (WAQ73761)
Answer received on 12 July 2017
Ken Skates: An assessment was undertaken by external consultants that evidenced that there was a need for high grade manufacturing and research and development facilities in the Ebbw Vale Enterprise Zone also, and equally relevant to this Question my Officials have evidence of demand from high tech companies looking for facilities in the area.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): When will construction work begin on the proposed automotive technology park in Ebbw Vale? (WAQ73762)
Answer received on 12 July 2017
Ken Skates: My ambition is to establish a project board with a view to site preparation commencing this financial year, subject to the usual planning and approval processes.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): When was the idea of an automotive technology park as an alternative to the Circuit of Wales first identified? (WAQ73763)
Answer received on 12 July 2017
Ken Skates: The external due diligence on the Circuit of Wales project indicated that the majority of the jobs would be created through a technology park development, which was to be delivered at a later stage of the proposal. Cabinet therefore agreed that the technology park development should be supported and brought forward to deliver the associated job creation opportunities more quickly for the people of Ebbw Vale.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Has the Welsh Government conducted or commissioned any earlier analysis of the 6,000 jobs figure to which he referred in his statement of 27 June; and will the Cabinet Secretary publish any such assessment? (WAQ73764)
Answer received on 12 July 2017
Ken Skates: An assessment of the economic impact of the Circuit of Wales project was conducted by Welsh Government as part of the due diligence process associated with the developer’s application for Repayable Business Finance in 2014. The job numbers likely to be created by the project proposal at that time were included in a paper for WIDAB, which referenced the socio-economic report on project produced by the University of South Wales. Papers prepared for WIDAB are commercially confidential and are not published.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): What reasons were provided by a)ONS and b) HMT for their assessing that there was a significant risk that the Welsh Government guarantee for the Circuit of Wales would be on the balance sheet? (WAQ73765)
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): When was the issue of the balance sheet treatment of a Government guarantee for the Circuit of Wales project first discussed with a) ONS and b) HMT? (WAQ73766)
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): When did the Welsh Government first discuss the Circuit of Wales February proposal with a) ONS and b) HMT? (WAQ73767)
Answer received on 10 July 2017
Ken Skates: The role of the ONS is to determine whether bodies are classified as public sector bodies within the national accounts or otherwise. Such decisions are taken on the basis of the relevant contractual documentation, and decisions are arrived at by reference to the prevailing EU legislation, ESA2010, and its interpretative guidelines, the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt (2016). Discussions around the revision of these interpretative guidelines, which would assist our assessment of risk in the Circuit of Wales proposal, have been ongoing since summer 2015. Discussions with HMT about aspects of the Circuit of Wales proposal specifically have been ongoing since March 2016.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Will the Cabinet Secretary give figures for the Government's assessment of the total figure for financial risk to all parties associated with the Circuit of Wales project? (WAQ73768)
Answer received on 10 July 2017
Ken Skates: Welsh Government has made an assessment of the financial risk to the public purse and has not considered the breakdown of risk between the private sector parties. This assessment has shown that the public purse would carry in excess of 50% risk.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): When did the Welsh Government first inform the Heads of the Valleys Development Company of its assessment that its share of the risk involved in the project was greater than 50 per cent? (WAQ73769)
Answer recived on 7 July 2017
Ken Skates: As I stated in my reply to WAQ73739, the full extent of Welsh Government exposure on this current proposal only became apparent on receipt of the draft due diligence reports and after consultation with HM Treasury. Representatives of the Heads of the Valleys Development Company were informed of our assessment following Cabinet's decision on the project during the morning of 27 June, in advance of my Written Statement on the subject.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Will the Cabinet Secretary list the dates of all meetings between a) officials and b) Ministers with representatives of the Heads of the Valleys Development Company over the last two years? (WAQ73770)
Answer received on 7 July 2017
Ken Skates: No. There will have been a significant number of meetings held between relevant parties over the last two years, and it would take a disproportionate amount of time to identify all occasions when officials and Ministers met with representatives of HoVDC.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Did the level of Welsh Government guarantee requested change from £30 million to £357 million in the days preceding the rejection on 6 April 2016 of the original Circuit of Wales proposal? (WAQ73771)
Answer received on 7 July 2017
Ken Skates: The level of Welsh Government support being sought by Heads of the Valleys Development Company changed significantly in the lead up to the Ministerial decision on 6 April 2016. Between August 2015 and March 2016 a range of funding options for the Circuit of Wales project were explored between the developers, local authorities and Welsh Government officials. Following those exploratory discussions, what emerged during March 2016 was a proposal that required a 100% Welsh Government guarantee of the £357million investment. This proposal was set out for Ministers in the formal advice submitted on 5 April 2016.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Further to WAQ73473, who was it suggested should underwrite the headlease to be held by Blaenau Gwent Borough Council? (WAQ73772)
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Further to WAQ73474, did the Welsh Government make a counter-proposal in response to the proposal from the Heads of the Valleys Development Company proposed on 26 January 2016? (WAQ73773)
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Further to WAQ73474, what amount of debt did the proposed guarantee involve and what percentage did that represent? (WAQ73774)
Answer received on 12 July 2017
Ken Skates: I will write to the Assembly Member about the information requested, and will place a copy of my letter in the library.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Was any suggestion to delay the final decision on the Circuit of Wales, in order to allow the company to respond to the new information on the Balance Sheet question, discussed in Cabinet on 27 June 2017? (WAQ73775)
Answer received on 12 July 2017
Ken Skates: No.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Have officials in the Cabinet Secretary's department have released any of the information contained within the commercially confidential databank for the Circuit of Wales project to the media? (WAQ73776)
Answer received on 7 July 2017
Ken Skates: Like all Civil Servants, officials in my department are expected to uphold the core values and standards of behaviour as set out in the Civil Service code. As such, I do not expect that any of my officials are responsible for disclosing official, commercially confidential information to the media in relation to the Circuit of Wales project.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Will the Cabinet Secretary state to whom the repayable grant agreed as part of the Swansea City Regeneration Scheme is payable? (WAQ73780)
Answer received on 6 July 2017
Ken Skates: An offer of repayable funding for the Swansea City Centre Regeneration scheme has been made to the City and County of Swansea Council.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Will the Cabinet Secretary publish the names of the businesses for which business finance was agreed on 8 June 2017? (WAQ73781)
Answer to follow.
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Will the Cabinet Secretary provide the names of businesses for which professional fees were agreed to be paid on 25 May 2017? (WAQ73782)
Answer to follow.
To ask the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Steffan Lewis (South Wales East): Is a directory of local mental health services provided to schools to help them assist students experiencing mental health issues and signpost them towards appropriate support? (WAQ73755)
Answer received on 6 July 2017
Cabinet Secretary for Education (Kirsty Williams): Work is currently ongoing across the health department to reduce the number of health-related directories to a single entity. There is a directory available, Dewis Cymru which provides information and advice to support citizens' well-being needs, including mental health. A link for Dewis Cymru is as follows: https://www.dewis.wales/
Local authorities, the NHS and third sector organisations in Wales encourage and support local organisations to add their information for services which matter to people across Wales. Work is currently underway to specifically develop a site for children and young people.
Positive progress within Dewis is also being made to share information with Infoengine, which is the third-sector resource directory.
To co-ordinate this work and bring together these three strands into one 'virtual' Directory of Services (DoS), the Welsh Government has established a National DoS Project Board which is made up of representatives across health, social care and the third sector. The development of a single 'virtual' DoS is vital as it will enable users to find and view services across the health and care spectrum through a single search mechanism.
Moreover, our Welsh Government funded, NHS led Together for Children and Young People programme (T4CYP) is examining the way in which specialist mental health services work with primary care and others in social services, education, youth justice and the third sector to ensure young people have timely access to appropriate help and support to meet their needs. T4CYP will clarify referral pathways so that all professionals can understand when emotional and mental health issues are developing; deal with them appropriately within their field of competence; and when outside their competence know who and where to seek further help and support for the child.
To ask the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): Will the government publish the terms of reference and membership of the Improving Efficiency Board? (WAQ73777)W
Answer received on 12 July 2017
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government (Mark Drakeford): The final terms of reference will be circulated to Improving Efficiency Board members in advance of the next meeting on 3 August. The terms of reference will be published on the Welsh Government website immediately following the meeting.