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Written Assembly Questions tabled on 3 December 2015 for answer on 10 December 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 Communities and Tackling Poverty

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): What consultation process did the Minister and her officials go through before establishing and launching the 'Parenting. Give it time' campaign? (WAQ69546)

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): In relation to the 'Parenting. Give it time' campaign, what public, private or third party advice had the Minister received that suggested there was a need for such a policy amongst parents in Wales? (WAQ69547)

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): How many organisation and parents or parents-to-be in Wales were involved in the consultation process of 'Parenting. Give it time' campaign and can transcripts or minutes of proceedings be found on these meetings? (WAQ69548)    

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): How will the Minister measure the benefit or the level of engagement and usefulness that the 'Parenting. Give it time' campaign will have for parents in Wales? (WAQ69549)         

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): From whose experience or advice are the parenting guidelines in the 'Parenting. Give it time' campaign based upon? (WAQ69550)            

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): How much has been spent to date on the 'Parenting. Give it Time' campaign? (WAQ69551)            

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): How many hits has the 'Parenting. Give it Time' website currently received? (WAQ69552)            

Answer received on 15 December 2015

The Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty (Lesley Griffiths):

The 'Parenting. Give it Time' campaign was developed in consultation with a wide range of interested parties and stakeholders and informed by research evidence.

Quantitative and qualitative research, published in 2014, provided my officials with insights into adults' attitudes in Wales to child discipline and has contributed to our knowledge of different discipline strategies parents use and their information needs. These insights informed development of the campaign. Our Programme for Government makes a commitment to "work to make physical punishment of children and young people unacceptable through the promotion of positive alternatives." Evidence of a need for the campaign was also received on a number of different levels:

• Research evidence suggests a positive parenting style is more likely to lead to better social, emotional and academic outcomes for children;
• Research we commissioned last year has provided us with insights into attitudes in Wales to child discipline.  The research highlighted the potential to build on parents' existing skills in order to reinforce the effectiveness of the positive strategies they already use;
• The Children are Unbeatable campaign has called for "parents to have lots of information and practical advice and support about alternatives to 'smacking' and using a positive approach to bringing up children"; and
• In his 2013-14 Annual Report the Children's Commissioner for Wales highlighted that "all parents and carers should have access to [parenting] support and guidance."

A large number of organisations and individuals were involved in the consultation process of the campaign:

• We engaged with 46 individuals representing a range of organisations, as part of developing the content, creative imagery and messages for the campaign. These organisations included Save the Children, NSPCC, Action for Children, Royal College of Paediatrics, Children in Wales, PTA, Flying Start teams, Glyndwr University, Bangor University, Powys Health Board, Family Information Services, various Families First projects and Public Health Wales.
• An External Advisory Group provided advice and guidance on the content of the website and on the creative imagery.    Members of the group had a range of backgrounds including psychologists, a speech and language therapist, health visitors, academics and parenting experts. Three focus groups were held with parents.
• Over 100 members of the public tested the usability of the website to see how easy it would be to find topics on it.  The responses were captured on specialist software and used to organise the web content in the best way.

We have commissioned independent research to gauge the attitudes of parents with children in the target age group (0-5), prior to the campaign. Parents, who agreed to be re-contacted from the National Survey for Wales were invited to take part in the survey.  We will be measuring traffic and engagement on social media and our dedicated website and the media agency, engaged to support delivery of the campaign, will monitor the effectiveness of the various media channels used to promote the campaign messages

To date £140, 345 (net) has been committed to the campaign, associated research and materials. Ensuring value for money and maximising reach have been key considerations in designing the campaign.

Since it went live on 20 November and up until 8 December, we have had 884 users on the website, who have made 1,237 visits, with 28% of users returning. As at 8 December, we also have 581 likes on our Facebook page.      

To ask the Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport

Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): How many young people have signed up for a concessionary bus pass since the launch of the 'mytravelpass' scheme? (WAQ69543)

Answer received on 9 December 2015

The Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport (Edwina Hart):  Further to my evidence to the Enterprise and Business Committee last week, I am pleased to report that the number of 16, 17 and 18 year olds that we have been able to reach with our marketing campaign is now well over 125,000.  The number of those that have subsequently progressed to sign up to the Pass is 3,484. 

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): How much in private investment has each of the enterprise zones received this year, and how does this compare for the last three financial years? (WAQ69544)

Answer received on 9 December 2015

Edwina Hart: The Welsh Government does not hold in full the total private investment made within each of the Enterprise Zones.

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): What discussions have been held with, or what guidance has been issued to, businesses in each of the Welsh enterprise zones with regards to the use of Welsh SMEs in procurement policy? (WAQ69545)

Answer received on 9 December 2015

Edwina Hart: The Welsh Government does not hold in full the total private investment made within each of the Enterprise Zones.

To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): How many people received treatment for hepatitis C in Wales in each of the last three years, and how many people are expected to receive hepatitis C treatment in Wales in 2016? (WAQ69538)

Answer received on 15 December 2015

The Minister for Health and Social Services (Mark Drakeford):

The Blood Borne Viral Hepatitis Action Plan for Wales 2010-2015 was published in October 2015. The report, which includes information about the number of people referred for assessment and receiving treatment, is available at:

http://gov.wales/topics/health/protection/communicabledisease/viruses/?lang=en

Data for 2014 and future years will be made available via the Public Health Wales website at:

http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=457&pid=68681

Health boards are working together via a clinical network established through the action plan to assess future treatment needs.

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the possibility of eliminating hepatitis C as a serious public health concern in Wales, and has any modelling been undertaken to assess the feasibility of this aim? (WAQ69539)

Answer received on 15 December 2015

Mark Drakeford:

Our Blood Borne Viral Hepatitis Action Plan 2010-15 has helped increase awareness of blood-borne viral hepatitis infection, improved diagnostic testing and the treatment of people with hepatitis. The gains made during the lifetime of the action plan will be built on by measures in the Liver Disease Delivery Plan. The annual investment in hepatitis services will continue through health boards' core funding allocations.

A new generation of effective and better-tolerated treatments for hepatitis C infection have been licensed during the lifetime of the action plan or are under consideration. Clinicians have developed an access protocol for these new treatments across Wales, which will ensure transparent and equitable access to these new treatments across Wales. Patients in most urgent clinical need will receive the new treatments in the first year,. 

The Liver Disease Delivery Plan is available at:

http://gov.wales/topics/health/nhswales/plans/liver-disease/?lang=en

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): How many prisoners were tested for hepatitis C in Wales in each of the last three years? (WAQ69540)

Answer received on 15 December 2015

Mark Drakeford:

Data for 2015 will be published next year by Public Health Wales.

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): Will the Minister provide an update on the implementation of the Accessible Healthcare Standards for People with Sensory Loss in Wales and a timescale by which he expects the standards to be fully met? (WAQ69541)

Answer received on 15 December 2015

Mark Drakeford

Wales became the first country in the UK to establish Accessible Communications and Information Standards for People with Sensory Loss when these were introduced in December 2013.

The standards underpin the statutory responsibilities of public health providers under the Equality Act 2010 and are acknowledged by key stakeholders nationally as a key driver for patients to receive the full range of accessible healthcare services they need, when they need it.

The Welsh Government has made it clear to health boards and NHS trusts the importance of driving progress on the standards and we continue to work with the NHS, including the NHS Centre for Equality and Human Rights and its third sector partners, to implement and monitor the standards through the national outcomes framework and a range of other approaches.

The NHS Centre for Equality and Human Rights hosts an all-Wales group with members representing NHS organisations and third sector sensory loss organisations, which have agreed priorities to enable NHS Wales to fully implement the standards. Full implementation is dependent on a number of projects currently underway, including the development of My Health Online. 

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What consideration has the Minister given to the introduction of a hearing screening programme for those aged 65 and over? (WAQ69542)

Answer received on 15 December 2015

Mark Drakeford:

The Welsh Government takes advice from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) which gives independent, expert advice to all UK Ministers about national population screening. 

The UK NSC has recently considered the introduction of a screening policy for hearing loss in adults and we expect its findings to be published shortly.