Written Assembly Questions tabled on 5 December 2013 for answer on 12 December 2013

R - Signifies the Member has declared an interest.
W - Signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

(Self identifying Question no. shown in brackets)

To ask the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister indicate, of the wage contribution promised to Enterprise Employment in Wrexham, how much has been paid to date (December 2013)? (WAQ66070)

Answer received on 17 December 2013

Jeff Cuthbert AM: To date, £53,377.52 of Employer Support Grant funding has been paid to Enterprising Employment (Wrexham) Limited.  
The amount of grant paid depends on how much the business pays its employees whose posts the grant supports.  The grant is available for posts offered to disabled former Remploy staff who lost their jobs through the UK Government's decision to close Remploy factories in 2012/13.  The maximum award period is for four years.  The grant is paid retrospectively, and only if the business provides evidence of expenditure having been defrayed in accordance with the grant rules. 

To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What steps have the Welsh Government taken in order to improve treatment rates of hepatitis C in Wales? (WAQ66067)

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What impact has the 2010 Blood Borne Viral Hepatitis Action Plan had on improving the treatment and care of patients with hepatitis C? (WAQ66068)

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What steps does the Minister plan to take to improve the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C amongst the homeless community? (WAQ66069)

Answer received on 17 December 2013 (WAQ66067 - 69)

The Minister for Health and Social Services (Mark Drakeford): Since introduction of the Blood Borne Viral Hepatitis Action Plan for Wales, all Health Boards with hepatitis treatment centres in Wales now have a designated clinical lead to take forward local implementation. Additional clinical nurse specialists and other support staff have been recruited to take forward service development. The establishment of these clinical teams, alongside other work undertaken to raise awareness of the disease amongst at risk groups and offering better training opportunities for healthcare and other relevant staff, is having a positive impact on services across Wales.

Collection of activity data for treatment centres started in 2011 and is published by Public Health Wales.  This indicates that in 2011, over 600 individuals were referred to specialist services for assessment for hepatitis C infection and nearly 200 individuals were commenced on treatment. Data for 2012 is currently being collated and will be published in due course.

The clinical networks set up under the Action Plan have established links with a range of local agencies which homeless people and others in hard to reach groups are able to access. These include third sector organisations, statutory and non-statutory substance misuse services and housing services.

To ask the Minister for Local Government and Government Business

Mohammad Asghar (South Wales East): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of the £6,680,508 provided to Newport City Council from the Welsh Government in relation to equal pay compensation claims? (WAQ66066)

Answer received on 17 December 2013

Lesley Griffiths: The Welsh Government has not provided funding to Newport City Council  to settle equal pay compensation payments.

To ask the Minister for Finance

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Following the postponing of the release of the Annual Report on Farm Incomes in Wales, originally due November 28th, will the Minister confirm when a report can now be expected to be released? (WAQ66062)

Answer received on 11 December 2013

The Minister for Finance and Government Business (Jane Hutt): The Farm Incomes in Wales 2012-13 statistical release will be published on 21st January 2014. The initial postponement of this statistical release, and the confirmed new publication date, has been announced on the Welsh Government’s website in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, under the responsibility of the Welsh Government’s Chief Statistician.

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Following the postponing of the release of the Annual Report on Farm Incomes in Wales, originally due November 28th, will the Minister confirm when the errors in source data were first identified? (WAQ66063)

Answer received on 11 December 2013

Jane Hutt: The decision to postpone the Farm Incomes in Wales 2012-13 statistical release was made following the identification of errors in part of the source data on the 21st November 2013. The decision to postpone this statistical release was made by the Chief Statistician in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

To ask the Minister for Natural Resources and Food

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): How many grant applications for the Badger Vaccination Grant have been successful so far? (WAQ66064)

Answer received on 10 December 2013

Alun Davies: Applications received before 13 December 2013 will be appraised in January.

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): How many expressions of interest has there been in the Badger Vaccination Grant so far? (WAQ66065)

Answer received on 10 December 2013

Alun Davies: Application forms are available by request only and, as of 10 December 2013, thirteen application forms have been sent out to potential applicants.