Written Assembly Questions tabled on 9 February 2015 for answer on 16 February 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

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister please provide a breakdown, per financial, year of the number of planning call-in requests made by his department during the fourth Assembly? (WAQ68336)

Answer received on 17 February 2015

The Minister for Natural Resources (Carl Sargeant): There have been no call-in requests made by my department within the fourth Assembly term.

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister please provide a breakdown, per financial year, of the number of planning call-in requests rejected by his department during the fourth Assembly? (WAQ68337)

Answer received on 17 February 2015

Carl Sargeant: My department declined to call in 25 planning applications in the financial year 2011-12, 30 in 2012-2013, 24 in 2013-2014 and 24 in 2014-2015.

To ask the Minister for Public Services

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister please detail how many meetings she has had with Bangor Women's Aid and Domestic Violence in Home Services South Gwynedd since entering office? (WAQ68340)

Answer received on 17 February 2015

The Minister for Public Services (Leighton Andrews): Neither I nor my officials have had any meetings with Bangor Women's Aid or De Gwynedd Domestic Abuse Services since I became Minister for Public Services.  Both organisations are, however, members of Welsh Women's Aid, who represent local Women's Aid groups.  I have met the Chief Executive of Welsh Women's Aid a number of times since entering office and my officials engage frequently with the organisation.

To ask the Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister detail what support is being given to libraries faced with the prospect of closure by local authorities? (WAQ68338)

Answer received on 19 February 2015

The Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism (Ken Skates): My officials in CyMAL provide advice to library services on professional issues. Following my Plenary Statement on 9 December 2014, a range of guidance is being prepared to support the development of sustainable models of library services, including the establishment of community managed libraries, the establishment of trusts and the statutory nature of provision of the public library service. CyMAL also provides advice on possible sources of funding for local community groups which are considering taking over a local library.

Local authority public library services providing a statutory service are able to apply for capital funding to establish co-located community hubs under the Community Learning Libraries scheme which has a budget of £1 million in 2015/2016.

The Welsh Government remains committed to working in partnership with local authorities to ensure the statutory delivery of comprehensive and efficient library services across Wales

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister please detail what measures are being taken/have been taken to improve road safety on the A465 Heads of the Valleys Road in Hirwaun? (WAQ68341)

Answer received on 13 February 2015

The Minister for Economy, Science and Transport (Edwina Hart): The Welsh Government is committed to the safety of all road users.
There are currently average speed cameras in place and there are proposals for the dualling of this section.

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Will the Minister detail the outcome of any discussions her department has had regarding the cost of upgrading the A55 in North Wales to motorway standard? (WAQ68342)

Answer received on 13 February 2015

Edwina Hart: Upgrading of the 129km of the A55 to motorway standard would be a multi-billion pound project.  Works would take an estimated 10 years to complete and, due to the need to work on live carriageways, would be far more disruptive than the current proposed works.

To ask the Minister for Finance and Government Business

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Will the Minister outline how much was raised by landfill tax in Wales in each of the last 4 financial years? (WAQ68343)

Answer received on 13 February 2015

The Minister for Finance and Government Business (Jane Hutt): HMRC publish statistical estimates of how much landfill tax is raised in Wales. These statistics were most recently published on 1 October 2014, and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/disaggregation-of-hmrc-tax-receipts.

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Will the Minister outline what projects in Wales have benefitted as a result of landfill tax raises in each of the last 4 financial years? (WAQ68344)

Answer received no 12 February 2015

Jane Hutt: A list of all the projects in Wales that have benefitted from Landfill Tax revenues is available on Entrust's website, www.entrust.org.uk/projects 

To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services

Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that all premises are displaying the food hygiene ratings posters? (WAQ68345)

Answer received on 19 February 2015

The Deputy Minister for Health (Vaughan Gething): The statutory Food Hygiene Rating Scheme operating in Wales is enforced by local authorities who inspect and rate relevant food businesses. 

The Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 and associated Regulations give local authorities sufficient powers to take action against those food businesses that do not display their hygiene rating stickers in accordance with the law. Local authorities can issue fixed penalty notices for not displaying a valid food hygiene rating sticker and can take further legal action if necessary. There were 43 fixed penalty notices served by local authorities in the first year of the statutory scheme.

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister please detail what communication he has had, if any, with the Cardiff Alcohol and Drug Team? (WAQ68339)

Answer received on 19 February 2015

Vaughan Gething: I, as Deputy Minister for Health, who has particular responsibility for substance misuse, have responded to correspondence from a member of the Cardiff Alcohol and Drug Team. I have also written to Cardiff City Council to reiterate the importance of working closely with the Cardiff and Vale Substance Misuse Area Planning Board to mitigate the potential impact on services and service users as a result of the local authority’s consultation on its budget for the 2015-16 financial year.