Answers issued to Members on 16 July 2007
[R] signifies that the Member has declared an interest.[W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.Contents
Questions to the Minister for the Economy and Transport
Questions to the Minister for Education, Culture and the Welsh Language
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Questions to the Minister for Sustainability and Rural Development
Questions to the Minister for the Economy and Transport
Jonathan Morgan (Cardiff North): Will the Minister list the top 10 public sector employers, in terms of numbers employed, in Wales according to figures held be his department and will he detail the numbers involved in tabular form? (WAQ50196)
The Minister for the Economy and Transport (Brian Gibbons): The ranking of public sector employers in terms of numbers employed depends on the level of organisational breakdown used. For example, as at September 2006, the NHS in Wales directly employed 71,000 staff (on a full-time equivalent basis), arguably making it the single biggest public sector employer in Wales. However this figure could be split between individual Trusts, Local Health Boards, and Business Service Centres.On a combined basis, the local authorities in Wales employed 129,000 staff as at March 2007 (full-time equivalents). This figure is sourced from the Office for National Statistics; details for individual local authorities from this source cannot be released. However, other sources show that the Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taff authorities are the biggest employers amongst the Welsh local authorities.
Together, the NHS and local authorities account for the bulk of public sector employment in Wales. The rest are mostly Civil Servants or employees of the police service and various public corporations. There were 34,000 Civil Servants in Wales as at September 2006 (full-time equivalents). The Welsh Assembly Government accounted for around 6,000 of these. The other big Civil Service employers in Wales are the Department for Work and Pensions (6,000), Department for Transport (6,000) and HM Revenue and Customs (5,000).
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): What is the Minister doing to encourage entrepreneurship? (WAQ50199)
Brian Gibbons: The Welsh Assembly Government provides a wide range of support for entrepreneurs in Wales including pre-start support, general and specialist advice, mentoring and access to finance and investment. Expert assistance is also available in a number of important areas such as ICT, supply chain development, tendering for public sector contracts, tourism businesses, export, international business and key sectors. Business Eye provides a simple and convenient way for entrepreneurs to access this support. In addition to this, a number of initiatives in the field of enterprise education and knowledge transfer are helping to build a sustainable entrepreneurial culture for future generations in Wales.
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): What steps is the Minister taking to encourage greater public transport us in South Wales Central? (WAQ50200)
Brian Gibbons: We are supporting the work of the South East Wales Transport Alliance (Sewta) financially and in our legislation. Sewta has the responsibility to produce a Region Transport Plan that will deliver on the outcomes in the Wales Transport Strategy. Among these are better accessibility to employment, healthcare and other services. Bus and rail strategies have been developed for the Sewta region. Planned improvements in the rail infrastructure in South Wales Central are included in my answer to WAQ50203.
More specifically for buses our concessionary fares policy has helped turn around a long-term decline in the industry. Over 133,000 concessionary bus passes have been issued in Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Vale of Glamorgan. Local authorities in South Wales Central have been allocated over £1.7m in 2007-2008 to subsidise buses and community transport. In addition community transport projects in Rhondda Cynon Taf (ACT and Travol) and Cardiff (VEST) have been awarded more than £602,000 over 3 years to improve accessibility for severely disabled people on community transport. I am also providing £100,000 each year to support the Cardiff Bay Express bus service.
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): What discussions has the Minister had regarding the Visit Wales Website? (WAQ50201)
Brian Gibbons: To date, I have not had any specific discussions about the Visit Wales website. I am aware that there have been issues regarding the site and that Visit Wales has an ongoing programme to review the site, working in partnership with the Wales Tourism Alliance.
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister give details of any plans he has to improve the transport infrastructure in South Wales Central? (WAQ50203)
Brian Gibbons: We have a number of significant projects planned to make improvements to both road and rail transport infrastructure in South Wales Central as well as allocating £32.321 million of Transport Grant to the local authorities in the region.
We are funding a number of improvements to road infrastructure in the area. Some of these include constructing a new junction on the A449 adjacent to Celtic Manor, creating a new strategic public transport hub at the proposed International Business Park development at Junction 33 of the M4, and widening the M4 between Junctions 29 and 32. In addition, we have appointed consultants to investigate transport options for improving access to Cardiff International Airport and the METRIX development at St Athan.
We plan to make a number of improvements to rail infrastructure. For example, we have a £13.2 million project which includes extension of 23 platforms in South Wales Central to accommodate the future operation of longer trains, as well as an £18.8m project to increase the frequency of services between Pontypridd and Merthyr from hourly to half hourly.
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on the coordination of transport plans and tourism strategies to develop Wales as a sustainable tourism destination of choice? (WAQ50216)
Brian Gibbons: Achieving Our Potential 2006-13 (the national tourism strategy) identified as a strategic priority the need to encourage initiatives that increase the use of public transport by visitors to and within Wales. Specific actions identified included encouraging public transport providers to develop services and packages that attract more leisure travel to and within Wales and the promotion of public transport through Visit Wales marketing campaigns and web site.
Connecting Wales (the draft Wales Transport Strategy) identified as one of its key outcomes improving access to key visitor attractions and has proposed the development of travel plans for such key attractions. It also recognises that supporting walking and cycling is essential to both transport and tourism strategies, in particular long distance footpaths and cycleways are tourist attractions in their own right and can reinforce Wales’ image as a sustainable tourism destination. The role that tourism can play in supporting transport infrastructure such as the Heart of Wales line or the long distance Traws Cambria buses is also acknowledged.
The Assembly Government engages with a wide range of transport and tourism parties to take forward this work area.
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on the progress the Welsh Assembly Government has made to the establishment of a fifth train on the Heart of Wales line? (WAQ50217)
Brian Gibbons: My officials have been working with the Heart of Wales Line Forum and Arriva Trains Wales on a number of options for potential improvements to the Heart of Wales Line, including an additional return journey—Monday to Saturday, refurbished rolling stock and Community Rail designation. This work will be concluded during the Autumn to enable decision making.
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on promoting the Heart of Wales railway line as part of tourism offered by Visit Wales? (WAQ50218)
Brian Gibbons: The Heart of Wales line is promoted in tourism brochures supported by Visit Wales. This includes the 2007 Carmarthenshire brochure—featuring the Brecon Beacons—which advertises the line in its travel section as does the Pembrokeshire brochure promoting it as one of the most picturesque routes in Wales. Visit Wales also funds Tourism Partnership Mid Wales which has a web site (www.gomidwales.co.uk) link to the Heart of Wales Line web site which provides an animated tour of the line.
Christopher Franks (South Wales Central): Further to the Minister’s answer to WAQ50137, will he list details of what the £40 million, invested in Barry since 1994, has been invested in? (WAQ50220)
Brian Gibbons: The Partnership between ABP, DE&T (including former WDA) and the Vale of Glamorgan Council has supported a variety of projects since 1994 in the Greater Barry Area, which predominately covers the Town Centre, Waterfront and Barry Island. This investment has also secured funding from other sources and includes European Regional Development Fund, Assembly Government Physical Regeneration Fund and Local Regeneration Fund.
The investment in Barry since April 1994 to March 2006 through the partnership can be summarised as follows.
| WDA | £27,321,000 |
| DE&T | £792,000 |
VoG |
£13,512,000 |
| Assembly Government & Other Funding Streams | £5,676,000 |
Lottery |
£1,394,000 |
Total Investment |
£48,695,000 |
A large volume of projects have been undertaken by the partnership in the following subject areas. This is a mix of public and private sector supported projects.
Feasibility / Strategies |
£2,013,000 |
Building Improvements |
£7,074,000 |
Land Acquisitions |
£9,691,000 |
Landscape Works |
£2,336,000 |
Site Development |
£10,254,000 |
Town Infrastructure |
£860,000 |
Marketing |
£259,000 |
Support for VoG |
£6,821,000 |
Other WDA Activities |
£9,387,000 |
Total Investment |
£48,695,000 |
This long-term investment has made Barry more attractive to developers and will ultimately secure over £250 million of private sector investment, residential units, and create a variety employment and commercial opportunities with the disposal of the Joint Initiative interests of ABP and Assembly Government.
Questions to the Minister for Education, Culture and the Welsh Language
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): What assessment has the Minister made on how sports facilities in South Wales Central will benefit from the 2012 Olympics? (WAQ50213)
The Minister for Education, Culture and the Welsh Language (Carwyn Jones): The Wales Unit for the 2012 Games located in the Welsh Assembly Government, together with the Sports Council for Wales and local authority partners, has been supporting sports facilities from across Wales in registering their interest in hosting Pre Games Training Camps with the London Organising Committee for the Games (LOCOG). LOCOG will produce an official UK wide Pre Games Training Guide in 2008 and they will have the final decision as to which facilities are included.
To proactively support the marketing of the 'Wales offer’ to the world, the Welsh Assembly Government has published a brochure entitled '2012 Starts Here’. The Welsh facilities that responded to the LOCOG registration process have been included and many are located in South Wales Central. The First Minister has issued letters and brochures to the Presidents of National Olympic and National Paralympic Committees in target countries across the world inviting them to take a closer look at Wales at the appropriate time in their planning cycles.
It should also be remembered that the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff will be an Olympic competition venue in 2012, hosting a part of the football tournament. Sports facilities in South Wales Central will also play a key role in the delivery of other forthcoming major events, including the UK School Games in 2009 and the Ashes Test in Cardiff in the same year.
Irene James (Islwyn): How many pupils in Islwyn receive Welsh medium education? (WAQ50215)
Carwyn Jones: The January 2006 School Census showed 406 pupils in primary schools classes in Islwyn where Welsh is sole or main medium of instruction (representing 6 per cent of all pupils in primary schools in Islwyn).
There were also 1,140 pupils on roll at the one Welsh speaking secondary school in Islwyn (19 per cent of all pupils in secondary schools in Islwyn).
Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister give details of the number of physiotherapists in Wales for each year since 2002? (WAQ50207)
The Minister for Health and Social Services (Edwina Hart): Statistics concerning the number and whole-time equivalent of physiotherapy staff in post can be found on the StatsWales site:http://www.statswales.wales.gov.uk/ReportFolders/reportfolders.aspx?IF_ActivePath=P,280,1274,3596,3608
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister make a statement on levels of investment in physiotherapy in Wales? (WAQ50208)
Edwina Hart: Since 1999 there has been a significant increase in investment in undergraduate physiotherapy training and the number of qualified physiotherapy posts available in Wales has risen by 23 per cent.
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): What action is the Minister taking to tackle unemployment levels amongst physiotherapy graduates in Wales? (WAQ50209)
Edwina Hart: The Assembly Government actively encourages NHS employers to create employment opportunities for graduates.
This will be further supported by Workforce Development Unit led All Wales working group. The unit will monitor graduate employment across all professions trained in Wales, identify potential problems, disseminate examples of innovative practice and new ways of employing graduates.
Andrew R.T. Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister make a statement on recruitment of physiotherapists in South Wales Central? (WAQ50211)
Edwina Hart: The staffing compliment in the area has risen significantly over the last ten years and vacancy rates are very low.
There are more than 1,700 physiotherapy staff working in NHS Wales (source StatsWales)
Nearly a quarter of these work in the South Wales Central area, primarily in Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust.Questions to the Minister for Sustainability and Rural Development
Rhodri Glyn Thomas (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): What consideration has the Minister given during recent years to call in the Pencader Wind Farm application? (WAQ50224)
The Minister for Sustainability and Rural Development (Jane Davidson): The Assembly Government has received four separate requests to call in an application for a wind farm at Blaengwen, Pencader. The first two were received in August and November 2005 and the Assembly Government decided against calling in the application. The planning authority refused permission for the wind farm in November 2005 and a new application was later submitted which was again the subject of a call-in request in March 2007. The Assembly Government decided against calling in that application in the same month. The most recent call-in request was received in July 2007 but raised no issues that warranted the Assembly Government reversing its earlier non-intervention decision.
Rhodri Glyn Thomas (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr): What consideration has the Minister given during recent years to call in the Betws Wind Farm application? (WAQ50225)
Jane Davidson: One request to call in this application was received by the Assembly Government in July 2007, and is currently under consideration by officials.