Written Assembly Questions tabled on 11 July 2014 for answer on 18 July 2014

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, Culture and Sport

Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Minister advise what measures are in place to ensure that all football coaches in Wales have up to date Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks? (WAQ67409)

Answer received on 22 July 2014

Minister for Natural Resources, Culture and Sport (John Griffiths): The safeguarding of junior players and vulnerable parties is taken very seriously by the FAW, who provide a considerable amount of support and guidance to clubs and coaches. At the start of each season every club and academy’s Safeguarding Officer has to submit the details of all their coaches, including formal DBS documentation, to the FAW via their Junior Football Portal. The information is then checked by the FAW Safeguarding Team and Welsh Football Trust prior to accreditation.

To ask the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty

Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Minister advise what measures the Welsh Government will undertake to meet their 2017 target for reducing digital exclusion after funding has finished for Communities 2.0 in March 2015? (WAQ67408)

Answer received on 15 July 2014 (Jeff Cuthbert):

• I am fully committed to tackling digital exclusion, as demonstrated by the challenging 2017 targets set out in the recently updated Digital Inclusion Delivery Plan. It is clear given the significant numbers of people that still do not use the internet that digital inclusion activities will need to continue beyond Communities 2.0. Options for future Welsh Government led digital inclusion support are currently being considered and an announcement will be made in due course. An independent evaluation of Communities 2.0 is ongoing which will inform this work.

• There are many examples of digital inclusion activities taking place across the public, private and third sectors in Wales both in partnership with and independently of Communities 2.0. Many of these were identified in the updated Digital Inclusion Delivery Plan. Successor activities to Communities 2.0 must build on this partnership approach; complement existing activities; and plug gaps where these are identified.

One of the key objectives of Communities 2.0 has been to embed sustainability so that key partner organisations and programmes that work with digitally excluded groups can continue to contribute to the digital inclusion of citizens as part of their normal delivery. These include local authorities, social housing providers, County Voluntary Councils, Job Centre Plus, libraries, disability organisations and Communities First Clusters. It is vital that Digital inclusion continues to be mainstreamed to ensure that as many organisations and individuals as possible contribute to the delivery of targets set out in the plan.

To ask the Minister for Education and Skills

Simon Thomas (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on the policy intention behind the Education (Small Schools) (Wales) Order 2014 and the maximum number of 91 pupils which is set for the purpose of defining a small school? (WAQ67407)

Answer received on 18 July 2014

Minister for Education and Skills (Huw Lewis): The Education (Wales) Measure 2011 provides that a small school will be defined in a Small Schools Order. The policy intention is to allow for a more streamlined process to facilitate the federation of small schools, recognising that exercising local authorities’ power to federate schools would generate much work for local authorities which maintain large numbers of small schools.

It also allows small schools to more easily take advantage of the opportunities federation offers, in terms of sharing best practice and resources for the benefit of all pupils and staff in the schools involved.

The Education (Small Schools) (Wales) Order 2014 defines a small school as one with fewer than 91 pupils. The Welsh Government originally consulted on proposals for a small school to be defined as having 100 pupils or less, in line with the number set out in the Government of Maintained Schools (Wales) Regulations 2005 requiring a smaller governing body.

However, consultation respondents considered that the number should be consistent with the definition of a small school used by HMI Estyn and the Wales Audit Office, which is a school with fewer than 91 pupils. The definition of a small school in the Small School Order was subsequently revised to reflect consultation responses.

Further details are in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Education (Wales) Measure and the Explanatory Memoranda which accompanies the Small School’s Order and the Federation of Maintained Schools (Wales) Regulations 2014, which can be accessed on the National Assembly for Wales website.

Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Minister advise what budget provisions are in place to allow for the current Welsh student subsidy scheme, particularly for those attending universities outside Wales from September 2014? (WAQ67412)

Answer received on 18 July 2014

Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty (Huw Lewis): Payments for the tuition fee grant are made by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales. The latest forecast suggest that the overall cost of the tuition fee grant for the academic year 2014/15 will be £227.5m and the cost for Welsh students studying in England will be £83.6m.

Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): What is the cost of the impact evaluation research paper on Jobs Growth Wales commissioned by the Welsh Government and currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI? (WAQ67415)

Answer received on 18 July 2014

Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology (Ken Skates): To date the impact evaluation research paper, which is currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI has cost £101,202.30.

The primary research for the impact evaluation research paper was completed in October 2013 and will be published in September 2014.

The primary data collected for this evaluation so far was obtained through a combination of qualitative research (e.g. in-depth telephone interviews with young people and employer, case studies) and quantitative research (including telephone surveys with participants, unsuccessful applicants and employers). Whilst the publication of primary data is not planned, much of the analysis of this data will be presented in the report that we will published in September 2014.

Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): When was the primary research completed for the impact evaluation research paper on Jobs Growth Wales commissioned by the Welsh Government and currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI? (WAQ67416)

Answer received on 18 July 2014

Ken Skates: To date the impact evaluation research paper, which is currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI has cost £101,202.30.

The primary research for the impact evaluation research paper was completed in October 2013 and will be published in September 2014.

The primary data collected for this evaluation so far was obtained through a combination of qualitative research (e.g. in-depth telephone interviews with young people and employer, case studies) and quantitative research (including telephone surveys with participants, unsuccessful applicants and employers). Whilst the publication of primary data is not planned, much of the analysis of this data will be presented in the report that we will published in September 2014.

Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): Will the Minister be publishing the impact evaluation research paper on Jobs Growth Wales commissioned by the Welsh Government and currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI? (WAQ67417)

Answer received on 18 July 2014

Ken Skates: To date the impact evaluation research paper, which is currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI has cost £101,202.30.

The primary research for the impact evaluation research paper was completed in October 2013 and will be published in September 2014.

The primary data collected for this evaluation so far was obtained through a combination of qualitative research (e.g. in-depth telephone interviews with young people and employer, case studies) and quantitative research (including telephone surveys with participants, unsuccessful applicants and employers). Whilst the publication of primary data is not planned, much of the analysis of this data will be presented in the report that we will published in September 2014.

Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): What is the expected publication date for the impact evaluation research paper on Jobs Growth Wales commissioned by the Welsh Government and currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI? (WAQ67418)

Answer received on 18 July 2014

Ken Skates: To date the impact evaluation research paper, which is currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI has cost £101,202.30.

The primary research for the impact evaluation research paper was completed in October 2013 and will be published in September 2014.

The primary data collected for this evaluation so far was obtained through a combination of qualitative research (e.g. in-depth telephone interviews with young people and employer, case studies) and quantitative research (including telephone surveys with participants, unsuccessful applicants and employers). Whilst the publication of primary data is not planned, much of the analysis of this data will be presented in the report that we will published in September 2014.

Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): Will the Minister publish the raw primary data collected by Ipsos MORI for its impact evaluation research paper on Jobs Growth Wales commissioned by the Welsh Government? (WAQ67419)

Answer received on 18 July 2014

Ken Skates: To date the impact evaluation research paper, which is currently being finalised by Ipsos MORI has cost £101,202.30.

The primary research for the impact evaluation research paper was completed in October 2013 and will be published in September 2014.

The primary data collected for this evaluation so far was obtained through a combination of qualitative research (e.g. in-depth telephone interviews with young people and employer, case studies) and quantitative research (including telephone surveys with participants, unsuccessful applicants and employers). Whilst the publication of primary data is not planned, much of the analysis of this data will be presented in the report that we will published in September 2014.

To ask the Minister for Finance

Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Minister advise under what criteria would a local authority be able to disregard the standard procurement procedures as determined by the Welsh Government procurement policy statement? (WAQ67410)

Answer received on 18 July 2014

Minister for Finance (Jane Hutt): I announced the Wales Procurement Policy Statement in December 2012 and made it clear I did not consider adoption of the policies to be optional.

Every council has confirmed their commitment to adopt the principles of the Policy.

Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of the Barnett consequentials the Welsh Government has received as a result of the childcare policy announcements over the current Parliament and in which budgetary year this money was or will be received? (WAQ67413)

Answer received on 22 July 2014

Jane Hutt: The table below sets out the Barnett consequentials the Welsh Government has received as a result of the childcare policy announcements over the current Parliament.

Other childcare policy announcements impact the tax and benefits systems and do not generate Barnett consequentials.

Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): How much Barnett consequential has the Welsh Government received as a result of the Growth Deals announcement by the UK Government and in which budgetary year was or will this money be received? (WAQ67414)

Answer received on 22 July 2014

Jane Hutt: As part of the 2013 Spending Round the UK Government announced the creation of a Single Local Growth Fund of £2 billion in 2015-16. This fund is sourced from a variety of departmental budgets including transport, skills and housing budgets. Any funding within those departmental budgets would have been linked to our overall settlement arising from that Spending Round. The individual settlements are not broken down below the UK departmental level.

Since that announcement the UK Government has detailed other measures, in the 2013 Autumn Statement, which link to the Single Growth Fund. These included an increase in Housing Revenue Account borrowing limits; the Large Sites Scheme an investment programme to fund infrastructure to unlock new large housing sites; and £110m from the Regional Growth Fund.

Of these schemes only the Large Sites scheme generates Barnett consequentials, £2.9m in 2014-15 and £12.3m in 2015-16. These consequentials are ring-fenced for use in financial transactions and will need to be repaid to the UK Government.

Other elements of recent Growth Deals announcement by the UK Government extend beyond the current spending period.

To ask the Minister for Local Government and Government Business

Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Minister advise on the number of Freedom of Information requests received by local authorities that were not responded to within the prescribed time limits, broken down by local authority area? (WAQ67411)