Written Assembly Questions tabled on 13 November 2013 for answer on 20 November 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 Economy, Science and Transport
Alun Ffred Jones (Arfon): What are the terms of referne, or mission statement, for Finance Wales’ regional offices? (WAQ65900)
Answer received on 15 November 2013
Edwina Hart: Finance Wales' Mission Statement is:
"To maintain our position as the UK's leading SME fund manager, delivering commercial investments from public and private funds to support and encourage SME growth and create sustainable businesses in Wales, fully aligned with Welsh Government policies"
This is delivered through Finance Wales' network of offices located across Wales.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Further to WAQ65712, will the Minister detail what help will be available through Access Broadband Cymru to aid farmers with little or no broadband access? (WAQ65915)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Ken Skates: The Access Broadband Cymru scheme will complement the roll-out of the Superfast Cymru programme. The scheme is available for small businesses, residents, third sector organisations and communities which cannot achieve broadband speeds of greater than 2Mbps by supporting them to obtain a broadband connection using the most appropriate technology.
Those areas likely to benefit from the Access Broadband Cymru scheme are not in easily identifiable areas and are not necessarily in the deep rural areas that may be expected so communications activity will not focus on any particular geographic area.
The scheme offers a Welsh Government funded grant up to a maximum of £1,000 per property in Wales.
To ask the Minister for Education and Skills
Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): How many students were entered for Modern Foreign Languages at GCSE and A level for each year since 2005 and will the Minister provide a breakdown by language? (WAQ65899)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Huw Lewis: The answer is given separately for schools and all other providers in the tables below.
As data are from different data sources and based on different definitions they should not be aggregated.
To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): By local health board and staff type, what was the total number of mental health practitioners (FTE) in the Welsh NHS in each of the past 3 years? (WAQ65901)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Mark Drakeford:The numbers of mental health practitioners in the Welsh NHS are set out in the attached table.
The staff types have been summarised by the following four groups:
- Consultant
- Medical and Dental Staff (M&D Staff) – all other practitioners in the medical and dental staff group
- Registered Nurses – All nursing staff who are Agenda for Change band 5 and above
- Support Staff – All nursing staff who are Agenda for Change band 4 and below
The data provided is grouped together according to the sub specialties in the area of mental health listed in:
Medical and Dental Nursing
Child & adolescent psychiatry Community Learning Disabilities
Forensic Psychiatry Community Psychiatry
General psychiatry Learning Disabilities
Old age Psychiatry Old age Psychiatry
Psychiatry of learning disability
Psychotherapy
Please note, the table does not include information about mental health staff working outside the medical, nursing and support staff groups (for example, psychotherapists in the scientific, therapeutic and technical staff group).
| Organisation | Summary Grade | Sum of FTE (Contracted) | | |
| | | 2011-SEP | 2012-SEP | 2013-SEP |
| ABMU LHB | Consultant | 36.4 | 33.8 | 37.3 |
| M&D Staff | 63.7 | 66.0 | 63.0 | |
| Registered Nurses | 831.8 | 814.0 | 807.2 | |
| Support Staff | 664.2 | 675.6 | 676.7 | |
| ABMU LHB Total | 1596.0 | 1589.5 | 1584.2 |
| Organisation | Summary Grade | Sum of FTE (Contracted) | | |
| | | 2011-SEP | 2012-SEP | 2013-SEP |
| ABMU LHB | Consultant | 36.4 | 33.8 | 37.3 |
| M&D Staff | 63.7 | 66.0 | 63.0 | |
| Registered Nurses | 831.8 | 814.0 | 807.2 | |
| Support Staff | 664.2 | 675.6 | 676.7 | |
| ABMU LHB Total | 1596.0 | 1589.5 | 1584.2 | |
| Aneurin Bevan LHB | Consultant | 35.5 | 37.2 | 33.8 |
| M&D Staff | 44.8 | 44.0 | 41.5 | |
| Registered Nurses | 560.4 | 569.3 | 558.9 | |
| Support Staff | 396.5 | 396.8 | 400.3 | |
| Aneurin Bevan LHB Total | 1037.1 | 1047.4 | 1034.5 | |
| Betsi Cadwaladr ULHB | Consultant | 55.2 | 55.7 | 60.1 |
| M&D Staff | 42.9 | 45.5 | 45.9 | |
| Registered Nurses | 843.9 | 860.5 | 852.6 | |
| Support Staff | 569.0 | 572.3 | 540.1 | |
| Betsi Cadwaladr ULHB Total | 1510.9 | 1534.0 | 1498.6 | |
| Cardiff & Vale LHB | Consultant | 23.5 | 22.3 | 26.4 |
| M&D Staff | 55.6 | 51.1 | 55.7 | |
| Registered Nurses | 487.2 | 504.9 | 503.7 | |
| Support Staff | 411.4 | 414.0 | 416.7 | |
| Cardiff & Vale LHB Total | 977.6 | 992.3 | 1002.5 | |
| Cwm Taf LHB | Consultant | 31.0 | 29.9 | 32.6 |
| M&D Staff | 42.7 | 41.3 | 40.7 | |
| Registered Nurses | 357.1 | 354.2 | 356.5 | |
| Support Staff | 184.9 | 173.5 | 172.0 | |
| Cwm Taf LHB Total | 615.7 | 598.9 | 601.7 | |
| Hywel Dda LHB | Consultant | 19.8 | 17.5 | 16.5 |
| M&D Staff | 30.4 | 31.0 | 30.2 | |
| Registered Nurses | 378.1 | 366.9 | 368.3 | |
| Support Staff | 267.2 | 251.3 | 243.5 | |
| Hywel Dda LHB Total | 695.5 | 666.7 | 658.5 | |
| Powys LHB | Consultant | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.2 |
| Registered Nurses | 20.8 | 20.1 | 20.7 | |
| Support Staff | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | |
| Powys LHB Total | 27.7 | 27.2 | 27.7 | |
| Velindre Trust | Consultant | 1.0 | ||
| Velindre Trust Total | 1.0 |
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): What action is the Welsh Government taking to monitor its commitment to ringfence mental health spending by Welsh health boards? (WAQ65902)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Mark Drakeford: NHS organisations provide detailed financial monitoring information on a regular basis and the ring fenced position is monitored through this process.
Action 18.2 of the Together for Mental Health Delivery Plan commits the Welsh Government to commissioning a review of the effectiveness of the Mental Health Ring Fence by the end of 2015: it would be premature of me to speculate on the outcome of that exercise at this time. However, I am determined to ensure that Mental Health Services receive the priority they deserve within LHB budgets and do not suffer disproportionately as the pressure on other services mounts. The current ring fence arrangements provides an important level of protection that I would be reluctant to lose.
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): Will the Minister make a statement on the number of trainee posts made available in Wales in each of the past 5 years for those wishing to develop a career as mental health clinicians? (WAQ65903)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Mark Drakeford: The Wales Deanery has provided the following information which sets out the number of training posts advertised and the number that were filled across Wales for the years 2008 to 2013.
| 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | |
| Core Psychiatry | | | | | | |
| Post Advertised | 24 | 21 | 36 | 32 | 48 | 16 |
| Post Filled | 18 | 8 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 11 |
| Higher Speciality Training | | | | | | |
| Post Advertised | 10 | 8 | 6 | |||
| Post Filled | 10 | 8 | 6 |
Darren Millar (Clwyd West): Will the Minister make a statement on nurse training bursaries in Wales? (WAQ65904)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Mark Drakeford: The Welsh Government recognises the value of a sustainable workforce providing healthcare across Wales. One of the ways we support this is through the NHS Wales Bursary Scheme which provides support to students on pre-registration health professional training. The scheme was revised in 2012, moving from non-means tested to means-tested. The review resulted in two schemes running in parallel, one scheme for students who commenced their studies prior to 2012 and another for those who commenced on or after September 2012.
The revised student bursary arrangements provide a basic award together with a range of allowances, including support to disabled students and those with dependent adults and children. These arrangements mean that all healthcare students are treated the same and those with the lowest incomes are able to access the most support.
When the revised scheme was introduced, the Welsh Government agreed to undertake an evaluation of the impact of the revised arrangements. Now that the scheme has been in place for a complete year we will be undertaking this piece of work, which will also need to take account of the wider review of HE funding and student finance announced yesterday by the Minister for Education and Skills.
To ask the Minister for Natural Resources and Food
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): When will the evaluation process of Abergavenny Food Festival be complete? (WAQ65905)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies: The Evaluation of Food Festivals in Wales 2013-14 is ongoing as the calendar of events continues until mid December 2013, the final evaluation report will be completed as soon as practicable in 2014.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Since the launch of Arbed, how many people annually have been trained for jobs in the industry under the Arbed scheme? (WAQ65906)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies: Arbed phase 1 was launched in 2010 and over 50 unemployed people were helped to find training and employment as part of the scheme. Arbed 2 ERDF started in April 2012 and will run for 3 years with employment and training targets set for the whole life of the project. To date the scheme has generated 379 new jobs, exceeding the overall project target of 248, and 66 weeks of training per million of investment, which exceeds the contract target of 52 weeks.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): What community benefits does the Minister expect to see through drawing down money for the new energy company obligation? (WAQ65907)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies: Investment by the energy companies from the energy company obligation, ECO, is focused on meeting carbon reduction targets with as minimal an investment as possible rather than on delivering wider community benefits. However, Welsh Government is working with partners in Wales, including local authorities, to look at ways in which we can generate community benefits from ECO. It is not possible at this stage to say precisely what the benefits will be as they will be specific to each ECO funded project.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Regarding the Ynni’r Fro scheme, what has been the total amount spent on individual project development, broken down by financial year since the schemes inception? (WAQ65908)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies:
| Total spend | |
| 2010-11 | £438,540.94 |
| 2011-12 | £425,718.18 |
| 2012-13 | £475,255.44 |
| 2013-14 | £354,286.62 |
Source: Energy Saving Trust
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Regarding the Ynni’r Fro scheme, what has been the total amount spent on promotion, broken down by financial year since the schemes inception? (WAQ65909)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies:
2010/11 - £323.90
2011/12 - £750
2012/13 - £0
2013/14 - £0
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): How long has the Ynni’r Fro project been in re-evaluation by the Welsh European Funding Office? (WAQ65910)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies: Ynni’r Fro moved into a “re-evaluation” state in May 2013
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Regarding the Ynni’r Fro scheme, what has been the total amount spent on support offices, broken down by financial year since the schemes inception? (WAQ65911)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies: Welsh Government does not keep a record of the office costs element of the Ynni'r Fro programme.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): For farmers in areas with limited broadband access, will manual alternatives to Rural Payments Wales (RPW) Online and the Single Application Form (SAF) be available after January 2015? (WAQ65912)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies: Yes.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Further to WAQ65852, of the (a) 127 hectares of private woodland and (b) 328 hectares of Welsh Government woodland which was identified by SPHNs to be treated or felled, what percentage received such treatment within 6 months of the SPHN issue date? (WAQ65913)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies AM: None of this area has been felled or treated within 6 months of the issue of an SPHN.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Further to WAQ65852, what percentage of the total area of infected larch within the Welsh Government Woodland estate, does the 328 hectares identified to be felled or treated by SPHNs comprise? (WAQ65914)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies AM: The 328 hectares referred to is 6.6% of the total area of infected larch on the Welsh Government woodland estate.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Further to WAQ65833, what issues does the Minister identify in using six-year old data to inform the selection of the Intensive Action Area (IAA)? (WAQ65916)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies: I identify no issues in using this data which confirmed the presence of bovine TB in badgers in the IAA.
Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Further In the Minister’s response to WAQ65364, the Minister confirmed that information regarding the compliance audit carried out in September would be available by the end of September, can the Minister confirm whether that information is now available and, if so, can the Minister provide details? (WAQ65917)
Answer received on 21 November 2013
Alun Davies AM: I confirm that the survey was carried out by Natural Resources Wales in September 2013 and details are as follows: 5,777 hectares of larch was found to be infected and the area felled or otherwise suitably treated is 1,693 hectares.