Written Assembly Questions tabled on 17 March 2014 for answer on 24 March 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 Health and Social Services

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): Will the Minister outline the action being taken to evaluate the Screening for Life campaign and its impact on cervical cancer screening uptake? (WAQ66587)

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): Will the Minister advise as to which cervical cancer charities have been involved in the development of the Screening for Life campaign and whether Public Health Wales are considering engagement with others, such as Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, in the future? (WAQ66588)

Answer recieved on 27 March 2014 (WAQ66587/8)

The Minister for Health and Social Services (Mark Drakeford): The Screening for Life campaign, undertaken for the first time last year, is designed to raise awareness of all national screening programmes.  Public Health Wales (PHW) has evaluated the effectiveness of the first campaign and the results of that evaluation will be used to inform future campaigns.   Trends in uptake will be monitored following this year’s campaign as part of the evaluation process.  Coverage rate for 2012/13 was *79.5% (women aged 25-64 years who had an adequate smear in last 5 years).

Public Health Wales worked with Jo’s Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support and Tenovus to develop the campaign.  Public Health Wales’ screening division continues to work closely with these organisations.  Staff are meeting Jo’s Trust this month to discuss partnership working for the year ahead.  

*Cervical Screening Wales, KC53/61/65 – 2012/13, available at: http://screeningservices.org/csw/prof/reports/index.asp

To ask the Minister for Natural Resources and Food

Russell George (Montgomeryshire): Will the Minister state what the consequences are for Natural Resources Wales staff who fail to abide by their own protocols regarding standards? (WAQ66589)

Answer recieved on 27 March 2014

The Minister for Natural Resources and Food (Alun Davies): This is a matter for NRW.