Written Assembly Questions tabled on 17 March 2016 for answer on 24 March 2016
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 First Minister
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the First Minister outline support provided by the Welsh Government to organisations which encourage the use of Welsh language outside of the classroom? (WAQ70146)
Answer received on 30 March 2016
The First Minister (Carwyn Jones):
Welsh Government is committed to supporting organisations which encourage the use of Welsh language outside the classroom. Grants to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language are provided to community organisations. The sum provided to support these organisations in 2016-17 will total £3,976,611.
These organisations provide a wide range of community activities, including activities for children and young people outside the classroom. The organisations include 23 Mentrau Iaith across Wales, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, Young Farmers Clubs Cymru/Wales, Cymdeithas Eisteddfodau Cymru, and the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
To ask the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): What provisions have the Welsh Government made for Welsh language participation in Flying Starts? (WAQ70139)
Answer received on 29 March 2017
The Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty (Lesley Griffiths): Local Authorities have a duty to respond to parental choice and to deliver Welsh-medium Flying Start childcare provision where required. Parents are given the opportunity for their children to attend a childcare setting which offers Welsh language provision and each Local Authority's performance against this commitment is closely monitored. Our latest statistics show that in 2014/2015, Local Authorities met 96% of all request for Welsh medium Flying Start childcare provision.
Childcare Sufficiency Assessments are completed by each Local Authority to identify gaps in childcare provision, including gaps in Welsh language childcare provision. Local Authorities have a duty to ensure the provision of sufficient Welsh-medium childcare, including Flying Start childcare, where demand exists, as stipulated in the Childcare Act 2006.
To ask the Minister for Education and Skills
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): What support does the Welsh Government provide to schools intending to take pupils on trips to Welsh cultural attractions? (WAQ70134)
Answer received on 30 March 2016
The Minister for Education and Skills (Huw Lewis):
Wales has an outstanding natural environment and a vibrant, unique culture that creates many opportunities for inspirational learning. Educational visits are an important part of the school curriculum and young people can benefit enormously from taking part in visits with their schools. For some, these will be opportunities they will not otherwise have had and it can be an invaluable opportunity to enrich learning, raise self esteem and increase motivation and appetite for learning.
While the Welsh Government does not hold funds centrally specifically to support trips to cultural attractions, the strategies and policies we have in place, in conjunction with other discreet funding in some cases, contribute to schools being able to access educational visits for their learners.
I believe firmly that all children can achieve of their potential, and we are working hard to drive up standards within our schools. However, I remain conscious that life outside of the classroom also has a significant part to play and it can be crucial in igniting interests, stimulating passions and increasing confidence in our young people.
As part of our Schools Challenge Cymru programme, I launched the Pupil Offer. Contributing to a drive towards broadening expectations, at its heart, the Pupil Offer is about enriching the educational and life experiences of learners living in some of our most challenged communities. It is about finding new and better ways to communicate high expectations, raising their aspirations and ambitions to succeed in everything they choose to do.
More generally, as outlined, there are a range of strategies and policies that we have put in place which act as enablers to schools engaging with cultural activities more widely, for example:
- Through the Creative Learning through the Arts action plan 2015-2020, working jointly with the Arts Council of Wales, we have made available an Experiencing the Arts Fund. The Fund enables schools to apply for small one-off grants of up to £1,000 to fund visits to arts events in galleries, theatres, arts centres and other venues. These "Go and See" grants will be offered throughout the year and will enable more learners to attend performances and exhibitions and to experience arts professionals developing and creating their work.
- We will shortly be launching Creative Collaborations, a second strand of the Experiencing the Arts Fund, which will seek to bring schools and cultural organisations together to work on innovative projects. Creative collaborations will be selected twice a year for grants of up to £25,000.
- Through the Creative Learning Zone and its events search facility, we are supporting school practitioners to search for arts, culture and heritage events taking place across Wales. The Zone is a central hub for promoting the Creative Learning Plan and the wider culture and heritage sector. It provides collaborative digital space for the education and arts sectors and hosts digital creative learning resources.
- The Hay Festival's Programme for Schools will take place on the 27 and 28 May. Designed to inspire and enthuse all learners at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4, the Programme is free to all state schools and will provide young people, particularly those from more deprived backgrounds with the opportunity to participate in and enjoy the arts and culture. Funded by the Welsh Government and the Hay Festival's Educational Trust, the Programme will provide a unique opportunity for learners and teachers to meet famous writers including scientists, historians, award winning novelists and explorers. Schools may use their core funding and as appropriate their Pupil Deprivation Grant and Education Improvement Grant for Schools funding to support the cost of transport and staff cover to take eligible learners to the Programme for Schools event.
- We encourage schools to use their Pupil Deprivation Grant to ensure that disadvantaged learners have access to out-of-school arts and cultural experiences, and we have published guidance for practitioners on using the grant in support of arts and cultural activity. The guidance is available at: http://learning.gov.wales/resources/browse-all/pdg-in-support-of-arts/?lang=en
- Through Cadw we are working to ensure an accessible and well-protected historic environment for Wales. European Union education groups are given free entry to Cadw sites during term time, within normal school/college hours. Cadw similarly offers a Home-Educating Families Scheme. A number of pre-arranged, curriculum-linked, location specific interactive education activities are available at a number of Cadw sites, for which charges apply. These activities can be paid for using time credits. Interactive, downloadable education resources are available from the Cadw website and Cadw also works with Communities First and Pioneer areas, for example supporting free education activity sessions during the Children's History Festival in September and providing sessions for the Family Learning Signature initiative with Gwynedd Council as part of the Fusion Programme.
- Of course, through the funding we provide to the National Museum, the Welsh Government has supported free entry to the seven Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales sites, enabling access to well over a million and a half visitors each year.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): What support does the Welsh Government provide to councils and schools to encourage children to learn music? (WAQ70137)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
The Minister for Education and Skills (Huw Lewis):
We have a rich heritage of music in Wales and I fully recognise the contribution that music makes to the well-being of young people and the opportunities and experiences it can afford our learners.
The provision of music services, including providing individual tuition, is a matter for the local authorities to fund from the Revenue Settlement Grant provided by the Welsh Government. Local Authorities will receive a better than forecast Settlement next year (2016-17) as we continue to protect local government and schools from the worst of the reductions we are facing as a consequence of the UK Government's continued commitment to austerity. Despite this, local authorities will still have difficult decisions to make and it is a matter for authorities to prioritise their support, based on their understanding of local needs.
Last year the Music Services Task and Finish Group that I established considered the provision of music services across schools in Wales and developed proposals to ensure that local authorities can continue to deliver high quality services in the future. Recommendations in the final report included measures to minimise the impact of challenging budgets on disadvantaged pupils and how steps may be taken to improve the procurement of instruments. The Group's review highlights practical ways that local authorities could work together to maintain music services and deliver a more consistent offer to learners.
My officials are working with the Welsh Local Government Association and other stakeholders to ensure the recommendations are being taken forward, one of which includes giving consideration to the establishment of a Wales Music Endowment, which could provide funding to support opportunities for young people and might enhance provision of music services in the future.
I have also remitted Estyn to review best practice in the creative arts in schools at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4. The first report– Best practice in the creative arts at KS2 was published last May. Nearly all of the schools visited or surveyed offered instrumental music lessons. The Welsh Government has published guidance on the use of the Pupil Deprivation Grant to support arts and cultural activity in schools to enable pupils from poorer families to take a full part in the creative arts.
Professor Donaldson's report, Successful Futures, provides the foundations for a new curriculum, which will be designed and developed by Pioneer Schools working with Welsh and international education experts. One of the Areas of Learning and Experience will be "Expressive Arts" and within this area Professor Donaldson acknowledged the role that the arts, including music, play in providing inspiration and motivation for learners, giving them contact with the creative processes, performances and products of others and stimulating their own experimentation and creativity.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of pupil participation in Welsh language GCSEs during the years 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 by percentage? (WAQ70140)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Huw Lewis: The attached table shows the percentage of pupils aged 15 entering at least one GCSE through the medium of Welsh, 2011/12 to 2014/15.
For information on GCSE results in the subjects of Welsh first and second language, see the link below.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of pupils who have gained A*-C in Welsh language GCSEs in the years 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 by percentage and sex? (WAQ70141)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Huw Lewis: This data is provided in the attached table.
For information on GCSE results in the subjects of Welsh first and second language, see the link below.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of student participation in Welsh language A-Level in the years 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 by percentage? (WAQ70142)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Huw Lewis: This data is provided in the attached table.
For more information A-Level results in the subjects of Welsh first and second language, see the link below.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide an update on the inclusion of Welsh in Education Statutory Plans? (WAQ70143)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Huw Lewis:
All 22 Local Authorities across Wales have now submitted their Welsh in Education Strategic Plans. My officials have been assessing each plan and are in contact with authorities regarding the status of their submissions. This is the final year of a three year planning cycle providing us with an opportunity to review our planning processes. This means we may further strengthen the planning of Welsh medium education across Wales.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a detailed breakdown of Welsh schools who have a Welsh-language starter streams? (WAQ70144)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Huw Lewis: Data on Welsh language starter streams is not collected. The number of pupils in Welsh medium schools or classes is published annually on Stats Wales at the link below.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of numbers of teachers who are qualified to teach Welsh in primary and secondary schools? (WAQ70145)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Huw Lewis: This data is provided in the attached table. Further information is published on Stats Wales at:
To ask the Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister outline how much funding the Welsh Government has provided to Amgueddfa Cymru to retain free entry to museums in the years 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16? (WAQ70125)
Answer received on 30 March 2016
The Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism (Ken Skates):
The Welsh Government does not provide a specific budget to cover free entry to the seven Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales sites. The funding for free entry is contained within the annual grant in aid for NMW.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of funding set aside in the 2016-17 budget for maintaining historic buildings under Welsh Government ownership? (WAQ70126)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
The Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism (Ken Skates): The capital budget allocated to maintaining historic buildings in the care of Cadw, the Welsh Government's Historic Environment Service, in 2016/17 is just over £2.8m; the revenue budget for maintenance is £1.5m.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister outline support provided to Cadw by the Welsh Government with specific regard to the maintenance of historic buildings in Wales since 2011? (WAQ70127)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates: Cadw is the Welsh Government's Historic Environment Service and has allocated over £22m in capital funding to support the maintenance of historic buildings in Wales since 2011, with revenue support for maintenance around £6.5m.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a detailed breakdown of visitor figures to historic sites run by Cadw in the years 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16? (WAQ70128)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates: There has been a 6.4% increase in visitors to Cadw's staffed sites since 2012-13. The figures are as follows:
2012-13 1,203,620
2013-14 1,192,641
2014-15 1,240,316
2015-16 1,285,766 (projected).
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister outline streams of funding available to Cadw since 2011? (WAQ70129)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates: Cadw was allocated a budget of £14.215m for 2015/16, with income forecast of £5.3m at the start of the year. From 2009-15 Cadw was also successful in securing EU funding of £8.5m for the Heritage Tourism Project with an additional £10.5m from the Welsh Government and other delivery partners as Targeted Match Funding for the programme. Cadw has also received £35,400 funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for Phase 1 of the Unloved Heritage Project.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of expenditure by Cadw on national and international marketing in the years 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15? (WAQ70130)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates: Cadw has spent the following on national marketing from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2014:
| Year | Total |
| 2011-12 | 726,000.00 |
| 2012-13 | 548,251.91 |
| 2013-14 | 549,027.70 |
| 2014-15 | 529,634.39 |
| Total | 2,352,914 |
Insofar as international marketing is concerned, Cadw sites are promoted by visit wales.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of visitor figures to Amgueddfa Cymru in the years 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16? (WAQ70131)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates:
| Financial year: | Total number of visitors to Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales sites |
| 2015-16 | Full year figures are not yet available |
| 2014-15 | 1,685,954 |
| 2013-14 | 1,629,196 |
| 2012-13 | 1,745,315 |
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): What analysis has the Minister made of visits by children and young people to museums and art festivals since 2011? (WAQ70132)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates: Arts Council of Wales (ACW) publishes its Children's Omnibus Survey which collects data on children's attendance to arts events and activities. However, whilst this attendance data is broken down by art form, ACW does not collect data specifically for attendance at festivals. As ACW no longer funds festivals through its Revenue Funding stream, neither does it collect data on festivals attendance through its annual Revenue Funded Organisation Survey.
Between 2011 and 2014 children aged under 16 accounted for c.21% of all visits to museums in Wales.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): What support is being given by the Welsh Government to encourage children and young people to visit cultural attractions in Wales? (WAQ70133)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates: We have a wide range of initiatives that encourage children and young people to visit cultural attractions in Wales.
As part of our Tourism Year of Adventure campaign we are promoting a wide range of cultural events and activities taking place around Wales aimed at children with the highlight being a major Roald Dahl event in Cardiff.
We provide support for children and youth to experience the arts through its £20 million five year action plan – "Creative Learning through the arts" developed and funded in partnership with the Arts Council of Wales. This scheme includes a new funding stream which was launched on 17 March. The "Experiencing the arts fund" will provide one-off grants to schools for visits to cultural attractions and other arts centres and also bring schools and cultural organisations together to work on innovative projects.
Cadw, the Welsh Government's Historic Environment Service, also funds family based activities at its staffed sites. These include activities such as dressing up in period costumes and family trails to encourage exploration of monuments. Three comics have also been produced for prehistoric sites on Anglesey to encourage children's participation. We are working with the pioneering charity Kids in Museums to encourage greater participation by young people in our museums, archives and heritage sites.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): How many times have representatives from Visit Wales, Amgueddfa Cymru and Cadw travelled with Welsh and UK Ministers on international visits since 2011? (WAQ70135)
Answer received on 4 April 2016
Ken Skates: This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): What support does the Welsh Government provide to Visit Wales for international advertisements? (WAQ70136)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates: As part of Welsh Government Visit Wales spent £168,025 in 2015-16 on print advertising in key overseas markets.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): How does the Welsh Government measure positive outcomes of arts and tourism to the economy? (WAQ70138)
Answer received on 24 March 2016
Ken Skates: The Great Britain Tourism Survey measures expenditure on overnight visits by Great Britain residents and the International Passenger Survey measures expenditure by international visitors. In addition, expenditure on day visits is measured in the Great Britain Day Visit Survey. Total expenditure as measured in the three surveys in 2014 (the most recent full-year results available) was some £4.8 billion.
Statistics on employment, enterprises and Gross Value Added across all priority sectors are compiled from a range of surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics. Latest available figures (2014) indicate that 123,700 (9.3% of the Welsh workforce) are directly employed in Tourism. Latest available figures (2013) for Gross Value Added indicated that Tourism's contribution - £2.844 billion – equates to 6% of all value added in the Welsh economy.
Welsh Government arts activity is undertaken by the Arts Council of Wales. Each year, I agree ACW's key performance measures for the funding provided by Welsh Government which reflect our priorities as set out in my Remit Letter. This includes performance indicators in respect of both economic impact and social benefit. Arts Council of Wales are required to provide quarterly updates on progress against achievement of these objectives as well as publication in their Annual Report and Accounts at year end.
To ask the Minister for Public Services
Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): What assessment has the Minister made of the impact that the introduction of single voter registration has had on the electoral roll and does the Welsh Government collect data on how many people have dropped off the register since it came into force? (WAQ70147)
Answer received on 22 March 2016
The Minister for Public Services (Leighton Andrews): The Electoral Registration Officer in each local authority has a duty to ensure that the electoral register in their area is as complete as possible.
The Electoral Commission has been monitoring the transition to Individual Electoral Registration and regularly report on the state of the electoral registers.
The Electoral Commission's latest report was published in February 2016 and can be found at:
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): What activities has the Minister commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team to undertake in relation to working with councils to increase voter registration, how many members of staff will work on this project and how many hours will this take? (WAQ70148)
Answer received on 22 March 2016
Leighton Andrews:
The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is skilled in redesigning official forms and approaches to the public so as to improve the quality and quantity of responses. This is what they have been commissioned to do in relation to the voter registration procedures in those local authorities they are working with.
The number of staff involved in this work is a matter for BIT and the local authorities concerned, as is the time devoted to it, subject, of course, to the budget provided for the project by Welsh Government.
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): How much money has the Minister allocated to the National Union of Students Wales's Democracy Club to develop a web-based tool to help students find their polling station? (WAQ70149)
Answer received on 22 March 2016
Leighton Andrews: I have allocated £35,000 to fund this joint project between NUS Wales and the Democracy Club.
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Given his statement on increasing electoral registration in Wales, in which the Minister confirmed that he has provided certain councils with funding towards sending the household notification letter, to which councils has this money been made available and how much has each council received? (WAQ70150)
Answer received on 22 March 2016
Leighton Andrews: Every local authority in Wales received a share of the funding which was allocated based on information supplied by each council on the number of electors on its register as of December 2015.
| Local Authority | Funds £ |
| | |
| Blaenau Gwent | 7,534.99 |
| Bridgend | 15,452.12 |
| Caerphilly | 19,020.03 |
| Cardiff | 35,320.33 |
| Carmarthenshire* | 17,378.19 |
| Ceredigion | 7,698.72 |
| Conwy | 13,511.28 |
| Denbighshire | 11,536.71 |
| Flintshire | 17,353.03 |
| Gwynedd | 12,148.86 |
| Isle of Angelsey | 7,451.69 |
| Merthyr | 6,497.77 |
| Monmouthshire | 10,300.05 |
| Neath Port Talbot | 15,501.37 |
| Newport | 15,496.55 |
| Pembrokeshire | 13,210.33 |
| Powys | 15,086.84 |
| Rhondda Cynon Taf | 25,266.85 |
| Swansea | 25,498.06 |
| Torfaen | 10,008.59 |
| Wrexham | 14,870.24 |
| Vale of Glam | £13,857.42 |
| | £330,000.00 |
*no data supplied estimate used
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): What will the total cost be of the work the Minister has commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team to undertake with Welsh councils to increase voter registration? (WAQ70151)
Answer received on 22 March 2016
Leighton Andrews: The cost of the voter registration trials will be approximately £50,000 plus VAT.
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Is the support and resource that the Minister has provided to the NUS Wales Democracy Club geographically focused for certain NUS branches, and if so, to which NUS branches has the Minister provided this resource? (WAQ70152)
Answer received on 22 March 2016
Leighton Andrews: The support and resource for this project was focussed across the whole of Wales through a grant to NUS Wales.
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Which councils has the Minister commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team to work with to increase electoral registration and what factors did he take into consideration when deciding which local authorities to focus on? (WAQ70153)
Answer received on 22 March 2016
Leighton Andrews:
The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) is working with Gwynedd County Council and Swansea City Council. These were both selected because of the high student populations in their areas, given the relatively low rates of voter registration associated with students since the introduction of individual electoral registration.