Written Assembly Questions tabled on 17 July 2014 for answer on 24 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 Education and Skills

Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): Will the Minister indicate whether there are any plans to grant Elective Home Education pupils access to Education Maintenance Allowance funding? (WAQ67472)

Answer received on 23 July 2014

re are currently no plans to amend the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Scheme to extend eligibility to young people who are home educated.

To qualify for the EMA Wales Scheme eligible students and pupils must attend a “recognised educational institution”, which has to monitor and report on their attendance.

I have commissioned an independent evaluation of the Scheme, which is well underway. The final report is due to be published early in 2015.

Angela Burns (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire): Will the Minister outline the reasons why children educated at home are not entitled to the Education Maintenance Allowance? (WAQ67473)

Answer received on 23 July 2014

Huw Lewis: The Education Maintenance Allowance, Wales, Scheme provides a financial incentive to encourage young people from low income households to continue their education after their compulsory schooling period has ended. It is designed to remove financial barriers for young people who could not afford to attend school or college or would have to drop out due to the financial burden on them and their families. Eligible students and pupils must be in attendance at a recognised educational institution, which is responsible for monitoring and reporting on attendance.

To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services

Mark Isherwood (North Wales): What process of scrutiny, accountability and elective member involvement applies to Substance Misuse Area Planning Boards and what is the evidence for this? (WAQ67474)

Answer received on 24 July 2014

Substance Misuse Area planning Boards (APBs) were established in 2010 as part of the arrangements to deliver the Welsh Government Substance Misuse Strategy ‘Working Together to Reduce Harm’ and reviewed in September 2011. The outcome of that review resulted in further guidance to APBs which was issued by the Welsh Government in August 2012.

APBs are commissioning executive groups which allow ‘responsible authorities’ within a Local Health Board region discharge their statutory responsibilities under the UK Crime and Disorder Act 1998 for formulating and implementing a strategy for combating the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances. This means ‘responsible authority’ representatives on the APBs remain accountable to their own individual organisations.

However, Welsh Government guidance to APBs makes it clear that APB members should formally agree a Memorandum of Understanding that clearly sets out its governance arrangements. Similarly the necessity for effective APB governance is an explicit requirement for compliance with Welsh Government’s Substance Misuse Core Standards, published in May 2010. However, the Welsh Government does not wish to be overly prescriptive about regional structures and working arrangements as it is recognised that local responsibility and the ability to respond to local needs and circumstances are important. Consequently some but not all APBs have chosen to include elective member involvement as part of their governance and scrutiny arrangements.

In 2013/14 the Welsh Government put in place new arrangements to monitor APBs’ progress against implementing their actions in the Substance Misuse Delivery Plan (2013-2015) and their performance against Substance Misuse Core Standards and nationally agreed Key Performance Indicators. We continue to emphasise the importance of strong governance arrangements as our substance misuse regional delivery structures mature and a workshop on effective governance was held in May 2014 for APB leads led by the Welsh Audit Office.

Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Minister advise, by department, how much has been spent on producing newsletters, brochures and all equivalent publications for the following financial years: i) 2011/12; ii) 2012/13; and iii) 2013/14, broken down by each month? (WAQ67475)

Answer received on 24 July 2014

The Minister for Finance and Government Business (Jane Hutt): The expenditure incurred on producing newsletters, brochures and all equivalent publications is not visible centrally within the financial systems. This information could only be provided by reviewing individual records of costs incurred at departmental level. Therefore, the information has not been made available due to the disproportionate cost involved.